I think he means it jokingly, but you never know…?
He is a wine producer.
I think he means it jokingly, but you never know…?
He is a wine producer.
I don’t like the canard ones, may be change a letter?
I’m pretty sure I was given andouilette as a teenager in France in 1975 - along with foie gras and tripes… not sure if it contributed to my dietary decision a few years later …
The one favourable memory I hold from that time was an amazing blanc de blancs which meant I would always be disappointed by white wine in the UK …
Yes.
But how precisely can they target without affecting anyone that they may consider desirable, or at least, not a threat?
I’m sure, although I i imagine they know you drink wine!
But these sort of “jokes” are dangerous as they normalise attitudes. They also put people in a difficult social bind. If you protest, then you are object accused of being a snowflake or lacking a sense of humour. And if you don’t then people assume ok to continue.
Recommend anyone who thinks it’s just a joke read this.
I think its the big city ghettoes they will target mainly especially in the south with the proximity to the African continent and where “normal” law abiding citizens are fed upto the back teeth and therefore backing anyone political who wants to be rid of such things.
I don’t let 'em “get away with it”… and they are very contrite (thinking they have damaged our friendship) until I give a big smile and say I forgive 'em… but don’t do it again! I have managed to change the thinking of several people I know… turning their blind hatred into tolerance.. not an easy task but worth persevering.
and regarding wine… yes, I drink some… but don’t need to and often choose not to, preferring water on a very hot day. However, I know people of all nationalities including French, who don’t touch any alcohol and nuffink to do with religion.
I don’t think Le Pen nor the RN are the issue, it is what they represent. If they get in it will reflect what our neighbours really think. If that shift on the ground has happened I would find it disappointing and worrying. I’ll keep talking to French friends and acquaintances to get a sense of which way the wind is blowing. But I’m not going to fret. There are enough real and present horrors going on WW.
The RW do this a lot- come out with statements that are superficially reasonable so that anyone objecting looks like sour grapes but which hide a deeper and more objectionable motive.
Our ex-friends (cancer x 2) were the loveliest couple imaginable. But solid RN and C News. Throughout Covid we walked the dogs in the forest together every day and had many a respectful debate. Two years of this meant that both sides accepted that one can be good people and still hold very different political and social views. And would give people the benefit of the doubt before assuming stuff.
But fundamentally they remained right wing, and we left. People very rarely change in adulthood.
An old girlfriend of mine’s dad used to say we all started out on the Left because we’d nothing and gradualy moved to the Right as we got older and accumulated a few bob ![]()
You’re correct though, the nicest people can have surprisingly rightwing views. Which sometimes only emerge after you’ve known them for quite a while.
I’m sure being white, notionally Catholic, net contributors and mostly harmless has helped our integration here. Of course, wanting to integrate is IMO the biggest help to integrating.
This is what Google thinks of my neck of the woods…
Though everyone we know has expressed, at least publicly, relief when Marine’s lost the runoff.
" 1. French Politics: The Var Department
If you are asking about the Var administrative department in the south of France, yes, it is a major stronghold for the National Rally (Rassemblement National, or RN). [1, 2]
I have spent my adult life in a liberal bubble in Bristol and the university where I worked, and I remember an article by Jasmin Alibhai-Brown that was troublesome with regards France - as even if I’m not the particular demographic I would hate to think dodgy neighbours might think I felt the way they did ..
I hope someone vaguely charismatic emerges to shift vote share away from there without being “more of the same” ..
That reflects the exact same thing in Perp. This morning I learned that the house next to me has been sold to a local doctor after being on the market for a few months and very expensive considering there is no garden, just a pool and terrace. Talking with the other neighbours earlier it seems the young couple who built the house and had two other businesses have gone, lock stock and barrel back to Marrakech where their families live without so much as a goodbye. I just wonder if they got jittery about the presidential elections in 2027 and what it might mean for them albeit they have young children born here and their future income.
Yes.
We’ve been to Marrakesh and the environs three times over the last twelve years, most recently for a wedding in May.
After our years in the M/E we’re souked up to the eyeballs so for shopping we went to a couple of malls, one of which would match anything here (including having a Carrefour anchor tenant) and one, though not as big or as crowded, based on brands, would not be out of place in Dubai.
The economy is growing strongly, 4.9% last year and a projected 5% this year. So a smart business orientated couple might see the potential downside here and potential upside there as a good reason to jump ship.
Well he had a maçonnerie business here, an SCI along with his wife and she had a beauty salon in another commune. They had expensive cars which the other “nosy” neighbours told me were on lease and looking at the inside photos of the house on LBC when it came on there, it was sparsely furnished, no pictures of any kind on any of the walls and just two sofas, a table and four chairs and the usual bed and wardrobes in the three bedrooms so I think they had been planning the move for some time as his lorry disappeared back in early June, along with one other car, possibly all exported to the other side of the Med. Or as my son pointed out, maybe they were in over their heads and did a runner.
Our furst trip to France was in 1977.
We drove to Tours and stayed in the city.
We dined every night in a restaurant called Chat Noir and wirked our way through the menu without having a clue what we were ordering.
One evening I ordered Andoulette which smelt as bad as it tasted. That too went into my wife’s handbag and later floated down the Loire.
I tried andouillette once years ago, when I still ate meat. Never again.
You might relate to Jilly Goolden who tried it on a TV food and drink programme, said it smelled of farmyard and rushed off set to be ill.
Yonks ago, we were entertaining some English friends at a local restaurant.
The Owner had prepared a special feast and it all looked wonderful.
(The Owner knows the things I love but which some Brits might not want to try… oops)
If someone asked “what’s this then” I answered with something generally liked and not what I dared to think it might be.
I don’t tell lies but would say something on the lines of…
“hmm, looks a bit like blah blah to me, smells great, what do you think?.. give it a try?”
Plates got almost licked clean… hurrah.
I took 3 Brits that live in NL that speak very little French to a local restaurant and one ordered the andouillette; the waiter who speaks rather good English said “Madame they are not for the English”, she looked him in the eye and said “Monsieur, I am Scottish!”. She thoroughly enjoyed it.
Just another example of how different people can be… nothing is set in stone… everything is an adventure ![]()