We have a gite in Central France. I'm happy to go out photographing with anyone anytime for nothing - I wouldn't say I'm qualified to tutor though. A friend nearby was a professional photographer in the UK and gives courses for a very reasonably price €35 for a full day. They also have a gite.

Would it be just himself or is he looking to combine it with a family holiday?

It's frowned upon. And as for the Australian wine.

We import Cheddar

Mono for me although I agree that mistier is better.

Congratulations iBerg and I really liked Shirley Temple. I don't know if the subject I chose was too tricky, but I think it's a shame this competition hasn't taken off.

I can only offer my sympathy. I live in France and my K20 went back to the UK for repair four times. The fifth occasion they replaced it with a K7. The K7 arrived faulty (I think it was a customer return) - it doesn't recognise the lens (comes up with F-- as does your K20), plus other things. So that will be going back soon. Finding someone to take it and bring it back, plus all the postage costs has been an incredible hassle and expense. I tried cleaning the K7's contacts to no avail. Johnson's suggestion was to try a pencil eraser. I hope something works for you, but it does sound like a duffer. In which case I hope your experience doesn't turn out similar to mine.

Everybody's view of what constitutes art is different. If you like your own creation then it is art. If nobody else does then it is still art but does not conform to someone else's definition of art. As more and more people like your creation the more justifiably you can label it as art.

If Leonardo had painted the Mona Lisa and then chucked it in a skip without anyone else seeing it, would it have been art?

Congratulations I like the third best. Our two came out looking like chimps. They improved.

If you want to cheer yourselves up about your crummy broadband connections try rural France. We have about 0.5mb and we're one of the lucky few to have speeds that good.