Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

I avoid the stretch between Faro and Albufeira. Quinta do Lago etc. Most times I stay in Silves, Armação de Pêra; but I stayed recently at the Cascade resort at Lagos. Very few expats. We tend to go out with portuguese friends. Some from Porto are invariably there when we are. Occasionally some from Brazil also. They are always ready to party. Lagos has some good sea trips . Schooners and inflatables etc. Almost guaranteed to see dolphins.
I used to play golf a lot in S Africa but not much these days. Good walk spoiled.

I've now got this vision of Mr and Mrs Cyners on a Languedocienne plage naturiste, reading their one day old copy of the Times, and sporting nothing but a knotted hankie and their socks and sandals.

:o)

The horror, the horror..

excuse me hilary, but that's nowhere near lisbon :-)

sounds as though you've put yourself about at cap d'agde some time in the past, and now nostalgically reflect on it :-)

in 2014 migrants claimed over 3.7b in benefits .
the work they do does not reward them to live in the uk
cleaners and fruit pickers pay no tax no n/I but claim more than twice what they are paid . the uk can not carry on in this way .housing benefit for migrants must be stopped
and all benefits till they have paid tax for at least 5 years .
polish migrants in loads of council checks find more than 14 people living in a 3 bedroom home and all claiming housing benefits .

coming to the uk to earn the min wage must be stopped .they are being paid by tax payers to come to the uk . migration is not for work its for benefits .

when are our mps going to wake up and see the damage being done
to come to the uk to clean cars is a bloody disgrace pay no tax and declare no income above the allowances .its must end

come on you conservatives start to shout

just listened to a gov aid he said if migrants or immigrants say they want to come and live in the uk for a better life and be apart of the uk . [so why the hell do they never speak in English ] if you want to be apart of any thing you speak and act like those you wish to join . about time some one spoke out .

when I go to spain I try to speak in their tongue and they thank you for doing so .

Cyners,

We have a few properties down that neck of the bois. So yes, I do know all about Cap d'Agde, although that's a bit too brash for my liking. Marseillan Plage just north of Cap d'Agde is much nicer imo.

Fwiw, I normally go to the stretch of beach just north of St Pierre. There's a natural lagoon there called Cow's Piss Pond (at least, that's what my husband calls it). Either that, or we go inland to the Lac du Salagou, park up, and either kayak out to one of the creeks, or mountain bike round the lake till we find a nice spot.

as mentioned, neither beloved nor myself are beach lovers, but i was nearly(!) in that vicinity on this year's cycle trip
we had intended to get down to castelnaudary, but in the event had to cut off one day and went back to toulouse from castres ....... turned out to be fortuitous, as the day we chopped off had serious rain and thunderstorms

2016 will be southern brittany with its viking and earlier heritage and sites

"when I go to spain I try to speak in their tongue and they thank you for doing so."

Did they understand you then Tanks? I only ask cos

Funnily enough, cyners, I've got to pass down by Castelnaudry next week. Villefranche de Lauragais to be precise.

Read the story below and see the pictures , this is now out of hand , when do we offer assistance with the military .

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/609632/Channel-Tunnel-Eurotunnel-Eurostar-delays-migrant-crisis-large-scale-intrusion?ref=yfp

Batten down the hatches chaps and man those barricades.. the Afghans are coming -):

no one ever heads for china or Russia great leaders not wimps man our borders and shoot on site . get us out of the stinking rotten eu and send back all migrants

But the data do show that among single families receiving either working family tax credit or childs tax credit, the majority of within non-UK claimants are from the EU: 157,600 single families from the EU receive one or both of the benefits while 146,000 of those from outside of the EU do.

Jonathan Portes, directer of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, explained why EU migrants would receive tax credits in the Observer: “Many migrants from the EU … are in low-paid work (including self-employment) and so receive tax credits; as the numbers settling here permanently have grown, and they start having kids, this has become quite a significant phenomenon.”

According to the Roderick McInnes, author of the Commons Library analysis, it is important to note when looking at the data that it does not offer a “complete picture” as the numbers are based on individuals who were not UK nationals when they applied for National Insurance. They could have since applied for British citizenship.

MrT - i don't know what sort of biz you ran, but i bet the employees were all very glad to see the back of you ...... you must have been an absolute nightmare as a boss, as aprt from anything else people-skills are most certainly not your forte

Were they yours?

Don't answer that Alf... for fear of further incriminating yourself -):

cynic a very good one and all my staff now work for the daughter no one ever leaves only to retire . never employ immigrants they are work shy after they get a council home , fact never will ever employ one

i think i must be very diff or at least odd to work for, or at least everyone tells me so, but for all that, we never lose staff ..... must pay them too much!