Lehaut

Or not: https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/extermination-mentally-ill-and-handicapped-people-under-national-socialist-rule.html

Of St Jean?😁

21 June - all down hill from here, the slow inevitable slide back into winter.💀

I am sure many on here have heard this expression long before I did (only a couple of months ago!) "French leave" (in english) "filer a l'anglaise". Although the article I read expanded a bit on the way difference between the two countries in leaving a dinner etc. The English leave without saying goodbye and the French say goodbye without leaving.

We do not eat out very often. When we have made a reservation we normally respect it, don't think we have ever just cancelled without calling. A lady in our block ran a winter Hotel in Courchevel. We were astounded to learn that the clientele there thought nothing of booking several places in different restaurants for an evening. This allowed them to offer a choice to their family/friends if they decided to go out. The abandoned reservations did not bother them at all! Not surprising that they are staring to ask for debit card details and taking a charge for "No Shows" The kicker is that people then leave bad reviews due to their own bad behaviour.

I installed an Ikea one which has worked fine for us. One thing you cannot do with a gas hob is set a independent timer for each one of the 4 (in our case) heating units. Quite happily leave several pans simmering with the timer on and just leave them alone. I have several cast iron pans, enamelled and 'raw' black ones. I usually heat them up slowly, turning them round to ensure even heat before using them. I made the mistake of slapping my favourite small one on and turning the heat up to 9 straight away. Two minutes later it cracked in two - quite a fright.

So far so good!

For the first time here in Nantes, a member of the public will ask the the Municipal Council a question at their meeting Bearing in mind this is an agglomeration of about 700,000 souls with all the current concerns, worries and aspiration of modern society in 2024. The question has been picked ? "Why are dogs of over 6kg not allowed on Public Transport" We are a happy lot here if that is the major concern that people wanted to raise . https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/nantes-44000/a-nantes-un-habitant-posera-une-question-en-conseil-municipal-e35ec83e-2ccb-11ef-a289-26f857fa80f9

Same here. Loved cooking on gas till I installed an induction hob. All electric here, would dread to live in a complex with gas now. Very interesting. Does this balance out over the expected life time of the system and its purchase/installation/maintenance costs?

I think you would be hard pushed to find a country that is not in this position, Russia, USA, China, Ukraine, Georgia, Israel/Palestine, Colombia, Venezuela, Cameroon, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Taiwan Strait, Bangladesh, Myanmar, New Caledonia (France), Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mozambique to name a few! Although if you can believe this report, the USA is getting safer!! ( whether or not this includes the violent crimes committed by the Police is not clear) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-crime-report-drop-in-violent-crime-2024/#:~:text=The latest preliminary quarterly crime,year in the same period.

Here in Nantes there have been many protests in the streets against the RN and their success in the elections. One wonders how many of those protesting voted on Sunday? Perhaps it they had, the RN would not have done so well?

We all vote in the French and European elections. I always thought this, but not the case it would appear!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times

For the 65th anniversary our boys were in a small college in St James, Manche. There is a very impressive American war cemetery there. The then Mayor organised the children from the school to go to the cemetery and lay a posey of flowers on the certain graves of US soldiers. The criteria being that the graves had had no know visitors/flowers placed on them for some years. This was explained to the children as they performed this simple but (I found) very touching gesture.

Bet passports were the last thing on the troops minds when they parachuted in on the day! https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/06/british-paratroopers-landing-in-france-for-d-day-event-told-to-show-passports#:~:text=Eyebrows were raised at the,near Saneville%2C Normandy on Wednesday.

Well we saw it, in the drizzle. Had not expected the attached caravan of sponsors, outriders, protection detail etc. The bus with the Davy Lamp was clearly visible (did not know about that till Lori mentioned it). The separate security detail (visible in the photo) following was quite a surprise. They got in the act by riding with their side doors open waving to the crowds.