127. Veni, vidi, puni

13th March 2011. It wasn't Marc Lièvremont's finest hour yesterday. Despite the view held by some critics  that he has the best squad of players in the Six Nations, France somehow contrived to lose 22-21 to the Italians in Rome. (I'd argue with the proposition that France has the best players this season - I think the England squad has come on leaps and bounds since last year.) The multi-talented France XV, winners of last year's Grand Slam, were absolutely hammered only last November by the Wallabies 16-59 (still sounds unbelievable doesn't it?) Then, a couple of weeks ago, they were unable to score a try in a real dog-fight of a match against their old foe England and finished well beaten 17-9 (the score could have been much worse). Yesterday, les Bleus managed to excel themselves by achieving what was previously thought unimaginable - losing to Italy. And all this with the same French team who'd hit the heights last season. To be fair to Italy, they've been steadily improving under coach Nick Mallett since they joined in the fun in 2000 and while they've beaten Scotland and Wales, the Azzurri have been threatening to take a major scalp for the last couple of years.

I think the malaise lies with Lièvremont's quirky selections and the fact that, here we are, with the RWC on the horizon and he still doesn't appear to know his best XV. I was surprised (as in astonished) to see Harinordoquy of all people starting the match on the bench. Harinordoquy - the one player who never lets France down! A truly bizarre decision by the manager whose personal motto appears to be: "Veni, vidi, velcro.." (I came, I saw, I stuck around). 

Will the FFR stand by Marc Lièvremont with the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand only 6 months away? Or will they take decisive action and replace him? There's nothing wrong with the players at France's disposal - it's all to do with the selection and the mentality of the players. I think the FFR would be well-advised to let Marc Lièvremont spend more time with his family and bring in Fabien Galthié. As a respected former player and a currrent rugby commentator I'm sure he has his own views on the squad and appointing him now would give him 6 months to rebuild their confidence. It wouldn't be the ideal build-up to a World Cup but what's the alternative? If they stay as they are, France will be in for a torrid time of it in New Zealand come September. 

I think part of the problem stems from their obsession with "French flair" - this desire to play beautiful running rugby from the back, full of slashing moves that involve running the ball from all angles, keeping it alive whenever possible, with the ball being passed at speed by fast running backs. Personally, I'd be delighted if France could re-discover "French Flair" - as long as it's after the RWC in September! Here's a memory-jogging video for you:

Nothing wrong with "French flair" - except that it's a fifteen man game and forwards have their place too. There's an element of national pride involved here too - they wish to play in their own style - a style that owes nothing to Anglo-Saxon realism. For example, they often try to run the ball out of defence when a kick is much the safer option. I know I'm in danger of lurching into cliché here, but in my view (strictly armchair) they should play percentage rugby, ie, what's in front of them and eschew the flashy, high risk moves that look spectacular if they come off but lead nowhere if they fail. Rugby at the highest level is about winning. (just a minute while I adjust my cushions!) As the ever-pragmatic England manager Martin Johnson is fond of reminding his players, "It's not like ice skating - there are no points for style." I think les Bleus would do well to bear that in mind.

A big match for England this afternoon. Scotland will be looking to do an "Italy" and will be seeking to imposing their traditional hard driving hard rucking style on the game. I'm expecting a bruising encounter with England cranking up the pressure in the second half to win.
 

Sunday 6.15pm.. England beat Scotland 22-16 in what was a hard fought must-win match.  Scotland are always fired up when they play England and today was no different. By contrast, England looked positively somnolent and sluggish from the 'off' - they all looked like they'd had a good lunch - and were unable to impose their game on the Scots who'd raised their game to the point where they could arguably have taken all the points. I thought there was a forward pass in the build up to England's try and also Scotland were unlucky to have John Barclay sin-binned. He'd been getting up the referee's nose with his constant questioning of every decision so he wasn't given much leeway. A question on sin-binning in general - if a player is yellow carded, does the clock timing his 10 minutes absence out of the match stop when play and the match clock is stopped? (as when the ref was himself injured and substituted)

Tom Croft flying in for his try

It was odd watching England today - right from the kick off they played as though the match was going to be a routine win for them. It was anything but. Scotland were noticeably sharper and more aggressive. England needed a leader on the field who would drive them on and get them fired up. With only one game against Ireland in Dublin next week standing between them and a long-awaited Grand Slam, Martin Johnson will rip into them next week during training. I'd like to see more of the 6'7" (200cm) 18 stone (115kg) Matt Banahan in action - he made a mess of poor old Kelly Brown when he came on in the second half in place of Mike Tindall. It'll be a brave man who forecasts the outcome of the Ireland - England game as Ireland will have been taking notes. It has much potential to be a banana skin game!

15th March 2011. France coach Marc Lièvremont has made six changes to his Six Nations squad to face Wales on Saturday. Out go Poitrenaud, Thion, Chabal, Jauzion, Marconnet & Rougerie. Huget will start from the bench. The starting line-up will be Médard, Clerc, Marty, Traille, Palisson, Trinh-Duc, Parra, Harinordoquy, Bonnaire, Dusautoir, Nallet, Pierre, Mas, Servat & Domingo. The Welsh will be fired up for this match as there's an outside chance that they could still win the championship. Expect another dog-fight. The forecast? Too close to call but it could well be a win for the Welsh (not my favourite team by any means but who are a well-deserved second in the Six Nations table). If France were to lose, I think the FFR's hand would be forced with regard to Lièvremont. The knives are being sharpened.

126. Pasajes San Juan

9th March 2011. Here's one for the next time it all goes quiet in the snug - instead of complaining about estate agents, why not try asking people if they're satisfied with their broadband download speed (yawn!). This suggestion is brought to you straight from the "Dinner Party Guide", Chapter 7 ("When talking flags - sure-fire gambits for re-starting conversations"). The speed of my broadband connection has been on my mind of late -  I've just tried a broadband speed test here and this (above) is what mine is reckoned to be. Is that good, bad or indifferent..? The truth is that I only had a dial-up connection in England and I must have spent hours waiting for web sites to dribble in. It seems the faster our connections are, they are never quite quick enough. Or is that just me?

11th March 2011. We went to Irun in Spain yesterday - just across the border from Hendaye - for some shopping. Spring is in the air and the trees there were starting to show greenery. I wanted to go and look at nearby Pasajes San Juan - somewhere I've wanted to visit for a while - but we didn't have time.

Irun

It's midway between Irun and San Sebastian and it's a quaint fishing village - with just the occasional big ship squeezing past! The fish restaurants there are reputed to be worth trying. Here's a link to some Spanish recipes (this is how Madame often does fish - and not just hake). Here are a couple of spectacular shots of the harbour entrance:

Pasajes San Juan

Pleasant outing on the river yesterday on a warm sunlit evening. Did a quick 10km in a quad sculler that I'm sure had a magnetic attraction to the banks! Say no more..! (Running total: 470km)

Update on supplies of Greek coffee (thought you'd never ask!): Whilst in Cannes, I found a large Arab grocers and looking around in the coffee section, I found 2 tins of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Turkish coffee! Bingo! 4€90 for 250gm. Amazon charges four times as much. One of the guys at the rowing club has a friend who regularly visits Athens in connection with his work and he's going to try and find some affordable Charalambous Greek Cypriot coffee for me as well. Now there's only one thing that goes well with this and that's a wee glass of Metaxa 5 star brandy. Maybe followed by another one.

12th March 2011. Out in a coxed quad sculler this morning. The guy who was 'stroke' must have had a new battery in because we raced up to the turnaround in one piece without stopping - turned around, only 2-3 minutes to rest before setting off like the clappers back to the clubhouse.. I've never been back so early! We were the first boat back by a street. 12 km. (Running total: 482km) More rugby this afternoon: Italy-France followed by Wales -Ireland. It's England-Scotland tomorrow afternoon.

PS. Some of you may have noticed that the blog threw a wobbly the other day - my fault. I'd ignored the old axiom: If it ain't broke, don't fix it*. Apart from the slightly new look, I think it's all back as it was - more or less. While I've still got the tools out, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see here and I'll see what I can do.

(*My Dad's version of this was: If it ain't broke, fix it until it is!)

PPS Diesel Price Watch. Diesel was 1.30€/litre in Spain yesterday. That's $6.79/US gallon or £1.12/litre. Ouch!

125. Thoughts of spring

5th March 2011. This cartoon pretty much sums up my view of January, February and March. It's been a loong ol' winter down here and we were counting the days only yesterday until I can finally drag the plancha and the table & chairs out of the garage to set out on the terrace so we can have lunch outside again.. Warmer weather to me means living outside in shorts and T-shirt. When did I last wear a tie..? I remember putting one around my neck about 2 years ago and there was an embarrassingly long pause while rusty gears somewhere at the back of my head creaked and groaned until slowly the solution to the tie knotting question popped out. And that was after wearing a tie every day for the best part of forty years..

Did 12km today (Running total: 460km) in a coxed quad sculler on a cold morning (4°C according to the car). An interesting sortie that included ramming the bank once and getting stuck, and grazing the bank a couple of times. The river is narrow and has lots of bends and I think it was the cox's first attempt at coxing. We normally have an "apero" after the outing on the first Saturday of the month but Bayonne are playing Stade Toulouse who are the current leaders of the French Top 14.. and a lot of the people from the club are going to the match. Because of the demand for tickets, the game is being played at San Sebastian - which is only 45 minutes from here - at a stadium that I was told holds 30,000. The town there should be lively tonight!! 

6th March 2011. I've been wondering whether or not to share this link - a bottomless pit of hits and music stretching back a long ways.. here's one from it that I'd forgotten.. that must have scarred for life a whole generation of young lads in the early 80s!

  

7th March 2011. Looking outside at burning blue cloudless sky, I think we might just have turned the corner in spring at last. The local forecast is for 18°C today as well.. Think I'll pull my shorts out of the winter storage and shake the moths off them!

Forget Bananarama.. this is Gordon Lightfoot's classic track - "If You Could Read My Mind": 

Here's a personal favourite - Gordon Lightfoot's "Canadian Railroad Trilogy":

I once rode the "Rocky Mountaineer" from Vancouver to Banff and that trip should be on your "Top 50 things to do before I die" list..
  

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run

When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun

Long before the white man, and long before the wheel

When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds

As to this verdant country they came from all around

They sailed upon her waterways and they walked her forests tall

Built the mines, the mills and the factories for the good of us all

And when the young man's fancy had turned into his brain

The railroad men grew restless for to hear their hammers ring

Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day

With many a fortune won and lost and many a debt to pay

For they looked in the future and what did they see?

They saw an iron road running from the sea to the sea

Bringing the goods to a young growing land

All up on the seaboards and into their hands

Look away, said they

Across this mighty land

From the eastern shore

To the western strand

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails

We've gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails

Open her heart, let the lifeblood flow

Gotta get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails

We've gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails

Open her heart, let the lifeblood flow

Gotta get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow

Get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow

Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declining

The stars they come stealing like the blows of the day

Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping

Beyond the dark oceans in a place far away

We are the navvies who work on the railway

Swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun

Living on stew and drinkin' bad whiskey

Bending our backs 'til the long days are done

We are the navvies who work upon the railway

Swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun

Laying down track, and building the bridges

Bending our backs 'til the railroad is done

So over the mountains and over the plains

Into the muskeg and into the rain

Up the St Lawrence all the way to Gaspé

Swinging our hammers and drawin' our pay

Driving 'em in and tying 'em down

Away to the bunkhouse and into the town

A dollar a day and a place for my head

A drink to the living, a toast to the dead

Oh the song, ah the future has been sung

All the battles have been won

On the mountain tops we stand

All the world at our command

We have opened up the soil

With our teardrops and our toil

Oh there was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run

When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun

Long before the white man, and long before the wheel

When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

And many are the dead men... too silent to be real

Here's a promo film for the Vancouver-Banff train ride:

Finally, for all those who think that stacking logs is just a chore and a fairly mindless activity, take a look at what this Canadian artist does with them:

Now - farewell Canada and back to the Pays Basque! I forgot to mention the result of the Bayonne v Stade Toulouse match last Saturday - shame on me! Here's what happened (Bayonne are in the blue and white):

It's looks like it was an open running passing game - the way they like to play it here - and see how many current internationals you can spot in the Toulouse squad. In contrast, Bayonne boast just the one international - Huget, the wing who scored the breakaway try.

124. Guilty as charged

2nd March 2011. My French failed me this morning - by that I mean my ability to instantly understand what someone has said to me and then to come out with the right reply (grammatically as well as socially).

Here's what happened.. I was walking with the dog in town when a woman d'un certain age passed close by going in the opposite direction and she said to me, "Les chiens sont pour les sentimentaux.." (Dogs are for sentimental people) and then she was gone.

It took me a couple of seconds to a. realise that she'd been talking to me and b. understand exactly what she'd said. I then spent the next ten minutes mulling over what I could/should/should not have said in English, let alone French. Curious thing to say though - was it a spur-of-the-moment thing or had she just been waiting for the right moment to come out with it? I mentioned it to Madame and she described her exactly to me - apparently she's well-known around town for being two or three prawns short of a paella. In the end, it was just as well I said nothing.

There are several people around town who are "down on their luck" - another way of saying their life choices were bad - and they sit on the ground outside places like the Post Office, the cathedral after the Sunday morning service or Monoprix and they all seem to have large dogs. There's normally an influx of them when there are public holidays or when it's the tourist season. Some are quite aggressive, some have little signs made up with their life stories, some demand you return their "Bonjour" - I do give to charities but I think the first thing they need to do is to stand up. And when I see them smoking then I'm afraid my sympathy is in short supply. There are jobs out there - but they won't find one sat on their backsides. I've very little sympathy - as in none at all - with young people sat on their backsides begging as well.  

Sad scene at the bottom of the avenue this morning - a large skip was parked outside a house where an old gentleman had lived. He always looked like he had a haircut every two years - whether he needed one or not. A few months ago I realised we hadn't seen him for a while and this morning his house was being cleared. I saw his old furniture thick with the dust of years being thrown unceremoniously into the skip by 3 men in the kind of white overalls that police wear at crime scenes.

But - back to the lady's comment - yes, I probably am sentimental as far as the dog is concerned. Why have one if you're not?

Now here's a 13 year old I could listen to all day:

Gypsy jazz guitarist Dorado Schmitt (in the centre above) is no mean violinist himself.. But here he is with his guitar: