Minitoots

Thanks for all the good suggestions which I will bear in mind for the next trip. I've ended up booking a direct train from London to Marseille - it's only 6 and a bit hours and as well as the city itself, will be a good base for day trips to Aix, Arles, Nimes and coastal villages. If anyone has been to Marseille or the local area recently, I'd be interested to hear recommendations for the best areas of the city to stay in, etc. I plan to book an apartment rather than hotel.

I'm planning to go away to Europe for a few days around Easter and want to go by train- any recommendations on less well known cities with good modern art galleries which are fairly easily accessible from London? I love Amsterdam, Paris, Venice, Nice etc but want to find somewhere new. happy to travel for several hours to get there, or to break the journey en route....

Hello, local residents with cats,or anyone know knows a cat owner in the area, You may have already heard about this, but there is a really sick person/people who mutilating and killing cats ? over 50 around Croydon and Thornton heath and now 2 have been found in Pellatt road SE22. They are suggesting keeping your cats inside at night at least. Please pass the message on to anyone you know who also has a cat, thanks. Here is the info ? it is pretty horrific. http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/cat-ripper-strikes-in-dulwich-as-two-pets-found-mutilated/ And here is the link to the petition to get the police to take the matter seriously - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/889/712/106/urge-the-south-london-police-to-take-urgent-action-to-stop-a-cat-killer/?taf_id=17792598&cid=fb_na

thanks so much to everyone who has taken time to add their recommendations, some of which we already knew and some which are new to us. Hopefully this thread will also be useful to other people too.

Thanks for the latest suggestions. Any more restaurant recommendations?

thanks for the suggestions so far. We love Shakespeare and co (hope it hasn't changed in the past few years?) and also Sainte Chapelle - the other suggestions are new to us and all are good ideas, thanks - keep suggestions coming in!

6 of us are going to Paris this coming Wednesday til Sunday and although we have stayed in the city countless times, haven?t been for about the last 4 years so we are out of touch with nice restaurants / new places to go etc. We are staying in Ave Parmentier, 11th arrondissement but will be going all over the place. 2 of our group have been travelling for the last year and this will be their first stop back in Europe, so we'd be interested in anything uniquely French, too. We are interested in art/design/markets/restaurants etc - looking for anything that would appeal to which would appeal to textile artists, painters and architects eg lesser known galleries, good new markets/shops/areas?? Also any recommendations for restaurants - nothing too expensive or swanky unless it is really special - we would prefer more interesting / off the wall!!

We are 3 x couples going to Paris in October for 4 nights withut the kids, looking for a mid range priced hotel with character (no chains, nothing bland!! We like quirky/ arty/ contemporary design) ideally in either the Latin quarter or Marais. I've always stayed in budget ones in those areas before but we are splashing out this time- any recommendations, anyone?

thanks for the feedback so far. We also used to find the sticky traps were good (got them from Dulwich DIY) but the last 2 lots did not work at all- if you have a specific brand you have used that still works can you let me know thanks!

Our clothes moths are back for the summer- has anyone found a specific product which works really well? I've tried various things, some work better than others.....

It's a long shot, but I'm helping my son look for another student house to rent. He's at Kingston uni and their preferred area is Norbiton where all their friends are based. They are looking for a 4 bed furnished house ideally with a living room and garden. They are looking through all the local agents and Rightmove, Zoopla, gumtree, the uni accommodation bureau etc but I've offered to help and am trying more round about ways of finding something so if anyone knows students about to leave Kingston this summer, or if anyone knows of any other ways to find something, do send a PM thanks.

thanks for that info, Mustard - very helpful.

I've found Krill oil is meant to be good, and also foods such as oily fish, chilli, turmeric and ginger, red grapes etc which all act as natural anti inflammatories but would still like any other suggestions, as Dad's arthritis is getting much worse, so any new suggestions would be great. Has anyone used a TENS machine for pain relief for arthritis, for example??

thanks for the info. Has anyone been to Isola 2000 in April? Their tourist board and the hotel there are saying there will still be snow and resort will be open til around 20th April but it would be good to have some unbiased views as well!

Yes it's definitely time to finish this thread- seems to have lost the plot!

My partner and son have got the chance of a very cheap week's accommodation in Isola 2000 FRance from 11th April for a week but there is a chance the season will close if there is not enough snow. They went there last year so know what it's like (ugly but very quiet on the slopes). They're now wondering whether to try and swap to a different resort and go a week earlier for more chance of snow. The earliest they could leave is 3rd april for a week (Europe only) Any suggestions?

Maybe it's time to stop - seems like we've had the best already!! There were some good ones....

we're wondering what the first film to be shown at the long awaited East Dulwich Picturehouse will be, and had a few ideas... 'Waiting for Forever' 'Definitely, Maybe' 'The Wait' '28 days later' '28 weeks later' Looking forward to hearing other suggestions....

And my neighbour had someone dump several bags of takeaway food boxes and other rubbish in his front yard. They accidentally left an envelope with their name and address on it- you know who you are in Bawdale road!! Here's the link to Southwark's 'bulky waste' dept - free collection. http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200084/recycling_and_waste/1667/bulky_waste_collection

Our only son is about to move into his first student house which will be quite a life change for us as parents as well as him, and so rather than just sitting around moping, we're planning to get together with others in a similar situation to make time to try and and arrange to do a few different things - it could be anything from occasional walks, cinema/theatre, exhibitions, art group, pub quizzes, forming a kazoo orchestra, etc etc- open to suggestions. As a few friends and I are self employed and work from home, we're planning to do a few things during the day as well as evenings. I'm compiling an email list of anyone who may be interested, or we could also post 'events' here on the forum. My son suggested the working title for the group could be O.A.Party (!!)

I posted this question in the spring and still haven't managed to switch to a residential supplier becasue British gas business have messed our a/c up again - I'm just about to try and sort it so if anyone has any updates on best gas suppliers for this area (and electricity too) that would be helpful, thanks!

I'd like to recommend some little guide books which show how to have a cost free, family led day exploring London. I met the author of these guides recently and thought they would be of interest to families with children who have just broken up for the summer. You can find out more and buy them online here:- http://stepoutsideguides.com/#/home/4561598403

Thanks for the update, Vina.

Can anyone tell me if the writing on this painting of a temple wall on Lamma island in Hong Kong means anything, or is it 'artistic license?' See attached