Foulounoux Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Interesting! I filled up at a Super U self-serve just last week and found my UK Visa card was instantly rejected, and of course the kiosk was deserted. Luckily my brother-in-law came to my rescue! I think we maybe lucky due to a high % of Anglo expats who have some hefty consumer power in their pocket Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Not so. I travelled on the Clermont-Ferrand to Beziers service this May and there is currently one train a day, in each direction, along the whole route with no buses needed at any point. The Garabit viaduct looked very nice from the window of my one carriage and very modern autorail. This is great news, I have been waiting for the bridge to reopen since I cannot remember when! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted October 28, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2014 We haven't been to the UK lately, but we run into problems in the US. Gas stations and the New York transit system have machines that ask for your "postal code" but expect 5 digits. NYC subway has people selling tickets but they only take cash. One directed us to one of their machines (different: it was blue) and told us to use 00000 for a postal code. Gas pumps often work if I use the numbers out of my code plus two zeroes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 I think we maybe lucky due to a high % of Anglo expats who have some hefty consumer power in their pocket Yes, ghastly! There are an astonishing number of UK ex-pats in France who expect to eat chips with everything, demand to speak to everyone in loud English, and have their TVs tuned to UK Freesat. The ex-pat owned caff offering oef et chips (and yes, that's just how it was written!) shows just how far the rot has set in! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Yes, ghastly! There are an astonishing number of UK ex-pats in France who expect to eat chips with everything, demand to speak to everyone in loud English, and have their TVs tuned to UK Freesat. The ex-pat owned caff offering oef et chips (and yes, that's just how it was written!) shows just how far the rot has set in! We are happy to live in a town where we are the only Anglos. Why have it any other way? We did stop overnight in the Dordogne a few years ago and discovered the B&B, English owned, had booked us into the local restaurant where every single diner was British. The nearest village had a population 90% British. Never been back! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted October 29, 2014 Author Share Posted October 29, 2014 Exactly! Why move to France if you don't want to spend two hours over a decent lunch and the whole evening relaxing over your evening meal? Which raises the question of why the food on French trains is so hit-and-miss! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welchester Posted October 29, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 29, 2014 The ex-pat owned caff offering oef et chips (and yes, that's just how it was written!) shows just how far the rot has set in! Un oeuf is enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foulounoux Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 I plead guilty to having freesat in France but only because it was the only way of stopping the mother in law from moaning as to why the tv was in a foreign language My wife who has v limited french found it much more fun to watch french dramas and make up her own storyline And as to restaurant etiquette if I get given an English menu I complain loudly in french Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 I plead guilty to having freesat in France but only because it was the only way of stopping the mother in law from moaning as to why the tv was in a foreign language My wife who has v limited french found it much more fun to watch french dramas and make up her own storyline And as to restaurant etiquette if I get given an English menu I complain loudly in french Wasn't watching it in French and making up your own storyline the way that the Magic Roundabout was produced in English? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Once forgot to composte my ticket from Marseille to Blancarde, and got asked why not. I just failed to speak any French, failed to understand anything that was said to me and they gave up. Once they had gone a french lady tried to explain to me in English what I had done wrong, and when I answered her in perfect french the whole carriage thought it hilarious..........luckily I was off at the next stop before someone turned me in... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rue_d_etropal Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I must admit it is one of the things putting me off taking my first train trip in France.Does this include Eurostar as the new longer distance routs might suit me well. I really want to do the Beziers /Clermont route, but it will take two days to do the return trip. I use the A75 to drive down normally, so want to see the same route by train. How good is the service in winter, as I can imagine it would be even more spectacular with snow, especially as the A75 is likely to be closed. I thought snow showers in April on one trip would be a problem, but luckily there was nothing more severe as I crept up the long hills out of Clermont Ferrand. There is one railway in UK which has a similar ticket system to France, or it used to when I went on it and that is the Docklands Light railway in London, here you had to get your tickets authorized before going on the train. The ability to print tickets at home, or have code on mobile phone(think this is only way to book some of the new super cheap services) will probably mean the end to these machines in France, but I would not put it past the French to design a new machine as it will keep the design department in work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianp Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 The Beziers C-F service runs in winter but you had better check the latest timetable. In my limited experience it can change quite a lot from season to season, and year to year. Not to mention buses replacing trains when work is being carried out on the line. Trying to find a proper timetable on the SNCF website is like trying to fathom the work of the devil. I suggest a trip to your nearest French railway station, or try browsing the local government (Languedoc Roussillon) website for it, as a PDF. In C-F we stayed in the Hotel des Commercants, right opposite the station. Basic but friendly and clean. Plus it has a restaurant/bar downstairs where you eat supper and breakfast. Just the thing for a quick turnaround. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I must admit it is one of the things putting me off taking my first train trip in France.Does this include Eurostar as the new longer distance routs might suit me well. I really want to do the Beziers /Clermont route, but it will take two days to do the return trip. I use the A75 to drive down normally, so want to see the same route by train. How good is the service in winter, as I can imagine it would be even more spectacular with snow, especially as the A75 is likely to be closed. I thought snow showers in April on one trip would be a problem, but luckily there was nothing more severe as I crept up the long hills out of Clermont Ferrand. There is one railway in UK which has a similar ticket system to France, or it used to when I went on it and that is the Docklands Light railway in London, here you had to get your tickets authorized before going on the train. The ability to print tickets at home, or have code on mobile phone(think this is only way to book some of the new super cheap services) will probably mean the end to these machines in France, but I would not put it past the French to design a new machine as it will keep the design department in work. I have not taken Eurostar for a while but the system is different, no composting as such but the ticket is scanned. I have driven up and down A75 in mid winter, the attached photo was taken while approaching one of the summits at around 1100 meters. My daughter-in-law went cross country skiing near here, though I think it was more like cross country slushing at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Interesting...I've often wondered about that, given how bad Saddleworth Moor on the M62 can be at only 425m......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 When we moved furniture and personal effects to France we hired a 3.5 ton van in January and drove down A75. At one rest stop we fell asleep for about an hour and woke up freezing - the van's outside thermometer read -17ºC. As a result we don't use A75 in winter any more. Last week I drove down A26 and A6 with no problems at all, except the A6 tunnels through Lyon were closed at night and the detour might have taken me through Switzerland for all I know (a slight exaggeration). A31 around Dijon can still be treacherous in winter but it's the least likely road to be difficult. What this has to do with composting? No idea. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Interesting...I've often wondered about that, given how bad Saddleworth Moor on the M62 can be at only 425m......... Sorry to be both off-topic and pedantic, but the M62 doesn't go across Saddleworth Moor, and according to Wikipedia its summit is only 372m. Wikipedia gives the location as "Windy Hill near Saddleworth Moor" but having been brought up in Saddleworth I'd say the Moor is well to the east. Are you thinking of the A635? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Hayter Posted December 14, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 14, 2014 Been there seen that - well not quite that - it was the A39 between Belfort and Dole and some 600m lower down. As we drove across from Germany to the Ardeche to buy our house, we encountered similar weather. OH gave up driving and passed the job to me and going down one of the hills I nearly composted my underwear - so there we are back on topic. Incidentally everyone at the notaire was astonished by snow there so late in spring - which is perhaps a bit strange since the house is roughly at the same altitude as the picture on the A75 and regularly gets snow into spring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Sorry to be both off-topic and pedantic, but the M62 doesn't go across Saddleworth Moor, and according to Wikipedia its summit is only 372m. Wikipedia gives the location as "Windy Hill near Saddleworth Moor" but having been brought up in Saddleworth I'd say the Moor is well to the east. Are you thinking of the A635? You are correct on both counts, of course, and I was only there last weekend! I'm not sure where I got the height from, but it came from (an obviously faulty) memory. The Saddleworth bit is because it's near that turnoff you see the sign for the maximum height. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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