18th Mar. It occurred to me that it might be a good idea if we let it be known to any potential suicide bombers who are 'out there' contemplating a one-way mission that yes, while they might well be rewarded in heaven by 72 virgins, any potential terrorist should read the small print first - as there's a note to the effect that the 72 virgins will be accompanied by 72 mothers-in-law. Just saying!
16th Mar. For years, I've been looking on and off for a destination plaque of the type that used to hang from the side of the coaches that made up the legendary Orient Express. I managed to take a trip on it 'as it was' before its relaunch as a luxury venture. I joined the train at midnight one sultry evening at the Gare de Lyon in Paris in the mid-sixties - and as this was my first time in Paris it was already a great experience for me. My destination was not Istanbul but Athens (but my final destination was Rhodes in the Dodecanese islands). I couldn't afford a sleeping berth though and so for the next 4 days and 3 nights I travelled 'hard' via an upright seat - yes, ouch!
Just reading the names on the example shown above is enough to trigger multiple memories of that trip. From Beograd (Belgrade), the train wound its way through Yugoslavia stopping at Sarajevo (I think), Skopje and elsewhere before stopping briefly at Thessalonika where all passengers for Athens changed trains for the last leg while the main part of the train continued on to Istanbul. This service was finally withdrawn in 1977.
There must be one of these plaques somewhere gathering dust in a basement, on top of a wardrobe or on a paint-spattered shelf in a garage. In the unlikely event that you have one and you'd like to make my day, drop me a line - please!
15th Mar. What will be remembered as one of the greatest 6 Nations matches of all time between France and England took place last night in Paris.. I tried to watch on TV but the sound of French commentators with their trousers on fire was too much for me so after 15 minutes I took to my bed. I couldn't resist switching my tablet on though for the final few minutes - just in time to see England take the lead with about 2 minutes remaining. Watch the video of this amazing match..😄 (French version here)
8th March. Yesterday I was privileged to watch what will go down as one of the great rugby matches of all time. France played Scotland in the 6 Nations tournament and were widely expected by the rugby cognescenti to record a routine win in Edinburgh that would keep them on course for a Grand Slam if (= when) they beat England next Saturday. However, it appeared that no-one had shown this script to the Scots - because what followed was a turnover of biblical proportions. Many media pundits had drawn their conclusions far too early in this astonishing tournament - for example, read the Guardian's Robert Kitson with his premature 'analysis', conclusions and predictions that he reached after the first weekend's set of matches - this will dog him forever more.
Sit back and enjoy this well-deserved Scottish triumph of rugby at its best - running rugby and no aerial ping pong - just pure 100% Scottish heart. How Bill McLaren would have savoured this. Unfair to single out individuals for a 'Man of the Match' - they were all heroes:
Elsewhere, Italy beat England deservedly for the first time in the 6N - and, unlike dull England (who couldn't empty a welly full of water even if the instructions were on the sole), are clearly in the ascendant. This result has been coming! Well done the squadra azzurra:
12th February. We received a warning via a text message yesterday that this area would be subject to very strong winds last night. I had to go downstairs in the wee small hours (around 2am) to let the dog out - at a time when 70 knot winds were howling around the house and garden and the all-weather covering on our terrace table was ballooning like a spinnaker. I saw this morning that all the fasteners that secured the cover to the table legs had snapped under the strain. Fortunately, we have a spare cast iron metal base (manhole cover size) that we use to keep our parasol upright - and it was ideal for plonking on top of the table to keep the cover from flying away.
I've not been following the Winter Olympics but I've just had a squint at the Olympics medal table and, imagine my surprise, not a single medal of any colour for my home country. I seem to remember that the British TV 'weather girls' were always prattling on about Arctic conditions when there was an inch of snow on the ground.. so the lack of a proper winter climate can hardly be used as an excuse. I might write a note to the Olympic organising committee suggesting the they consider holding an Autumn Olympics - to be held under grey skies, wind and drizzle in? - where else but here. We might stand a chance then! (New events could include the 200m dash through a rain-swept crowded supermarket carpark pushing a loaded shopping trolley with a wonky wheel..)
11th February. We went to the so-called Chambre d'Amour, Anglet this morningfor a walk along the sea front there. Predictably, we ended up in a restaurant with a good view overlooking a grey and misty seascape. In recent years, this quarter has seen a steady improvement in the facilities provided for the summer visitor - plenty of parking spaces, room for families to spread out, beach volleyball courts, and a variety of restaurants, snack bars and coffee shops to suit all budgets.
8th February. I was down at the beach this morning with Nutty, our cocker spaniel - and there was a strong onshore westerly wind gusting out of the Bay of Biscay. It buffeted us as we made our way to the coastal footpath - and the dog's ears flew out horizontally.. It was close to high tide and the wind was driving the crashing waves to explode in masses of foam high up the beach. A degree or two cooler, and it would have been cold. As it was, I felt as though I was breathing 100% oxygen. As a way of starting the day, it would be hard to improve on it.
7th February. A bright sunny morning today - and as I left the house with the dog at about 9.30am, a sudden movement caught my eye. To my surprise, a lizard (about 6-7" long) had been sunning himself on a narrow stone ledge that runs along the front of the house, and he started moving in the general direction of away - but not at their usual lightning pace, he was still moving a bit sluggishly. I don't think I've ever seen one out and about as early in the year as this. (People say the same about me!)
4th February. This song - an old favourite of mine dating back to 1968 - just popped up on the radio. See what you think!
Bringing you slightly more up to date (I'm doing my best!) here's Edwyn Collins with his 1994 hit "A Girl Like You"..
30th January. Today's gold price: 145,900 euros. (note to self: I must look down behind the cushions to see what I can find!)
Yesterday we had a short walk around Biarritz and we were tempted to step inside the Miremont cake and tea shop (it sounds much different in French). This is one of the last surviving businesses in Biarritz that pre-date the Belle Epoque.. Look at the photos in the link above. This is somewhere to visit at least once in your life.
22nd January. I was ambling around Saint-Jean-de-Luzin mid-2023 when my eye was caught by the sight of a gleaming gold ingot in a shop window. Once back home, and solely out of idle curiosity, I looked up the current price for a 1kg ingot and I found it was 57,000 euros. I later returned to the website every few months to see if there was a trend upwards or downwards. You might be interested to know that today's price for it is - wait for it (put your cocoa down!) - a hefty 132,000 euros. That should tell you all you need to know about the present political situation.
14th January. Mid January and need a lift? This piece should do it!
13th January. We had a spell of cold weather recently (in the bracket 0° - 5°C) and as a result, the bougainvillea that I planted last year is now looking the worse for wear. It had quickly climbed up the front wall of the house to a height of around 8-9 feet - but I've just noticed that all the leaves have shrivelled due to the cold. My question is this: should I prune it back hard - or leave it and let Nature take its course? The outside temperature is now up in the mid teens.
2nd January 2026. First of all, a happy New Year to you!
I just had to check how long it had been since we arrived in the Pays basque.. The answer? 18 years and 4 months.. Phew.. It has f-l-o-w-n by..
We went out yesterday to have lunch at an old favourite of ours - the Restaurant Larralde, Ascain. If ever a lunch started a year with a bang, it was this one. Suffice to say, without going into detail, they did us proud.. and I imagine it will be a long time before we enjoy a better lunch than we had yesterday.. (but I'm always willing to be proven wrong!😃)
30th November. This slideshow of the Pays Basque in November is too good not to share.. Ascain was the village we used to come to every summer.
29th November. You're probably more familiar with Thelonious Monk's performance of his "Round Midnight" (that's since become a jazz standard) - but in case this breathy interpretation of it by Chet Baker's trumpet passed you by - have a listen. It gets my vote. See what you think:
28th November. A friend in the US has just sent me this picture of her lakeside cabin up in Maine.. It defines idyllic to me!
"Michou"
25th November. Back home after a few days away in and around Uzès (in the Gard) for the funeral of Micheline Dumon Ugeux (aka "Michou" or "Lily"), a genuine heroine of the Comet Line evasion network during WWII. She died on 16th November aged 96. She was awarded the George Medal (below) for her work in helping 250 shot-down Allied airmen return safely to England from occupied France.
We had the honour and privilege of meeting her three years ago and we spent a few happy hours together over lunch at her favourite restaurant in a village near her home. Every now and again, in talking of those dark days, her eyes would flash and show again that she still had that determination and strength of character that helped her to accomplish so much and to survive the war.
The beautiful old village church was packed for the funeral and her coffin was decorated with a Belgian flag, the Comet standard and a cushion with all her medals. A great lady from that greatest of all generations. RIP "Michou" †.
I made this short video-montage of some of the Comet Line's key figures a few years ago and "Michou" appears in it twice. (More on the Comet Line here)
19th November. You'll have to talk among yourselves for a few days - I'll be away at a funeral in Provence. 18th November. Stop press: Just spotted the result from north of Hadrian's Wall - Scotland 17 New Zealand 22. Now that would have been a sweet win if the Jocks could have managed it..
Rugby can be cruel sometimes, and occasionally fortune favours one side at the expense of another. The England-Australia match today was one of those days when the tide of victory was decided by the finest of margins in favour of England and by the finest of margins against the Wallabies. On another day, the green and golds would have won and Michael Hooper, the Wallabies tireless captain, would have deservedly been named Man of the Match. We've all had those days when the decisions unaccountably have gone against your team and it's hard to take. It could so easily have been a 13-13 draw or a win.. instead of an improbable 30-6 home win. C'est comme ça..
On the day when Scotland face New Zealand at rugby at Murrayfield, I think a quote attributed to the Duke of Wellington is appropriate:
"I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy, but by God, they terrify me." - especially when accompanied by this. Good luck lads!
I came across an excellent think-piece by Prof Sir Roger Scruton in yesterday's Times about the motivation that drove a majority of the voters in last year's referendum on the UK's membership of the EU to vote Leave.
He argued that "for many ordinary citizens, however, the question was not about economics at all. It was about identity and sovereignty. For such people, matters were at stake that the politicians had systematically marginalised, and which were more important to them than all the economic and geopolitical arguments. Their question was not: what will make us better off, but rather: who are we, where are we, what holds us together in a shared political order and on whom have we conferred the right to govern us? It is not only the British who are faced with these questions: they are the political questions of our time, and all across Europe people are beginning to ask them. Moreover, they are not questions that can be settled by economic arguments, since they must be answered before any such arguments make sense."
He included this (slightly) tongue-in-cheek gem:
"The philosopher Leszek Kolakowski summarised the difference
among legal cultures as follows: in Britain everything is permitted unless it
is forbidden; in Germany everything is forbidden unless it is permitted; in
France everything is permitted, even if it is forbidden; and in Russia
everything is forbidden, even if it is permitted. Kolakowski exaggerates, of
course; but the differences here are real, and part of what has made our
membership of the EU so challenging to successive British governments. Law, for
us, is common law, the property of the individual and our protection against
anybody who tries to boss us about, including representatives of our
government."
Read the entire article here. It's 5 pages but well worth reading..
I suggested to Madame a couple of days ago that the fundamental difference between the UK and France is the concept of trust vs the lack of it. She reminded me that as France is essentially a revolutionary country, the French State views its citizens as untrustworthy - therefore they must always carry ID and if driving, the vehicle registration document and driving licence (it's an offence not to). Plus, as my recent encounter with the Civil Service demonstrated in connection with my request for French nationality, they required enough documentation to sink a small-to-medium size ship to support what should have been a fairly routine request. It is recommended that all important papers are kept in box files for 10 years. It is a common sight on French TV news to see a complainant sitting at their dining table with a box file and years-worth of papers in front of them. Ready for a surprise? Here's how long documents should be kept.
In the UK, there's a presumption that all are innocent until proven guilty - hence no need to routinely carry ID, or a wodge of papers when driving. If stopped by the police and you are invited to produce your driving documents at a police station, you have 5 days in which to comply. For many years, there was no driver photo on a UK driving licence (I think the latest ones do now). The police were normally unarmed as well.. but I think this has changed in recent years for some, not all, police. People are (or were when I left!) generally law-abiding - whereas here, some consider that their needs take priority over everyone else's and so you see people parking in the strangest of places, or driving the wrong way in a one way street - because it suits them.
I can't remember where I heard this but it made me laugh at the time. If ever there was a revolution in England and you were in a howling mob that was told to 'take' a railway station, we'd all buy platform tickets.. And if someone bumps into us, we say "Sorry..". It's the way we are.
15th November. One of the few players in an England shirt who was able to lift the spirits on an otherwise dank November afternoon over the weekend at Twickenham was Bath's Sam Underhill. He tore into the Pumas with a great display of powerful tackling. As the Guardian put it: "Underhill has the upper body of a cartoon superhero, with
arms that seem to dangle at acute angles because his oversized muscles push
them out away from his frame. His shoulders seem ideally suited for slinging
things over: sacks, logs, hostages from pillaged villages, Argentinian runners."
Watch him (in the 7 shirt) in action here for Bath and England:
12th November. Prior to our move here, we wanted to reassure ourselves that the coastal region didn't close its doors and put up its shutters in winter as is the case in some other resort areas. We'd only visited in the summer months (and once at Easter), and so one December, we came down here for the express purpose of seeing if the Basque coast was still alive and well in the 'Low' season.. We needn't have worried!
Down to the beach this morning with the dog under grey skies, low stratus clouds scudding through bringing more or less constant flurries of rain. The sea was right up and roaring constantly. I doubt if we stayed there much longer that 10-15 minutes - Nutty was quite happy to scuttle back to the warmth of the car! There were just a few joggers - otherwise it was deserted. Hard to imagine Christmas is only 6 weeks away.
The sight of people walking where they shouldn't is an all-too-common one these days. The landward end of this jetty is always fenced off in rough weather as occasionally a wave will break right over it. And, of course, there are always those who feel they must walk out on the jetty - thus proving something or other.
I attended a local Remembrance ceremony yesterday.. and I must say that there are more and more attendees with every year that passes. I was asked to lay a wreath on behalf of the association I work with. It's always a very moving occasion there - we had a choir and a couple of local bands - plus all the civic dignitaries and the colourful standards. There's something about the dry rattle of the drums and the clarion call of the trumpets of the "Marseillaise" that never fails to send a shiver through me. 11th November. It's the first weekend of the rugby Autumn Internationals this afternoon.. and if you feel a few earth tremors in the next few hours, you now know why! Italy play Fiji, Scotland meet Samoa, England collide with Argentina, Wales are due for a spanking by Australia, Ireland will be striking sparks off South Africa and in the evening game, France will be looking to restrict New Zealand to less than a 30 point lead. (Good luck with that!) 10th November. This great Neil Diamond song came out of "The Jazz Singer" - and in my view, it's one of the very best ballads - and I almost wrote "to be recorded in recent years" here - but I was surprised to learn that it was recorded back in 1980.. Ouch!
Extra points if you spotted a few well-known faces in this video (on the eastern side of the Atlantic anyway): British actor James Booth on the right in the control room (he played Private Hook in "Zulu"); then Lucie Arnaz (daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz); and another British actor Paul Nicholas in the red shirt.
8th November. Madame has been spoiling me today for reasons that we don't need to go into.. For lunch, she made confit de canard with pommes de terre sarladaises.. (sliced potatoes fried in goose fat until crispy golden brown, with garlic and parsley..) You'll find a recipe in English for the potatoes here - but don't forget to sprinkle some coarse sea salt on them at the end. This has to be one of the tastiest recipes known to Mankind. If you've not come across this great dish before, then if you do nothing else, try it..! It couldn't be easier to make - and you'll thank me for it. (video here)
We eased it down with some Saint-Pourçain Cuvée du Bourg rouge.. (right) This is a little known red that is our current favourite and it's far better than it has any right to be. You should be able to find it in your local Carrefour (if in France) or, if not, ask your local wine merchant if he can find a bottle or two for you. (or Google) The white is also good.. and is akin to Sancerre. Both the red and the white are highly recommended. (Notes on Saint-Pourçain here)
Warning: High risk of drooling when watching this video! She omits the garlic.. Personally, I'd include it!
One last thing (and then we'll get back to the Pays Basque!): if you were to ask me who was the greatest racing driver of all time, there would only be one possible contender.. Juan Manuel Fangio - the absolute master of car control.. his four wheel drift technique can be seen here: 5th November. I've followed motor racing all my life and in my view, the sport has gone down a blind alley in recent years. Races are now won and lost in the pits instead of out on the track, and we have such 'fascinating' technical developments such as DRS (yawn) and complex energy recovery systems (ERS)(an even bigger yawn); plus safety cars & virtual safety cars; I've lost count of the different tyre types we now have but their useful life is measured in tens of miles, not forgetting the frangible carbon fibre aerodynamic winglets that are guaranteed to "frange" (sic) during the first corner jostling. I also think that the dignity and inherent beauty of the sport has been fatally compromised by the rampant commercialism (drivers and cars all decked out in advertising trivia) that now dominates and, to cap it all, the cars all sound as though they're powered by outboard motors. And I shudder to think how many pages are in the Formula One rule book. This is no Golden Age.
My recommendation for what it's worth: return to non-turbo, non-hybrid engines (think Cosworth V8 of at least 2½ litres) and forget about F1 tipping its hat to political correctness.. How can we pretend that an F1 car is saving energy when its tyres couldn't survive a drive from London to Brighton..? This is Ecclestone's legacy. Time to move on. Back to pure racing.. with tyres that can last a race.. no DRS.. no ERS.. no radios.. a minimum of aerodynamics (no winglets, wings or diffusers: what read-across to road cars is there? Nil..) Let the drivers drive. Gentlemen.. Start your engines!
The Thirties were the Golden Age as far as I'm concerned - plus the decade that followed WWII. I put this short video together of some of the most unforgettable sights and glorious sounds that motor racing has ever witnessed.. (To watch a documentary on Grand Prix racing in the Thirties, click on here and here) Ride with Hermann Lang in 1962 as he powers the 1937 race-winning W125 car with its supercharged straight eight 5.6 litre engine around the old Nürburgring circuit. W125 cars occupied the top four places in the championship by the end of the 1937 season.
Listen to the haunting wail of that V16 BRM as the supercharger kicks in at 3:00..
That 3lbs of warm tofu between our ears works in strange ways doesn't it? While I was out earlier with the pup enjoying a very windy & bracing (almost wintry) walk along the coastal path at Anglet, something or other triggered a dusty memory of this warning in 4 languages I once saw above the window in my train compartment on a 4 day trans-European rail journey in the '60s. I spent much of that time reflecting on it!
It's a microcosm of Europe isn't it? In Italian, it sounds like a warning from an Italian lover (please not to come here after 7pm!) or, at the very least, a rustic pasta dish. The French version should be breathed in one's ear, preferably by a woman resembling Françoise Hardy in her youth, all legs and cheekbones (steady on!) - whereas the German version needs only the sound of a snarling Doberman Pinscher in the background.. The English warning is the only one that's devoid of any linguistic magic capable of occupying a young man's imagination for 4 days! I've been waiting for 50+ years to retrieve one of these phrases from my memory and drop it into conversation with a flourish - but, sadly, the occasion has never arisen.
In Googling for the warning sign, I found one of those old metal destination plaques they used to hang on the sides of the 'Orient Express' carriages that showed the routing.
My trip took me to most of the destinations shown above before I continued on to Sarajevo, Skopje, Thessalonika and Athens. When/if asked what I'd like for Christmas or a birthday, I usually have no idea.. However, one of these would be a great reminder of that trip. I'll have to start looking. (It goes without saying that if anyone should have one of these gathering dust on top of a wardrobe somewhere...)
3rd November. Don't tell me you don't learn anything here..! Who knows what a SJW is? This is probably old hat to Guardianistas and NYT readers.. but for those of you who aren't, it means Social Justice Warrior. (Yes, it doesn't mean much to me either) Apparently its first use in a negative context dates back to 2011. (only 6 years behind the times!)
I once wrote a blog post about how it's a common sight to see people walking home here with a fresh crispy baguette, still warm from the oven, and being unable to resist having a not-so-surreptitious nibble of the pointy end. And I said that a small fortune awaits the person who can work out how to make just baguette ends. I've been seeing this baguette (above) lately - it's known as a campaillette sarmentine - or, more simply at the bakers I use, une baguette herriko (this sounds like a local variation). A quick flash of the knife before it goes into the oven and - bingo - you finish up with 4 crispily delicious baguette ends instead of the usual two. Cunning devils!
I've had a reply concerning my request for French nationality that I mailed recently. (I'm seeking dual nationality - I'm not abandoning Ye Olde Englande!) I'm relieved to hear that they have all the documentation they require and now I'm waiting for the police to contact me sometime in the near future to check that I've not been engaged in criminal activities since we arrived here ten years ago (apart from a slack handful of speeding tickets). Once they're satisfied, we then have to go up to the Prefecture in Bordeaux for meetings with various people to demonstrate that I can eat a tripe sandwich as a starter, followed by a great steaming plateful of Tête de veau, garnished with a few slices of Andouillette!! Only joking! And assuming my application is favourably received, the whole package then gets sent up to Paris for the approval of the Ministère de l'Intérieur (equiv to Home Secretary in the UK). And if he approves it, I think that will be the day that we'll have a good reason to revisit La Tupina!
Seeing as it's autumn, here's a great song that's made for the occasion - and instead of the usual syrupy Yves Montand version, here's Jean-Claude Pascal's interpretation:
