Tango

The nut job who murdered the two women was convicted on dna evidence, but his defence was arguing that the evidence could have been flawed by the presence of the two coppers at the crime scene. The prosecution managed to convince the court that they didn't get close enough to the bodies to contaminate them with their own dna, but it could easily gone the other way and that nut job could have been freed to do the same again! Hopefully the court will give them substantial prison time!

One of my ex's cousins joined the Met. She'd always dreamed of joining and worked really hard to get in. Wasn't long before she was on sick leave for stress because of her treatment by other officers. The father of a girl I know was the officer who got his hand blown off by an explosive device at Catford police station many years back. Don't know if any of you remember that incident? He's a decent bloke, but obviously wasn't able to continue his career after that incident.

From what I've seen here so far there are 3 types of brits living here: 1 - home-from-home, living in brit areas, such as Dordogneshire, Normandy or Prevence. Mixing mainly with other brits, but generally in the "system" and paying their taxes. These tend to be the upper-middle and upper class sorts. 2 - away-from-it-all, these are brits that don't come into any particular class. They buy a place in the middle of nowhere with a vast tract of land around them and generally avoid people, full stop. They moved to France because they could buy the property and land for peanuts. Generally in the "system". 3 - escapees, those that moved to France to enjoy the way of life here. Again, they don't tend to fall into any particular class. They tend to live in places that are not overrun with other brits and usually live in typical housing. Always in the "system". OK, sweeping generalisations, which @MooN will probably put me right on, but from looking at various Facebook groups, that's my impression.

I used to visit the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr, right in the middle of the Gurnos estate! I mentioned to one of the guys in the hospital about the ice cream vans going round all day, even in the middle of winter. "They're not selling ice-creams, it's drugs!" Apparently one of the security guys at the hospital kept getting his small motorbike stolen from the hospital and then found trashed with the ignition hot wired and the steering lock smashed. In the end he left the keys in the bike and a note asking the joyriders to bring it back when they'd finished with it. Apparently it worked. His bike would go missing during the day, but was always back in its parking spot at the end of the day!

It seems like tipping is not a French thing either, but I always do it anyway.

Me.

And I still say not!

It's called hair, @Buckster, some of us old'uns still have our own!

Lol. I'm in a country where they're still taking Covid-19 seriously, so the only way that I can remember carrying a face mask with me is to stuff it in my shirt pocket.

Yes, I believe so.

No, not in my wildest dreams did I think I'd end up living somewhere like here! But life is just a collection of coincidences and opportunities! Yes, getting kitchen stuff, bedding, towels, etc in one hit certainly makes a sizeable hole in the bank balance. I'm happy for you that you've found a good place to live. It's so hit and miss, so lucking out and finding a good one straight away takes some of the sting out of making the move.

The garage at the top of the drive is now a workshop and utility room Pete, so, technically it's no longer a garage.

Yes, Pete, but we have a second garage and parking shelter near the bottom of the drive, so that's where the bikes will live.

Here's a couple of pics, @Slowlycatchymonkey. The sofa is not "the sofa"! Lol. This is the sofa bed for one of the spare rooms, but we're using it until the sofa we ordered for the lounge arrives. Is your place furnished or do you need to furnish it?

Not my favourite place, but needs must sometimes.

My OH posted the pics, @Slowlycatchymonkey, I'll see if I can copy them.

South of France, Pete, everyone has a pool.