The sign on the dashboard lights up and informs me we have a flat tyre. The PONs are ordered out of the back of the car so I can get to the spare. They find this - getting in the car and then getting out of the car - change to their routine to be intriguing. Bob wants to be intimately involved in the process of taking off the old wheel and putting on the new one. Thankfully, they eventually become bored of tyre changing and sit at the far gate in the hope that something interesting might happen outside. The replacement tyre is one of those '' run flat '' types. Later this morning we shall head off to the garage to have the old one repaired or replaced.
The baker has a new range of '' we're not quite sure what they are '' cakes. One is raspberry and mango which may - or may not - be a French classic.
There's time for a walk across the fields before ...
.... we head off for the morning croissant. I tell the waitress the story about the puncture and she brings out two croissants. '' They deserve a treat " she says. Bob gives her his '' You are a good judge of character and I really love you " look.
Sophie is too fixated on the croissant to be aware of the waitresses presence.
A puncture and then a full shared croissant, For the PONs this undoubtedly raises today to being the very best day ever.
Finally finished William Hitchcocks biography of Eisenhower. A more complex man than history has painted him to be. There's a sense of deja vu about his battles with Congress. On the appointment of Earl Warren as a Supreme Court Justice the biographer observes " .... he wanted men on the Court who were known for integrity, an absence of partisanship, and statesmanship ". How very topical. Last week I saw Amy Klobuchar on television for the first time. Eisenhower might have enjoyed talking to her.
The world never ceases to surprise : https://www.space.com/41965-standard-model-broken-supersymmetry-new-physics.html
11 comments:
I am longing for a "real" croissant, but none within thousands of kilometers.
Re Eisenhower, I remember my parents saying that he was neutral and courted by both major parties. He chose to be a Republican for whatever reason. Reviews on that book inaccurately say he was not involved in Vietnam, but by 1955, he had sent in "advisors" and committed the US to supporting the government there, alas.
He also ruled that women could not apply for the space program, cited in "Amelia Earhart's Daughters".
The PON croissant ranking today? 15/10?
It was also Eisenhower who warned of the military-industrial complex. We see how well that went.
You are lucky the flat occurred while at home and not on the autoroute.
This generation of PONs seems to be all about croissants, but I remember reading about "Jaffa cakes" back in the Wilf and Digby era and wondering what on earth they were. Then last week, while searching for souvenir snacks in a Marks and Spencer store in Hong Kong (bringing back souvenir snacks is very important in Japan), I came across a display of both raspberry and orange Jaffa cakes. I bought some of each and brought them in to the office this morning, so now, finally, I know what a Jaffa cake is. They have been very popular with my colleagues, and I am sure they would be popular with Cherry as well, but she's not getting any - she stole a mooncake off the counter over the weekend, so she's already had her own Hong Kong souvenir snack.
Cherry surely deserves at least a taste of an orange Jaffa cake ! Our Scottish window cleaners were very keen on sharing their Jaffa cakes as a way of keeping enthusiastic PONs quiet . A PON trying to climb a ladder to see what's going on must be a window cleaners nightmare. Jaffa cakes exist here in France but aren't as popular as they are in a much colder Scotland where a sugar rush is essential.
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How kind of the waitress to double croissant for the Pons. We like the look of the little cakies on top - would they be lemon meringue?
Well spotted. Yes.
Here's another Eisenhower tidbit, about the part Irving Berlin played. I had no idea. https://blog.oup.com/2016/06/broadway-eisenhower-presidential-nomination/
Such a kind waitress to spoil your PONs! Did Bob or Sophie christen your flat, "run flat" or repaired/new car tyre on their very best day ever?
Yes. Bob gave the new tyre his 'welcome' to the Rickety Old Farmhouse routine.
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