Madam, - My family and I spent three weeks recently in the South of France near Avignon, where we were surrounded by lavender fields, vineyards, and the apricot harvest. There was a bewildering number of events going on in the region, most of them free (and children are not required to be off licensed premises at 9.30 p.m.).
A good, three-course lunch cost €11.50. Car hire? €25 a day. Ireland had better get smart quickly before it's too late - or maybe it is already. - Yours, etc.,
JAMES CARROLL, Sandymount Road, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Much has been written of late about the rising cost of restaurant food in Ireland, but nothing about the falling standards of the same food.
I am at an age to remember when things were better. Last week with my wife, I made a rare visit to a gourmet restaurant for a special treat. The walls of the restaurant were festooned with awards. I got a very poor luncheon for a large portion of my old-age pension.
In the old days, this would not have happened. - Yours, etc.,
ARTHUR McGEE, Seapoint Avenue, Monkstown, Co Dublin.
Madam, - I am amused by W. J. Murphy's criticism (July 29th) of my desire to log on to the internet while on holiday.
He's probably right: I should get a life.
Nevertheless, can I take it from his letter that he feels 40 cent a minute for making a phone call from a hotel room is not extortionate? - Yours, etc.,
RICHARD BANNISTER, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2.