MooN

looks yummy, but erm... those are not biscuits buy the way. ?

Nope, alomst ALL food products in france go via the Rungis market, there are miriad stupid situations whereby fish from Marseille ( for example) is caught, sold off the boat, travels to Rungis, is sold there to a wholesaler, and then taken back to Marseille to be sold as "fresh" on the markets and in the restaurants there... some story all along the coast, the restaurants only by from their wholsaler who only buys in bulk from Rungis... stupid, stupid, stupid... Having discovered this I no longer eat "fresh" fish unlessI can buy it from the boat, which is what we do when we holiday in Britanny. It's also why I never, ever eat shellfish in a restaurant here.

Auxerre is 300 odd km from the nearest coast Pedro, that means that any fish is offloaded and sold on the dock, then it goes to the market in Rungis (paris), then it goes to the wholesalers, then it goes to the fishmonger... that means a minimum of 36 hrs in a truck.... + the time on a market stall hat is not fresh! I lived too long on the cosat to eat 48h old "fresh" fish.

Thanks, history is kinda my thing but can get boring very quickly for those not interested so i try and keep it to a minimum ?

or not?

this afternoon, the hedgerows are blooming

to Beaune to stock up on tins of tuna,mackerel, sardines, fish soup, and various other delicacies from "La Belle Iloise" https://www.labelleiloise.fr/en/information/the-cannery-1 As I am to be in lockdown with the animals children I will need to feed them I suppose and tins of fish with rice, or pasta, or spuds, is about the limit of my culinary skills. Besides, I like fish but live too far from the sea for anything to be truly fresh by the time it gets here... I'd planned to ride anyway today so adapted my ride to swing by Beaune and pick up a haul of canned fish. fuel first Have you read "Clochmerle"? this made me think of it. A monument to the local dead of the first war when the french troops still wore bright blue uniforms. Rare to see one still coloured "Blessed be the cheesemakers" Epoisses has a well preserved chateau fortress that is still privately owned and in the same family since 1661 which is sufficiently rare in France to be worthy of note, as most of them changed hands with the revolution in 1790summat. The very pointy extremeties of the castle walls is typical of castles designed by Vauban who was the first person to figure out that a fort based on an exaggerated star floorplan allowed all of the walls to be swept by fire from at least one other he was an incredible guy and hugely important in French history. stopped her for Lunch and took a leaf out of Bobo neleg's book of lunch by having sarnies and a flask of tea ( how very english of me!) by the time I got to Beaune, which is a aealthy and pretentios place heaving with porche cayennes andBMWx6s and audi convertibles, and got what I wanted from a mindnumblingly dense shop assistant I needed to push a bit to get home before curfew so didn't stop much on the way back except once to remove the thermal liner from my jacket and have another swig of tea As per usual, I outran the gps and got home with half an hour to spare... about 320 km in all. ?

yeah, I want him to keep the old one as an "off road" chair that he can use as and when we're allowed back into town. that'd work so lng as we all know what the plan is in advance cos the carers need to know which chair to use for the day cos it's a looong and complicated job getting him into and out of it ( seeting as he can only move his eyes and his left hand a little.

nah, he's supposed to be getting a new chair with a fonction that will "verticalise" him. ie move him into an upright position. He's tried one and though the upright position is good the chair is less good with manouverabilit and less capable outside on the broken pavements etc. We need to see if there's options available to remedy that, Oh yeah, the base model costs 26,000€ which is more than my car cost new...

Nope, pfizer. I'm not really old enough, but allowed it for health reasons.

bit late mate,

Had my jab yesterday evening. given me by a very pretty girl sappeur pompier. My arm's not fallen off yet I guess all is ok.

I am now on furlough for 3 weeks... again. Lockdown comes into force in theory saturday night, but in practice monday night so Tomorrow, if it's not too cold, riding ( 3 weeks worth in one day) sun Lyon and back to try and sort out what's going on with Bro in law's new wheelchair...

Bienvenu. whereabouts in France?

yeah, to go 10 km... or to work and back I suppose, seeing as schools shut I won't have to carry the animals

eeeeet bollox! we're locked down again. they are refusing to use that phrase but that's what it is. for 4 weeks. From Saturday night midnight: - allowed out with a 10km radius of your home address. Any further requires written justification of a valid reason ( work basically) -Schools shut, distance learning for a week and then 2 weeks easter holidays, then distance learning for a week and then, in theory, reopen. - no groups of more than 6 people I will find out tomorrow what happens re work as we were supposed to have our first clients 24th april and our base in the south had first clients this coming weekend., that is now not going to happen. having spent some time on google earth, I have figured out that there is a 100metre stretch of towpath along the river north of Auxerre where my 10km circle intersects with the circles of 5 other members of the bike club... looks like easter holidays is going to be picnicing canalside...?

oh I think that was a given already...

actually, fuck it, she's studying english I sent her your message lets see if she can translate it and figure it out ?

Thanks @Bruce I now have to try and translate all that into french . seriously though, thanks guys, I know little and understand even less about this sort of stuff so your help is invaluable. It's the age old problem of being an expert Bruce, friends will insist on asking your advice in your domain of expertise. You should do what I did and become an expert in sod all. I believe "Jack of all trades, master of none" is the saying that might apply, but at least I dont get hassled by people asking for advice.

That's the year I was born...