Ronald, don't sweat it...I'm sorry if I'm coming across as snotty and rude but I just frankly can't be bothered with all those "ooh, my mother used to make her own mayonnaise" and "ooh, the French are so happy because they accept their lot" kind of remarks. The curtain twitching reference was my own pop at suburban mentality which I think is very present here...Fiona, by the way, my "arse" is fine and is insured for a half a million pounds as it happens as I'm a lingerie model so don't fret love....
Sorry but I just find it all so boring...no hard feelings just fed up with the same old same old...
Glenn,
I suggest that you venture outside the Dordogne to the nearby Limousin. It is the beef capital of France the world. Here beef is the main choice, with duck as an alternative. You'll really appreciate the difference........
I haven't got time to fully enter this end of the debate - I've got to go out to work (one of those quaint English traditions.....).
Fiona - leave my fan club alone ! Of course I'm right: my mum has always told me so.
Ron - get some sleep.
As for being rude - what do you expect from someone who has been accused of being a ketchup wielding, frog-bashing, narrow-minded bigot...?
a bientot
RM.
you're not going to let it lie, are you? lol
Jane, we seem to be at cross purposes, I guess you are referring to 'he's clever and everything' was meant to confirm my status as a 'thicko' as per James Burton (above ) which made me chuckle. I suppose the child like statement should have gone in a general box, frankly I am not used to the mechanics of the forum. To reconfirm it was not designed to be a dig. I am still befuddled by 'Keep on twitching those net curtains darling, but whatever you do, for heaven's sake don't get involved and don't be seen to be trying to be too "clever"...heaven's no...' Am I right in assuming that the curtains infers that I'm lurking? Don't get involved sounds like a warning...as does the clever reference. I would be grateful if you could explain, as I suddenly feel, outcast. I thought this was al tongue in cheek, and informative fun, it's really quite heavy. If I'm out on a limb here, then I wont play it's not worth the aggro. Please note I have not read every post, as I have been working through the night. Kind regards Ron
I've heard that one too Glen but haven't got any figures to back it up, our nearest is 30km away and people here are crying out for one in town :-O
This debate has become pants so I'm bowing out...
Well I've never had net curtains so I wouldn't know...just perhaps choose your words a little more carefully as I'm not being rude in the slightest, I just don't like cheap digs that's all and if you had been making one I just wanted you to know that it hadn't gone unchallenged...Oh, and, er, I don't believe I told you to mind your own business...it seems that once again there has been a misunderstanding...
I can assure you Jane I was not having a pop at you or anybody. But please don't advise me to mind my own business, that is not in the spirit of debate. As to the curtains quip, I would joke 'pull yourself together' but that would be rude, wouldn't it?
If you're having a pop at me Ronald then it's a bit tacky frankly...if I can't say that I think Richard is right without that sort of remark then it actually does PROVE him right in that some of those participating in this forum have nothing original to say and are incapable of being objective. Keep on twitching those net curtains darling, but whatever you do, for heaven's sake don't get involved and don't be seen to be trying to be too "clever"...heaven's no...
Richard is my hero, he's clever and everything
Oh for heaven's sake...Richard is right and you've just provided another tedious response to prove him so...
:) Thank you! I must make more of an effort to swot up on local history...
I won't rabbit on but it's very interesting - Garibaldi (from Nice) left for Sicily to unite Italy and Cavour gave Nice and Savoie to France behind his back - he ended uo the 'homeless' hero of Italian unification and retired to a little island (Caprera) between Sardinia and Corsica where he spent his last years farming there (beautiful place to retire too mind - well worth the visit ;-)
Interesting! Thanks...I'd never got round to looking into that part of the CdA's history...
Just catching up on a backlog of emails and this thread, amongst others, but I have to confess I've skipped to the end and skimmed over some 'off topic' remarks .... Bravo Steffi! I'd be livid if I was a French person reading this. Living in rural Italy for seven years, we've adjusted our shopping/eating habits to accommodate the opening hours, rest days, Ferragosto shut down, etc, etc. Isn't that what we do? If the French are unwilling to change or think outside the box, why are there fast food outlets, foreign foodstuffs in supermarkets, shops open on Sunday morning and so on in this area (Herault)? Going right back to Richard's original post, if supply is a response to demand, then isn't it fantastic that the French are so content with their lot? Not so much need for them to move away from their homeland in search of greener pastures ....? Personally, one of the reasons I don't miss much in the UK is that I deplore the Americanisation of our culture and the over-commercialised nature of things there.
And yes, I have ketchup in the fridge, but part of the reason it's in the fridge is because it'll be in there a long time. When I was a kid in the 60s my mum refused to buy it - no food value and too expensive. Homemade pickles and chutneys were what we ate 'on the side'.