276. The dawn of a new era

29th February. Apologies for my absence of late because as some of you will be aware, we've been dealing with some health issues here.

I think we've just seen the future of food shopping - we visited Grand Frais at Biarritz this morning.. It's housed in a former Renault dealership - and whoever is behind it has captured the essence of old traditional food markets - and brought it bang up to date. The groaning self-service displays are lit by warm spotlights (shades of Hollywood) and everything looks so appealing (don't worry - I know when I'm being seduced!).

I've never seen such a range, variety and quality of food (freshest of fruit and vegetables - plus meat, fish and dairy products) as here. The word cornucopia sprung to my mind as we walked around - such an abundance of the finest quality products - and at competitive prices. It made shopping a genuine pleasure - and how often do you find yourself saying that? I can see that we'll be regulars here. A similar shop - Coeur de Frais - opened up at Bayonne a while ago (only visited it for the first time the other week) - it's the same concept - the freshest of fresh produce - but again, served in a self service environment.

We've also just heard that Philippe Lopez and Sylvie Lacroix have moved from one of our favourite restaurants - the Café du Musée at Bayonne to Urt, where they've taken over La Galupe, a renowned local restaurant on the banks of the Adour. Philippe has always been an inventive chef and his menus reflected what was in season at that moment. A visit to La Galupe must surely follow as night follows day! (Edited in 2023 to add: I believe Philippe and Sylvie have since departed - maybe their business model didn't survive Covid)

26th February. This haunting piano piece by Rachmaninoff - his Prelude in C Sharp Minor - was written when he was only 19..

Is it me or is not this piece more stirring when played on the organ? Here it is played by Loreto Aramendi, the main organist at Santa Maria del Coro, San Sebastian, Spain. Played like this it uses all the power of the pipe organ.

(Listening to the piano version, I suddenly realised this played an important part in that childhood favourite of millions of kids - myself included - in the 1950s - "Sparky's Magic Piano".. 

19th February. I stumbled upon some early Dylan songs on YouTube earlier - and this album contains many of them.    

15th February. I see that the UK is reportedly in talks with the Chinese over giving Beijing's state-owned railway builder a role in constructing the HS2 high-speed rail line.

While this would probably represent the most cost-effective solution, it's a shameful indictment of just how much of the UK's ability to manage and deliver large infrastructure projects has withered away. Once upon a time, the UK introduced railways to a waiting world - and now, after decades of neglect, managerial incompetence, adversarial industrial relations, under-investment, years of muddled strategic thinking and the inability of UK politicians of all persuasions to think beyond the here and now - we've arrived at the end game. Chickens have come home to roost. Sadly, and tragically for the UK, it appears that we no longer have the ability to build a high speed rail network. Note, we're not talking about manned space flight here - but merely trains that can run at high speed - safely - on purpose built track. It's yet another worrying straw in the wind - similar to the RMS Queen Mary 2 being built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire and the more recent disquiet over Huawei's potential involvement with 5G networks in the UK. 

14th February. I heard a story on the radio earlier today that reminded me of something that happened to me fairly recently. 

I was riding on a train in the Paris Metro (one of those ultra-quiet ones with the rubber tyres) and I was standing by one of the doors swaying with the motion when I felt someone's eyes on me.

I looked up and an elegant Parisienne (somewhere in her forties) sitting a few seats away from me was giving me one of 'those' looks with a single raised quizzical eyebrow. (gulp!)

Being a Brit, I turned away (as you do!) to look out of the window - but a few moments later I turned back to look at her and her smokey eyes were still fixed on me.

At moments like this, it's inevitable that all kinds of scenarios flash through your (OK, my!) head.. but then she stood up and walked over to me and asked, "Would you like my seat?"

Why? What else did you think she was going to say?

12th February. Just back from a quick trip to the Spanish supermarkets here and my world toppled when noticed that Glenmorangie 10 year old (aka my favourite dram that I've been drinking for 45+ years) (I know - I'm a slow drinker!) has rocketed up in price - it's now 42€/litre.. I was at a friend's the other night and he offered me a glass of Speyburn 10 year old Single Malt. I normally add a splash of water to lengthen the taste but I didn't.. Even so, it struck me as an interesting dram and I resolved to see if I could find it in Spain.

Wow - and there it was - and at 23.99€/litre (£20.14 at today's rate - shorely shome mishtake!), it's just over half the price of Glenmorangie. I'll be interviewing the bottle shortly.. It gets quite a good review here. 

Well, I added some water to it - and it's clearly a Single Malt - but I'd have to say that it has fewer of those honeyed heathery notes of the sublime Glenmorangie - but then, it's not far off half the price. At £20 / litre I think it's excellent value for money. Madame is not so sure - but my question is how many drinkable Speyside Single Malts do you know at this price? Here's one I wouldn't thank you for - I'd say Speyburn is at least a step or two up from it. Judging by this review, the jury's still out on Speyburn. I'll have another go at it later in the week.

9th February. Here's a little treat for you - the 1964 Newport Folk Festival when Pete Seeger introduced a 23 year old Bob Dylan with his tour de force song "Hey Mr Tambourine Man" to a spellbound audience - a complex song that defies categorisation with its staggeringly rich imagery (starts at 1:14):

Here's Bob with the song from his "Bringing it all back home" album (1965). 

8th February. Post-match addendum: Well, I'm happy to admit that I got the outcome of the Ireland v Wales match wrong. In the end, Ireland ran out convincing 24-14 winners (video highlights here). I'm happy with that because I freely admit to not being a fan of Welsh rugby and all the baggage that comes with it.

Calcutta Cup

In a windswept and rain-swept Murrayfield, England emerged victorious from a hard-fought 13-6 win against a well-motivated Scotland side in horrible conditions (video highlights here). It wasn't a match for the purists though but I suppose with a greasy ball and a swirling wind we were never going to see a festival of running rugby. I recorded the match but I can't imagine any circumstances that could possibly tempt me to watch it again - but well done England for a gritty performance - they were worthy winners of the Calcutta Cup played in appropriately monsoon-like conditions.

7th February. The Guinness 6 Nations Rugby Tournament kicks off again tomorrow with all four Home nations in action. Ireland welcome Wales to Dublin at 1415 GMT - my money's on Wales to win - after which at 1645 GMT Scotland will fancy their chances against an England XV that was strangely out of sorts against France last week. I think this will be a very close match and the Murrayfield effect is not to be under-estimated. Eddie Jones will have done very well if he comes away with the points.   

I hope we're all allowed to be a little sentimental from time to time. Just as well - because I had Radio Nostalgie Best of 60s playing in the background this morning and Richard Anthony's version of "500 Miles" came on. I was once out in the American Mid-West when I heard the distant wail of a train whistle at night across the lonely prairie.. and it seemed like the most evocative sound I'd ever heard. (More here).

I remember Madame telling me years ago that this great song had been one of her favourites - so here it is:

Here's an earlier version of Hedy West's song by The Journeymen in 1961.. 

4th February. This song of Bill Withers reaches out to me at the moment.

3rd February. The rugby world was stood on its head yesterday when England (2nd in the recent Rugby World Cup) was taken to the cleaners in Paris in just about every department by a young but very capable French XV coached by Fabien Galthié, Raphaël Ibañez and Shaun Edwards. The match finished 24-17.

England coach Eddie Jones made a rod for his own back by announcing prior to the game that England was going to visit "severe brutality" on the French - an ill-advised statement that to this armchair coach at least would serve only to inspire les Bleus. England were minus the Vunipola Bros and they also lost Manu Tuilagi after 15 minutes. It has to be said that England were woeful while France played a fluent aggressive match with creativity, quick line speed and safe handling. After the initial French onslaught, England looked shocked, clueless and a leaderless rabble - and it was only thanks to some individual brilliance by Jonny May that they were able to register some points - points that, in my opinion, flattered them. The normally reliable Owen Farrell had a rare off-day - perhaps as a result of a big 'hit' earlier that seemed to distract him.

Two French players stood out (but there were more) - Charles Ollivon, a powerful 1m99 (6ft6") flanker from nearby Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle who scored two tries and Antoine Dupont, who sparkled at No 9. I think the Wales v France match on 22nd February will play a major part in deciding where the title finishes up.

1st February. Yes, while I might be many miles away from England down here in the Pays Basque, even from this distance I can sense there's been a tangible lifting of the mood among the majority of the population of the UK. Of course, there are those who continue to re-visit old battlegrounds with their tired old arguments that we've had to endure during the last 3½ years but soon even they will come to recognise that the banging sound they can hear is coming from the stable door after the Brexit horse has bolted for good from the EU stable.