96. Distant snow

11th November 2010. Now that the monsoon of the last 3-4 days appears to have blown itself out, we decided to nip across the border to Irun this morning for some shopping.. On the return journey, I was looking across at the Pyrenees and through a gap in the nearest hills I could see through to some more distant ones. To my surprise, the sun was shining like a spotlight through a break in the cloud onto a snow-covered peak..   

Question du Jour: What's Velcro^® known as in French..? (Answer at foot of post) (and no - it's not Velcreau..!)

Cheese - good or bad for you? An article in the New York Times sparked off this report from a US TV channel that attempts to link excessive cheese consumption with obesity and to score a political point in so doing. According to these figures (below), Greece is the top of the heap with France second. Yet strangely enough, contrary to the conclusion that might be drawn from the US report, neither Greece nor France are awash with wobbling blimps. In fact, it's a very rare event to see anyone overweight - let alone obese - waddling through the streets here in France. And - this will get me into trouble but it's true - those I have seen have usually had English accents.

I think obesity is less to do with 'excessive' cheese consumption and everything to do with a sedentary 'couch-potato' lifestyle, over-sized portions, snacking between meals and an excessive intake of processed foods high in additives such as sugars and salt - but then I'm not a doctor.

And so to Woody Allen - here he is with his thoughts on what makes life worth living (from "Manhattan")..

I like the moment in this scene (at 02:23) when the penny finally drops with him.. (been there..)

What would be on your list? Your answers welcomed.

12th November 2010. I found this clip on YouTube of the sea at Biarritz today..

13th November 2010. Last Saturday morning, the river was the lowest I've ever seen it and we had rain showers - just to stop us getting bored..! I usually row on Saturday mornings and Tuesday & Thursday evenings. Last Tuesday, the Pays Basque was being lashed by continuous rain and Thursday was a national holiday (Armistice Day) so today was my first outing for a week. It was the opposite of last Saturday.. it was warm - I'm guessing 16°C - under a burning blue cloudless sky, the river was full to the brim and static - it must have been high tide. We did 13km in a coxless quad sculler. (running total = 321km)

To St Jean de Luz this afternoon - the car was registering 23.5°C (74°F) and it was like a summer's day down there - people on the beach, swimmers, surfers, people messing about in boats, queues for ice creams (!)..

I've been thinking about the Woody Allen question and one item that would definitely make my list of things that make life worth living (apart from my dearly beloved, natch!) is a Vacherin Mont d'Or cheese.. Known as Vacherin Mont d'Or in Switzerland or Mont d'Or in France, it's a seasonal cheese normally only available in the winter months.

A Mont d'Or cheese (the French version)

 

Baked Vacherin

There are also many recipes for baked Vacherin (I've not tried it baked).. and this one looks interesting.. What to drink with it..? This cheese can take a big wine and, personally, I'd earmark my best bottle of red for this cheese. (Something like a Pessac-Léognan or a Saint-Julien (this is a great red - but it would benefit from being laid down for a few years), or, if your taste leans more towards the Rhônes, a Gigondas or a Côte Rôtie) (It's once a year so don't worry about the price - you're a long time dead..) If Madame asks you what you'd like for Christmas, now you know! That is - if you haven't got one of these handy doo-hickeys on the right!

Highlight of the weekend? No question.. England vs Australia at Twickenham..

What a try by Ashton and what a terrific team performance! Roll on the Six Nations..

Answer: Scratch.

95. T'was a dark and stormy night..

9th November 2010. It's been wet & windy for the last few days - and according to the forecast we're due more of the same today and tomorrow.

There was a tragic accident at St Jean de Luz on Sunday - a young kite surfer was lifted up and carried away off the beach by an exceptionally strong gust of wind up to the top of a 7 storey apartment block from where he fell to his death. 

I was just flicking through YouTube looking for clips of storms at Saint-Jean-de-Luz when I came across this one.. It's not Saint-Jean-de-Luz though. Life has clearly lost its thrill for these two.. (ignore the first 28 seconds) 

The sea front was covered with dense foam banks:

Well, after that review of a damp few days down here in the Pays Basque, what else could I offer you but:

There are a few places I mean to visit in the coming months: the fromagerie Iraty at Mendive, the écomusée de Marquèze at Sabres and the chocolaterie Puyodebat at Cambo.

Regular readers (you can be helped..) will have guessed by now that I'm a Woody Allen fan. Here's one of the more memorable scenes from "Manhattan" - in less than a minute he wraps up the key elements in his personality: his eternal romanticism, his love of New York and the great American standards - in this case, the lush strings of the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta with George Gershwin's 1926 classic "Someone to watch over me":

I must be getting old.. I find I can listen to Ol' Blue Eyes nowadays without wanting to reach for the 'off' button.. which is something of a 'first' for me..

Also - by the standards of any era - Ava Gardner was/is stunningly beautiful. 

Note to self: why has it taken me so long to realise this?

94. Coast walks

3rd November 2010. It's hard to believe that, as we speak, kids in the UK are putting together small arsenals of fireworks and constructing bonfires ready for the big night on Friday evening - November 5th. I've got the window wide open as I type this and the sun's shining..

This picture shows just how close Biarritz's Grande Plage is to the centre of town. There was a Latin American festival in Biarritz a week or so ago and the Casino was taken over by people selling brightly coloured ponchos, CDs of  flute music, South American chocolate, honey, pots, furniture and all kinds of exotic products.. (in other words, objects that already have one foot in the garage!)

This compelling recording by Incantation from 1982 (already!) was probably the first time that South American music found space for itself in the cultural mainstream:

The other day we went for a blowy walk along the Sentier Littoral - or coastal footpath.

We walked from Bidart to the former whaling village of Guéthary & back - the walk took us along the cliff tops before descending to beach level. Guéthary is supposedly where the "people" (as the French refer to their celebs, newsreaders, politicians and media luvvies) go to spend their holidays. I'm not trying to put you off!☺ 

There was a lively sea running with great rollers rearing up in a foamy mass on an offshore reef before surging in to pound the shoreline.. Some of the large houses built on the cliffs were magnificent - but I'm not sure I'd feel 100% secure inside one of them with a strong westerly gale off the Bay of Biscay gusting against those overhanging Basque roofs.

Looking across at Spain from Bidart (Saint-Jean-de-Luz is off to the left)

6th November 2010. A misty autumnal morning sortie out on a very low river today.. our blades struck bottom several times - 13km (running total = 308km) - and as it was the first Saturday of the month, we had a drink afterwards. Slightly curious choice though - Scotch on ze rocks, or wiz Coca or Tonic, Ricard or port. Not a cold beer in sight! 

If you've ever had a summertime drive down to the south west of France from the Channel ports and listened to French radio on the way down, then - before the gathering gloom of an English winter overwrites all those happy memories - here's something to remind you of those long golden days in the sun. It's Etienne Daho with his classic summer hit 'Duel au Soleil' from 1985 that was the perfect accompaniment to the long drive south:

I know I often drone on & on about Madiran wine.. well, here we go again! This is Château Peyros - we were offered this recently at a friend's house.. Highly recommended.

It's worth digging around your local wine merchant to find a bottle or two of Madiran - it is 'out there'. The one you won't find is Irouléguy.. unless you belong to the Wine Society.

Both of these wines really open up if they are served at room temperature - always remembering, of course, that the ambient temperature in SW France is a notch or three above that in the UK. In England I used to park mine in the airing cupboard for a few hours.

93. ελληνικός καφές

31st October 2010.  I've been drinking Greek coffee for years and yes, I have to say that I'm hooked on a particular Greek Cypriot brand - Charalambous Gold Mocca coffee (below). The problem with getting hooked on Greek or Turkish* coffee is that any other kind seems anaemic and insipid by comparison. I'll refer to it as Greek coffee throughout - hope this doesn't upset anyone - no offence intended.

When some friends from England visited us about a year ago, they were kind enough to bring me some much-needed packs of Charalambous. To my continuing surprise, despite trying every deli and coffee shop in the Pays Basque, I've been unable to find anyone here who stocks it or a similar product. And this in the land where you would expect shops to stock all manner of food items. If anyone reading this knows of a mail order supplier in France, please let me know via a comment at the end of this post.

Charalambous coffee is excellent and it has a rich taste with a hint of cardamom (I think) in there somewhere. It receives a 5* rating from me. However all good things come to an end and a few months ago I finally used up the last of my coffee stocks.

Last week, D, another kind friend in England, sent me some new supplies and all is now well again with the world - for the next few months at least! Loumidis Papagalos is a Greek brand (left) - and it has a slightly different taste to the Greek-Cypriot one. In looking for an image to copy, I discovered that Papagalos is available via the US Amazon site. I suspect it's been slightly de-tuned (unleaded?!) to suit the North American market - I don't think it has quite the same hit as Charalambous. I'll have to try adjusting the mix to see if I can squeeze that 130 octane aviation grade caffeine hit from it. By the way, if this post does whet your appetite for making Greek coffee yourself, don't forget to store your coffee in an airtight jar.

If there's anyone out there who would like to know how to make Greek coffee - then here's how. I thought the quickest & easiest way to explain it would be via YouTube.. but after a quick search for Greek coffee I was surprised at how long-winded some of the explanations were - some of these clips were 6-7 minutes long! If this is the first time you've made it, then I'd suggest using the following measures as a starting point and you can adjust for your own taste the next time. 



a "Bríki"

For one cup of coffee, measure a coffee cupful of cold water and pour into your coffee pan (or bríki). Add 2 heaped teaspoons of coffee and 2 of sugar (or 2 sweeteners). Stir enough to break up any clumps of floating coffee. This next part is subjective but the way I make it is to bring it slowly to the boil & remove from the heat just as it starts to bubble and rise - as in the vid. Pour and serve. Needless to say - obligatory Health & Safety warning follows! - you don't drink the grounds.. By the way, if anyone thinks their method is better, or have any suggestions - then please leave a comment.. 

Now - isn't that the best tasting cup of coffee you've ever had..?

1st November 2010. Cracked it.. all it needed was slightly more coffee in the mix and the result was a satisfying brew of Dr Loumidis' Patent Restorative Mixture.

And now for something completely different.. This is a representation of the workings of a 7 cylinder rotary aircraft engine of WW1 vintage. I can watch this for quite some time - admiring the elegance and simplicity of the crank arrangements and the way that the apparent motion of the pistons is converted to rotary motion - and all without a conventional crankshaft thrashing about.. (you might have to click on the image to see it moving)

2nd November 2010. A propos of nothing, I just thought of Saya, a great Thai restaurant I used to go to in Seattle.. If anyone in Seattle is reading this, or if you're planning to visit, I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough. What to order? During the course of many visits there in the mid 1990s, I worked my way through their entire Thai menu - and while everything was excellent, my favourite was the Gai Yang - barbequed chicken..(beyond delicious) I must add a shout-out to the friendly staff. After not having visited for a year, I walked in and the waitress took one look at me and said, "Gai Yang, yes?" If only they delivered!

And now, duly caffeined-up to the eyeballs, back to the Pays Basque..