Archive for the 'France' Category
A******** is in E****** now
According to this BBC web site article, the UK builds the smallest homes in Europe. According to the graphic (scroll down), Australia is in Europe now.
When you read stuff like this, it’s so depressing. I guess we’d feel better if Japan was part of Europe, too. I can’t imagine their houses are any bigger than [...]
Filed under: France, anxiety, food, happiness | Leave a Comment
Blast from the Past: Avignon
Download link: Avignon
I wanted to write a road song, but without it becoming “2 4 6 8 Motorway” or some kind of truckers’ lament. This was inspired by a drive to the South of France a few years ago, which did indeed involve a stop at a hotel near Dijon for an overnight rest.
I’ve recorded [...]
Filed under: Entertainment, France, Music, Nostalgia, Travel, countryside, happiness, motoring, summer | Leave a Comment
Christmas Telly
I don’t watch telly much when I’m in France. It’s not just because it’s all in French, but also because French TV just doesn’t seem to evolve quickly enough. They’re still doing the same peak time quiz shows they were doing 10 years ago, and those interminable panel programmes in which minor French celebrities make [...]
Filed under: BBC, Entertainment, France, Nostalgia, SF, TV, Television, Travel, arts, media studies, sci-fi, science fiction | Leave a Comment
Tags: steampunk
C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s
A lot of people display surprise and/or disbelief when they hear from me that I dislike Festivus. Further to yesterday’s post, I’ve been inundated with messages from people calling me a miserable old git, and at this time of year I constantly come under pressure to “cheer up” to “celebrate” and to “get into the [...]
Filed under: Family, France, anxiety, autobiography, being chippy, happiness | 2 Comments
Tags: Festivus
F*cking Big Tent
Having escaped the tense and frustrating atmosphere of the in-law’s house this summer for a 6-day camping expedition in a borrowed tent, I allowed my wife to convince me that it would be a good idea to start camping more regularly.
I’m divided in my opinion about camping. On the one hand, I truly admire some [...]
Filed under: Arrested Development, Family, France, Travel, anxiety | 2 Comments
Tags: camping, equipment, gear, outdoor, tents
Great Bakes
Foodies like to rave about artisan bakers, which is all very well if you happen to have one round the corner – but what about the rest of us?
Last year in France, my brother-in-law informed me that the local bakery in the village near where we were staying (it happened to be in the Dordogne) [...]
Filed under: France, Recipes, Travel, food | Leave a Comment
Tags: baking, banette, bread, France
Artist’s Impression
I’ll be getting my new car tomorrow, my year-old Golf. Artist’s impression above, done by my daughter on a flea market French etch-a-sketch thingy. Quite clever really – she was inspired by the Mini Clubman ads, which I suspect weren’t really done on an etch-a-sketch or indeed a Telecran.
Today I had to mow the lawn, [...]
Filed under: France, Travel, beer, happiness, motoring | Leave a Comment
Tags: alcohol-free, Alsace, beer, France, lager, low-alcohol, Meteor, non-alcoholic
super, originally uploaded by mcmrbt.
Just got back from a week on the island of Noirmoutier, off the Atlantic coast of France. Last night, because we’d been avoiding French-style seafood for a week (huitres, moules-frites, fruits de la mer etc.), we decided to have a proper fish supper. Two large cod, two medium, three large chippy-chips. [...]
Filed under: Culture, Family, Flickr, France, Travel, anxiety, being chippy, food, omens and portents, summer | Leave a Comment
Tags: economy, fish, fishermen, fuel crisis, fuel prices, seafood, Supermarkets
Carla, O Carla
So I was asleep last night and I heard a tapping at my window. Tap tap tap, it went. I woke up and stared at the ceiling for a moment, not sure what had woken me. Tap tap tap. I got up and went to look outside, and who do you think it was? Only [...]
Filed under: Family, France, Middle Age, happiness, searches, secret girlfriends | 4 Comments
It’s Pancake Super-Tuesday
Photo by celesteh.
We’ve booked our holiday this year, we’re renting a place on the island of Noirmoutier, which is my fantasy place to live if I won the lottery. I know exactly the beach I’d build my whalebone shack on. Anyway, we thought the price for summer rentals was super-excessive, so we decided to go [...]
Filed under: France, SF, arts, omens and portents, sci-fi, science fiction, summer | 2 Comments
