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I HAVE already had to make my apologies a couple of times for completely misjudging the distances involved and dropping in on friends 15 to 20 minutes late.
If there is one thing I had forgotten about driving around the twisting, turning roads of the Dordogne it’s that what looks a short hop on a map, turns into quite a drive once en route.
More on: First days back in the Dordogne
A GROUP of cyclists raising money for the Help for Heroes charity are setting off from Portsmouth to eventually arrive in Paris.
The BBC reports that around 240 cyclists will take on the challenge as they attempt to raise over £1.4m, money that will be spent on helping injured service personnel.
The cycle tour will take in many of the battlefields connected with D-Day, with each stage of the journey being used to remember the fallen of the different Allied nations.
UNFORTUNATELY you don't need to spend a lot of time online to receive spam email message and a recent one that dropped in my inbox is worth highlighting.
It appears to come from Ford Motor Company and offers a 35 per cent reduction on the price of buying a new car.
The spam email is clearly aimed at a US audience as it talks of deciding 'to pull the sales of 1.000 cars from United Kingdom at a very low price' enabling the vehicles to be sold for a supposed bargain.
More on: Spam message from Ford Motor Company
HAVE you checked if your holiday home is insured should guests from the UK cause damage, or worse the building comes up in smoke?
That is the question being asked by Boris on his France This Way site after going through the process of renewing the insurance on the gites he has.
A casual remark about feeling safe in the knowledge that he is covered should anything nasty happen to the property, was soon brought to a halt when he was told that the insurance of guests covered the building not the cover he had just bought.
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to raise the funds to buy the treasures of Marcel Marceau, as his estate is set to be sold at bargain prices to pay off his debts.
The master of mime, who died in September 2007 aged 84, spent much of his earnings on helping theatrical productions and left debts behind which will be paid off through the sale of items such as costumes, photographs and texts.
But this means that much of Marcel Marceau's affairs will just be sold at the going rate, something that has annoyed many in French theatre who believe a place should be found for many of his items so that people can see them.
A BIG thank you to everyone who entered the competition to win a copy of Eiffel's Tower by historian Jill Jonnes.
It proved a popular prize but unfortunately there could only be one winner and that was Samantha, who was picked out by the random number generator.
And look out for more competition prizes in the coming weeks.
CHARITABLE group Cancer Support France offer English-language help and support to both people with cancer and their carers.
Their website offers information on their work as well as advice for those people who want to offer their time or raise money to help the group.
There is also a very useful page of downloadable documents providing .pdf files on subjects such as the French health system and vocabulary guides to medical words and phrases.
The documents are free to download, but I am sure they would appreciate any form of support should you find them helpful.
A SPECIAL thank you to this week's advertisers, there in the right hand column. To Phil of Perigord Vacance who will welcome you to his gite in south west France, and the France Property Shop who has made available a search box so that you can start your hunt for a place in France direct from the page. Find out how your advert can appear on more than 3,000 pages across This French Life for just £30 a month.
AN agreement has been signed between Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines which the two companies say will improve flight options between North America and Europe.
The joint venture represents around 25 per cent of total trans-Atlantic capacity and will see the airlines share revenues and costs to offer more choice in frequency of flights, and to make cost savings.
In a statement the airlines said passengers would benefit from access to a network offering over 200 flights and approximately 50,000 seats a day.
More on: Air France KLM and Delta Air Lines sign trans-Atlantic agreement
WHEN you look to buy euros before heading to France don't leave it until the airport as it can cost you almost £50 more than currency exchanges on the high street.
Research by Which? Money found that despite the weak pound travellers could make considerable savings by buying foreign currency from city centre bureaux de change or online, rather than from the airport, travel agents and banks.
