Thursday, June 30, 2005
Missing Blog?
Thought I saved a blog entry fro 19-25 June, but obviously not! So ... what was I doing that week? Um, it was very hot, I remember that, but I did manage to do quite a few little bike rides: either before 8am or after 9pm though, as any other time of day was just too hot!! We spent Friday in Amboise - market, chateau and Clos Luce (where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last 3 years of his life) - all very pleasant, but again, the heat was just too much!! And on Saturday night we went to Chaumont to watch the Feux de St Jean - basically a summer festival held around the time of the summer solstice, to welcome in the summer, which means a local BBQ, dodgy folk band, and a 20ft bonfire that was pretty spectacular, but wisely constructed out of some plant/tree that burnt very quickly - good job as they didn't light it til about 11pm, and after we sat mesmorised by the flames for half an hour, once it was burnt to the ground, the locals then got on with bopping the night away to dodgy 70s & 80s Uk/American music!
PS - Reading Corner - have finished the Barney Thomson series by Douglas Lindsey - very very good!!!
Thought I saved a blog entry fro 19-25 June, but obviously not! So ... what was I doing that week? Um, it was very hot, I remember that, but I did manage to do quite a few little bike rides: either before 8am or after 9pm though, as any other time of day was just too hot!! We spent Friday in Amboise - market, chateau and Clos Luce (where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last 3 years of his life) - all very pleasant, but again, the heat was just too much!! And on Saturday night we went to Chaumont to watch the Feux de St Jean - basically a summer festival held around the time of the summer solstice, to welcome in the summer, which means a local BBQ, dodgy folk band, and a 20ft bonfire that was pretty spectacular, but wisely constructed out of some plant/tree that burnt very quickly - good job as they didn't light it til about 11pm, and after we sat mesmorised by the flames for half an hour, once it was burnt to the ground, the locals then got on with bopping the night away to dodgy 70s & 80s Uk/American music!
PS - Reading Corner - have finished the Barney Thomson series by Douglas Lindsey - very very good!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Reading corner:
Read Murphy’s Revenge by Colin Bateman (has been dramatized on TV) and Barney Thomson & The Face of Death
Boo-yaka-sha!!
It appears that the Staines Possee have made their way across the channel as Ali G was spotted just north of Loches on Saturday – well actually it was a sign “Allee G d’Amboise" but it made us giggle!! Apparently the abbreviation referred to the Allee St Georges D’Amboise.
Road Trip!
We had a bit of a road trip on Saturday – after I’d taken guests to the station and Gerwyn had prepped a couple of bikes, we had nothing to do for the rest of the day, but the heat really made cycling a silly option. So we jumped in the van and headed south to Loches… there is a medieval citadel which is really quite impressive, and the castle was where Joan of Arc convinced the Dauphin to go to Reims to be crowned king. It was also the retreat of Agnes of Sorel, mistress to Charles VII – the first woman to officially be known as the King’s Mistress!! As well as the castle, there is a “Donjon” – which actually translates as keep, but did also contain a dungeon, and was in fact used as a prison up until 1926.
Ranworth Tower revisited!!
The Keep was pretty impressive: 36 metres high, and walls 3.5m thick. Only the outside 4 walls remain, plus staircases, which naturally means you can climb to the top!! The first staircase was an old, narrow, stone affair, hugging the walls of the building – the purpose being that if anyone managed to invade the keep and get in the front door, it was very difficult to get up to the first floor, and the inhabitants can easily throw things at you: stones, arrows, boiling oil – the usual stuff! From then on up, the end staircases had been rebuilt and additional grating style platforms (you know – the ones that have holes in so you can see straight down and feel like you’re not actually walking on anything!!!) had been placed on each level, where previously there would have been floor… I have to say I’m very proud of myself as I managed to gingerly walk out onto every platform bar the last (well I was up 36m at this point and it was a little bit windy!!) and I even took some photos (extra tricky as this meant not being able to hold on to anything!!) Despite the slight element of fear (don't think Gerwyn noticed!!), it was pretty amazing to see a 5 floor building without the floors!!
We then continued on our road trip and headed through “Montresor”, as its name (My Treasure) suggests, designated one of the prettiest towns in France. I have to say I’m not sure I’d agree, but it was certainly pleasant enough. Then on through Valencay, and up to Selles-sur-Cher (famous for goat’s cheese), and then we decided we’d go all the way up to Blois for dinner! It was 7pm by the time we arrived, so we had a wander around the streets and then found a proper Indian restaurant for dinner!! A bit of a treat, but we decided we’d earned it after walking for miles, climbing a trillion steps and not giving in to silly phobias!!!
PS - did I mention it's boiling!!!
Read Murphy’s Revenge by Colin Bateman (has been dramatized on TV) and Barney Thomson & The Face of Death
Boo-yaka-sha!!
It appears that the Staines Possee have made their way across the channel as Ali G was spotted just north of Loches on Saturday – well actually it was a sign “Allee G d’Amboise" but it made us giggle!! Apparently the abbreviation referred to the Allee St Georges D’Amboise.
Road Trip!
We had a bit of a road trip on Saturday – after I’d taken guests to the station and Gerwyn had prepped a couple of bikes, we had nothing to do for the rest of the day, but the heat really made cycling a silly option. So we jumped in the van and headed south to Loches… there is a medieval citadel which is really quite impressive, and the castle was where Joan of Arc convinced the Dauphin to go to Reims to be crowned king. It was also the retreat of Agnes of Sorel, mistress to Charles VII – the first woman to officially be known as the King’s Mistress!! As well as the castle, there is a “Donjon” – which actually translates as keep, but did also contain a dungeon, and was in fact used as a prison up until 1926.
Ranworth Tower revisited!!
The Keep was pretty impressive: 36 metres high, and walls 3.5m thick. Only the outside 4 walls remain, plus staircases, which naturally means you can climb to the top!! The first staircase was an old, narrow, stone affair, hugging the walls of the building – the purpose being that if anyone managed to invade the keep and get in the front door, it was very difficult to get up to the first floor, and the inhabitants can easily throw things at you: stones, arrows, boiling oil – the usual stuff! From then on up, the end staircases had been rebuilt and additional grating style platforms (you know – the ones that have holes in so you can see straight down and feel like you’re not actually walking on anything!!!) had been placed on each level, where previously there would have been floor… I have to say I’m very proud of myself as I managed to gingerly walk out onto every platform bar the last (well I was up 36m at this point and it was a little bit windy!!) and I even took some photos (extra tricky as this meant not being able to hold on to anything!!) Despite the slight element of fear (don't think Gerwyn noticed!!), it was pretty amazing to see a 5 floor building without the floors!!
We then continued on our road trip and headed through “Montresor”, as its name (My Treasure) suggests, designated one of the prettiest towns in France. I have to say I’m not sure I’d agree, but it was certainly pleasant enough. Then on through Valencay, and up to Selles-sur-Cher (famous for goat’s cheese), and then we decided we’d go all the way up to Blois for dinner! It was 7pm by the time we arrived, so we had a wander around the streets and then found a proper Indian restaurant for dinner!! A bit of a treat, but we decided we’d earned it after walking for miles, climbing a trillion steps and not giving in to silly phobias!!!
PS - did I mention it's boiling!!!
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Reading corner:
Well, it’s been just under a week since I last wrote, and that’s partly because I’ve been devouring books! I quickly finished The Cutting Edge of Barney Thomson, which I really enjoyed, and have also read All fun and games, until someone looses and eye, by Christopher Brookmyre – and again really enjoyed that! There’s a few more books left in the house, and Gerwyn has placed an order for some new stuff with Amazon, so I think we’ll be able to open a library by the end of the summer!!
We must be getting old…
As Tuesday was a major bags run day, Gerwyn suggested we treat ourselves to a MacDonalds for lunch, as the Amboise one was conveniently situated for this. We sat outside to eat our burgers, but after we’d finished we both agreed that it wasn’t quite as good as we remembered it, and in fact we’d have much rather had our usual lunch of baguette, salad, ham etc !! We must be getting old if we’re going off MacDonalds!!
Tuna & Chickpea patties
One of the recipe books Kate got me for my birthday has a lovely recipe for tuna and chickpea patties – the only thing is they don’t stick together!! Not surprising really, as the only liquid in the recipe is lemon juice. But despite my efforts to bind the mixture with egg and flour, they still fell apart the minute you waved the slice at them….. Will have to figure out how to rectify this, as they were quite tasty! And suggestions welcomed!! (Sorry, you’ll have to email me as I’ve still not got round to working out how to get Comments on my blog! – Any help on that would be appreciated too!!)
Perfecting the art of pottering….
Have been trying to think of anything exciting I’ve been doing over the last few days to tell you about, but really it’s all been pretty mundane stuff: meeting guests, moving bags, going to the boulangerie for bread and the occasional croissant (almond chocolate ones being my favourite!) So it seems that we have been perfecting the art of pottering! As you will have gathered, we spend quite a bit of time reading (although Gerwyn’s post lunch read usually turns into a post lunch nap!) It’s too hot after lunch to be outside working on bikes. We’re also brushing up on our scrabble skills, courtesy of the travel scrabble that Kate got me for Xmas, but last night’s game was a bit frustrating as Gerwyn insisted on picking all the consonants, whilst I repeatedly picked the vowels! I may soon start insisting on including French words, to help Gerwyn increase his vocabulary of course, but also it is a much easier way of getting rid of your last few letters (je, me, tu, te, se, il, lui, sa…need I go on??)
A new fragrance: Eau de WD Spirit
Whilst Gerwyn was taking guests to the train station this morning, I spent my time working on a new perfume – a combination of WD 40 and White Spirit – a little overpowering I’ll admit, but unlike many perfumes, the fragrance doesn’t disappear 5 minutes after you’ve put it on…. In fact quite the opposite… once you get a whiff that’s all you can smell for the rest of the day!!
The outcome of my perfume research may not have been that successful, but I do now have half a dozen bikes that are ready to be used!
Well, it’s been just under a week since I last wrote, and that’s partly because I’ve been devouring books! I quickly finished The Cutting Edge of Barney Thomson, which I really enjoyed, and have also read All fun and games, until someone looses and eye, by Christopher Brookmyre – and again really enjoyed that! There’s a few more books left in the house, and Gerwyn has placed an order for some new stuff with Amazon, so I think we’ll be able to open a library by the end of the summer!!
We must be getting old…
As Tuesday was a major bags run day, Gerwyn suggested we treat ourselves to a MacDonalds for lunch, as the Amboise one was conveniently situated for this. We sat outside to eat our burgers, but after we’d finished we both agreed that it wasn’t quite as good as we remembered it, and in fact we’d have much rather had our usual lunch of baguette, salad, ham etc !! We must be getting old if we’re going off MacDonalds!!
Tuna & Chickpea patties
One of the recipe books Kate got me for my birthday has a lovely recipe for tuna and chickpea patties – the only thing is they don’t stick together!! Not surprising really, as the only liquid in the recipe is lemon juice. But despite my efforts to bind the mixture with egg and flour, they still fell apart the minute you waved the slice at them….. Will have to figure out how to rectify this, as they were quite tasty! And suggestions welcomed!! (Sorry, you’ll have to email me as I’ve still not got round to working out how to get Comments on my blog! – Any help on that would be appreciated too!!)
Perfecting the art of pottering….
Have been trying to think of anything exciting I’ve been doing over the last few days to tell you about, but really it’s all been pretty mundane stuff: meeting guests, moving bags, going to the boulangerie for bread and the occasional croissant (almond chocolate ones being my favourite!) So it seems that we have been perfecting the art of pottering! As you will have gathered, we spend quite a bit of time reading (although Gerwyn’s post lunch read usually turns into a post lunch nap!) It’s too hot after lunch to be outside working on bikes. We’re also brushing up on our scrabble skills, courtesy of the travel scrabble that Kate got me for Xmas, but last night’s game was a bit frustrating as Gerwyn insisted on picking all the consonants, whilst I repeatedly picked the vowels! I may soon start insisting on including French words, to help Gerwyn increase his vocabulary of course, but also it is a much easier way of getting rid of your last few letters (je, me, tu, te, se, il, lui, sa…need I go on??)
A new fragrance: Eau de WD Spirit
Whilst Gerwyn was taking guests to the train station this morning, I spent my time working on a new perfume – a combination of WD 40 and White Spirit – a little overpowering I’ll admit, but unlike many perfumes, the fragrance doesn’t disappear 5 minutes after you’ve put it on…. In fact quite the opposite… once you get a whiff that’s all you can smell for the rest of the day!!
The outcome of my perfume research may not have been that successful, but I do now have half a dozen bikes that are ready to be used!
Monday, June 06, 2005
Just another manic Monday....
Well, not to start with it wasn’t! Gerwyn had a lie in whilst I was woken up by the bin men at 6am (you see you just can’t escape them anywhere!!) and then had to contend with my stomach complaining about goodness knows what (probably too much rich food and wine!) for the next couple of hours, before eventually getting out of bed! We then headed out on the hunt for a new hotel for next year, and found this really quaint one the far side of Vouvray, but perhaps a little bit too far away – we got enough info to report back to HQ, so job done! And then this afternoon was spent doing a few jobs, reading and snoozing, and then loitering for the manic rush that is about to hit: we have 14 people arriving this evening, almost all self-drivers, meaning we have no control over, or idea when they will arrive. And the reason that is hassle is that we have to brief them all tomorrow morning at 9am – so really wanted to get 1 briefing done tonight, as trying to split the 2 of us between 3 places will frankly be messy and painful!! So once all of one tour’s guests had finally arrived, Gerwyn went to brief them, but before he could do the puncture demo and give out bikes, a thunderstorm had positioned itself directly above us, and the heavens opened and remained that way for a good hour or so!! Thus meaning we still have to divide our time between 3 places tomorrow morning!
Reading corner:
Well, I finished Zane Radcliffe’s The Killer’s Guide to Iceland. I’ve read other books by him: London Irish and Big Jessie – I really enjoyed those 2 but I seemed to be over half way into the latest book before I actually started to enjoy it and find it difficult to put down… maybe it was all those weird Icelandic words that just made it more difficult to get into? But nevertheless, a pleasant enough way to while away a few hours. I am now reading The Cutting Edge of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay – I didn’t read the first one (The long midnight of Barney Thomson) which Gerwyn has at home in Swindon, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference, and I’ve had to tear myself away from that to write this!! So I’ll leave you and get back to the book and let you know what I think once I’ve finished it!!
Well, not to start with it wasn’t! Gerwyn had a lie in whilst I was woken up by the bin men at 6am (you see you just can’t escape them anywhere!!) and then had to contend with my stomach complaining about goodness knows what (probably too much rich food and wine!) for the next couple of hours, before eventually getting out of bed! We then headed out on the hunt for a new hotel for next year, and found this really quaint one the far side of Vouvray, but perhaps a little bit too far away – we got enough info to report back to HQ, so job done! And then this afternoon was spent doing a few jobs, reading and snoozing, and then loitering for the manic rush that is about to hit: we have 14 people arriving this evening, almost all self-drivers, meaning we have no control over, or idea when they will arrive. And the reason that is hassle is that we have to brief them all tomorrow morning at 9am – so really wanted to get 1 briefing done tonight, as trying to split the 2 of us between 3 places will frankly be messy and painful!! So once all of one tour’s guests had finally arrived, Gerwyn went to brief them, but before he could do the puncture demo and give out bikes, a thunderstorm had positioned itself directly above us, and the heavens opened and remained that way for a good hour or so!! Thus meaning we still have to divide our time between 3 places tomorrow morning!
Reading corner:
Well, I finished Zane Radcliffe’s The Killer’s Guide to Iceland. I’ve read other books by him: London Irish and Big Jessie – I really enjoyed those 2 but I seemed to be over half way into the latest book before I actually started to enjoy it and find it difficult to put down… maybe it was all those weird Icelandic words that just made it more difficult to get into? But nevertheless, a pleasant enough way to while away a few hours. I am now reading The Cutting Edge of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay – I didn’t read the first one (The long midnight of Barney Thomson) which Gerwyn has at home in Swindon, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference, and I’ve had to tear myself away from that to write this!! So I’ll leave you and get back to the book and let you know what I think once I’ve finished it!!
Sunday, June 05, 2005
This is what it’s all about!
Saturday evening we had an hour to kill before dinner, so I decided we were going for a bike ride… Gerwyn initially wasn’t too keen, but I pointed out that he’d been lying on the sofa reading/sleeping whilst I’d gone to the station to get guests, and he couldn’t lie on the sofa for the next hour too! So we hopped on our bikes and set off… we had a lovely ride up the hill behind Chisseaux, and then did a circuit back down into Chissay (the next village along) and then crossed over the River Cher and into a town called St Georges. It was about 6.45pm by this stage, and we were cycling through the main road of the village when we spotted a wine degustation place – or rather we spotted the up-turned barrel on the pavement, displaying various different wines, and a small door in the side of a stone wall! We ventured in, and I explained that we were out cycling and we didn’t have any money on us, but the lady gladly offered us the chance to taste some wines! So we had a chat with her tried a couple of whites, a rose and a couple of reds….all of which we liked! And then we thanked her, and teetered off on our bikes home!! Now, on Sunday, as we really did like the wines (particularly the whites which we’ve not been overly keen on so far), we went back to buy some ….she again offered us the chance to re-taste the wines, but we politely declined, and asked for what we wanted, and then she got out a little aperitif – rose wine mixed with pink grapefruit liqueur – very light and summery and delicious! – So we got a bottle of that too!! And then I asked her about these aperitifs; if it was something particular to the region, or her own speciality, and she explained that she makes various kir aperitifs: red wine with different red fruit liqueurs, white wine with lemon and martini – which we also tried as she had some - and she’s told us to keep coming back to try the other ones!!
Cycle for your supper!
We decided to risk the rather grey looking clouds and cycle into Montrichard for supper – it took us 20 minutes, along the straight, flat main road, but then as is typically in the sticks, we were rather limited on our choice of restaurants, the majority preferring to remain closed on Sundays and Mondays (or any other day that takes their fancy!!) until high-season. Nevertheless we found the dungeon restaurant: thankfully not actually in the castle dungeons, but just off the main square, near the river, and had a pleasant meal, and managed to cycle back in the dark!!
Saturday evening we had an hour to kill before dinner, so I decided we were going for a bike ride… Gerwyn initially wasn’t too keen, but I pointed out that he’d been lying on the sofa reading/sleeping whilst I’d gone to the station to get guests, and he couldn’t lie on the sofa for the next hour too! So we hopped on our bikes and set off… we had a lovely ride up the hill behind Chisseaux, and then did a circuit back down into Chissay (the next village along) and then crossed over the River Cher and into a town called St Georges. It was about 6.45pm by this stage, and we were cycling through the main road of the village when we spotted a wine degustation place – or rather we spotted the up-turned barrel on the pavement, displaying various different wines, and a small door in the side of a stone wall! We ventured in, and I explained that we were out cycling and we didn’t have any money on us, but the lady gladly offered us the chance to taste some wines! So we had a chat with her tried a couple of whites, a rose and a couple of reds….all of which we liked! And then we thanked her, and teetered off on our bikes home!! Now, on Sunday, as we really did like the wines (particularly the whites which we’ve not been overly keen on so far), we went back to buy some ….she again offered us the chance to re-taste the wines, but we politely declined, and asked for what we wanted, and then she got out a little aperitif – rose wine mixed with pink grapefruit liqueur – very light and summery and delicious! – So we got a bottle of that too!! And then I asked her about these aperitifs; if it was something particular to the region, or her own speciality, and she explained that she makes various kir aperitifs: red wine with different red fruit liqueurs, white wine with lemon and martini – which we also tried as she had some - and she’s told us to keep coming back to try the other ones!!
Cycle for your supper!
We decided to risk the rather grey looking clouds and cycle into Montrichard for supper – it took us 20 minutes, along the straight, flat main road, but then as is typically in the sticks, we were rather limited on our choice of restaurants, the majority preferring to remain closed on Sundays and Mondays (or any other day that takes their fancy!!) until high-season. Nevertheless we found the dungeon restaurant: thankfully not actually in the castle dungeons, but just off the main square, near the river, and had a pleasant meal, and managed to cycle back in the dark!!
Friday, June 03, 2005
Well I suppose I’d better do some work….
Apparently I am meant to be doing work whilst out in France. The fact that “apparently” has appeared in this sentence is good, because it must mean that I have chilled out at last and am just ambling through each day, rather than thinking “work, work, work”, which is what I tend to do!
I have to say, up until now, we have had things relatively easy, despite having to set up a deal with a new restaurant and re-write routes, but in as far as guest numbers, it has not exactly been a baptism of fire! Tonight was the first time, for example, that we have needed to be “in 3 places at once” to debrief guests who are departing tomorrow…. But we managed. Soon I will have to start doing the cycle tour briefings: until now I have briefed the walkers, and Gerwyn has done the cycle briefs - the only difference is having to give a puncture demo and give out the bikes and make any adjustments that are needed to handle bars, seats etc….basically stuff I have not done since the training course back in Cheshire, and as with anything, the longer you leave it between training and practice, the more nervous you get!! So my first cycle briefing is on Sunday morning – it’ll be fine I’m sure! (note to self: must not drink too much wine on Saturday night!!)
Mmmm…food!
I am continuing to enjoy cooking – Gerwyn is also taking his turn in the kitchen, and we are both working our way through the recipe books that Kate sent me for my birthday, and starting to get more confident in just making stuff up! I think for lunch tomorrow I’m going to do us a Croque-Monsieur – can you believe that the BBC cook book Kate got me has got recipes for both a croque and tartiflette!!!
It is really nice being able to get fresh, local produce: us Brits have got so used to being able to get stuff from the freezer, or a greenhouse, or imported from miles away – whereas everyone round here really does buy stuff that is in season: it even appears on the news!! Currently, it is asparagus and radish season. In a couple of weeks we can expect local peaches, rather than imported Spanish ones! And we are eating lots of salmon – it just seems so tasty, and relatively cheap…
Politics….
But apparently the French feel the cost of living has gone up. Definitely the euro was a chance to round up prices, and the exchange rate seems to have meant that the round up was noticeable! But also they have this 35 hour week thing, which means they are restricted on how many hours they work, and therefore to get the end product to the shelves, they employ more people or it takes longer, and therefore costs more…so whilst the referendum vote was a resounding 54% Non with 70% turnout, they were not in fact voting against Europe, but instead voting against internal politics!
Local festivals…
A cheese rolling festival in the UK has been making headlines recently on French news – they find it amusing that we roll a cheese down a hill and then run after it, at some point tumbling down, but commenting that the number of fractured bones was not too high!! Well, if they think we are strange, this weekend there is a “ham on the bone” festival in the neighbouring village! Might have to pop along to see what’s going on….they’re obviously not too worried about mad cow disease!!!
Apparently I am meant to be doing work whilst out in France. The fact that “apparently” has appeared in this sentence is good, because it must mean that I have chilled out at last and am just ambling through each day, rather than thinking “work, work, work”, which is what I tend to do!
I have to say, up until now, we have had things relatively easy, despite having to set up a deal with a new restaurant and re-write routes, but in as far as guest numbers, it has not exactly been a baptism of fire! Tonight was the first time, for example, that we have needed to be “in 3 places at once” to debrief guests who are departing tomorrow…. But we managed. Soon I will have to start doing the cycle tour briefings: until now I have briefed the walkers, and Gerwyn has done the cycle briefs - the only difference is having to give a puncture demo and give out the bikes and make any adjustments that are needed to handle bars, seats etc….basically stuff I have not done since the training course back in Cheshire, and as with anything, the longer you leave it between training and practice, the more nervous you get!! So my first cycle briefing is on Sunday morning – it’ll be fine I’m sure! (note to self: must not drink too much wine on Saturday night!!)
Mmmm…food!
I am continuing to enjoy cooking – Gerwyn is also taking his turn in the kitchen, and we are both working our way through the recipe books that Kate sent me for my birthday, and starting to get more confident in just making stuff up! I think for lunch tomorrow I’m going to do us a Croque-Monsieur – can you believe that the BBC cook book Kate got me has got recipes for both a croque and tartiflette!!!
It is really nice being able to get fresh, local produce: us Brits have got so used to being able to get stuff from the freezer, or a greenhouse, or imported from miles away – whereas everyone round here really does buy stuff that is in season: it even appears on the news!! Currently, it is asparagus and radish season. In a couple of weeks we can expect local peaches, rather than imported Spanish ones! And we are eating lots of salmon – it just seems so tasty, and relatively cheap…
Politics….
But apparently the French feel the cost of living has gone up. Definitely the euro was a chance to round up prices, and the exchange rate seems to have meant that the round up was noticeable! But also they have this 35 hour week thing, which means they are restricted on how many hours they work, and therefore to get the end product to the shelves, they employ more people or it takes longer, and therefore costs more…so whilst the referendum vote was a resounding 54% Non with 70% turnout, they were not in fact voting against Europe, but instead voting against internal politics!
Local festivals…
A cheese rolling festival in the UK has been making headlines recently on French news – they find it amusing that we roll a cheese down a hill and then run after it, at some point tumbling down, but commenting that the number of fractured bones was not too high!! Well, if they think we are strange, this weekend there is a “ham on the bone” festival in the neighbouring village! Might have to pop along to see what’s going on….they’re obviously not too worried about mad cow disease!!!
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.....
Well actually, we've been. We had a few free hours after lunch today and went to "Beauval Zoo Parc". It is a very important zoo in France, participating in over 60 EU projects relating to animal welfare, conservation, breeding etc. They had a safari section with big cats, elephants, giraffe, rhino etc, and Australian area with Kangaroo, wallaby, koala... birds of all shapes and sizes - right up to Andean Condors! - snakes, crocodiles, monkeys, gorillas..... they also put on a show, courtesy of well-trained birds of prey, and the obligatory sealions jumping through hoops! Actually, it was a really good day out, and all the animals looked very content.
Well actually, we've been. We had a few free hours after lunch today and went to "Beauval Zoo Parc". It is a very important zoo in France, participating in over 60 EU projects relating to animal welfare, conservation, breeding etc. They had a safari section with big cats, elephants, giraffe, rhino etc, and Australian area with Kangaroo, wallaby, koala... birds of all shapes and sizes - right up to Andean Condors! - snakes, crocodiles, monkeys, gorillas..... they also put on a show, courtesy of well-trained birds of prey, and the obligatory sealions jumping through hoops! Actually, it was a really good day out, and all the animals looked very content.
