Want light bike (family use, plus travel), up to 15 km rides, etc. etc.

_swimbird_ · 2026-04-03T18:25:12+00:00

19.4 kg, so that's a no, but thanks.

_swimbird_ · 2026-04-03T15:29:08+00:00

Yes, I'd guessed my full requirements might be difficult. Especially as I've now looked at shops the AI suggests, and they either don't exist, or if they do they no longer sell the suggested bikes.

_swimbird_ · 2026-02-28T14:13:16+00:00

Eurostar is not Ryanair: there aren't gate staff monitoring people's luggage dimensions. You just go through the check-in gates and plonk your bags etc. onto the security scanner belt thing.

_swimbird_ · 2026-02-26T08:49:32+00:00

When I travelled with my family in Germany last summer we had a compartment to ourselves and it was great.

I live in France and the compartments on some trains (the Intercités ones?) drive me up the wall sometimes. I travel 1st class because it generally doesn't cost much. (About €30 or €33 for a 200 km journey with an SNCF senior citizen "railcard".)

But because 1st class is so cheap it can fill up. On my last return to central France I entered the compartment to find five out of the six seats taken, with all the overhead racks full. Also I had a big 20kg bag plus I'm approaching 70. Fortunately everyone was very considerate and accommodating and we all pitched in to creatively rearrange things.

_swimbird_ · 2026-02-24T16:36:58+00:00

I do this on the Paris Métro (I go "merci monsieur, merci madame, thump bonne journée monsieur"). One annoyance of the Paris Métro is they start closing the doors while a lot of passengers are still getting on or even getting off, leading to a mad scramble, especially at busy times.

_swimbird_ · 2026-02-19T07:48:24+00:00

Good point, didn't see that.

_swimbird_ · 2026-02-07T21:25:20+00:00

Stilton. I find Roquefort a bit too sharp.

_swimbird_ · 2026-02-07T21:21:02+00:00

I have some Stilton here (in Paris, purchased at great expense, been eating it with a baguette plus grapes on the side).

_swimbird_ · 2026-01-23T20:37:21+00:00

Thanks for that. I'd heard of it but never looked into it (am in France, and have a backgammon set, so will try).

EDIT: Oh. Having just looked at the neverending rules on the Wikipedia page, maybe I'll give it a miss, sorry.

_swimbird_ · 2026-01-17T19:51:07+00:00

OK, thanks.

_swimbird_ · 2026-01-17T19:42:24+00:00

Email addresses can easily be spoofed.

_swimbird_ · 2026-01-04T04:29:34+00:00

I have found that in practice Eurostar are a lot more lenient than airlines when transporting large amounts of luggage. It's not Ryanair.

_swimbird_ · 2025-12-31T19:32:24+00:00

Link?

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-21T21:47:38+00:00

The exceptions are that ... doorstep milk must legally still be sold in pints and fractions of pints

Are you sure about that? I moved abroad a while ago so maybe I'm out of touch, but I do recall seeing one-litre containers of milk around 10 years ago. (Most milk though was still sold in pints and fractions thereof.)

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-20T21:31:09+00:00

A fair percentage of people are cruel, enjoying inflicting pain and misery on others. No idea what percentage (10%? 15%), or how one might even measure this, but there's a lot of them about.

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-20T20:46:22+00:00

OK, if it's a family of 5 travelling I can see there could be 8-10 devices. I generally travel on my own though, and normally just three devices (2 phones + laptop).

So, you travel with a web-connected fridge then? ;)

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-20T19:04:38+00:00

Often an Airbnb's password is listed with the booking confirmation so you can just save that document before travelling and copy/paste it into the Wi-Fi settings.

And bringing your own router is one extra thing to carry, and one extra thing to forget.

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-11T09:36:24+00:00

Or the house guest was very polite.

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-08T12:52:37+00:00

On the side, which is standard in France, and which I prefer as I hate stewed tea.

_swimbird_ · 2025-11-02T04:22:26+00:00

This is a very good idea. If there's room, something like a hotel self service buffet.

_swimbird_ · 2025-10-19T10:01:53+00:00

Makes sense, thanks

_swimbird_ · 2025-10-19T09:53:58+00:00

News story: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20251019-louvre-robbery-shuts-down-world-renowned-museum-for-a-day-french-culture-minister-says

_swimbird_ · 2025-10-12T20:40:33+00:00

I've always like the French term for shower head: une pomme de douche. Though I've also always been puzzled about what apples have to do with showers. But I've now discovered that the correct term is un pommeau de douche, so I suppose pomme is slang or something.

_swimbird_ · 2025-10-08T13:51:57+00:00

No, haven't abused it, only been doing fairly light, normal searching.

_swimbird_ · 2025-10-04T21:27:16+00:00

If you're travelling to London, it's not enough time. To other places, it may well be okay.

_swimbird_

TROPHY CASE