138. Back in town

20th April 2011. Back from Andalusia on Sunday evening.. and we've been busy getting things back to normal here since then. Clearing the inbox & mowing the lawn - both of which had flourished in our absence, and well, all the rest of it. Really enjoyed Andalusia.. we were lucky with the weather - it was above 30° most days with it peaking at 36° while we were in Seville. Low humidity made it very pleasant though.

Hotel Don Miguel, Ronda

We started in Malaga and then over the following week we visited Ronda, Arcos, Seville, Cordoba, Granada before returning to Malaga. This clip below was early morning in Ronda - from the spectacular terrace of the Hotel Don Miguel (where we had one night) perched on the edge of the vertiginous gorge of the Río Guadalevín. Turn up the volume - no tourists, just the birds singing:

And this was a late night visit to a flamenco cellar in Granada.. (a bit touristy I know)

We (the Royal we) discovered El Corte Inglés - a Spanish department store chain - while in Spain. Probably not news to 99% of you but it was to us. Not having the car with us saved my credit card from a Fukushima-style meltdown though! 

Whilst in Paris - we had a day free there before leaving for Spain - we swung by an old favourite Franc Pinot (1, Quai de Bourbon on the Ile St Louis) but it looked as if it had been closed for a long time. And on our return, we thought we'd stop off at La Rhumerie for one of their legendary rum based cocktails - but it too was closed (for re-decoration - it re-opens 19th May). One new place we tried that was open was Le Zimmer (no jokes please!), a traditional brasserie near Châtelet.. worth remembering if you're in the area.

We stayed M & C, old (French) friends of Madame's from the 60s, and they had me laughing with a story of when they were once on holiday in England staying with friends. Apparently the lady of the house was about to toss the salad one evening when M got to his feet and announced to one and all that he would do it - as he was a great tosser..! Apparently his English hosts cried with laughter at this - much to his bemusement!

We were both surprised by the prices in cafés in central Paris - we stopped for a drink just across from BHV and it seemed as though the minimum currency unit was 5€. A small beer was 5.10€! A coffee 5€..! Ouch!

Meanwhile, back in the Pays Basque, we picked up the pooch yesterday morning and he slept all day - I don't think he must have had much sleep at the kennel. He was in a daze most of the day..

Rowing last night - beautiful warm cloudless evening out on the Nive - did 13km in a VIII sculler. (Running total: 573km) By the way, that's the club above on the left. There's a long outing planned for this coming Saturday morning - a number of boats are heading up the Adour as far as Urt (difficult to pronounce) - which is about 20km upriver (map here - it takes a few seconds to load). One set of crews will row up river and will change over at Urt with another set who will have driven up there. I'll be in an VIII going upriver. And it's an 8am start..! Luckily the forecast is for cooler weather on Saturday.

A link for our readers in France - click on your department and then your town or village..

By the way, it was 28° here yesterday afternoon.. Madame had bought a v drinkable AOC Gaillac dry rosé from Leclerc. It really hit the spot yesterday lunchtime.. (Obligatory warning notice: it's 13° so, as they say here: à consommer avec modération)

I spotted this story in SUR - the giveaway English language newspaper in southern Spain. You couldn't make it up.

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!