With pleasure we announce that the Tourist Assistance Site "Granite Assistance" is now open for the season 2007 - click on the link below for Information. ******** C'est avec plaisir que nous annonçons l'ouverture du site "Granite Assistance" (Aide aux Touristes) pour la saison 2007 - cliquez sur le lien en bas pour des Informations. ***** Wir sind froh Ihnen mitteilen zu können das die Seite "Granite Assistance" (Touristenhilfe) ist jetzt eröffnet für die Saison 2007 - klicken Sie auf die unten angegebenen Adresse für weitere Informationen. *** Happy Holidays! - Frohes Urlaubstagen! - Bonnes Vacances! (iwmpop) http://www.webspawner.com/users/mrlemarquis/graniteassistan.html

(This article was the subject of a "translation" to English by my new Translating programme! You won't find the translation into English, because like all Translation programmes, machines don't think like us, and the translation offered was almost unusable. You won't find the programme-which fortunately was free- on my PC anymore either! At almost 1Go of disc space -927mb's)- I felt that Googles offer was much the same thing, with NO disc space used!). Ishall revert to my normal way of doing translations, namely using my head and my knowledge! B***er the machines!So - improve your French! ************************************************************************** A few thoughts on the French General Elections in April 2007. Bonjour! Comme vous le savez, il va avoir les polémiques et fureur des élections Générales, ici en France, très bientôt! Moi, je n'ai pas le droit de voter, mais cela m'intéresse comme même, car je sera touche par les éventuelles cha...

Ain't it cold! That's Spring, folks! clipped from mail.google.com  

Another Service from Mr le Marquis-always thinking about you and your travel/general problems! ****************************************************** Encore un service de Mr le Marquis: un site Europeen (EU) avec tous! Jouets/voitures/scooters etc dangereuse, ou vos droits de Consommateur, de Justice, et pleine d'autre choses-Essayez le! ******************************************************* Wieder ein Dienst von Mr le Marquis - Europaisches recht/gefahrlich spiele/autos usv.... usv.....Versuchen Sie es! ******************************************************* Going to buy something for Christmas/Birthday presents? Make sure it's not in the "dangerous" list issued by the EU regularly. This site gives you an "A-Z" of the whole European site. Although in English, you can change the language on the page (top right) The site deals with all aspects of live in the European Community, from Assurances through Justice passibg by Consumers rights and lots more! TRY I...

I've got a new trick! It lets me pick and choose bits and pieces from any web page and do lots of things with it! Might be detrimental to creative writing, but I can't resist trying it out, as you will see from this and the following article (and probably many more in the future!)This one has NOTHING to do with my mate "Chippie"! (iwmpop) clipped from www.rd.com ...With Some Wit on the Side Our manager at the restaurant where I worked was a much beloved, jovial man. But there was one subject you didn't dare discuss in front of him -- his height. Or, should I say, his lack of it. One day, he stormed through the door and announced angrily, "Someone just picked my pocket!" Most of my fellow waitresses and I were speechless, except for the one who blurted out, "How could anyone stoop so low?" -- Contributed by Bette Moeggenborg  

Anybody else out there who has had stuff like this? What are your thoughts about it? Let me know, and if it works, I'll give you 10% of my winnings! (iwmpop) clipped from mail.google.com RE/AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE We are pleased to inform you of the announcement Today, 20th March 2007, of winners of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, THE UNITED KINGDOM INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS held on 16th March 2007 in Croydon,London. You email address was attached to ticket number 023-0148-790-459, with serial number 5063-11 drew The lucky numbers 43-11-44-37-10-43, and consequently Won you the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay Of 500,000.00 British Pounds(GBP) in cash credited to file REF NO. UKNL/26510460037/07. This is from total prize money Of 2,000,000.00 British Pounds(GBP) shared among the four International winners in this category. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary Agent; Mr Johnson Rice. Tel:+44-7031922527 Tel:+44-703194983...

'Twas paddies day yesterday, I think, so I guess that most paddies are still asleep at this moment! They had a good day though! Rugby and CRICKET teams WON! What a shame - as a Scotsman, I know that good sportsmen always let the others win, now and then, otherwise nobody will play with you! On the other hand, I think about my mate "Chippie" in deep sunken gloom, and probably with a football club defeat looming up, on top of the World Cup Cricket debacle! Never mind about the Rugby. You see, the English have never learnt to be good losers, or even to let the others win sometimes. I do know, however, that my mate Chippie has what he calls "her indoors - my manager", and I'm certain that Tinkerbelle (for such is her name) is waving desperately her wand around and over the "sunk in hands" head of her "dearly beloved"! You see - Englishmen can't even suffer correctly! Go on Chippie, get up, get out of bed, you sleepy head - Tinkerbelle is...

I just saw a Series Called "Blackpool" on the TV, for the first time, and I didn't recognise anything, apart from an odd tram and the Eiffel Tower! The one-arm bandits looked familiar as well, but that was about it! One of the most difficult things in my own married life was to find time for Holidays, so when the opportunity arose, during contract breaks of 4 months, we profited as much as possible to find small "help-out" contracts. These contracts were found by the International Agency who took care of our other contracts world-wide, and were generally very useful.One of these fill-in contracts was the offer presented by "Pontin's" Holiday Camp, at Blackpool. We always had to decide very quickly on these fill-ins, because they were always as a result of somebody else either falling ill, being incompetent, or any of the other reasons for giving up a contract, and the employers were therefore always in a hurry! After a bit of here and there between...

(click to enlarge + read text) No translations available. Living, as every respectable Marquis should, in France, I am obviously subject to the things which go on in France, and as you probably don't know, there is a General "Presidentielle" Election coming up very shortly. Mr Chirac has decided to give it all up, and stand again, he's going to his country retreat, and probably await the arrival of the Gendarmes! This gives free field to the infighting, and (in this Election) "bitchiness" of almost all Political things. There is, however, one thing which I am at a loss to understand. In France, anyone who wishes to present him/herself as a Candidate at a General Election, is firstly required to find 500 people, in signature form, to support him/her. Not just anybody will do, but 500 promises to support the canditature from the Mayors of France. That means, somebody already elected as "Maire" (Mayor) of a community, going from less than 500 souls u...

This was definately our last few hours in the "Champagne". I, and my wife, both had our various work to return to on the Tuesday, and it was a long drive back, even if our Triumph Spitfire (of a certain age) was to be given back to us (as Madame and the Garagist had assured us) in a state of "almost new"! After the luxuries of our tour around the cellars of Mumms Champagne, a light and rather "burpy" lunch in a Reims bistro, we had been able to grab a couple of hours shuteye, which seemingly pleased our host, Madame! This should have warned us a little, but we were simply too tired to care. Amazing what a couple of hours of solid sleep can achieve, and promptly, at 7pm, as commanded, we found ourselves waiting in what passed for a lobby in our "Paradise Hotel". Invited, as we were, we had no idea where we were going to be abducted to, but after the events in the old Yugoslavia (to be read elsewhere on this Blog), we didn't really care. The ...

Bonjour-Gutentag-Hello! For some of you who have already commented on the changes, this won't be news! I finally jumped in and started paying for my webpage, not an enormous amount, about the price of a pound of fatty sausages, which I'm not allowed anyway, per month. What I didn't realise was that this gave me the right to open as many Webpages as I wished, in the professional format, with search engines, guestbooks, photo galleries and so on! Of course each one takes its own URL (web address) so to make things easier for you, I've put all the links to all the Blogs/Sites/Photo services etc onto the main "Mr le Marquis" page, and onto the "Granite Assistance" page. Once you go into either of these pages, you have easy access to all the others, just choose from the list. Maybe putting it onto your "favourites" list as well! The photo Gallery page is being slowly built up, but it is a longish job, and may take quite a while to complete! You...

My wife Kathleen (nee Odell), was quite an exceptional woman. I suppose many husband's say the same thing of their wives, but through the 25 years of our marriage, up to her death 14 years ago today, I was constantly surprised by her resilience. We were often the only two "British" people in whole areas of Germany or France, and although unable, at the beginning, to speak the languages concerned very well, we learnt very quickly, and it's not easy when you have to deal with civil servants, speaking their own local dialect of German or French! My story with my wife started in 1963/64, when she found herself installed in Germany, as a condition to her being accepted by Guy's Hospital, London, to fulfill her 6 month's overseas "experience". Guy's insisted on this at the time, and it wasn't a bad idea, giving the ongoing State Registered Nurses a little more confidence in themselves. Not only 8 "O" levels, 6 "A" levels (good e...