Fine examples of cutting edge Anglo-French cooperation...
1. Concorde
2. Eurostar
3. First World War
4. Eric Cantona
5. Dr Wiggy's lemonade bottle...
the latter of course, is the most important!
Everyone knows that the hole in the ozone layer was first discovered by the intrepid scientists of the British Antarctic Survey - that's why we all need to drive our kids to school in our 4*4s as often as possible otherwise the hole might shrink - a little know fact about BAS is that they let a Frenchman down there to conduct vital ozone checking experiments, kite skiing adventures and penguin gynaecology. Of course with funding from the venerable UK tax payer you cant just send down a prototype rimefrost-free zone collecting device (the lemonade bottle) without testing in the harshest local conditions possible (apart from under my duvet after 10 beers and a kebab)...
so there we were at the weekend installing Dr Wiggy's measuring device on the the met station at the top of Cairngorm in -6 and a stiff breeze. I of course was invited along for my expert knowledge of the terrain and my car battery lugging capabilities as much as my rugged good looks and ability to mimic an emperor penguin with a French accent. Hunky Dunks was along for the drilling. Sue from BAS and Bill from Heriott Watt were doing scientist type things. The car battery lugging didnt happen much as the ski resort sorted a trip up the railway and then carted all the gear up from the top station in the back of a piste basher - however I did get to hand over the screw drivers and spanners at the appointed time and got to experience working in cold temperatures again. Ace!
