Little Miss Marple!

Well Christmas Day has come and gone in a whirlwind of mostly pleasant activity, but I'm invariably glad when it's over and get almost as much enjoyment out of the Twixtmas week - i.e. the week between Christmas and New Year when nothing much is doing. I say "nothing much", but as it snowed a while ago and has now been sunny for quite a few days, skiing conditions are absolutely perfect. I can tell that by the traffic notifications on Facebook which pretty much show traffic jams on every road leading up to the ski resorts. I'm so glad my sister and BIL came early December so we missed all that and if they can get past the miserable traffic conditions (mainly at the weekends) I'm sure all the skiers are having a wonderful time (and the resort business owners too)! By choice I'm not going anywhere on New Year's Eve as I just don't enjoy it so the festivities really are over and done with for me!

On Christmas Eve we were up at Jordan and Jen's place for snacks rather than a heavy meal but I was nervous as hell driving back at midnight in below zero temperatures and very treacherous conditions! Christmas Day was at my place and it was bedlam, mostly because we had Charlie's toys and Elynn's baby gear all over the place. And to think I was considering maybe downsizing! Ha, fat chance right now! Lunch went really well - except for the mango and white chocolate cheesecake my sister told me about. Oh the taste was wonderful (Tate & Lyle's recipe if you're interested) but when I took it out of its tin it collapsed into a cheesecake puddle! I think I got the wrong version of French "double cream", or just forgot to whip it. Either way, it was a complete disaster!

Jordan and Jen's Christmas gift to both grandmas was a photoshoot with the grandkids towards the end of January. Yikes, what are my chances of losing 30 lbs and getting plastic surgery before then???? Still, I'm sure the photos will be lovely regardless. My Christmas present to myself was two fire blankets (thanks to Lori for mentioning them) and I might get a second fire extinguisher since there is a difference (apparently) between an electrical fire and a regular "let's burn the curtains down" fire, so I'm told!

On the Saturday (28th) Jen's mom's gift to us all was to be a "surprise" up in the ski resort of Megève (I'm thinking sleigh ride) but the night before Jen ended up at the ER with Charlie, who had been totally listless all day and running a very high temperature for about six days, despite being on antibiotics. Turns out he's got infections in both ears but they also took him for a chest x-ray, thinking they'd keep him in overnight at least if it showed any infection in the lungs - but thankfully they were clear. So the next day, instead of going to Megève, everyone stayed home, Charlie slept for 14 hours straight, and is apparently much, much better now. It couldn't be helped of course and hopefully we can reschedule later in the month, as the lady was apparently very understanding! At least Santa made it through for the big day - and that was the most important thing for Charlie anyway!

Jen had to go straight back to work on Boxing Day but Jordan's got this week off too, so he can keep a close eye on Charlie, while Elynn goes back to daycare. She seems to enjoy it very much (plenty to keep her occupied) and is settling down very well. Oh, I'm sure there will be the never-ending kiddies' infections for her too (it wouldn't be normal otherwise, would it) but at least she seems to be really happy there and when I went to pick her up one time the assistant had her in her arms and was playing with her and making her laugh so it's no wonder most of the children seem quite contented!

Do you remember in a previous post that I mentioned a 250 (lb/kg?) unexploded WWII bomb that had been found on a construction site in Annecy just before Christmas? Well that's where Jordan will be starting work shortly so let's hope for everyone's sake that that thing has already been dealt with appropriately!

In other news, I'm apparently turning into a real life Miss Marple, because the other day I noticed that my neighbours two doors away had left their front shutters open and yet I knew they were away! As another neighbour had also recently been burgled I sent them a message to ask if they realized this. They replied that they must have forgotten and could I get their keys from my favourite neighbour and go round and shut them! Then last night I was sitting reading when I heard a kind of siren sound. It wasn't the sound of emergency services here (more like the sirens in the US) and as it was really close, I went outside and realized it was coming from my other neighbour's house. So I knocked on the door and it turns out they had also just installed alarms and cameras and he had forgotten to turn the outside alarm off after testing it. It's weird that I heard it in my house and yet neither of them heard it from inside their house (kinda defeats the object, doesn't it) but isn't it sad that people now feel they have to do this when we used to leave our doors open all the time. I guess those days are well and truly over now!

And finally, the other day I saw a short video on Youtube by a distraught lady who had recently had her bank accounts wiped out in a "your computer is blocked, call this number" scam. She mentioned that if you had seen the movie The Beekeeper that was exactly what had happened to her, so I looked up the film as I thought it might be the kind of movie that interested me. I managed to get it on streaming - and what a load of shite it was! I left it running while I was playing scrabble (must have been really bored) and the guy basically figures out who the scammers are, blows them up in the first 10 minutes and then spends the next two hours single-handedly taking out the entire US military and Secret Service! A kinda "Schwarzeneger takes on the world" piece of drivel (although it wasn't Arnie, of course)! So since my walking total for this year has been pretty dismal I think my New Year's resolutions have to be (1) aim to walk at least 1,000 miles in 2025, and (2) stop wasting so much time on Youtube and crap movies! Number two should be easy - we'll have to see about the other one!

Happy New Year everyone, and I hope to see you all again in 2025!

A great visit!

Well my family have been and gone! It was a great visit - they really are very easy visitors - and we got lucky with the weather, which was maybe just a little overcast on one occasion but otherwise bright and sunny! I must have been more tired than I thought though because since they left I've slept around 10 hours most nights - which is pretty much unheard of for me! Oh well, I guess the body knows!

We had a bit of drama the first day though, as I'd been up to the top bedroom and decided to put the small heater on for a while as the room was quite chilly. I'd wiped the heater down and then we sat having a cup of tea when all of a sudden the electricity shorted and there was a vague smell of smoke. So I ran upstairs and (I reckon) something inside the heater (dust?) must have created a spark and the curtain in front of the bedroom door was literally on fire. I yelled but couldn't get the curtain down so I stamped on the fire in my socks (great idea) and was just managing to put it out when my BIL ran up and beat out the final flames with his shoe. I didn't think quick enough to yell that there was a fire extinguisher in the living room, but then I think by the time I'd gotten him to understand where I meant, the whole place would have gone up in flames! I did use the extinguisher as a final precaution and took a brand new smoke detector up to that room just in case, but all was well after that. Add to that my bloody socks started to melt into my foot, but I ran downstairs and got my feet in a bowl of cold water pretty quickly so all in all I only ended up with one blister! Exciting times eh - and now I need to get the electrician in in the new year and think about how I want/need to redecorate that room! There's never a dull moment is there - but then it could have been so much worse!

On our first full day I took them to the hot springs in Chamonix where we spent around four hours outside lounging in the water and staring at the Mont Blanc. It was wonderful, but to be honest, four hours is about the limit for me - I don't understand how people can spend eight to ten hours there! When we got back to the car park I fished out cake and a flask of tea and started to pour it - when I realized I'd added the hot water but forgotten to put the tea bags in the flask!! What with trying to put my "top" on through the leg holes last week and now this, I do have doubts about my sanity sometimes! Later that evening my kids came over for dinner and sis and BIL got to meet the grands. I knew my sister would be dotty over the kids (she always has been) and we got some really nice pictures of them with both kids as a souvenir!

The next day I thought they'd like the farmers' market in Bonneville - which they did, even though it wasn't nearly as big as usual as they were setting up the Christmas stalls. After that we headed up to Plaine Joux for lunch and while we couldn't get down to the Lac Vert as the road has now been turned into a ski slope, we did get to watch a few intrepid paragliders jump off into the valley!

My sister and brother-in-law
at Plaine Joux!

They posted this picture on FB, saying how
they were initially very scared to jump
but afterwards it was ok. I don't think
anyone fell for it though!

After that it was down to the lake at Passy for a leisurely stroll before heading up to Jordan and Jen's for dinner (I'd made lasagne and garlic bread and for once used a proper recipe - it turned out very well)!

The next day Charlie's school was singing in the Catholic church (he goes to a Catholic school) and the kids were very good, although it looked a bit like herding cats when they were trying to get them all ready. After that it was back to the school where they were handing out mulled wine or hot chocolate before we sat down to diots (a local sausage) slow cooked with tons of potatoes and followed by sweet crepes for dessert. It was really well done and I can only commend the teachers for their dedication (although I reckon their hearing must take a battering on a regular basis)!

On their last day we decided to try our luck by going to Annecy to see the Christmas market but, as I suspected, the place was just heaving and parking places were like gold dust. Mind you, I think the next time I might try heading in the opposite direction as there seemed to be parking places nearer the casino, even if it meant walking! Since my BIL, in particular, loves La Clusaz I decided to take a back road up there from Annecy, passing by the Château de Menthon St. Bernard on the way. This was the place we tried to go to last year to visit their Christmas market but again were stymied by everyone else (and his uncle) having the same idea!

Château de Menthon St. Bernard!

Because it had already snowed (it doesn't always) La Clusaz was opened up for the skiers, but the main parking will be free of charge until next week, so again we lucked out getting to see the mountains covered in snow in the glorious weather! La Clusaz has always been one of my favourite ski resorts because the parents of my pre-marriage boyfriend had an apartment up there, and anytime it was free at the weekend we used to head up there all winter long. It was bliss!

La Clusaz!

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn to get them back to the airport in rush hour traffic, and while there were no accidents or unforeseen events, they were both horrified at the daily commute I had when I was still working! As I was driving though, I thought I felt something "weird" with the car. For any of you that drive a stick shift, it felt like dropping down from fourth gear to third too soon, and the engine starting to drag. They didn't feel it, but I noticed it about four times and was just praying that I could get them to the airport without breaking down. I did, but I decided to head straight to Ford on my way back and one hour and €180 later they discovered that the "particle filter" was blocked, so they dismantled it and cleaned it out. It could have been worse as I understand if they had to replace the part it would have been pretty expensive, not to mention I probably couldn't have gotten it fixed the same day!

In other news, when we were heading in to our last sewing club of the year, as I was about to unlock the main door four kids, about 16 years of age, were making their way out. When Chantal asked them what they were doing in the building as it was private they said they were "looking for a toilet". Then when we got up to the club room we found three more kids all set up around the tables having a fine old time. Chantal hit the roof and asked them what the hell they thought they were doing. They said they'd been to the library (which is in the same building) but she countered that she volunteers at the library and it was closed so they'd better think of another one pretty quick before she called the police on them for trespass! They shot out of there like grease lightning but I did send a message to the Mairie to let them know that someone must have left both the main door and the club room door unlocked (maybe the cleaner?) and to ask them to remind everyone to check before leaving!

My "other neighbours" (Mrs. Gossip and her husband) came back from Mexico a few days ago and had both contracted what appeared to be a bad case of covid, so I ended up doing a bit of shopping for them while they were holed up. Thankfully they seem to have improved and I've seen them walking their dog so I guess the worst symptoms are over by now!

My walking tally looks to be pretty pathetic this year as I'll only hit around 700 miles by year end, so I think my resolution has to be "aim for 1,000 - 1,500 miles" in 2025. I've seen a few beautiful places on the FB hiking groups I follow so I might give some thought to maybe going further afield for a few weekends when the weather permits to check out other regions! Well, that's the aim anyway!

And finally, the trial of Dominque Pelicot has come to an end, with that monster and around 47 other men having been sentenced. For those that haven't heard of the case, Dominique Pelicot had been drugging his wife of 50 years for the past decade and inviting other men to come to their home and rape her????? As she was drugged she knew nothing about it, except that she frequently visited the doctor for unexplained pain and infections, although apparently, thankfully, no more serious STDS!!!! He was only caught when an alert supermarket security guard spotted him upskirting a woman (taking pictures up her skirt) and when the police were called they confiscated both his phone and his computer - and that is when they discovered the videos of so many, many men raping an obviously unconscious woman! He had also, apparently taken indecent photos of both his oblivious daughter and daughter-in-law! His wife, Gisèle, waived her right to anonymity and asked for both the press and public to be allowed into the court room to witness the trial. Pelicot wept when he got 20 years (should have been life, in my opinion), so seemingly he wasn't so brave when he found out the consequences of his actions. About 47 other men quite rightly got varying sentences too. Women's groups (which also included many men) were at the courthouse every day for three months to support her brave stand! I just hope she can find peace and happiness in whatever time she has left on this earth, and that her ex-husband gets to live the rest of his life as he deserves! Merci Gisèle (the Pelicot trial)!

Gisèle Pelicot, thanking her supporters!

This and that!

It's been relatively busy again this week, as I'm trying to get the house tidied (i.e. get rid of more junk) and sorted in time for my family's arrival next week. I'm so looking forward to seeing them and while it will be cold it should be nice weather during their stay. I'd already figured out a meal plan for most days and made a shopping list for when I went grocery shopping on Thursday. That plan was scuppered though as André came over to pick up some mail I had for him and casually mentioned that he was going to spend a long weekend in Amsterdam with a mate and "you can take me to the airport tomorrow right"? Well of course I can, but there's nothing like a bit of advanced warning either is there! So then I figured I'd go shopping on the Friday - well that was until Jen phoned me at 7.30 in the morning to ask if I could pick Charlie up from school and give him lunch as both she and the babe had doctors' appointments on the Friday. Turns out Jen had collapsed at work on Thursday and they called an ambulance as they were so worried about her. When she got to the ER a friend of hers happened to be the admitting nurse and told her there were 18 ambulances ahead of her (????) and she was looking at about five hours before she could be seen by a doctor, and that was assuming no more urgent cases showed up in the meantime! Since she was feeling slightly better by this point she jumped on the phone and was able to get an emergency appointment with her doctor for both her and Elynn (who has been coughing for a few days - thank you daycare). After doing some kind of scan (my apologies to the nurses out there, can't remember what kind it was) and blood tests, it turns out she has developed gallstones - the cause of her excruciating pain. My first thought was of Mary Moon and her kidney stones and her description of just how painful they are - Jen said she was in less pain when she gave birth!!! I'm not sure what the treatment will be but I already realize just how right I was not to sign up to volunteer at Les Restos du Coeur just yet as I just knew that things would be tricky for a little while, although I suppose nobody could have predicted Jen getting taken to hospital on her first week back at work!

The other day I got a FB friend request from Rob J. My first reaction was to just hit delete as he was doubtless a Nigerian prince who wanted to put $10 million into my bank account. But then I took another look and saw that my sister was another of his friends and realized that it was my cousin from North Wales. I haven't seen him in over 38 years (I was pregnant last time I saw him) and while it was nice to chat back and forth with him, it can be a bit difficult when you really no longer have much in common. They were a very nice family but I was much closer to my cousins on my dad's side because we lived nearer to each other. Either way, it was nice to catch up a little but when he sent me a request to follow his cat on FB (????) I realized we won't be in touch that much!

Anyhow, I finally got my shopping done after Jordan finished work on Friday and could take care of Charlie. Turns out the supermarket had a special offer that day whereby they credited 10% of your grocery bill back to your loyalty card, and as it was a a big shop, I did very well that day after all! When I got home there was a note in my mailbox to say that someone from the Mairie had stopped by to give me my Christmas gift from the Maire. They give these gifts to everyone in the village over age 65 so this is my second year to receive a small hamper from them and again, it was beautifully presented!

Note the bottle of white wine in the
top right hand corner!!! Insert
happy face emoji here!

Earlier this week I got an email from Norton (the anti-virus I use) to say that my annual subscription would be up in February and the new price would be €104 "to reflect the going rates"!!! Hang on, last year it was €64 and I was already pretty unhappy with them because every couple of weeks they discover something else dodgy on my computer but for the modest sum of €XXX I can upgrade to their premium service and fix the lastest snaffu! I looked on a couple of evaluation sites and many people said they were sick of Norton forever coming back for "just another €XXXX" so it wasn't just me. So I decided to cancel and put in the comments that their habit of forever coming back for more money was more than irritating and their new price reflecting an almost 100% increase over the previous year was hard to justify, in my opinion! And whaddaya know, the next day I got another email from them offering me a "special deal" of €49 for the year if I would come back to them. So I did! I will keep an eye on it though as there are many anti-virus systems out there, but I'm really rather pleased that I put my foot down for once!

In other news, when I opened my shutters this morning I saw it was snowing - and that my neighbour had left her car window open! So I went round and knocked on her door to tell her and ended up having a coffee with her. Turns out she'd stopped to chat to another neighbour yesterday and had forgotten to put her window up last night. Then she went on to tell me about another daft thing she'd done but I had her beat this time. On Wednesday I ran into town as I wanted to buy a new pair of jeans. I ended up buying a pair of jeans and a diaphanous sparkly top, thinking I would wear it for Christmas Day. As they no longer have changing rooms in the store I tried them on when I got home but the jeans were way too big (another first) and the top turned out to be waaayyyy too small. What the heck, am I turning into something that looks like a hard boiled egg on toothpicks now! So the next day I took them back and explained to the assistant that while it said on the receipt that I had bought two pairs of trousers, it was in fact one pair of jeans and a top. She looked at the receipt and said "oh that's probably a combi short" (which is where the top is attached to a pair of shorts - like dungarees with the legs cut short) and sure enough, when we looked at my "top" it was a combi short and I must have been trying to put my head through the leg hole. No wonder it was tight! My neighbour burst out laughing and every time I looked at her after that she got another fit of the giggles! Since she was still in some pain from her recent operation, I drove her about 2 km up the road to a local farm shop where she usually buys her cheese. Since I know that my family love cheese I thought I'd buy some too, but it turns out they sell their own eggs, grass fed beef, organic yogurts and so on, and while it's a bit more expensive than you'd find in the supermarkets, I think I'll try to do as much of my shopping as I can there and at the local farmers' markets from now on!

Moving on, a pub owner in Britain recently started a petition to push for a new general election, and within a couple of days it had over two million signatures. As far as I know it's over three million right now and apparently once a petition hits 10,000 signatures it is supposed to trigger a debate in Parliament. I know of course there won't be a new general election but I signed it anyway as I feel very strongly that this dreadful government campaigned on a manifesto that was immediately thrown out the window once they were elected. Anyway, one man commented that he lived in France and had signed the petition (you have to be a British citizen but it doesn't matter where you live) and then received a response saying that if he wished to keep his right to vote in the next election he had to send them proof of his identity???? Say what???? No he didn't have to do that at all - it was simply a way of trying to intimidate him. I have three email addresses and use one for official stuff (like voting and naturalisation issues, etc.), one for general chitchat, and a throwaway address for things like supermarket receipts and so on. Thankfully I used the throwaway email address to sign the petition, and while I didn't get a notification about my voting rights, I did get a snotty, badly drafted email response basically saying how wonderful the Labour Party are and how they're going to do amazing things, bring about world peace and put a man on Mars very soon! All crap, but there will be a debate in Parliament - they could hardly refuse it could they. Nothing will come of it but I hope old Two Tier is feeling the heat right now - it certainly looks like it!

And someone else who is definitely feeling the heat right now is the French President after the vote of no confidence last week. His government is effectively dismissed and he has to name a new Prime Minister who will, in turn, name a new government. He went on television the other night and what he won't do is resign because "how will we manage without his wonderfulness"? In true Macron form, nothing was his fault and he would not accept responsibility for others' failings! Whatever happened to "the buck stops with me"? Anyhoo we'll see I suppose but these are interesting times, to be sure!

Anyhoo, what with my family coming out on Tuesday I don't think I'll have much time for blog reading/commenting. I hope to be back online before Christmas though, but in the meantime, enjoy the run up to Christmas and I look forward to catching up soon!

Busy!

Last week was a really busy one, mainly as a result of running my neighbour around. I don't mind at all but at one point I commented to her that we must look like a geriatric version of Thelma and Louise when they see us on the motorway cameras. On Tuesday I took her to drop her car off for its bi-annual inspection, and then on Wednesday it was up at the crack of dawn to take her to hospital for her latest carpal tunnel operation. She's already had both hands operated on once but seemingly another operation was required on her right hand. In retrospect it was lucky that her appointment was on Wednesday because on Thursday there was (yet again) an accident near the motorway toll and the tailback was 5km long - we never would have made it in time! When I went to pick her up later she made me laugh as she recounted that they were all given gowns, hair coverings and plastic bootees while they sat in the waiting room, but one poor chap hadn't known what to do with the bootees and walked in with it on his head!!!! Mind you, it's not totally obvious what to do with these things is it! Then the next day I took her to pick up her car and have been in every day helping her light her fire, open cans etc. Her daughter would have done this for her but she was away in Chambéry on a training course so it was just Thelma and Louise for the duration. And again, I didn't mind at all but she was tying herself in knots saying she was "such a burden on everyone"! She actually caught herself at one point and said that she realized that was how her husband taught her to think about herself - he basically knocked all her self-confidence out the window, and she finally recognized that. She then told me that she had actually found notebooks where he had made lists of all the things he wanted to do before he died (he knew he was dying) and it listed things like "make sure she doesn't get to stay in the house after my death"; "ensure she doesn't get a widow's pension" (both of these things he actually went to a notary to do but as their marriage was such a long one, he wasn't able to get away with it). So while there was no love lost between them at the end, she had softened her heart towards him - but after finding those notebooks, she was done with him and his memory! So spiteful to the end!

She also mentioned to me that our neighbour (the farmer's daughter) had been burgled the other week. I guess her home is an easier target because it's out on its own and I'm thinking somebody knew that they were up at her bf's place in the mountains. I commented that I actually had the kids' baseball bat behind my bedroom door and she said she was getting her son's bat from him to do the same. Neither of us have been sleeping particularly well lately and when I mentioned that I'd only gotten to sleep at 3 a.m. she told me she'd actually gotten up at 4 a.m. as she couldn't sleep anymore, so I asked her to imagine that we each heard a noise "next door" and went crashing round, only to whack each other over the head with our respective baseball bats!!

In other news, there was a report of a major incident in Annecy last week and when I heard it was a bomb scare I thought "oh oh, here we go". Turns out a construction company had unearthed a 250kg unexploded WWII bomb near the train station and everyone had to be evacuated!! Thankfully they managed to disable it and everyone was allowed to return home, but can you imagine the shock those builders must have felt when they dug that baby up!

My Christmas shopping is more or less done, which is great as I hate crowds. I finally finshed scanning all the old photos that were just laying about the place and decided to make each of my boys their own albums with all the photos from their younger years. The photos aren't great as they are photos of photos but I'm so pleased with the albums and it allowed me to throw all the loose photos away. I also made an album of the two grandchildren for Jordan and Jen and think I've figured out the perfect system to keep this up every year. I mean, does anyone actually look at photos on their phone/computer? This way at least, I know the kids will pull the albums out occasionally and look at them!

This is the cover of André's.
I cropped the photo because it has his
full name and date of birth, but I'm 
delighted with the album!

The cover of Jordan's album!

Charlie and Elynn's cover!

On Saturday afternoon Jen invited me to join them and her mom for a visit to a dinosaur exhibition in La Roche. It wasn't exactly Disney, but then again nor was it Disney prices. It was very good all the same and Charlie loved it, but oh my poor ears - all those excited kids and roaring dinosaurs!

After that we all went out for Chinese food, which was really good. That place is a little gold mine but good luck to them as they work really hard. Then in the evening I went into town to hear my friend's gospel group singing. It was bitterly cold (it dropped to freezing) and they sang for 90 minutes so I'm sooooo glad I bought that new jacket recently! Mind you, the bloody mulled wine ran out after about 15 minutes so methinks some things could have been better thought out. Still, they were really good and I was very impressed with how a group of French people - most of whom don't speak English - were able to belt out some really good gospel!

As the next day was sunny (if cold) I decided to take another walk at the Lake in Passy, just to get some fresh air. As I was walking up to towards the beach area I noticed a group of women actually swimming! I started chatting to an older lady along the lines of "sooner them than me", but in fact wild swimming is apparently very exhilerating, although I'm not sure I'll ever be brave enough to find out. I've read the book Wintering twice now and one chapter is given over to how she tried wild (ocean) swimming. I think the book is really about how she tries to cope with her husband's illness and her own depression but I enjoyed it very much - and will probably get round to reading it again sometime this winter!

Insanity? And yes that is snow
on the mountains!

And finally, I stopped in at the Food Bank tonight to drop off some items. I buy for them every week and when I have a crateful I drop it off to them. I also had a cash donation for them, as a charity I had previously donated to every month has now closed so I just switched my donation to the Food Bank. One of the ladies there knows me quite well by now so I asked her if they wanted coats (brand new, never worn), blankets and sleeping bags and she told me that they no longer accepted that stuff (not enough space) but her sister volunteered at the Restos du Coeur (Restaurants of the Heart) and if we set up a time to meet she would drop them off for her sister. That got me to thinking what a lovely family they must be, with her volunteering at the Food Bank and her sister volunteering at the Restos du Coeur! So then my mind starts whirring and should I/could I/when would I, but I know I have to hold off for the moment as now that Jen has started back to work (she started on Monday) the other grandma and I will be called upon to take care of one of the grandkids at least one afternoon a week, although we're not sure when. So for now, I won't be volunteering but I am giving it some serious thought!

As a side note, the Restos du Coeur are a fantastic organization which was started by French comedian Coluche in 1985. As well as serving hot meals, they have volunteers ferrying food out to people who are housebound, picking up donations from supermarkets and so on. Looking at their website they also give assistance in learning French for foreigners, trying to help people find housing, develop viable skills and so on. It's a fantastic organization! There has long been a theory in some parts that Coluche was murdered (motorbike accident) because of his fierce criticism of the then French President, Valérie Giscard d'Estaing. In 1980 he announced that he was going to run for president and while people initially laughed it off, opinion polls showed that he was indeed very popular - hence the assertion in some parts that he was bumped off! I don't know enough about it to have an opinion one way or another, but I do know that whether or not he was a good comedian, he was indeed a wonderful man who founded an extraordinary organization that is going from strength to strength - but isn't it such a shame that we need it!

Coluche!