100. Allegiances

28th November 2010. Gawd, 100 posts.. I really should get out more..

I see from studying the local weather data (trying to find out when this monsoon we seemed to be locked into is going to end) that the visible moon phase in Bayonne today is Waning Gibbous - which, if I were into howling at the moon, has a nice ring to it and could easily set me off. However, if you don't know what Waning Gibbous means, come and see me afterwards. (let me put you out of your misery - here) Waning Gibbous could easily be an American Country & Western singer as well!

Just to stop us from getting bored, this morning we were treated to hail - in addition to the more usual rain. Is there no end in sight..?

Now, rugby.. ah yes. Last night France were surprisingly hammered by the Wallabies 16-59 (and that's no misprint). I don't think I've ever seen such a one-sided points avalanche in such a short time involving two of the best sides in the world - in the second half the Aussies scored 46 points in 30 minutes (to France's 3). I started thinking this morning about who I support - as, I have to confess, last night I was supporting - wait for it - Australia. Friends in England have previously made jokey comments to the effect that, since moving here, I must surely now be supporting France - but that's not the case. My answer to them? Moving across the Channel hasn't changed a thing..

This is how it works:

When England play, I support them irrespective of who they're playing.

• When the other home nations play each other - I'd support Ireland first, with Scotland an extremely close second. 
• When any of the home nations (Wales, Scotland, Ireland) play a non-UK nation, I want them to win. Except for a France-Wales fixture - in which case I might support France (but doubtful).
• I support France against any northern hemisphere non-UK nation.
• Now introduce the southern hemisphere.. I'd support any northern hemisphere nation (except France) against any southern hemisphere nation
• Southern hemisphere nations playing each other? I'd support Argentina if they're playing - otherwise I couldn't give a toss.

In the event that I can't decide who to support, then I usually support whoever plays the most attractive rugby with the fewest fouls. Foul play automatically swings my allegiance to the sinned against team. I must confess that I've never been able to warm to the All Blacks. Look at the haka on YouTube from 20-30 years ago and it was just a bit of harmless folklore. Now? It's been "improved" upon such that it embarrasses me to watch a serious rugby nation like NZ having to resort to the haka as a psychological weapon.. something that their opponents are supposed to "respect" it.. Give me a break! It's laughable. I think their opponents should ignore all this hokum.. and simply continue with their warm-up, read a newspaper, have a burger or whatever.       

Complicated this armchair sport isn't it..?!

29th November 2010. Finally, at last, am I dreaming..? Blue skies are back today - but according to the forecast we're set for 3 days of rain again as of tomorrow. As it was finally dry, I took the dog for a long run along the beach at Anglet as he's been more or less housebound for the last few weeks. On the way home I saw that the Pyrenees - which form a backdrop to Bayonne - were covered in snow..

I read an article today about the precarious financial situation in some parts of the Eurozone.. I wish I could say that I understood it all (or even half of it) - but I don't. For countries to take part in monetary union they had to satisfy economic convergence criteria - public sector borrowing, budget deficit, inflation, interest rates and much more had to be held within agreed limits. I always thought that these were only the technical financial deal-breakers. How about the efficiency and productivity of the underlying economy? Here's a prescient quote taken from a very readable article written in 1997 by the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements:

There is a widespread belief in the economics profession that nominal convergence - as expressed by the convergence criteria - is less important for a successful monetary union than real convergence. Real convergence encompasses factors such as labour mobility, price and wage flexibility, exposure towards external shocks, industrial structures, and so on. Judged by these factors, convergence among future members of the EMU still has a long way to go. This is important because to be successful a European monetary policy depends exactly on these factors. Without a high degree of real convergence, monetary policy is bound to have different effects in different parts of the monetary union. The very idea of a single European monetary policy would thus become unrealistic. The ECB would come under political pressure to accommodate mutually incompatible wishes from different parts of the monetary union. The result could only be a less than optimal monetary policy and rising inflation and interest rates.

For purely selfish reasons (pensions paid in £££s), I'd welcome a return to the former European currencies - the D-mark, the franc, the guilder, the peseta et al.. When we arrived in France in September 2007, a £1 was worth a worthwhile 1.48€. Just a few short months later, the rate had plummeted to around 1.03€, which equates to a fall in value of 31% (ouch!). It now stands at 1.18€ - which is a 21% fall since September 2007 (OK, a slightly lesser ouch! but still painful). If the French franc were to be re-introduced and the £ returned to its former trading position against it - somewhere near £1 = ~10Ffrs then I for one would be delighted. I'm not holding my breath though about the possible demise of the euro and a return to those old currencies - I think there's too much political capital invested in the Euro for it to fail. If it does though, I think the first country in the eurozone to display any cracks from the strain of supporting other less efficient economies would be Germany.

Wouldn't you agree though - just purely on the look of the former currency - that a 50 franc note featuring Racine:

or a 10 franc note with Voltaire:

is far more stylish than this anonymous and utilitarian 50€ note (worthy of East Germany):

As Del Boy might have put it: "Je reste ma valise.."

1st December 2010. Back to rain again this morning. It's preferable to snow which is what much of the rest of the country has to contend with but I'm starting to get a bit fed up with it now.

99. Wet wet wet

22nd November 2010. More rain today. There's a tale of living in Italy in the paper today.. This classic anecdote caught my eye:

"Daniela and I were reporting the theft of her handbag at the local police station when the officer hunched over his old Olivetti asked if he could change the time of the crime to 10.40 pm rather than 10.30 because the number three key wasn’t working on his typewriter."

23rd November 2010. Yet more rain. Went to the local hairdressers where I combine a 6 weekly haircut with the opportunity to mangle the French language with A****y! Still raining when I came out..

24th November 2010. And yet more wet stuff.

I'm not much interested in pop music but every now and again I hear something on the radio that I realise has been haunting me for a decade (or three) and after a spot of inspired Googling, I usually find it. This 1980 track by the Korgis is a prime example:

 I once read that our musical tastes are set to whatever was a hit when we were 17.  So think back to what was around musically when you were 17 and tell me I'm wrong.  Early Beatles do it for me - that's all I'm saying!

     

25th November 2010. Thunder & shivering pooch & more rain during the night..

Lunch or dinner (or both!) at the Tour d'Argent in Paris with its unsurpassable views has long been an ambition for us. Duck is the speciality there and they have a legendary wine cellar. I spotted the following clip in today's Guardian to give you a taste.. (might be the closest I'll ever get!)

More information about La Tour d'Argent here.. but the description of how the famous caneton is prepared might/will put you off. It refers to the method of killing as strangulation - which implies a slow death - as opposed to the traditional wringing its neck method which I believe to be instantaneous.

Not somewhere I'd have chosen to dine alone either.. but I suppose that comes with the territory when you're a food critic (and your expenses will only cover a solo dinner). Also, I'm sufficiently 'Old School' to have worn a tie. I'm no fuddy-duddy but out of respect for my environment I would have worn one. I'm surprised that the maitre d' didn't lend him one - but then, we're talking about a Guardian journalist ..!

I'd not heard of Dehillerin, the kitchen supplier that he mentions early in the clip.. when in Paris, we normally come here to look at kitchen paraphernalia.  

(PS. I'll be glad when someone can make a film about Paris/France without an accordion in the background..)

Another deluge as we speak.. torrential rain audible through the double glazing. And I can't believe Christmas is only one month away. Happy Thanksgiving to any American readers..!

26th November 2010. Last night was enlivened by the sound of rain again.. at one point it sounded as if the house was moving slowly through a car wash.. (I know - "Good for the garden") It's crystal clear why lawns flourish in the UK - it has a mild climate, free from excessively scorching summers or seasonal deluges of rain that respectively burn the grass and then drown it. Just a gentle summer heat and a constant sprinkling of rain throughout the year to encourage its steady growth. I'm reminded of the apocryphal story of a visitor at Hampton Court who asked the gardener there the secret of the velvet lawns. He replied, "Roll it and cut it... roll it and cut it. For 400 years."

I've been able to get out of the house with the dawg in between rain showers but while the sky's black I look at a few other blogs (confessions of a sad owld git!) and there's a phrase that repeats itself across several of them.. namely "How to survive in France" - as though living in a Western European country equates somehow to living in the Mato Grosso or a time-share in Somalia, North Yemen or Baghdad. A day's travel from the nearest Waitrose.. eek! 

27th November 2010. No prizes for guessing what the weather is doing this morning.. yes, it's another downpour. That means no rowing for me. If it starts to rain during an outing - OK - but to go out in a deluge means a couple of hours of rowing soaking wet which, believe me, is less than fun.

Today sees the last of all but one of the autumn rugby internationals. If, as seems likely, they're played in wet conditions, we aren't going to see much in the way of running rugby with ball in hand. It starts this afternoon with Italy v Fiji, followed by England's heavyweight clash with the Springboks, then Scotland will be looking to continue their winning form against Samoa, then a huge game for a struggling Wales v the seemingly unstoppable All Blacks before finishing up this evening with France v Australia - a game in which Australia will definitely want to re-discover their form. Ireland face Argentina tomorrow.

Now I'm off to coat my undersides with some anti-rust compound..

98. View from the grassy knoll..

20th November 2010. Brace yourself for another update to the saga of my long-suffering lawn.. The far third of the lawn was looking pretty sorry for itself after the long hot dry summer (complete with hosepipe ban) so a few weeks ago I raked all the dead grass out, tugged out some more entangled roots that had infiltrated from nearby bushes and trees before spreading some fertiliser and then fresh soil on top. I raked it all level and let it stand so it could settle a little before starting Phase 2.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the only visible result from my repeated attempts at re-seeding has been the newly corpulent appearance of the local blackbird and starling population. They gather in the trees for 'sticky seconds' during each re-seeding effort before landing with a thump on the lawn the moment I've finished! I had to resort to putting a net over the newly seeded parts of the lawn but each time the resultant growth of new grass was short-lived.. the new grass would grow, appear to thrive for a while and then thin out and die off. (suggestions welcomed)

Yesterday, things moved up a gear and got serious. I went out and bought some rolls of turf. I imagine even our starlings would find it hard to abscond with a roll. I was surprised at how easy it was to lay and it all looks pretty impressive. For now...

I'll report back in a while. 

Another rugby fest today.. Wales struggled to find their stride against the big-hitting Fijians last night and that match finished a draw: 16-16. Other matches today: Australia (surprisingly beaten by Munster mid week) are in Italy; Scotland look to be in for a bruising encounter with the Springboks; a rejuvenated England will be looking to build on their performance of last week against the Wallabies when they face another impact team from the South Pacific - Samoa; Ireland take on the All Blacks and finally, France confront the Pumas (Argentina) - their bête noire - the Pumas having won 7 out of the last 10 encounters.

Living in France - yet another difference (part of an occasional series!) In the UK, greeting card shops are omnipresent and there are cards for just about every occasion you can think of - and some would say there are too many. In recent years in the UK, cards started appearing to celebrate occasions that I for one had no idea what they were about. Hannukah, Diwali, Showaddywaddy* and others.. Now, we have Happy Winter Holiday.. the mere reporting of which is guaranteed to turn the readership of the Daily Mail apoplectic..!

* Couldn't resist that - sorry!

All that confusion has come to an end here.. Card shops - a High Street staple in the UK - are thin on the ground in France. Christmas cards are rarely if ever sent - in France, it's more customary to send New Year cards instead. And while we're on the subject, finding a birthday card that says more than Bon Anniversaire ain't easy either. 

Thought for the Day: There's been a drastic decline in the world's bee population over the last 5 years and scientists are at a loss to explain it. Increased use of pesticides, mobile phones or mites from South East Asia are all possible factors. This has the potential to pose more of a threat to the continuance of life on Planet Earth as we know it than the global warming scenario. This is worth reading up on...

As a fully signed-up member of the Cheese Appreciation Society (Gannet Section), I've often thought it would be something to try to have a multi-course meal composed entirely of progressively stronger or more pungent cheeses, with your bread of choice and accompanied by a suitable wine in each case. The first course could be a selection of fairly mild cheeses - for me, I'd pick an unpasteurised ripe Brie de Meaux, to be served by attendants from the Confrérie des Compagnons du Brie de Meaux.. I'd be looking for a cool Bourgueil to drink with this (others may differ!). 

Brie de Meaux

For my main course (assuming we're being health-conscious and only having 3 courses!), I think I'd want a blue cheese such as a nice creamy Roquefort (mixed perhaps with a knob of butter).. and perhaps with this I'd be opening a Haut Medoc despite what the recommendations are here..

Roquefort

Assuming I'd make it this far, I'd want to finish face down blowing bubbles in - no prizes for guessing! - a ripe Vacherin Mont d'Or.. and/or a runny Camembert with either (or both!) a Pessac-Léognan or a Saint-Julien in attendance.. A good Madiran would also do the cheese justice.

Mont d'Or

After I'd wiped the crumbs from around my chops, a Greek coffee would re-invigorate the system (akin to being wired up to mains electricity!) before the knock-out blow of a Marc d'Irouleguy - guaranteed to set your eyeballs contra-rotating..

It would then be time for a brisk pull-through of my main arteries with a Dyno-Rod followed by a quick half hour in an oxygen tent..! Then home for tea and medals..

What do you think... brilliant idea or what..?!

Thinking about it, if the idea was carried through among say 6-8 French people around the table, the process of obtaining a consensus for the selection of each cheese with a matching wine would be problematic.. and that's being tactful! Imagine trying to agree one or two cheeses and wines per course that would meet with general approval. Exactly! Notwithstanding that though, I'd still like to try it.. Madame could be persuaded I'm sure..

21st November 2010. In the Autumn rugby internationals, congratulations are due to the Scots, captained by Rory Lawson, for a superb win over the world champions South Africa yesterday. It wasn't the prettiest of games played as it was in sweeping rain which led to handling errors on both sides. But - it was there to be won and fortunately Scotland seized their opportunity. As unexpected as it was welcome, it will give them a mighty boost in confidence. And Rory's grandfather* would have been tickled pink by this performance! Here's tae ye, Scotland! Well done lads!
* The legendary Bill McLaren..
The other results were more predictable: Australia, England, New Zealand & France all won against Italy, Samoa, Ireland and Argentina respectively.

Have you noticed that reporting of Icelandic volcanic eruptions has reduced to zero..? Wonder what's happening up there..? Here's a powerful reminder of Nature at work - you might have to wait for the images to load or, if you're in a hurry, click on the image to see the animation:

Stop Press: Curious story.. We'll be hearing next that his shelves of smoked & strangely mellow duck have been stripped bare!

97. First signs of Christmas

15th November 2010. Another addition to my "What makes life worth living list.."

  

It was a beautiful sunny morning today so I walked the pooch down into town and along the river bank only to find the Christmas lights being erected.. and all the chalets in front of the Hotel de Ville are in place ready for the Christmas market.. Christmas has come up quickly this year..

Madame has said she is going to make a Christmas pudding. I must be honest, she made one once in England and it was right up there with one of my dear old Mum's (the benchmark).. In the opinion of your correspondent, a good Christmas pud is the true taste of Christmas. When I was a kid, my father would drench the steaming pudding with whisky or brandy (from the bottle) which he'd then try to ignite - with varying degrees of success. Not so long ago I read that the thing to do is to pre-heat the spirits before pouring over the pudding.. and then all it takes is one match to set the whole thing alight.. I tried it and it works spectacularly well!

The other day we booked a holiday in Andalusia for next Spring - something to take our minds off the wet weather we're currently stuck with..

 

18th November 2010. Meanwhile,  life goes on - despite the frequent rain showers that have been sweeping in from the Bay of Biscay for the last week. Normalement there's something that catches my eye every day but it's rare that I have a camera to hand. The other day was an exception however when I spotted this sign on a gate..

For all you Francophiles out there, you'll be pleased to hear that London now has its very own French radio station.. I know it's been tried before but that was during the war and it wasn't for purposes of entertainment. It's worth looking at the link above - not least so that you may wince at the bluntness of some of the questions (how former President Giscard d'Estaing retained his composure I'll never know).

No, this new French radio in London is completely different and long overdue. I'd like to think that it might help to dispel the fog that traditionally obscures the view of the opposite side of the Channel - but I'm not holding my breath!