Tancrède

[quote user="woolybananasbrother"]ebay is egalitarian and so good… [/quote]I am surprised to learn this.  The last time I glanced at the matter it appeared to be public company, run for profit by a board of directors with the characteristic objective of supplying its shareholders with regular and fat dividends, and extending to them the attractive possibility of lucrative capital gains.  I recently had the pleasing experience of buying a large mid C17th engraving (of St Gengulphus, as it happens) through the good offices of this company.  I am delighted to say that despite the flagrantly elitist nature of the purchase (revolutionary squeals heard off-stage), the provisions safeguarding authenticity were in this case effective and appreciated.  [quote user="woolybananasbrother"]And represent the ultimate failure of the French Revolution. [/quote]I am pleased to hear that it has failed.  Though I would see its failure more eloquently expressed in the essentially absolutist and  monarchical constitution of the Fifth Republic.

[quote user="Lilly"]I'll get pickling this weekend…  what type of vinigar do you use as I like malt for pickling but can't get large quantities easily.[/quote] Well, I wish you good luck, and hope that the recipe is useful. I have about 10 kg basking in the sunshine at the moment.  Living in a town I have to do this in the street  -  and it is always quite an interesting experience as it invariably attracts little knots of concerned spectators who are naturally completely baffled as to what these bronze/black and slightly dimpled objects are.  They look rather like enormous Greek olives. Even when I was in Pudding Island I used to use red wine vinegar for this purpose.  Perversely it is much easier to find this in quantity in England than in France.  Malt vinegar is equally good, but I doubt very much if you would find this exotic commodity in France. But don't let the time slip by too much.  By 1st July last year my walnuts were unusably woody and had to be diverted to vin de noix instead. It seems to be a very bad year indeed for walnuts in this area.  And for quinces and medlars;  and poor for apples, pears, plums and cormes.

[quote user="sweet 17"]I'd hate to think what you make of the C20th ones… [/quote]They do at least have the eminent quality of being unmemorable. [quote user="sweet 17"]I cringe when I hear "Shine, Jesus, Shine".[/quote]Oh, come now  -  that is High Art compared with the evo. favourite Jesus Put Your Tongue in my Mouth  -  which for its banality and the naïve but panting sexual repression of its lyrics, must surely touch a new and defining level of crassness.  

[quote user="sweet 17"]Gengulphus, I was so intrigued by your mention of Mount Ephraim… [/quote] Well, after your unexpected introduction of the topic of hymnody into a thread on motor-racing  -  an interesting diversion which the other contributors so ungallantly ignored  -  I felt that some sort of riposte was called for. Associations?  No, only from singing it many times on various saints' days.  I much prefer C18th tunes to C19th. It is the tune rung by the bells of Cullerne Minster in J. Meade Falkner's mysterious and powerful novel The Nebuly Coat. I have to admit that I have never blanched a bean and have never had a belly-ache in which an unblanched bean was implicated. 

[quote user="chris pp"]I rarely spend time on this forum anymore… [/quote] In which case I must congratulate you upon the speed with which provide your excellent and accurate responses. For my part I am most grateful for the wealth of information tthat I have found on this site, and appreciative of the variety of styles in which it is delivered. [quote user="woolybananasbrother"]dry as ditchwater… [/quote] Excellent  -  thank you for this useful expression.

[quote user="sweet 17"]take them out of their pods or do you mean peel the actual beans?[/quote] Shuck them from their pods.  Peeling the beans themselves is a work of supererogation  -  though my mother, not otherwise known for her masochistic tendencies, used to do this for my father.  One of the great benefits of freezing them is that it makes the skins much more delicate (for those with weak jaws). I was so glad to learn, S17, that you remember Rockingham with affection.  So do I  -  but Mount Ephraim is my favourite.

[quote user="Tandem_Pilot"]Don't know about Louis Cans though… [/quote] Perhaps related to the Louis Trays which featured in a C19th Punch cartoon? Immaculate and intimidating antique dealer to English couple:  … and we have some very fine Louis Treize… She:  Oh do buy one, dearest  -  they're only a louis!

[quote user="Poppy"]We are already acquainted with the family… [/quote] Oh well, in that case you are home and dry.  The solution could not be simpler. The instant they arrive outside your house rush out beaming and effusive.  Engage them in a long, wearisome, and inscrutable conversation in French as broken and tormentingly painful as you can possibly manage, and preferably concerning some subject which you know will not be of the slightest interest to them.  Make embarrassing and repeated efforts to involve the children.  Continue this with the utmost persistence until the bus appears  -  and then add, brightly:  We are so glad that you have decided to wait for the bus here, because it will give my husband and me a regular opportunity of improving our French. A demain!

Most people find that meeting new people in a foreign country is quite difficult to achieve.  Like catching flies with the hoover they do not stay still long enough for you to catch them.  Your circumstances present you with an ideal opportunity. What would I do?  I would put on my hat and go for a walk precisely timed so that I would be obliged to pass, meet and greet the family who wait outside the house.  And the next day I would do the same, and perhaps even have some desultory conversation.  Et voilà, a week later and you have six new acquaintances. It will not instantly solve the noise problem, but it cannot make it worse  -  and it might even provide an opening for future improvement. And if these people are confirmed and inveterate tyre-slashers, such a friendly overture may encourage them to turn their attentions elsewhere. And, who knows, they might even be pleasant, amusing, interesting or useful people. I myself suffered a momentary fit of exasperation when two crusty market ladies set up their veg stall right across my front door. Thoughts of going to the mairie, or having a petulant fit, briefly flickered though my mind, but I rejected both as being too energetic.  As the espresso pot had just bubbled through I took them each a cup of thick dark coffee instead, stepping ostentatiously over their heaps of produce.  (It was 6.45 on a particularly cheerless morning.)  Their stall was never so inconveniently sited again, and eight years later they - having moved elsewhere - still greet me like an old friend. They even gave me a handful of perished vegetables at the end of the morning.  They weren't worth eating, but the sheep were delighted.

[quote user="Martinwatkins"]Based on local sunrise and sunset, mid winter's day was 50 minutes LONGER in Perigord than in Devon…  Quite a difference… [/quote]Absolutely.  Even in southern Burgundy the improvement on Devon in this respect is a distinct bonus.

A book which I like very much is Regain by Jean Giono.  I think it fits all your criteria, unless the author is a bit too dead to be 'modern'. It was so compelling that I had to read it in one sitting, which I normally regard as a bit of a waste  -  but it has given good value in that it is one of the few books that I can read again and again, not only for its story and content, but for its excellent style. It is a sort of optimistic Thomas Hardy, if this is not too perverse a contradiction in terms. 

I hope that no one was injured in the sympathetic stampede to reassure me that I probably have speeding points that I don't know about.  I am overwhelmed by this haste so kindly meant. But in fact I don't have any (deducted) points that I don't know about.  I have one (lost) point, and one only.  And I do know about it, and I know that I have no others.  I have my total score in my file in black and white.  This is France  -  I actually have a document, which is duly and reverently preserved. And that solitary point was scotched from my account as the result of a transgression committed after my change of licence. The bad marks accumulated before the change were not brought forward into the newly acquired French licence  -  despite all your anxieties or hopes to the contrary.   (Which is precisely why, given its relevance to Beerdrinkers situation, I contributed my original post to this thread.)

[quote user="ErnieY"]If it was in a French vehicle registered to you at your French address then I too would have expected any points to be deducted when changing but as this doesn't seem to have happened then maybe there are holes in the system[/quote] Thank you.  I omitted this material detail from the narrative.  It was precisely a French vehicle registered to me at my French address  -  hence my surprise.  There are holes in the system, and happily my points fell into one of them.  [quote user="ErnieY"]You mean of course that you are now the possesor of 11 points [/quote] My collection of points (now purged by my change of licence) was a modestly impressive one  -  but not ostentatious.

I do not dispute any information which has been given concerning the processing and duration of points which have been applied to an extant French licence. However, I acquired a small number of these blots whilst driving in France on a UK licence.  In due course, entirely voluntarily, and for reasons quite unassociated with these points, I decided to obtain a French licence.  Whereas I understand that there is no machinery for attributing a French point to a UK licence, I was fully expecting these points to appear on the French one.  Intriguingly, they did not.  I now the possesor of only one point  -  acquired after the change of licence.

[quote user="sweet 17"]Gengulphus, can you get mustard powder readily in the supermarkets? [/quote] Sorry to have inadvertantly raised false hopes, but I think I can give a fairly definitive No to that.  I am still coasting along on a 1 lb tin of Colemans which, given the high quality of French 'made mustard', I rarely use apart from in recipes. But I don't think that it is vital to the success of the recipe  -  simply add a bit more mustard seed to the liquid. PS:  Local enquiries are not instantly encouraging:   I've never heard of it…  It doesn't exist…  It's not manufactured…  It can't be ordered…  There isn't such a thing…  The usual encouraging patter of the retail trade in France.  But on this occasion I am slightly inclined to believe them as a search for moutarde en poudre at Google images brings up a 1 lb tin of Colemans as the first image. But I believe that I have occasionally seen mustard powder on the spice stalls in markets.

[quote user="tracteurtom"]With all this talk of pickled walnuts I feel I must mention that they are, well shall I just say, an acquired taste… [/quote]Certainly a large number of people appear to acquired a taste for mine.

[quote user="Anton Redman"]Does there come a point when you can actually leave the money to a non related person?[/quote] Yes, this can be done in any will and in favour of any person  -  subject to certain entrenched rights to which Clair has alluded. But, the rate of inheritance tax under this circumstance would be the iniquitous 60%  -  well worth taking the trouble to avoid.

[quote user="dexter"]mortgage free, single with no children and living in France.[/quote] I likewise.  It is in many ways a very desirable state of affairs. Except for the post mortem situation that you mention: [quote user="dexter"]what would happen to my estate?[/quote] Depending on the provisions of your will, your estate will stand in some danger of being swallowed up by Inheritance Tax at the punitive rate of 60%  -  unless you take informed action to avoid this dire eventuality. I very strongly urge you to take advice in good time.  Once you become tax resident in France the benefits of certain very advantageous loopholes become much reduced  -  as I have learned to my cost.  PS  A couple of points which I do not wish to discuss before the rude and scoffing multitude I have addressed to you in a mail.

[quote user="sweet 17"]Why, they might, with any luck, take themselves off for the day![/quote] I think you can bank on it.  Once you get them through the door the victory is yours.  Double score if you can achieve this before 11 o'clock.

[quote user="Cat"]My, didn't it rain a lot last night…[/quote] I forgot to mention that the first part of the process is an excellent occupation to have up your sleeve for wet weather guests. After a morning spent stabbing half a hundredweight of walnuts even the dreariest will suddenly reveal a surprising and unsuspected ability to find ways of entertaining themselves.

Gather walnuts whilst they are green and well-developed, but before the shell has begun to form.  Pr1ck each walnut with a fork.  It is essential to wear gloves for this as the juice stains like fury. To 6 kg walnuts add 4 litres of boiling water (which should be sufficient to cover them so that they are slightly free). and 675 g sea salt, viz at rate of 125 g per 2 kg nuts. Leave to soak for ten days, stirring occasionally. Drain and place in trays exposed to sun and air for three days.  They will turn a pleasing bronze colour. Pack nuts into jars with spices and vinegar.  I use 1.5 litre jars. To each 1.5 litre jar:  two good slivers of fresh ginger;  a teaspoon of whole black mustard seed;  a teaspoon of whole peppercorns;  a teaspoon of whole allspice;  three cloves; two birdseye peppers, (or any other combination of pickling spices which commends itself). Dissolve 1 kg sugar in 4.5 litres of vinegar and bring to the boil, add 4 teaspoons of mustard powder. Pour over walnuts to cover.  Seal the jars. The above will give a final volume about 8 litres. The walnuts will be ready to eat after a month or so, and will remain in perfect condition for at least two years, and probably much longer. They are used to accompany cold meats or hard cheese. The liquor in which the nuts have been pickled is delicious and many people throw it, rather unimaginatively I feel, down the sink.  It should be added to the output of your vinaigrier.

Just a reminder that the traditional cut-off date for gathering walnuts for pickling  -  Midsummer Day (24th June)  -  is fast approaching.  Last year, alas, mine had already become ususably woody by this date and had to be converted at the last minute into vin de noix instead.  A mystifying circumstance given the poorness of the season, and I am determined not to be caught out again.  The nuts are already swelling nicely. So, if you wish to provide yourself with this virtually free delicacy, I urge you to think about giving your brine pan a preparatory flick with the duster and reconnoitering the highways and hedgerows…

[quote user="lizzy h"]a distressing sight… [/quote] And how would you feel about a pretty baby lamb with its eyes and tongue pecked out?  And which would you prefer to figure most prominently on your table  -  chicken, lamb or crow?

[quote user="Logan"] …to avoid the dead hand of the tax man and retain the rewards they have worked for… In France that’s not possible… The state always wins. Always has the last drain of the glass. [/quote]For single people, unless strenuous and timely efforts are made to circumvent it, the final and post mortem exaction is levied at 60%  -  more of a heroic gulp than a last drain. Excellent comments  -  though I do not take quite such a disheartened view.

Re citric acid.  Simply order it at the pharmacy.  Last week my village pharmacy obtained some saltpetre for me within 24 hours.  Remembering the query raised in this thread I asked if citric acid could be got with equal ease, and they confirmed that this was the case.