Duly checked. End conclusion? 7% discount more than the 33% available at Threshers with their 3 for 2 offer.

I think I did better overall at Auchan in Calais.

And I did rather better overall when I went to Constanzia and bought a few cases. But if you don't happen to have the opportunity to fly to Cape Town or want to take a cross-Channel ferry, simply printing out a certificate and walking down to the local off-licence has its advantages.

True. I'm going to crack open a bottle of something fizzy tonight, when I finish this damn novel.

Open up a bottle of something fizzy now and then finish the novel. That's how Hemingway worked, and it never did him any harm. (Well it did, actually, but he claimed it made him a better writer nonetheless.)

Having only ever read 'The Old Man And The Sea', while Hemingway might have THOUGHT it made him a better writer, I have my doubts.

And fancy blighting the life of one's daughter by calling her Margaux. Was she the first Stupidly Named Celebrity Brat?

That would be Caligula, which is Latin for "little boot."