This time it's Jan's turn for a medical check-up, so, first thing, we went into Nîmes to see the doctor. She gets the all clear, which was excellent news, and now she has no excuse when it come to cooking. Phew. (Give the poor woman a rest - Ed.)
The next trip was to the bank to sign the back of a cheque. The bank called in a panic, the other day, to say that the cheque from the sale of the little house in the village was going to bounce. Now as this cheque is 'official', as in it comes from a tressorie account, this was a little surprising. Anyway it turns out that if you want to bank a cheque in France you have to sign it on the back before depositing it in your account. I was not aware of this and paid it in through a 'hole in the wall'. When it hit the tressorie they refused to honour it until it was signed. Yet another little stupid rule a la Francaise. Since then, I have asked lots of people including the bank, the reason for this rule and no one has provided a sensible explanation. In fact I doubt if there is one. But, stupid rule there is, and into the bank to sign it we went.
If you want another bit of stupidity, read on. We then went to Decathlon to pick up our recently serviced bikes. Mine looked nice and shiny and well oiled but with one glaring discrepancy, it was missing a pedal. Now, when I was a lad, a bike always went more quickly with two pedals, in fact it didn't go at all with only one pedal. It transpires that because I had delivered the bike with one pedal missing (it had broken off) they thought that maybe I had kept a pedal back (or something) and tried to give it to me with just the one. Duh!
Sick and tired of incompetence, we headed off to find a little restaurant that had been recommended to Jan. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so we sat outside at Simple Simon a pleasant little resto just off the main drag in the old part of Nîmes, at 11 rue Xavier Sigalon, Place des Esclafidous, 0466 67 55 61. It was good without being outstanding and we would definitely go back. What, however was outstanding, was a rosé from Mas d'Espanet, Freesia 2005. Go there for the wine alone!
***
The next trip was to the bank to sign the back of a cheque. The bank called in a panic, the other day, to say that the cheque from the sale of the little house in the village was going to bounce. Now as this cheque is 'official', as in it comes from a tressorie account, this was a little surprising. Anyway it turns out that if you want to bank a cheque in France you have to sign it on the back before depositing it in your account. I was not aware of this and paid it in through a 'hole in the wall'. When it hit the tressorie they refused to honour it until it was signed. Yet another little stupid rule a la Francaise. Since then, I have asked lots of people including the bank, the reason for this rule and no one has provided a sensible explanation. In fact I doubt if there is one. But, stupid rule there is, and into the bank to sign it we went.
If you want another bit of stupidity, read on. We then went to Decathlon to pick up our recently serviced bikes. Mine looked nice and shiny and well oiled but with one glaring discrepancy, it was missing a pedal. Now, when I was a lad, a bike always went more quickly with two pedals, in fact it didn't go at all with only one pedal. It transpires that because I had delivered the bike with one pedal missing (it had broken off) they thought that maybe I had kept a pedal back (or something) and tried to give it to me with just the one. Duh!
***
Sick and tired of incompetence, we headed off to find a little restaurant that had been recommended to Jan. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so we sat outside at Simple Simon a pleasant little resto just off the main drag in the old part of Nîmes, at 11 rue Xavier Sigalon, Place des Esclafidous, 0466 67 55 61. It was good without being outstanding and we would definitely go back. What, however was outstanding, was a rosé from Mas d'Espanet, Freesia 2005. Go there for the wine alone!
1 comment:
Well - either "Simple Simon" has changed enormously (and being a chain of restaurants, I doubt that), or I'm a Dutchman, which I'm not, I'm a Scotsman, and it looks like we probably have crossed paths without knowing in Sommieres/Vendargues/Nimes etc. I live at the moment in Vauvert, and have been in Languedoc-Roussillon for some 28 years now!
Be nice to hear from you - I'm at iwmpop@gmail.com
(iwmpop)
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