La Table des Agassins

This article about a commercial jet that landed at the wrong airport made me laugh. The pilot had been cleared for a visual approach and landed at a military airport 5 miles short of his destination. This reminds me of the time when I was sitting in the cockpit on a commercial flight from Jersey to Southampton. As we approached Southampton, ATC told us that we were third to land after planes A & B. It was a beautiful clear day and we could see for miles. We were passing the airport on the right hand side (you mean starboard - Ed.) with a view to making a right turn towards the runway. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were looking everywhere to find the 2 planes in front of us. Eventually they found one of them but they never saw the other, either in the air or on the ground, and, believe me, I was looking as well. We landed safely and they could offer no explanation or not one they wanted to discuss with me! Mnnnnnnn.

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Out for lunch today at Les Agassins, the restaurant where Chris W is continuing his new life. Chris was a Times journalist, author, IT expert and runs the Dr Keyboard website. He is now a trainee chef at this great restaurant. We had the excellent value (19 euros) 3 course, Dejeuner Saveurs de Printemps. I started with a Salade d'Haricots Plats et Magret de Canard, followed by Supreme de Pintade a la Tapenade Noire and then Tiramisu. Each and every course was excellent and chef Jean-Rémi Joly, who we met, along with Chris, in the kitchen, spoilt us by providing lots of little between courses tasters. Jan said it was one of the most enjoyable meals she had ever had. You can't say better than that. Highly recommended.

Say that again John

Peter from The Languedoc Page made reference to this article which I found interesting.

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The garden gates and the kennel are coming along fine and I spent some time this afternoon mixing concrete to help the process. Michel is a good worker and at this rate most of the work will be finished by Friday.

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We were both watching Prime Ministers Question Time today which was being conducted by William Hague and John Prescott, the deputy Prime Minister, in Tony Blair's absence. Hague asked a question which Prescott in his inimitable (incomprehensible) style answered, to which Hague said, "There was so little English in that reply that even President Chirac would have been happy." They both hammered away at each other with insults flowing thick and fast, and it was, without doubt, the best and funniest PMQ's that we have heard for a long time. Excellent.

That's how to play football

Harold and Elizabeth left today and we very sorry to see them go. It was a relaxing few days and we had lots of laughs.

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Michel, our new macon, arrived as planned to build some garden gates and a chenile and run for the dogs. From time to time it's necessary to leave the dogs for more than a couple of hours and the kennel will help enormously. I have built in space for them to run about and lots of space for them to get out of the sun. If they don't like it, I can see myself using it when Jan gets fed up with me! (probably a bit more often than you think - Ed.)

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It was so warm this evening that we didn't need to light a fire. This was an added bonus to my 2 hours in front of the television tonight watching Arsenal play Juventus in the Champions League. It was one of the most exciting matches I have ever seen and if Arsenal continue to play like that, they will definitely be crowned champions of Europe. Watch this space.

I liked this one

A guy sitting at a bar at Heathrow Terminal 3 noticed a really beautiful woman sitting next to him.
He thought to himself: "Wow, she's so gorgeous she must be a flight attendant. I wonder which airline she works for?"
Hoping to pick her up, he leaned towards her and uttered the Delta slogan: "Love to fly and it shows?"
She gave him a blank, confused stare and he immediately thought to himself: "Damn, she doesn't work for Delta."
A moment later, another slogan popped into his head. He leaned towards her again, "Something special in the air?"
She gave him the same confused look. He mentally kicked himself, and scratched Singapore Airlines off the list. Next he tried the Thai Airways slogan: "Smooth as Silk."
This time the woman turned to him and said,"What the fuck do you want?"
The man smiled, slumped back in his chair, and said "Ahhhh, Easy Jet!"

Yet another domaine to find

After I had driven to Quissac for bread and croissants, I cleared up the breakfast stuff, packed the dishwasher and swept the floors. H&E and Jan, on the other hand, went to a book fair. Anyway they did remember to come back to pick me up so that we could go to Mas de Roux for lunch. What was particularly good about the lunch was that we might have found another good source of wine. On reading the label, that Harold very kindly bought, Domaine des Aigues Belles is very close by and is now on my list of 'must visit caveau'. It never fails to surprise me that there are so many good wine producers in this area and, after 3 years, I still find new ones. What a charmed life we have ahead.

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Mother's Days are great for mums but only if you remember them!

Peter buys a drink

After a leisurely breakfast it was off to Sommieres for the market. We hadn't been to the market for ages but because H&E wanted to go and because the weather was so pleasant it was an attractive proposition. As usual, we met lots of people that we know, but the highlight has to be that Peter Hornby actually got round to buying me a drink. I have mentioned Peter before because he runs the very successful Languedoc Page. Normally I'm a forgiving soul but I had no sympathy when he eventually got up to buy a bottle because he was the only one who could get up from the table without dislodging several people. When it came to my turn to buy, I sensibly called the waiter over and asked him for the same again. It transpired that we had drunk so many bottles that my bottle was offered free. Whilst Peter's bottle tasted good, mine tasted even better. Cheers Peter.
On market days the cafe that we frequent spills out onto the street and our table stuck out well into the road. We stayed until after the market had finished and the stall holders had cleared the street. What was funny, was that as the street got back to normal, the drivers of cars that were having to squeeze past us, apologised at having to disturb us. Now that's what I call people power. Vive la revolution! Such is life at Sommieres market.

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Talking about vive la revolution, this article is interesting and helps to put some of the recent unrest with the young and the new employment contract into some kind of context. As far as I'm concerned, the notion of jobs for life disappeared with the dodo (and so will France as an economic power unless the French start to see some sense). What I find interesting about all this is that I had no idea that French attitudes were so self centred and deeply entrenched. The next few years will be very interesting.

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Tonight Jan prepared cheese soufflé, slow cooked lamb and minted strawberries for dinner. All washed down with a few bottles from Domaine de Baubiac. My new best friend.

A French truckstop

Harold and Elizabeth arrived today to stay for a few nights. Until recently they lived in the village, but moved to Agen (about 4 hours away) last year. Their visit is about meeting up with old friends.
First stop this evening was Ray and Val's for 'aperos' before we headed to the relais in nearby Montmirat for a cheap and cheerful 4 course, 11 euros meal, wine included (how do they do it?). Each course has a choice from 3, I had eggs mimosa, steak and chips, cheese, crème caramel and as much wine as I could drink. All this for 11 euros (£7.85). It's no wonder that they are always full at lunchtime. Unfortunately, at this time of year they only open Friday and Saturday evening. Good value.

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With regards to my rant yesterday, regarding Norman Kember, it seems that I'm not alone. Take a look at this site for lots more comment.

Yet another weather forecast

It feels like spring has finally arrived. It's a glorious warm sunny day and the outlook for the next couple of weeks is good. I'm glad we have seasons here and quite well defined they are too, all 2 of them. From the middle of March you can expect it to start warming up considerably (and so it does) and from November on you need a fire in the evening. Lovely jubbly.

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I'm probably going to offend somebody here but I have to say it. It makes me really angry that the likes of Norman Kember create so much heartache and grief in their selfish, ill advised trips to the likes of Iraq. Selfish because "he felt he had to do something", ill advised, because anyone with the slightest modicum of common sense understands the danger, and despite both advice from government and experts on the ground, ploughs on in some ridiculous 'dream' about helping people and bringing peace. He should spend the rest of his life showing gratitude to the people that have worked on his behalf behind the scenes and the soldiers who put their lives at risk to rescue him. Mr Kember, you are a selfish idiot and your actions only make matters worse.

I need help

It rained on and off for most of yesterday so I took the opportunity, during my enforced captivity, to finish the data inputing that I had started the day before. I type pretty much with one finger and by the end of the day my right index finger was very sore. (Such a big brave boy - Ed.)

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Jan and I have felt for some time that one or two of our French neighbours talk in a racist way but haven't thought much about it, other than trying to avoid them. This article suggests that the problem is much more widespread. I wonder what the equivalent figures for other countries are.

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I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. My mother called today to mention that she has now received junk mail, mailed to two different names that she does not recognise, at her address, and that she is very worried. When I asked what she is worried about she said that as she lives on her own these things can be very worrying and what should she do? I tried, probably not very successfully, to explain that she had nothing to worry about. It made me reflect on the problems associated with elderly people living on their own and how vulnerable they can feel. I need to be more sympathetic and more patient. (You should talk to your care worker about it - Ed.).

I'm forever blowing bubbles

From time to time I mention Katie, a delightful person, who visits us on school holidays with her parents Glyn and Gill and her equally delightful brother Tom. Well, Katie is a fiend with a squash racquet, plays for her county Lancashire, and recently won a tournament in Ireland against an older, bigger, stronger and uglier opponent (I hope she doesn't see this - Ed.). I'm pleased to include a picture of Katie collecting her prize.

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I saw this today which made me laugh. There's hope for us all yet!

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With the exception of West Ham (I had the honour of signing their first ever shirt sponsorship) beating Manchester City in the FA Cup, nothing much happened today. It tried to rain most of the day so the garden was out of bounds and I spent at lot of time at the computer inputing data. It looks like I'll have to do the same again tomorrow - yippee - can't wait!

A one eyed frog

In response to huge public demand, I include another picture of my new beret. Very Gallic or what? (Why do you keep closing one eye? - Ed.)

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The dogs have been quite mischievous recently and today Max decided to chase a cat, which disappeared under the house. New houses in this area all seem to be built with a vide sanitaire. A space under the house where you can get access to all the plumbing and drainage. We have 2 extra accesses (don't ask) that I had blocked off with a view to doing something permanent later. Whilst going under the house is not a problem in itself, the damage he could do to pipes is something else. Gentle he is not. For 2 years Max has never been interested in going under the house but a cat has changed all that. Both holes were blocked with heavy concrete blocks, but if it means getting at a cat, these posed no problem to our little angel. He brushed them aside as if they didn't exist.

Seriously good wine makers

Today was all about meeting Bob and Lynne for a little wine tasting, and trying out a new restaurant, but just before B&L arrived both the dogs went missing. After about 20 minutes, Max responded to calls and turned up on the other side of a boundary fence, but we had to use quite a bit of subterfuge to trap him because he was clearly very excited at having 'escaped'.
Minnie, on the other hand, had totally disappeared and so with Max under control, we went off in search of her. We toured the village in the car and on foot shouting her name. Nothing. My thoughts turned to someone having taken her because she is quite valuable and very friendly, so getting hold of her would not be a problem. After 40 minutes we returned home and had to assume that she would turn up. She did, in exactly the same place that Max had 40 minutes earlier. We then spent some time trying to find their escape route and blocking the hole. The little darlings.

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When Bob and Lynne arrived, only I was ready, so the 3 of us set off for a little wine tasting but before that they very, very kindly gave us each a birthday present. Fabulous, I've always wanted a beret and together with my new stripy jumper (Marks and Spencer!) I think that I am at least starting to look a little French. Thank you B&L, you are very kind.

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First stop for the tasting was the cave at Crespian to taste their Bois d' Elene, Grand Reserve (amongst others), then onto Mas de Plan at Serignac for some of their reds, where we also discovered a delicious bag-in-box white. It's funny that both my white wines of choice, from around here, come in boxes. Last stop was Quissac for a tasting in the front room of the owners of Domaine de Baubiac. These people are seriously good wine makers but what made the tasting so atmospheric was Raul's insistence on making it a bit of an apero (I think he fancied the company) by offering us some sausage and olives and leaving the television blaring out, whilst France beat Wales at Rugby. You couldn't pay for moments like this and to quote a MasterCard advert - it was priceless. As Jan said some time ago, "It sure beats buying wine at Sainsburys."

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As our luck was riding high, the new restaurant was bound to be good. WRONG, at best the food was mediocre, with a style straight from the 70's, it was not particularly cheap, and the wine was ok but poor in comparison to what we had been tasting earlier (if you want to avoid it, it was Hotel Restaurant L'Esquielle in 30190 St-Genies de Malgoires). A disappointing end to the day, but the rest of it was pretty damn good!

Give us a job mister

I've finally caught up with the backlog of typing for last week's trip. Other than catching up with bits and pieces, not too much happened yesterday.

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I've mentioned before about antiquated French attitudes to work and how this country needs strong leadership that will move it forward into the 21st century. The present unrest, as mentioned here, is a good example of what I mean. I'm no expert, but I believe that the UK has had the same type of law in existence for over 25 years and doesn't seem to suffer too much. Every time I discuss employment with any of the artisans that I come into contact with, to a man, they mention the high cost of employing people in this country, in terms of social security payments and stringent employment laws that make it very difficult to fire someone who doesn't perform. As a result, you find lots of one man bands, high youth unemployment and negative attitudes. French protests seem inevitably to have a violent side to them and in my eyes makes the protestors look Luddite in the extreme. For a nation that launches space rockets, builds Concorde, designs nice clothes and makes fine wine, I find it all a bit puzzling.

A brave man

As planned, new gates arrived from Lapeyre in anticipation of blocking off the front and back gardens and Mr Fridge Repair Man arrived to fix an ongoing problem with our main fridge. At the time of writing, it's still chillin!

We had a big shock however, when JP, our French friend and former restaurant owner, appeared on the doorstep minus his usual mane of hair and Gallic moustache. He was expecting an email from his family, who had recently decamped to Zimbabwe, and called to see if it had arrived. The poor man had had a lump removed from his throat and the chemotherapy had zapped all his hair and 'burnt' his face. All this had happened in the space of the few weeks since we last saw him, and he has been dealing with this all on his own. A brave man.

It reminds me of how frail we all are, how we should all love one another and that we should all live life to the full.