When is summer over?

Now when I go to Bordeaux the shops have coats on the rails, radiators and insulation
are on special offer in the Brico publicity. I have just returned from England and every
clothes shop has the school winter uniform in the windows.

We are told to eat seasonally, live seasonally but why can't we shop seasonally?

Soon the night markets will end, and meeting everyone will come to an end for another year.
I miss most the social life that is so easy in the summer. BBQ's, crisp white wine and salads.
When I asked someone if they want anything from an English supermarket they said get them some Lemsip

The weather says 30 degrees for the next few days.

I was going to the beach today

There is nothing more to say.

Seasonal produce

I have been taking an active interest in the produce available
at the local markets. Between the locals Miramont seems to be
more farmer orientated and I also confess to being taken with
some of the gadgets and plants on offer. We British are often
said to be gastronomic bystanders when it comes to French cuisine,
however having seen Donkey meat sausages at a market recently
I have my doubts.

Autumn

Sure sign of Autumn approaching. X factor on TV.

Sure sign it's still summer as mozzies are still coming in when the windows

are open and the lights are on.

Sure sign of too many oysters and local wine and getting older.

Staying in wanting peace and quiet on a Saturday night

Soggy weekend in June

Looked out of my window and I can see a soggy weekend in June.

There is a Medieval fete in Montflanquin, Brocante in Duras and

a wine festival in Eymet. The calendar says August 15th!

A holiday day in France and it feels like I want to light the fire, make a hot

drink and sit and watch the Olympics.

Perhaps the sun will come out later.

Gymnastics reminds me of the weather. It was dull yesterday.

Dordogne

We have been traveling around 'our' department, especially as the weather has been cooler in the past few days.

Interestingly the northern Perigord towns and villages are a startling contrast to the Eymet and 'our' locality.

For one 'we' being both local farmers and residents have obviously seen more sun, the grass is considerably

less green here (and we buy less sun cream I suppose) however as the purpose of the trip was property seeking which is

always because the "grass is always greener", we have concluded it is much warmer and more pleasant here!

Sarlat was a particularly attractive area but like mid wales and just as green.

When asking at a brasserie are there lots of English here we were told no, Dutch residents actually.

So there we are. It may have rained for considerably more than 40 days and 40 nights this year but we have

more 'southern' weather here and as one of the reasons we left the UK was appalling weather and lack of summer

we have concluded that we got it right the first time!

Footnote. We are in for cloudy weather looking at the forecast so maybe the Biarritz blogger is looming!

Congés

Funny how year in year out 'Les vacances or En Congés" seem to manage to come

along at the worst possible moment.

If you need an electrician, an appliance breaks or visit a specialist you can almost

guarantee it coincides with a holiday break!

I think that in time we will head for the mountains or the coast just as the French do,

it would make life so much simpler then all the repairs could wait.

With all on holiday it seems strange there is no=one to talk to but the factures still arrive!

Olympics

Worldwide tonight we will see history in the making.

The 2008 Olympic opening ceremony will dominate our TV screens, our radio and our newspapers.

The nationalities of the world unite in competition, to prove the best and entertain with the worst.

Remembering the successful Olympians names is often a challenge in it's self, yet why is it the

Winter Olympics of 1988 that possibly reminds us of Britains most 'famous' competitors.

Rather than the gold medal winners, we remember Eddie 'the eagle' Edwards who wobbled in last!

Do we watch for the successes or hope for the entertainment in failure?

We're off to see the wizard...

..the wonderful wizard of Oz

Toto, we'res Toto???

Theres's no place like Home

Well I felt like I was in Kansas in the middle of a twister last night!

Windows blew open, crash bang wallop, no power and a whirlwind outside!

Raging storm, 'tis morning and garden stuff strewn everywhere

Let me get this right, South West France first week of August 2008? OK?

I'm sure that is a munchkin eating a bowl of cereal in my living room or is it the scarecrow?

Wine

There is usually so little I can say about wine.

France has a somewhat superiority complex about their 'Old world' vintages.

Classic wines, classic grapes but what can be said.

I am guilty as the next person for smuggling a Chilean red out of a budget supermarket.

So when I am looking for a characteristic 'nose' of toffee, violet, cedarwood and currants I know straight away I have a Merlot

Cabernet Sauvignon blend, or do I look at the price? The label usually tells me little and I cannot sneakily open a bottle for a

shot and a sniff!

I have now narrowed down many years of living in France to officially know nothing about wine.

I do however know that some brands are in local supermarkets and may be cheaper than the 'cave' that represents them,

that however much the full bodied robust red 'nectar of the gods' may be, the true Old world wine, Rose remains my favourite

so long as they put the blend on the bottle.


And generally the producers don't!

Why?


Of the most famous appellations, St Emillion constitutes on of the most Famous Bordeaux wine regions, world renown in fact

yet how is it, that they are not obliged to put the grape varieties on the labels.


The average British supermarket, for example Tescos, on the other hand has so much on the label that they are close to

contravening laws on excess packaging by way of the label alone!


So now I have but a handful of the massive choice of wines to enjoy, all because over the past few years I hate buying blind

and now I have finally decided what I do like, life would be so much easier if I knew a bit more about the liquid delights in the

bottles.


So there it is, perhaps I have found the secret of the success of wine. 99% is bought clueless and is simply awful but once

opened there is no return or it's a secret gem bought for a pretty label. Now there is a thought!

Quotations

Yesterday I couldn't make up my mind between Eddie Cantor and Oliver Wendall Holmes


"Mans mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains it's original dimensions".


Having researched Eddie Cantor, he may be an astute vaudeville performer but I wonder how politically correct

(or not) he is. I think he would be banned now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=285-qOZjt2g

Eddie Cantor said...

" Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast -
you also miss the sense of where you are going and why"

I'm feeling that this is important

Back from my break

So here I am back in Eymet. This weekend what's on?

There are events in Eymet, Castillones, Issigeac, Bergerac.

How come everything is in one weekend and we want to go to all of them!

Oh! and by the way, every event but someone forgot to turn the sun back on