Lehaut

We so enjoyed our last French winter walking holiday we decided to go to a new venue this year. Drove down to Les Deux Alpes for a week. They do a pass for all the ski lifts for those of us who only walk, not ski. A heavy fall of snow was imminent on the first one we went up which gave a good "white out" picture of me as I stood on a ridge with the valley dropping away behind. The glacier we wanted to visit the next day was shut due to strong winds. Even at the level we were allowed to, the wind chill temperature (according to the monitors) was -35°C, which is the coldest I have ever experienced. Enough time to take my glove off, take a picture and lose feeling in the ends of my fingers. My wife stopped moving only long enough to take this. The snow and wind dropped for the rest of the week, allowing a visit inside the glacier and some great walks and views. Much milder at -22°C air temp. Great experience and a great place for a holiday.

Heard a story on TF1 and checked again the stats https://actu.fr/societe/maisons-fissurees-avec-la-secheresse-et-la-canicule-des-habitations-de-plus-en-plus-fragilisees_53065830.html#:~:text=Plus de 10 millions d'habitations concernées&text=« Amplifiés par les épisodes de,France des zones à risque. According to the Government over 10 million houses in France are at risk of cracking due to soil movement by building on clay and the increase cycle of drying wetting brought about by climate change. The pictures on TF1 were bad enough, but the attitude of the insurance companies is even worse. If they are forced to pay out, you can guess where they will get the extra money. Of course, when you build on clay, you can take steps to avoid future problems, but that costs more money etc.

Or, just charge the battery occasionally if you are worried. Sounds much easier just to connect a charger. Having said that, our battery (Opel Astra K) is under the carpet in the boot!

"Maybe it's just a local thing in your area?" Could well be just these two shops. Walked to the Intermarche near us and they had plenty. Don't like going there as, with many supermarkets, the ventilation system dumps the smell of fish directly into the entrance. Lidl also helps the milk farmers, according to the press https://www.lsa-conso.fr/lidl-revalorise-le-prix-du-lait-pour-les-producteurs-de-sodiaal-et-lsdh,420066

Two weeks now in our local Lidl and Leclerc no Lait Ecrémé at all on the shelves. Is it just the LA cows that are not producing or has anyone else noticed?

Don't want the stuff or don't want to buy the stuff? It might be less hassle just to give it to them for free?

Having eaten, for the first time, at an acquaintance's house a few years ago, we were somewhat horrified to see him put his plate on he floor for the cats to lick clean when he had finished his meal! We only hoped he washed it before returning it to the cupboard. I think the less we know how individuals judge cleanliness the better. Having worked the dishwasher in the salle de fête in our village for the old folks lunch I have more confidence in the commercial cleaning :).

"Depuis le 1er janvier, les établissements de restauration rapide doivent servir les repas à table dans de la vaisselle lavable et réutilisable. Une mesure qui oblige les fast-foods à revoir leur organisation." So in theory when (if) you eat at Mc Do, your food should arrive in washable containers now, not throw away ones. This means that those type of eateries have to invest in a dish hasher and operator. Sometimes called a "plonger" in France, this was the only job the "Pole emploi" could offer me during the Sarkozy health debacle of many years ago. When describing my 25 years Naval service, which included running diving teams (plongers) in ships and submarines, this was only the word the interviewer latched on to. No other diploma, no other job!

Indeed, there was nothing on the van to indicate which one he was!!

To us happy few, a safe 2023.

Engaged in renovations up the road from us

We have not had a paper receipt from Super U for about 9 months, by choice. Same now for Lidl and Leclerc. They arrive on the phone as we leave the till. Much easier to read than the paper ones, go straight back to the till or customer services to sort out any problems. The 4€ discount that Leclerc have been doing for weeks normally arrives by Email, so no need to keep bits of paper either. Great system. Now all they need to do to make things better is to tell you when the items you have bought are subject to health recalls and automatically give you discounts without the need for coupons etc.

Our eldest came over from Japan where he is livingstudying. First Christmas all together for 3 years. Gladly pay the extra in heating to have him here with us! (actually joking, bought him a pair or thick slipper socks for his present, plus a thick blanket to wrap himself up in on the settee😉)

It looks like the US will impose Covid tests (for what they are worth) on Chinese tourists which is a start. You would think that the Governments would have learnt the value of a shut down from the initial breakout. As you say, tourist money will be the driving force. The Chinese Government spokesperson on the TV yesterday was quite belligerent. The "problems" in China shown on the rest of the worlds TV is not true, a Capitalist plot etc. They have a lot of internal problems to deal with on top of this. Not good omens for 2023.

Happy Crisis and and Merry New Fear to all too. 😉

For them it may not much of a life (and indeed for a large percentage of humanity you can say the same thing ) but if we can find out what helps them live longer, the 1%ers may be able to live longer too and do even more damage to our and their environment!

Or use Google Drive Docs to write it up. It saves automatically as you go along, is free and easy to use. Then copy and paste as ssomon suggests.

Cannot let some pongo have the last word. "Would you like to sit in the Captain's chair" or "Would you like to see the golden rivet" are a couple of useful ones employed in the Senior Service, surface branch. "Would you like to see the window in the submarine with the fish swimming past" was sometimes employed on one boat I served on. And yes, there was such a "contrivance" to entice the unwary.

Hello Henry100, sorry to disappoint, but its not an electric bike. My good old fashioned legs power it, so the range at the moment is somewhat limited! 200€ off the Leboncoin. Have only recently got back on a bike and thought of an electric one, but it seemed a bit of a cop out. The one in the photo is a VTC, copes well on roads and trails (which I mostly go on if given the choice). It has front suspension, disk brakes and an aluminium frame. About 15kg. Decathlon mark

"And you don’t have beaches on the Loire either. We do 😉" I beg to differ. There is a designated beach at St Sebastien Sur Loire, and if its more sand you want, this on my bike ride two weeks ago on the way to Ancenis, and the other at Mauves sur Loire where there is a beach below the rampart.

Glad you liked it gncbrule, this one, however, is all down to nature:

"To be fair Henry, most folk in France live in appartements….so their view tends to be of…..another apartment" Well we lucked out with our apartment, the wretched Loire river gets in the way!

The truth, I can, can you? Patrick Michaels, currently the Director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Koch-founded and funded Cato Institute, has built a career curating doubt about climate change science and its impact on our environment. His contributions as an ‘expert’ to the multi-pronged strategy to stall action on climate change have been subsidized for decades by the industries that have the most to lose from any such action.

Ah, Fox News, well know peddlers of truth!

I do honestly wonder what goes on in the heads of some of these people...... Indeed, why design an app that looks at the geolocation of your phone to tell you when your possible French power cut would be?