chessfou

[quote]I can recommend Mas Amiel among other Maury wines[/quote] It's almost on topic, since I frequently read wine books; slightly less on topic to say that I have a handful of their bottles in the cellar.

Thanks - an interesting idea for the spring/summer since it's quite close to some very interesting vineyards I would like to visit. Amazing, if true, how Cucugnan got its name - 359 and all that.

I've currently got 4 books on the go: Daudet - Lettres de mon moulin - this is my bed-time reading; a very nice collection of short stories and the French isn't too tough. Orsenna - Madame Bâ - this is tough going (I aim to read it in front of my PC, so that I can look up the vocab which doesn't appear in any of my dictionaries, except the big Robert&Collins and sometimes not even there) but I like Orsenna's books - I have read four of his so far. Pagnol - Collected Works - this is an easier read (roughly the Daudet level) and great fun, though I've only just started - La Gloire de mon père, to be followed by the Jean de Florette stuff. I find it reminiscent of Goscinny in style. Druon - Le Roi de fer - first of 7vols in the series Les Rois maudits. Great stuff if you like historical novels (this is basically the 100 Years War, so you may want to discuss it with your neighbours!). I think it is just slightly more difficult than the Daudet & Pagnol but a doddle compared with Orsenna.

Not interested in Sky - we have a CanalSat sub, so get French channels by Sat and also misc. FTA, mainly German, Italian & Spanish  (Astra1) and use Freesat (Astra2) for FTA BBC & ITV (also have Hotbird but hardly ever use it - a relic from TPS days). Thinking about the Aston Wamba HD (one of the very few that can handle a CanalSat card) but €500 requires a bit of thought. Also slightly hesitant because our TVs are going on 3yrs old; Sony has HDMI in but our main TV - Phillips - has a DVI-I in which I know should work but anticipate a bit of effort being needed to find the right connector.

Hah! Problem now solved. We spotted some big weeds about 2m from the dish - cut them down - no, it wasn't them. It was the digibox (and I thought "mosaic" problems always emanated from elsewhere). Our friendly neighbourhood shop owner has loaned us a replacement box (identical to the one which went on the blink - Aston Simba 202), despite the fact that we didn't buy the first one from him - it really is nice living in a small community. Everything now works perfectly (although we did lose Astra 2 during last night's snowstorm) even though there's a load of snow and ice on the Astra2 dish, which I can see from the kitchen window (I'm not going out to look at the Astra1 & Hotbird dish mounted on the roof). The only remaining question (I think) is do we simply replace the duff box or do we upgrade to a box with HD.

ok, no more Metz-ing about; time for a serious response. Accents are strange creatures, that's for sure but also very individual. I find that I tend to acquire the local accent of wherever I happen to be (as, it seems, do most people) but I have a couple of friends/acquaintances (one English, one Canadian) who are married to French women, have lived in France for 20+ years, are absolutely fluent but have the strangest accents I have ever heard - they certainly haven't picked up their local accent. When speaking English, I have (at least) two different accents - my "natural" one and one that I adopt when speaking to non-Anglophones (and which doesn't involve any change in volume!). I learned my Spanish in Southern Spain and I am stuck with a weird accent (cross between Anglo and Al-Andalus) and I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to say "mas o menos" being condemned to "ma oo menoo." I do, however, recall one meeting in Madrid which involved two groups - one from Madrid, the other from Andalucia - where I experienced the same thing that Odile mentioned; I was using a different accent according to which group the person I was speaking to was from. After going on for three years here, my accent lies somewhere between "terrible" and "exécrable" (for the first, you have to decide which meaning I'm using!) but it is clear to me that éventuell-e-ment I will end up with an accaing that will engender no end of mirth among Parisians.

Interesting topic, even if it is a bit of a Metz.

[quote]What will you be drinking with your Christmas dinner or to bring in the New Year?[/quote] Hadn't begun to think about it but first thoughts are ... apero: Champagne - 100% Chardonnay (I love most Blanc de Noir but they're not really apero wines) - probably Drappier. lunch: foie gras: maybe a dry-ish Jurançon - 2003 Cuvée Marie  from Charles Hours perhaps - the over-ripe grapes (year of canicule) give the wine some of the elements of a normal Jurançon without the actual sweetness (sweet Jurançon or Sauternes is lovely with foie gras but I now prefer to leave that until dessert - just a bit too much for my palate prior to something like goose). goose: maybe a Cahors, ca. 2000-2002, I've got a couple of bottles of Le Cèdre which would do the job admirably. cheese: depends on exactly which cheeses we end up with but back to a white (reds really don't marry very well with most cheeses), quite possibly finish off the Cuvée Marie - ideal with brébis and tomme. dessert: don't know what we're eating yet - if bûche de noël, probably Moscato d'Asti (a million miles from "Asti Spumante"); if chocolatey, one of the last two bottles of 1997 Rivesaltes Ambré from René Sahonet (the 1998 is excellent but the 1997 was absolutely exceptional); if fruity, probably another Jurançon - Domaine Cauhapé, their Quintessence du Petit Manseng (Henri Ramonteu, the vigneron, perhaps goes slightly over the top when he says of this wine "A déguster  seuls pour essayer de percer le mystère du temps en début ou fin de  repas").

1998 decided it would be practical to emigrate ca. 2005, so started basic research ... which country? Possibles were France, Italy & Spain (Belgium had some real tax advantages but vetoed by my wife ... saved me doing so ... apologies to any Belgians reading this). 2000 settled on France - my wife had always had a hankering to live here (ever since spending a year here as an assistante in a lycée way back when) and French (apart from English) is the only language we have in common (I have Spanish and neither of us Italian). 2000-2003 researching possible areas ... 2002-3 false start with Pau region. Settled on Aveyron (turned out to be almost certainly the right choice for us, also the no.1 choice among French "seniors" in a huge 2005/6 sondage). 2004 & 2005 ... settled on 2006 (May) as time to move (rather than 2005 - younger son having decided to take an unexpected gap year) ... started making quarterly visits covering the whole of the département N-S & E-W (and even a bit beyond - particularly Albi) and seeing places in all weather conditions. 2005 November ... still hadn't settled on a specific part of Aveyron, panic beginning to set in and decided we had better find somewhere to rent fairly central so that we could continue the hunt at our leisure after the move in 2006 (May date now set in stone). 2005 end November ... one of the internet sites we had eventually uncovered (after getting past all the English ones and those dealing with holiday lets) showed an "interesting-looking" property to rent not all that far from Rodez. Put it on a short-list (of one) to look at on our next visit (first week Dec). 2005 December ... lousy weather ... looked at this place (the short-listed one) and one other - the other was obviously far more practical (just on the edge of Rodez as opposed to a smallish hamlet of 100 souls or so with not so much as a boulangerie) but it was pointless even thinking about it ... we knew this was the place for us the moment we walked through the front door (the front exterior is not especially prepossessing but the interior is and the rear view simply wonderful), so we set about going through all the hoops needed to rent the place (and there were many because the agency concerned had had very bad experiences with previous "Brit" clients, so they placed every known obstacle in our path, maybe even some new ones). We overcame all the obstacles and, after three or four visits (état des lieux, bail - signed in Feb, delivery of new bed and kitchen equipment, FT line, ADSL, etc), we finally moved in (arriving the night before our 17 ton removal van - which we saw parked up just off the A75, having dumped over 12 tons of stuff in the period 2000-2006)  for good in May 2006. Since when we have not bothered looking - we are happy here, don't want to move and the vastly superior French rental system means it is very unlikely that we would ever need to (at least until we lose our mobility ... or Sterling sinks below parity).

[quote]You were lucky, but it's a rare case.[/quote][NormanH] Not rare in these 'ere parts; there are plenty of other perfectly acceptable places around here at €10-12 and in town (usually €13-15, which is why that place at €11 is really exceptional). In town last week I had an acceptable if unremarkable (forgotten what it was) entrée, superb moules frites, a decent mousse au chocolat, 50cl perfectly acceptable wine & coffee (all homemade except the wine and coffee) - € 15,20 (€11 for the set lunch, €3 for the wine and €1,20 - the going rate round here - for the coffee). Which part of the country are you in?

PS. I recently ate in a small restaurant near here. Not gourmet food but very good and enormous portions. The place was packed - not surprising really - a spinach and chèvre tarte followed by roast quail on a toast and foie gras canapé with delicious veg (mix of potatoes and carrots prepared as a special dish), pear tart, unlimited wine (perfectly drinkable) and coffee ... € 11 (eleven) - il faut en profiter.

[quote]I'm sure one could drink fabulous wine from almost any country at those prices! Hardly a realistic option for most of us.[/quote] Really? I'm talking occasional drinking. My everyday stuff is in the range €3-4 (note the hyphen!). Nobody can drink fabulous wine for €20/bottle; excellent, yes but fabulous, no. Also, there's a distinct limit to the number of countries that produce excellent wine (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico-maybe, USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Lebanon, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and maybe, just maybe the UK with some sparklers) and that's about it - from my experience/knowledge Brazil, Ireland, Wales, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Ukraine, Malta, Cyprus, Georgia, Armenia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel, Turkey, India, China just don't quite cut it and some don't even get close (apologies to and for any I've inadvertently left out). The worst meals of my life (starting with the absolutely most disgusting) have been: 1 Felixstowe (ca. 2000), 2 York (ca. 1980), 3 Hastings, after that, thank God, they've faded from memory but there were quite a few in the USA, one in Canada, two in Ireland (both "Indian" restaurants), two in France (again both "Indian" restaurants), one in India (in a restaurant that insisted on doing exclusively Western cuisine - not my idea but that of my gracious hosts), one in the Netherlands, one in Turkey, several in Russia ... aargghh I must stop - my brain is hurting and I'm beginning to feel nauseous.

[quote]never met a good NZ wine though)[/quote] Incredible! Just how many NZ wines have you tried? I have had dozens and dozens of excellent ones (especially Pinot Noir but also Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and others). For best relation qualité/prix (NZ) I'd go for almost anything from Brajkovich (though there are loads of others) - look for "Kumeu River" - the Mates Vineyard Chardonnay is absolutely fantastic (and only about €25; which may be more than you usually pay for a bottle but is cheap for what's in it). Although my own "favourite" Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (relation qualité/prix - €17) are both French (the same producer!) from near Burgundy. Quality Bourgogne taste at (comparatively) very low price. As for bread; in the UK we hardly ever found anything decent after we moved out of London (the supermarket stuff was generally rubbish, Sainsburys being especially sub-standard ca. 2000-2006 and the "specialist" bakers were usually even worse - fortunately my wife made most of ours). Here, we have two decent bakers (4-5 different breads) 7km away (nearest shops) and two great ones (6-7 types each, most of them as good as I've tasted anywhere) 15-20km away (nearer than our nearest decent size town).

[quote]It is minced steak and if you buy it from a butcher's, he will mince it in front of you.[/quote] Yes our main butcher (there are various things we prefer from our other local butcher) will do it any day except one (Wednesday?) when the mincer is reserved for veal. I'm no cookery expert (even if I do know a bit about the consumption side) but I believe that the big difference is the length of time the meat is hung for - in the UK 28 days (or thereabouts) is not uncommon and the beef remains tender even well after "à point" but beef here is only hung for about a week or so and anywhere after "à point" will be tough as old boots, hence the preference for pink, pinker, pinkest. Personally, I think the 28-day variety tastes best "à point" or even very slightly in excess of that while French beef definitely tastes best (for me) nice and pink (though not saignant).

Sweet, Tu n'as pas vu la pub pour Nespresso? C'est partout. La pub n'est pas si mal mais leurs cafés sont bons. PS. Encore un bon mot du site BBC: "This does not mean that men who prefer Play-Doh to Plato always have poor sperm" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7767877.stm

Un cari Thaï de crevettes accompagné du riz, d'un Naan* et d'un très bon Gewurztraminer d'Alsace, suivi de quelques raisins et un bon café "George Clooney." Nous sommes pas vraiment intégrés parce qu'en mangeant de la cuisine indienne ou Thaï nous ne prenons pas (exceptionnellement) du fromage. Les vrais français mangeraient du fromage même après le chili con carne ou le poulet madras! * Nous nous sommes intégrés à moitié parce qu'un repas sans pain est inconcevable ... ou presque - je ne mange pas du pain avec la cuisine japonaise.

I have just received a spam mail for Bananalotto. Any ideas who I should blame for that ... ?

Downshifting is not practical in times like this - unsaleability of houses, impossibility of finding a new mortgage, etc. As for rates, do you remember the early-mid 1970s? Much the same thing - stuff the old (savers) to assist the young (trying to keep jobs going). I remember thinking that it wasn't "fair" then, even less so now that I'm on the other end but if you had to make a choice, during a fire say, of saving the life of just one family member, would you choose to save the child and let granny fry or would you save gran instead? Governments all round the world have sat up and taken notice and are all desperately trying to do something, even if those somethings may be just "pushing on a string."

Odile, "écrivain brouillon" wouldn't really exist in English, it was just an (failed) attempt at word play, taking advantage of the dual meaning of brouillon - I can imagine a writer trying to do on just one screen what I do with two or three quickly becoming "muddle-headed", juggling between many different windows. Pour les autres - je pense à vous et vos problèmes. Moi, je lis de plus en plus les notices nécrologiques de mes collègues et de mes amis. Cela et dur mais moins dur, à mon avis, que d'entendre des difficultés de nos enfants ... Robert & Collins: brouillon , -onne 1 adjectif = qui manque de soin untidy = qui manque d'organisation unmethodical, unsystematic, muddle-headed élève brouillon :careless pupil avoir l'esprit brouillon :to be muddle-headed 2 nom masculin, féminin = personne muddler, muddlehead 3 nom masculin de lettre, devoir rough copy = ébauche (rough) draft

[quote]je ne comprends pas chessfou - ca sert a quoi (pas d'accents je n'ai pas mis mon nouveau clavier a mon laptop) d'avoir TROIS ordinateurs?[/quote] J'écris beaucoup (en anglais et même maintenant en français) et c'est vraiment nécessaire qu'on ait au moins 2 écrans (l'un pour la recherche, l'autre pour le brouillon) - le 3ème est peut-être facultatif pour la plupart mais essentiel en cas de panne de l'un des deux autres. Bien sûr M/Me TLM n'a pas besoin de tant d'ordinateurs et peut-être les "écrivains brouillons" pourraient (puissent?; que tu aides-moi s.v.p.) utiliser un seul.

Bonjour. Ah, les claviers. Moi, je voudrais rester jeune (mais pas jeûne - quelle horreur!) et que mes "cellules grises" ne changent pas de couleur. Je n'utilise pas le logiciel de Dr Iwojima, ou qui ce soit dans la pub de Nintendo. Non, je n'en ai pas besoin. J'ai trois ordinateurs sur mon bureau, alors j'ai trois claviers: 2x QWERTY anglais, 1x AZERTY français et les deux qwerty ont quelques petites différences de la disposition des touches!  J'utilise tous les trois presque chaque jour.

Thanks guys (I assume). I'll take a look at the F ING connector (as well as the LNB) before fiddling with the dish. However, before I start on that, I wonder if it might not be the "growth" problem (we had that once in East Anglia). Here there are no trees in line but TNT has arrived and I think our neighbour's chimney (which is in line) has sprouted an additional aerial (about 30m away from our dish).. Is it (a) possible that's the problem; (b) likely that's the problem?

Thanks for the response. I was certain the problem lies with the dish (or possibly LNB?) but when I checked it, it seemed to be just as "solid" as when it was put in 2.5 years ago - it is ground mounted on a "socle" (sorry, can't think of the English for that word). I suppose there is a very small amount of "give" (not the socle but the dish itself). Does the following give any clue as to which direction the dish may have become dislodged (assuming it is that): Astra 2D 10714 H - ok Astra 2D 10773 H - more-or-less nothing ?

Anyone else S of the Massif Central having trouble with Astra 2 reception? After a couple of years with no particular trouble the last few months have seen BBC2, 3, 4 become impossible and BBC1 is really problematic ("mosaic" break-up), although for that we can usually find one of the regional versions that will work. Whenever problems arise it's a question of what - satellite, weather, tree growth, new building, parabola, LNB, cabling, decoder ... , so I want to see if we can eliminate the first one.

[quote]As-tu lu ce livre de Gide Chessfou?[/quote] Non, pas une seule de ses 93(!!) oeuvres. Peut-être je devrais lire un des deux* livres (posthumes) publié en 1993 ... * pas "à Naples" mais l'autre ... [:)][:P]