101. Back in the saddle

4th December 2010. Finally, a dry day.. and sunny too. Despite it being only 2°C this morning, I decided to get down to the club for an outing. I've just looked back and the last time I was out on the river was 13th November.. it having rained every single day since then. This morning we went out in a coxless quad sculler and did a relatively painless 12km (Running total 333km). I say 'relatively' because with not having rowed for 3 weeks or so my hands had softened up - so I'm now sat here with fresh new blisters.. With it being the first Saturday of the month, it was time for an apéro at the club after the outing.. As Basil Fawlty might have said, I mentioned France's crushing defeat last week at the hands of Australia only once - but I think I got away with it! 

Walked along the sea front at Biarritz this afternoon and around town. Christmas shopping seems to have clicked into top gear at last.

6th December 2010. It's 16°C here this morning and forecast to rise this afternoon to an unseasonable 19°C.. warmest in France. Bizarre weather. Meanwhile, up in the north, Cherbourg suffered badly from unprecedented flooding yesterday as a result of melting snow combined with a high tide.

We took the dog for a long walk through town and out along the Nive as it was a warm afternoon.

7th December 2010. It was reported on the TF1 news last night that the temperature at Saint-Jean-de-Luz yesterday reached..... 22°C! 

Spent the afternoon in the garden taking down a hefty cypress tree that had got out of control. I've now got a stack of logs that I'm hoping someone down at the club can use. 

8th December 2010. We went to Dancharia in Spain this morning - just across the border from the lovely Basque village of Ainhoa, reputedly one of the most beautiful villages in France. I wouldn't argue with that. Dancharia is known for the numerous Ventas that are located there - Venta Peio is our favourite.. and with Christmas in mind we stocked up on drinks. As an example, a 2 litre bottle of Sir Edward's Scotch (made from 100% Scottish grapes*) was a tad over 16€.. (about £13.80 at today's rates) - and that puts it at a quarter of the price of a reasonable single malt. It's far better than its price would indicate. 

The car indicated that it was a balmy 22°C on the way home.. Meanwhile the rest of France shivers. As does the UK.

* I jest!

Today marks the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death. It's impossible to imagine how he would have lived through the intervening years.. what new personas he would have lived out, what causes he would have espoused, what great new music he would have made. RIP John.

9th December 2010. Stop Press: I bought a cheapo (17€ something for a litre - I should have known better) single malt whisky while in Spain yesterday - it was a new offering from Glen Grant called The Major's Reserve. To be honest, that's where it should be stayed - in reserve.. There's more than a faint whiff of varnish in the aftertaste - but, being charitable, that could just be me. Whisky preference is a matter of personal taste and we all have our favourites. Single malt whiskies invariably reward the drinker with a range of subtle and complex tastes and they benefit from being aged in the cask for 10 years or more for these flavours to develop. In the case of The Major's Reserve I sense that the distillery has cut corners on the aging process. I read somewhere on the internet that The Major's Reserve is 7 years old. Years ago I had a 5 year old Glen Grant (yes, another cheapo sold on the Continent) and it was exactly the same. By the way, there's no indication on the label of how old this product is which in itself should have rung warning bells. One to steer clear of. Don't say I didn't tell you..



Pray silence for
The Balvenie

Nectar of
the gods

I should have paid the extra and bought my usual favourite malt whisky - 10 year old Glenmorangie. The other one I'm very partial to is the 12 year old Balvenie.. (hope Father Christmas is reading this!) but the Ventas in Spain don't seem to stock it. If you tried whisky once, and didn't like it; or if you've been drinking normal whisky all your life; or if you'd like to try a malt whisky but don't know enough about it to know what to ask for - the next time the person who usually buys you a present asks, "What would you like for Christmas, your birthday or whatever.." - don't answer suspiciously quickly - ponder a moment before replying either a bottle of Glenmorangie (or Balvenie).. You'll thank me for this!

100. Allegiances

28th November 2010. Gawd, 100 posts.. I really should get out more..

I see from studying the local weather data (trying to find out when this monsoon we seemed to be locked into is going to end) that the visible moon phase in Bayonne today is Waning Gibbous - which, if I were into howling at the moon, has a nice ring to it and could easily set me off. However, if you don't know what Waning Gibbous means, come and see me afterwards. (let me put you out of your misery - here) Waning Gibbous could easily be an American Country & Western singer as well!

Just to stop us from getting bored, this morning we were treated to hail - in addition to the more usual rain. Is there no end in sight..?

Now, rugby.. ah yes. Last night France were surprisingly hammered by the Wallabies 16-59 (and that's no misprint). I don't think I've ever seen such a one-sided points avalanche in such a short time involving two of the best sides in the world - in the second half the Aussies scored 46 points in 30 minutes (to France's 3). I started thinking this morning about who I support - as, I have to confess, last night I was supporting - wait for it - Australia. Friends in England have previously made jokey comments to the effect that, since moving here, I must surely now be supporting France - but that's not the case. My answer to them? Moving across the Channel hasn't changed a thing..

This is how it works:

When England play, I support them irrespective of who they're playing.

• When the other home nations play each other - I'd support Ireland first, with Scotland an extremely close second. 
• When any of the home nations (Wales, Scotland, Ireland) play a non-UK nation, I want them to win. Except for a France-Wales fixture - in which case I might support France (but doubtful).
• I support France against any northern hemisphere non-UK nation.
• Now introduce the southern hemisphere.. I'd support any northern hemisphere nation (except France) against any southern hemisphere nation
• Southern hemisphere nations playing each other? I'd support Argentina if they're playing - otherwise I couldn't give a toss.

In the event that I can't decide who to support, then I usually support whoever plays the most attractive rugby with the fewest fouls. Foul play automatically swings my allegiance to the sinned against team. I must confess that I've never been able to warm to the All Blacks. Look at the haka on YouTube from 20-30 years ago and it was just a bit of harmless folklore. Now? It's been "improved" upon such that it embarrasses me to watch a serious rugby nation like NZ having to resort to the haka as a psychological weapon.. something that their opponents are supposed to "respect" it.. Give me a break! It's laughable. I think their opponents should ignore all this hokum.. and simply continue with their warm-up, read a newspaper, have a burger or whatever.       

Complicated this armchair sport isn't it..?!

29th November 2010. Finally, at last, am I dreaming..? Blue skies are back today - but according to the forecast we're set for 3 days of rain again as of tomorrow. As it was finally dry, I took the dog for a long run along the beach at Anglet as he's been more or less housebound for the last few weeks. On the way home I saw that the Pyrenees - which form a backdrop to Bayonne - were covered in snow..

I read an article today about the precarious financial situation in some parts of the Eurozone.. I wish I could say that I understood it all (or even half of it) - but I don't. For countries to take part in monetary union they had to satisfy economic convergence criteria - public sector borrowing, budget deficit, inflation, interest rates and much more had to be held within agreed limits. I always thought that these were only the technical financial deal-breakers. How about the efficiency and productivity of the underlying economy? Here's a prescient quote taken from a very readable article written in 1997 by the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements:

There is a widespread belief in the economics profession that nominal convergence - as expressed by the convergence criteria - is less important for a successful monetary union than real convergence. Real convergence encompasses factors such as labour mobility, price and wage flexibility, exposure towards external shocks, industrial structures, and so on. Judged by these factors, convergence among future members of the EMU still has a long way to go. This is important because to be successful a European monetary policy depends exactly on these factors. Without a high degree of real convergence, monetary policy is bound to have different effects in different parts of the monetary union. The very idea of a single European monetary policy would thus become unrealistic. The ECB would come under political pressure to accommodate mutually incompatible wishes from different parts of the monetary union. The result could only be a less than optimal monetary policy and rising inflation and interest rates.

For purely selfish reasons (pensions paid in £££s), I'd welcome a return to the former European currencies - the D-mark, the franc, the guilder, the peseta et al.. When we arrived in France in September 2007, a £1 was worth a worthwhile 1.48€. Just a few short months later, the rate had plummeted to around 1.03€, which equates to a fall in value of 31% (ouch!). It now stands at 1.18€ - which is a 21% fall since September 2007 (OK, a slightly lesser ouch! but still painful). If the French franc were to be re-introduced and the £ returned to its former trading position against it - somewhere near £1 = ~10Ffrs then I for one would be delighted. I'm not holding my breath though about the possible demise of the euro and a return to those old currencies - I think there's too much political capital invested in the Euro for it to fail. If it does though, I think the first country in the eurozone to display any cracks from the strain of supporting other less efficient economies would be Germany.

Wouldn't you agree though - just purely on the look of the former currency - that a 50 franc note featuring Racine:

or a 10 franc note with Voltaire:

is far more stylish than this anonymous and utilitarian 50€ note (worthy of East Germany):

As Del Boy might have put it: "Je reste ma valise.."

1st December 2010. Back to rain again this morning. It's preferable to snow which is what much of the rest of the country has to contend with but I'm starting to get a bit fed up with it now.

99. Wet wet wet

22nd November 2010. More rain today. There's a tale of living in Italy in the paper today.. This classic anecdote caught my eye:

"Daniela and I were reporting the theft of her handbag at the local police station when the officer hunched over his old Olivetti asked if he could change the time of the crime to 10.40 pm rather than 10.30 because the number three key wasn’t working on his typewriter."

23rd November 2010. Yet more rain. Went to the local hairdressers where I combine a 6 weekly haircut with the opportunity to mangle the French language with A****y! Still raining when I came out..

24th November 2010. And yet more wet stuff.

I'm not much interested in pop music but every now and again I hear something on the radio that I realise has been haunting me for a decade (or three) and after a spot of inspired Googling, I usually find it. This 1980 track by the Korgis is a prime example:

 I once read that our musical tastes are set to whatever was a hit when we were 17.  So think back to what was around musically when you were 17 and tell me I'm wrong.  Early Beatles do it for me - that's all I'm saying!

     

25th November 2010. Thunder & shivering pooch & more rain during the night..

Lunch or dinner (or both!) at the Tour d'Argent in Paris with its unsurpassable views has long been an ambition for us. Duck is the speciality there and they have a legendary wine cellar. I spotted the following clip in today's Guardian to give you a taste.. (might be the closest I'll ever get!)

More information about La Tour d'Argent here.. but the description of how the famous caneton is prepared might/will put you off. It refers to the method of killing as strangulation - which implies a slow death - as opposed to the traditional wringing its neck method which I believe to be instantaneous.

Not somewhere I'd have chosen to dine alone either.. but I suppose that comes with the territory when you're a food critic (and your expenses will only cover a solo dinner). Also, I'm sufficiently 'Old School' to have worn a tie. I'm no fuddy-duddy but out of respect for my environment I would have worn one. I'm surprised that the maitre d' didn't lend him one - but then, we're talking about a Guardian journalist ..!

I'd not heard of Dehillerin, the kitchen supplier that he mentions early in the clip.. when in Paris, we normally come here to look at kitchen paraphernalia.  

(PS. I'll be glad when someone can make a film about Paris/France without an accordion in the background..)

Another deluge as we speak.. torrential rain audible through the double glazing. And I can't believe Christmas is only one month away. Happy Thanksgiving to any American readers..!

26th November 2010. Last night was enlivened by the sound of rain again.. at one point it sounded as if the house was moving slowly through a car wash.. (I know - "Good for the garden") It's crystal clear why lawns flourish in the UK - it has a mild climate, free from excessively scorching summers or seasonal deluges of rain that respectively burn the grass and then drown it. Just a gentle summer heat and a constant sprinkling of rain throughout the year to encourage its steady growth. I'm reminded of the apocryphal story of a visitor at Hampton Court who asked the gardener there the secret of the velvet lawns. He replied, "Roll it and cut it... roll it and cut it. For 400 years."

I've been able to get out of the house with the dawg in between rain showers but while the sky's black I look at a few other blogs (confessions of a sad owld git!) and there's a phrase that repeats itself across several of them.. namely "How to survive in France" - as though living in a Western European country equates somehow to living in the Mato Grosso or a time-share in Somalia, North Yemen or Baghdad. A day's travel from the nearest Waitrose.. eek! 

27th November 2010. No prizes for guessing what the weather is doing this morning.. yes, it's another downpour. That means no rowing for me. If it starts to rain during an outing - OK - but to go out in a deluge means a couple of hours of rowing soaking wet which, believe me, is less than fun.

Today sees the last of all but one of the autumn rugby internationals. If, as seems likely, they're played in wet conditions, we aren't going to see much in the way of running rugby with ball in hand. It starts this afternoon with Italy v Fiji, followed by England's heavyweight clash with the Springboks, then Scotland will be looking to continue their winning form against Samoa, then a huge game for a struggling Wales v the seemingly unstoppable All Blacks before finishing up this evening with France v Australia - a game in which Australia will definitely want to re-discover their form. Ireland face Argentina tomorrow.

Now I'm off to coat my undersides with some anti-rust compound..