Catalpa

Our main summer event is the Vide Grenier and Fête / Repas Champêtre held on the last weekend of July. The Comité de Fêtes puts up a marquee (our own - purchase and use shared between 4 communes) on Friday / Saturday. The Saturday Erection Party (snigger) start at 08h30... with breakfast. Tripes à la mode de Caen and cider followed by cheese and red wine. By 10am they're ready to start, if not a little "over-ready". Sunday, the comité prepare, cook and serve about 220 - 230 4-course lunches (salady / crudité things with tête de veau slices as starter) followed by sausages or porc grillade and frites, followed by the obligatory mini-pointe de Bertie and then something like a slice of (apple) Tarte Normande or (and we have a master pâtissier on the comité) home-made beignet-sized profiteroles filled with crème anglaise. Cost: 12€. There are also sausages and frites or saucisse en croûte for those who want one simple course. We did about 100 of those this year. There's a crêpe stall too operating throughout the day. In the evening, the comité serve another 70 - 100 covers of 3 or 4 courses (dependent on what's still available) until at about 11pm when the feu d'artifice takes place. After that, there's a bal populaire and bar in the salle that goes on till about 4am. We have about 280 residents in the commune but lots of family and friends return to see their friends and rellies. Very few people appear to be "over-refreshed": there was only one falling-down-drunk pre-fireworks this year and he's French, in his 60s and famous for liking a drink. There are rarely any yoofs who are the worse for wear though there are plenty around. Other times of the year there's the November Poule au Pot which takes place in the salle and the overflow goes over to the old school room... about 280 people in all; Père Nöel's visit in mid-December when he delivers gifts purchased by the commune for all the kids under the age of 12 (and good quality gifts too); the lunch for "les cheveux blancs" in September (five courses, starts midday-ish, finishes 7pm-ish) and the dinner for all the commune bénévoles in June - at least 4 courses. For a small village with no commerce or bar, it has a very active comité des fêtes. The local villages are similar though - through the autumn, most weeks there is some lunch or evening do - a méchoui, moules frites, choucroute, etc.

I'm glad your wanderer is still around, Judie. I'd heard one had disappeared since your move but hadn't heard that she'd just relocated! Hope your sister's cat reappears too, Frenchie. He's a beautiful boy. I love "gingers".

But the wise (mostly) experienced (mostly) intellectual (randomly) members here are not the target audience of a program like that. And that target audience doesn't give a stuff about the facts, the realities, only the fantasy. [:P]

Oh, yes! But with a hint... a strong hint!... of magenta (just sooo French!) instead of the bleached tips favoured by The Boys.

For those who missed it / didn't see all of it, Spiral / Engrenages is being repeated from series 1, starting tomorrow. 

Top post, Joanna. [8-|]

[quote user="Christine Animal"]Another thing that gets me are those British cars that fly through France at such a speed so they can say they did Calais - Nice or wherever in such and such a time. [/quote]We can only hope that they will be passing Chancer's drive en route. [:D]

[quote user="Quillan"]Funny enough I was thinking the same think but then it appears not to be the case. [/quote] I came on to say the same thing... but now realise that pointing out the dichotomy could be viewed as offensive. [;-)]

[quote user="Christine Animal"]It is a form of "denouncing" others... [/quote] No it's not. If they aren't driving above the speed limit there's no problem. [quote user="Christine Animal"]...which is not on and probably understandably not appreciated by the neighbours.  [/quote] Still, it's probably appreciated by all families and friends who've had people killed or injured by drivers going too fast to react appropriately to problems. I never understand why some feel speeding is acceptable and just a game with the gendarmes / police / cameras. I'm occasionally guilty of exceeding speed limits: I was too busy gossiping the other day to notice my speed had drifted to nearly 60 in a 50 and yes, there was a gendarme with his radar. Entirely my fault and I will remember the incident - and watch my speed - far longer than if some misguided twonk had flashed me to warn me.

I didn't warm to the re-make and people were raving about the original so that's what I'm taping. Possibly pointlessly. :-^) ETA for those who don't know...

I have wondered about Sons of Anarchy. [geek] But I'm not even managing to watch the original version of The Killing which is going out on consecutive nights Sunday thru Thursday for several weeks. That series is very highly regarded... I am taping it but I doubt I'll get around to sitting down and watching 15 hours of sub-titled tv. Well, short of having a Cooperlola-style run of luck, that is...!  [;-)] ETA: The Good Wife was a must watch... but the second series was good but not up to the originality and excellence of the first. Still... we should be talking House Hunt... the fashion sense of the "blonde" estate agent showed she'd successfully gone native. [6]

I don't know... but I only saw about 15 minutes of it. I giggled inanely and gibbered slightly as the voiceover said that three-storey townhouse could be restored for £40k, roof an' all. The £100k for the barn was more realistic. I don't think it'll be on my "must watch" list. Though, nowadays, not much is.

[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]I corresponded with Tresco for a time, but she faded into the ether a while ago and I've no idea what became of her. Shame: she was a high quality human being. [/quote] Loved Tresco. I did correspond with her occasionally... an email from Tressy was always a very good read. Loved SB / RG too... and she used to appear infrequently on another forum I was on till about a year ago. Loved Cassis' contributions... and Twinkle and Just Katie were a class double act. Am pleased to see 5-E is still around. Others posting then but not now are no loss whatsoever to forumkind. [:P] Anyway, I'm / we're still here. Things have worked out pretty much as we expected them to when we moved 7 years ago. We're running businesses. Making just about enough to live on. But happy with our lot. And when we're not, we'll do something else somewhere else.

[quote user="Frenchie"]Honestly, I think it is such a waste...  In a sense, she's the winner, as I think it was a set up . [/quote] I don't think she is a winner in any way. Some form of sex act involving semen does not seem to be in dispute - though I have not followed the case as assiduously as others so maybe that has been disproved. I seem to remember a statement from the DSK lawyers along the lines that any sexual act, if it took place, was consensual. If I am remembering it correctly, weasel words like that cannot mean anything other than sex of some form did take place. With a hotel maid. That being the case, DSK is a pillock... I don't believe in a conspiracy here or in set ups but allowing for a moment that it was a set up, how could he have made it any easier for the perpetrators? If anyone threw a career away it was DSK himself.

[quote user="sweet 17"]The body takes time to heal and, however impatient you may both feel, nature is not easily hurried.[/quote] ...especially if the body was already under stress from being unwell pre-diagnosis and not able to eat well. That op is major surgery for anyone and as she eats better, rests lots and gives her body the resources it needs to heal effectively, things can only improve. It may just take longer than she - or any of us in a similar position - might like. Also, mentally, she may just be (no doubt temporarily judging by past evidence!) at the end of her tether with the recuperation business having to happen all over again. I'd either be pounding small furry animals with a baseball bat or yelling and swearing at anyone who came near me. Yeah, probably both. But I suspect Deb is a much better person than me. [;-)]

Unless your goods are very cheap and cheerful, in general, go where the money is. [:D] That is larger towns like Caen, Rouen, etc and seaside towns in season such as Granville, Trouville, Deauville, Honfleur... In our experience, if the visitors to an expo are the local, rural French people, they go to look but don't (gross generalisation) have the inclination or perhaps the disposible income to buy. So you need to be where the wealthier inhabitants and visitors are... or at least at exhibitions that they will visit. Or have something personal to offer such as not-too-expensive paintings of their houses, their kids, their pets... Have you been round a few larger craft fairs? The style of many arts and crafts things are just slightly different to what a British eye finds attractive. I would walk around a craft fair in southern England and often be spoilt for choice as to what I wanted to buy. Here... not so much. Or at all. Whereabouts (approximately) in Normandy will you be? There are several AngloFrench organisations who organise craft fairs... one in northern Mayenne, for eg.

[quote user="Sara"]Perhaps it might be a good idea for you to dicepher the true meaning & intent of peoples' post a little more carefully in future? Sara[/quote] So you are blaming other contributors for not reading your posts properly? [6]

[quote user="Sara"]The older boy is about 12, I could go on and describe him but I won't, let me say he does not look gentil .  <snip> Like England the people in France are becoming obsessed by MATERIALISM and if they can't have it they get jealous  and we suffer with the consequences. The head lines in my local L'Eveil newspaper was 10 ways to protect your house at night or when you go out ,against burgary!!! When we first came over (before Sarcozy) the news was all about village fetes and making jam..... The increase in burglaries has rocketed around here despite plenty of work ( also a lot of people not working I might add) and our town having 4 rossetes for prettiness.[/quote] [blink] Oookaaay... backing away, now...

[quote user="KathyF"]There are disaffected youngsters (and older people) everywhere.[/quote] I'd rather say there are crooks and vandals everywhere. I'm not sure rebellion and / or resentment is always a factor.

So pleased to read that following the worrying news there is good news. [:)]

For publicity purposes? [+o(] I suppose, thinking about it, being behind her daughter's Facebook / Twitter / whatever account really could make a mother feel as though she is actually "living her dream".

[quote user="5-element"]It is so odious when parents use their own child to live out their own, unrealised,  fantasies - this is usually that it's all about.[/quote] Agree totally. It's all about the parent/s, not the child.

Bloody hell, Deb. [blink] [6]

[quote user="cooperlola"]The only thing more naff than a coloured bog roll is a coloured bathroom "suite".[+o(][/quote] Oh, I don't know... Late Renaissance Chav curly cast bathroom suites of any colour are possibly a tad worse than pink loo rolls... ...but the two together would be utterly unforgiveable. [6]

This is by no means a definitive summary (and may even be unrepresentative or plain misrepresentative [:P]) but... Some think he's guilty, some don't.Some think the "perp walk" shouldn't be allowed, some say when in Rome... or NYC... expect to be treated like you're in Rome... or NYC Some think we should await the outcome before indulging in speculation, some (very few, obviously!) don't. Some think DSK is attractive, some don't.Some think being a serial womaniser (not necessarily DSK) is irrelevant to how someone does their job. (Oh yes, and particularly if they are involved in framing laws that protect women from rape, harassment, bullying in the workplace, etc) ...and some don't.Some think that privacy laws should prevent anyone in France knowing about / discussing this... and some don't. Some think DSK could still be president [:-))] and some don't.Enjoy a brief sidebar discussion on is "Anglo-Saxon", when used in the French press, pejorative or just another phrase.Some (I'm one of them) are fascinated by DSK's lawyer's assertion way back that (and I paraphrase) if a sexual act too place, it was consensual. Okaaaaaaaaay. That would be the Clinton definition of "if" then. And some aren't fascinated at all. So if you think you have sufficient brain cells to waste on 100 pages of discussion with lots of hesitation, loads of deviation and a predictable quantity of repetition... you go, girl! [:D] (And in the meantime, may all your bloods be good and I hope that you'll be winging your way home-ward this afternoon).