It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Stop that, you'll go blind!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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MajGenl.Meade
- Posts: 21516
- Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:51 am
- Location: Groot Brakrivier
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Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Oh that's wicked Gob. Took me a couple of minutes but... that's wicked!
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
That will have to go on the longish list of things for next time. Didn't see the Bayeaux tapestry either (its really an embroidery, they say) although we did go through Bayeaux. We went to Colville Sur Mer instead.Guinevere wrote:But did you go to the Musee de Cluny and see the tapestries?
yrs,
rubato
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Colville sur mer:
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php
There are things you do out of a sense of obligation. And going here was one of them. In many ways it was something I didn't want to do. I knew how difficult it would be emotionally but I could not overcome the sense of obligation and so this is where we went. I'm bad at this kind of thing. I've read a lot and thought a lot more about the level of sacrifice made by the people buried here.
So many 18 to 25 year-olds who had never been further than 20 miles from where they were born, before induction, died here as an act of faith in us, all of us.
It is a deeply humbling moment.
I can never give back to them what they gave to us.
yrs,
rubato
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php
There are things you do out of a sense of obligation. And going here was one of them. In many ways it was something I didn't want to do. I knew how difficult it would be emotionally but I could not overcome the sense of obligation and so this is where we went. I'm bad at this kind of thing. I've read a lot and thought a lot more about the level of sacrifice made by the people buried here.
So many 18 to 25 year-olds who had never been further than 20 miles from where they were born, before induction, died here as an act of faith in us, all of us.
It is a deeply humbling moment.
I can never give back to them what they gave to us.
yrs,
rubato
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Whenever I am near my parents' home town in Italy, I visit the Canadian war cemetary outside of Ortona. It's always a bit overwhelming because most of those buried there died liberating the area where my family had lived for hundreds of years.
"Hang on while I log in to the James Webb telescope to search the known universe for who the fuck asked you." -- James Fell
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Wow, quite a story. I'd never heard it before.:
"The Canadians suffered 1,375 dead[3] in the fighting in and around Ortona,"
__________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ortona
Background
The Eighth Army's offensive on the Winter Line defences east of the Apennine mountains had commenced on 23 November with the crossing of the river Sangro. By the end of the month, the main Gustav Line defences had been penetrated and the Allied troops were fighting their way forward to the next river, the Moro, 4 mi (6.4 km) north of the mouth of which lay Ortona. For the Moro crossing in early December the exhausted British 78th Infantry Division on the Allied right flank on the Adriatic coast had been relieved by Canadian 1st Infantry Division.[6] By mid-December, after fierce fighting in the cold and mud, the Division's 1st Infantry Brigade had fought its way to within 2 mi (3.2 km) of Ortona and was relieved by 2nd Infantry Brigade for the advance on the town.
Ortona was of high strategic importance, as it was one of Italy's few usable deep water ports on the east coast, and was needed for docking allied ships and so shorten Eighth Army's lines of supply which at the time stretched back to Bari and Taranto. Allied forces were ordered to maintain the offensive, and going through the built up areas in and around Ortona was the only feasible option. Ortona was part of the Winter Line defence system and the Germans had constructed a series of skilfully designed interlocking defensive positions in the town. This—together with the fact that the Germans had been ordered to "fight for every last house and tree"—[7][8] made the town a formidable obstacle to any attacking force.
The battle
Canadian sniper at the Battle of Ortona
The Canadians faced elements of the renowned German 1st Parachute Division. These soldiers were battle-hardened after many years of war, and were ordered by Adolf Hitler to defend Ortona at any cost.
The initial Canadian attack on the town was made on December 20 by Canadian 2nd Brigade's Loyal Edmonton Regiment with elements of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada under command.[8] Meanwhile elements of the division's 3rd Infantry Brigade launched a northerly attack to the west of the town in attempt to outflank and cut off the town's rear communications but made slow progress because of the difficult terrain and the skilful and determined German defence.
In the town itself, the Germans had placed various barricades and left rubble strewn throughout the narrow side streets surrounding the Piazza Municipale. The only available route for the Canadian tanks was through the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which was heavily mined and trapped; traps would serve the Germans with deadly efficiency during the eight days of fighting.[9]
The Germans also concealed various machine guns and anti-tank emplacements throughout the town, making movement by armour and infantry increasingly difficult.[9] The house to house fighting was vicious and the Canadians made use of a new tactic: "mouse-holing".
This tactic involved using weapons such as the PIAT (or even cumbersome anti-tank guns) to breach the walls of a building, as houses within Ortona shared adjoining walls.[9] The soldiers would then throw in grenades and assault through the mouse holes, clearing the top floors and making their way down, where both adversaries struggled in repeated close-quarters combat.[8] Mouse-holing was also used to pierce through walls into adjoining rooms, sometimes catching enemy troops by surprise. The tactic would be used repeatedly as assaulting through the streets inflicted heavy casualties on both Canadian and German troops. Later, in a particularly deadly incident, German Fallschirmjäger engineer Karl Bayerlein demolished an entire house packed with Canadian soldiers; only one soldier survived.[10] The Canadians retaliated by demolishing another building on top of two German squads, killing them all.
After six days of intense combat, 2nd Brigade's third battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, joined the battle together with tanks from 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade's Three Rivers Regiment (Régiment de Trois-Rivières).
On 28 December, after eight days of fighting, the depleted German troops—who lacked reinforcements—finally withdrew from the town. The Canadians suffered 1,375 dead[3] in the fighting in and around Ortona, almost a quarter of all Canadians killed during the Italian Campaign.
__________________________
http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/index. ... n-and-now/
yrs,
rubato
"The Canadians suffered 1,375 dead[3] in the fighting in and around Ortona,"
__________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ortona
Background
The Eighth Army's offensive on the Winter Line defences east of the Apennine mountains had commenced on 23 November with the crossing of the river Sangro. By the end of the month, the main Gustav Line defences had been penetrated and the Allied troops were fighting their way forward to the next river, the Moro, 4 mi (6.4 km) north of the mouth of which lay Ortona. For the Moro crossing in early December the exhausted British 78th Infantry Division on the Allied right flank on the Adriatic coast had been relieved by Canadian 1st Infantry Division.[6] By mid-December, after fierce fighting in the cold and mud, the Division's 1st Infantry Brigade had fought its way to within 2 mi (3.2 km) of Ortona and was relieved by 2nd Infantry Brigade for the advance on the town.
Ortona was of high strategic importance, as it was one of Italy's few usable deep water ports on the east coast, and was needed for docking allied ships and so shorten Eighth Army's lines of supply which at the time stretched back to Bari and Taranto. Allied forces were ordered to maintain the offensive, and going through the built up areas in and around Ortona was the only feasible option. Ortona was part of the Winter Line defence system and the Germans had constructed a series of skilfully designed interlocking defensive positions in the town. This—together with the fact that the Germans had been ordered to "fight for every last house and tree"—[7][8] made the town a formidable obstacle to any attacking force.
The battle
Canadian sniper at the Battle of Ortona
The Canadians faced elements of the renowned German 1st Parachute Division. These soldiers were battle-hardened after many years of war, and were ordered by Adolf Hitler to defend Ortona at any cost.
The initial Canadian attack on the town was made on December 20 by Canadian 2nd Brigade's Loyal Edmonton Regiment with elements of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada under command.[8] Meanwhile elements of the division's 3rd Infantry Brigade launched a northerly attack to the west of the town in attempt to outflank and cut off the town's rear communications but made slow progress because of the difficult terrain and the skilful and determined German defence.
In the town itself, the Germans had placed various barricades and left rubble strewn throughout the narrow side streets surrounding the Piazza Municipale. The only available route for the Canadian tanks was through the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which was heavily mined and trapped; traps would serve the Germans with deadly efficiency during the eight days of fighting.[9]
The Germans also concealed various machine guns and anti-tank emplacements throughout the town, making movement by armour and infantry increasingly difficult.[9] The house to house fighting was vicious and the Canadians made use of a new tactic: "mouse-holing".
This tactic involved using weapons such as the PIAT (or even cumbersome anti-tank guns) to breach the walls of a building, as houses within Ortona shared adjoining walls.[9] The soldiers would then throw in grenades and assault through the mouse holes, clearing the top floors and making their way down, where both adversaries struggled in repeated close-quarters combat.[8] Mouse-holing was also used to pierce through walls into adjoining rooms, sometimes catching enemy troops by surprise. The tactic would be used repeatedly as assaulting through the streets inflicted heavy casualties on both Canadian and German troops. Later, in a particularly deadly incident, German Fallschirmjäger engineer Karl Bayerlein demolished an entire house packed with Canadian soldiers; only one soldier survived.[10] The Canadians retaliated by demolishing another building on top of two German squads, killing them all.
After six days of intense combat, 2nd Brigade's third battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, joined the battle together with tanks from 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade's Three Rivers Regiment (Régiment de Trois-Rivières).
On 28 December, after eight days of fighting, the depleted German troops—who lacked reinforcements—finally withdrew from the town. The Canadians suffered 1,375 dead[3] in the fighting in and around Ortona, almost a quarter of all Canadians killed during the Italian Campaign.
__________________________
http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/index. ... n-and-now/
yrs,
rubato
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Security checks, petty fraud, and the Romani.
I didn't expect it but should have, all of the museums and even the U.S. Cemetery had security checks at the entrances of varying thoroughness. The d'Orsay was the most complete and the Louvre seemed the least motivated.
On the way to the Metro to get to the Louvre we were stopped by two 18-ish girls who pantomimed deafness, overly broad and expressive pantomime, and asked us to sign a petition or some such. Having signed I started to walk off and they gestured at the text which asked for a donation. Ok, 1-time, you got me. I gave them some Euros. For the rest of the day we met groups of young Romani who pulled the same gag on us; mostly attractive young girls. I responded differently for each group, the 2nd group I told "look, I just gave your sisters back there 200 Euros and I'm out." ( a total lie but I figured a little intra-group resentment was worth the effort.). To later groups which we met coming off the metro near the museum I said "wow! c'est un epidemic! et tout Romani aussi!" which got a dirty look, and the final group, youngish boys led by a teenager I just waved at and said 'forget it' but their heart wasn't in the gag and kept breaking character.
We only saw this gag that one day.
yrs,
rubato
I didn't expect it but should have, all of the museums and even the U.S. Cemetery had security checks at the entrances of varying thoroughness. The d'Orsay was the most complete and the Louvre seemed the least motivated.
On the way to the Metro to get to the Louvre we were stopped by two 18-ish girls who pantomimed deafness, overly broad and expressive pantomime, and asked us to sign a petition or some such. Having signed I started to walk off and they gestured at the text which asked for a donation. Ok, 1-time, you got me. I gave them some Euros. For the rest of the day we met groups of young Romani who pulled the same gag on us; mostly attractive young girls. I responded differently for each group, the 2nd group I told "look, I just gave your sisters back there 200 Euros and I'm out." ( a total lie but I figured a little intra-group resentment was worth the effort.). To later groups which we met coming off the metro near the museum I said "wow! c'est un epidemic! et tout Romani aussi!" which got a dirty look, and the final group, youngish boys led by a teenager I just waved at and said 'forget it' but their heart wasn't in the gag and kept breaking character.
We only saw this gag that one day.
yrs,
rubato
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Sales of stilton, real ale and chicken tikka masala are up in France. Are the French learning to love British food?
To many French people the English are les rosbifs - a people unhealthily obsessed by roasting cows. That, and fish and chips and a few messy puddings and you have the extent of the UK's culinary repertoire, went the argument.
But something is changing across the Channel. People are buying British.
Stilton and cheddar are making inroads in a land where camembert, brie and roquefort are national symbols on a par with Shakespeare in the UK.
Scotch whisky now accounts for half a billion pounds in exports to France. Real ale is on the march, and sparkling wine from Sussex and Kent is winning awards, and prompting comparisons with champagne.
The minister with responsibility for food, Owen Paterson, is taking a delegation to Paris to celebrate the success of British produce in France.
Last year British food exports to its Gallic neighbour reached £2.2bn a year, double the figure from 2000 when adjusted for inflation.
Among some Parisian chefs, Scottish beef is now held in higher esteem than France's own beef - a huge turnaround from the jokes about the UK's mad cows. Le crumble is a trendy addition to the dessert menu in even rural France.
Marks and Spencer's Champs Elysees store sells more chicken tikka masala than any branch in the UK and the fifth highest number of BLT sandwiches.
A second M&S Paris store opened last week, with two more large stores planned as well as a number of smaller Simply Food branches.
Jonathan Meades, a broadcaster and food critic living in Marseilles, says the young, urban French see British food differently to Chirac's generation.
There are about a third of a million French living in London who bring back stories of the British capital's booming restaurant scene and culinary diversity - Indian food in particular - that much of France lacks.
"This generation travels," says Meades. "They realise that something has changed pretty fundamentally in London. They're not as gastronomically xenophobic as they used to be."
The UK has been through a food revolution in the last two decades. It boasts an outward-looking food culture that absorbs influences freely, while its culinary traditions have been reinvented by chefs like Fergus Henderson at St John and Rowley Leigh at Le Cafe Anglais.
Leigh is a Francophile who named his restaurant to represent a fusion of English cooking and French techniques. He believes that British sparkling wine and soft cheese still have a long way to go before they can challenge champagne and camembert.
But Aberdeen Angus beef, hard cheeses like Montgomery cheddar, and Scottish langoustines, are as good as anything the French can produce. And the French "go mad over grouse as there's nothing like it there".
A blind tasting organised by the Financial Times last year gave English cheese a 5-1 win over their French equivalents.
The balance of culinary power has shifted. "There's no doubt that standards of cooking in France have declined over the last 30 years," Leigh says. "Since nouveau cuisine, they've lost their mojo."
The backlash against France has taken many guises. From bad coffee to overly rich sauces and fussy presentation, the country whose cooking bible is the doorstop Larousse Gastronomique seems out of step with the innovations taking place in Spain and Scandinavia, or the simple, regional cooking found in Italy.
"I can't do all the foamy sauces they go in for these days, or all the plate decoration," Nigella Lawson said recently of French chefs.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
They left out spaghetti with ketchup....That, and fish and chips and a few messy puddings and you have the extent of the UK's culinary repertoire, went the argument.
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
This reminds me of a really funny episode from the 90's Britcom Chef!
So Gareth goes looking for English wine in a wine shop in France:
(It's the first scene in the clip)
They can't find the wine....Gareth receives a letter from France. He's invited to cook at the prestigious Concours Gastronomique in Lyon, where he will represent England. He feels he's committed to go to fight French prejudice over the English cuisine. There's only condition however: he can only use English ingredients. Since Gareth wants to use a white wine sauce, that's a bit of a problem. Luckily he and Alphonse find an excellent wine, Chiltern Valley, Old Luxters. In Lyon the French teams make fun of him, especially after they hear he has English wine. Everton assures he has a spare bottle and Gareth lets one of the French chefs taste the liquid. When Gareth is preparing for the big moment, Everton has an unpleasant announcement.
So Gareth goes looking for English wine in a wine shop in France:
(It's the first scene in the clip)
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Thank god for global warming!!
“We’ve had a few TV people coming through since the award,” explains Stuart Barford, Bolney’s sales manager, nodding in the direction of the Japanese team as it troops into the vineyard’s small cafe to film shelves of red, white and rosé wine on sale.
In the world of winemaking, the award — a “Gold Outstanding" medal that judges at this year’s International Wine and Spirit Competition hung around the neck of Bolney’s 2007 Blanc de Blancs — is a big deal.
In honoring the “immense charm” and “crisply defined palate” of the sparkling chardonnay over some 3,000 rivals, the IWSC’s respected jury put the Bolney vintage on a pedestal more frequently occupied by French champagnes.
Bolney isn’t alone. Over the past decade, English sparkling wine producers have emerged from relative nowhere to scoop up more international accolades than any other country. Their prominence at events to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th anniversary as monarch this year helped further raise their profile.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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MajGenl.Meade
- Posts: 21516
- Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:51 am
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Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Hey Gob, back in 2006 we (wife plus two long-time USA friends) spent a few nights at a B&B in the Camel Valley - a winery as it happened to be, by pure coincidence. Terrible wine we thought - except they had a sparkling wine of which we managed to polish off er... several bottles. It was indeed something we noted at the time as being the best possibility for English vintners to exploit. Not everything that comes out of Cornwall sucks!
We stayed in Lion's Barn which was converted to a great cottage ('Lion' being a horse). Cycled to Padstow to eat at Rick Stein's St. Petroc Bistro.
http://www.camelvalley.com/awards
We stayed in Lion's Barn which was converted to a great cottage ('Lion' being a horse). Cycled to Padstow to eat at Rick Stein's St. Petroc Bistro.
http://www.camelvalley.com/awards
Double Gold And 6 Silvers And 21 Awards For Camel Valley At International Wine Challenge (Iwc), International Wine And Spirit Competition (Iwsc) And Decanter World Wine Awards
UK Wine maker of the Year Sam Lindo confirmed his status by winning yet another Gold medal, 4 Silver medals, and a bronze medal in the 2012 International Wine Challenge and an amazing second Gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Two additional Silvers in the IWSC took his total on international wine competition ‘Super Tuesday’ to 21.
Camel Valley already has a record number of 3 International Wine Challenge Trophies in the cabinet and this will be the 5th IWC Gold medal and the second DWWA Gold medal. The IWC Gold medal, awarded at the London International Wine Fair was for the 2010 Camel Valley Cornwall Brut which is made from 60% Seyval Blanc, 20% Chardonnay and 20% Reichensteiner.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
It’s a beautiful neck of the woods. Me and Hen got engaged in Padstow, the whole “down on one knee thing” in the middle of the pier. We’re having a trip back there this time next year.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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MajGenl.Meade
- Posts: 21516
- Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:51 am
- Location: Groot Brakrivier
- Contact:
Re: It's impossible to get a bad meal in France.
Hope your romantic bit wasn't anywhere near this?
...and they say Padstow has no nice bits!
...and they say Padstow has no nice bits!
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts