Fishpaste sarnie, anyone?

St Quentin
Yesterday's weather: cloudy, mild, sunny afternoon

DIY doesn't come easy after all these years but Jon has been doing terrific work on the kitchen, the chalet and the next plan is a hard standing for the car. Yesterday's rain was the first for many weeks but our only access to the 'daily use' car is across the grass. We've put down some wooden 'stepping stones' but they aren't that satisfactory so we have to organise something else now.

The idea is to have edging blocks bordering an area of limestone chippings. We thought about gravel but this might be too tempting to cats who are used to litter trays, so something more uncomfortable for their feet is required.

Because the shops and builders' yards are so far we try to do as much research as we can on the internet before we go out. Jon found the edging stones but we haven't yet discovered whether our local merchants will do the limestone as well. It seems to me that the French haven't really caught on to the internet in the same way as we were used to in the UK. It is certainly a lot better than a year or so ago, but we find that many sites are just like showroom windows with little information and often no prices. There are some companies who have on-line ordering facilities but here in France most transactions take place face-to-face.

We are gradually getting used to this but it is all to do with the transition from working full time and arranging as much as possible over the internet so that you don't spend every lunch hour and every weekend doing the shopping. I believe that part of the reason for the French being a little slower to embrace the internet is to do with the Minitel.

The Minitel was a little terminal provided by the French telephone service on which you could make certain purchases, order train tickets and even communicate by e-mail. The French thought that this was a brilliant idea and would rival the world wide web but unfortunately they forgot that France is actually quite a small country in the great scheme of things and the www overtook Minitel by being embraced by the rest of the world. However, it did mean that many French people were ahead of a lot of us 'others' in making on-line transactions.

I believe that some supermarket chains here are beginning to do trials with on-line grocery shopping and delivery, but after all our problems with the shed delivery, we might just let them get on with it for a few years before we even attempt it. I don't relish the idea of the substitutions they may make whenever an item is unavailable.

I'll never forget the time I ordered some expensive, good-quality smoked salmon pâté from a supermarket in England. Unfortunately it wasn't available that day and they delivered me a jar of fish paste in its place!