The first round of the French presidential elections. The old mayor is out and about early setting up the trestle tables and arranging the chairs . Voting always used to take place in the Mairie but the pandemic has caused a move to the more spacious and better ventilated village hall. A single row of Christmas lights continues to flicker away in its windows. The old farmer is also up early. He's replacing the oil in the 30+ year old silver Mercedes. ' Going to clock up 700 thousand kilometers this week ' he informs me cheerfully. That is indeed a cause for wonder and celebration.
Another excellent day for croissants. Light, fluffy and with just the right amount of surface crunchiness . Sophie is completely in agreement that this mornings offering is wonderful. There again Sophie thinks every mornings offering is wonderful. How can you put a number on wonder ? Angus suggests a 9.6/10. From the manic tail waving Sophie seems to be thinking more of 15/10.
Some exciting smells down by the waterfall ....
..... and some intriguing scents in the grass verges. Three Rafale fighter jets from the big base at Mont de Marsan fly over at tree top height. I don't think I've ever seen planes so low or so fast. Military aircraft practising on a Sunday morning are a sure sign of geopolitical stress.
While the old mayor waits for the first voters to show up Sophie opts for a restorative nap by the front door. With a whirlwind social life Sophie knows a diva has to catch her napettes when and where she can. Soon Madame Bay and the ladies of the Beautiful Byeways Committee will show up with 'bakery treats' for the village voters. Four years ago her chocolate and pecan cookies were a great hit. This year turnout may be low but if anything can get the voters out it will be a 'bakery treat'.
This article captures the sense of ennui amongst the French citizenry rather well :https://unherd.com/2022/04/how-marine-le-pen-conquered-normandy/
Last night we dine 'virtually' in Fife :https://www.16westend.com/diiner-menu
and Angus dreams of Italian Easter eggs :https://www.pasticceriamarchesi.com/gb/en.html
We discover there is such a thing as a 'mixologue' : https://www.skybarparis.com/fr
8 comments:
700,000 km? The Old Farmer is doing something right with all that work on his Mercedes!
The article about politics in the Normany village was interesting.
And what could be a better start to the day than a 15/10 croissant end for Sophie?
15/10 croissant - lucky Sophie, how can you top that?
A very quiet Sunday morning here - not a soul, another dog walker, or any moving vehicle about. We felt we had the world to ourselves! As most people were obviously still abed, some parked their cars in the road, so Inca had lots of tyres to sniff, and no need to hurry along.
"They" always say that things are not built the way they used to be, and the Old Farmer proves them right!
Hari OM
One can't imagine any of the 'enironmentally correct' electric engines ever giving anything like 700k miles service, even to venerable old French farmers... the tinerability is just so lacking! YAM xx
Hope the votes goes well. Who would Sophie vote for?
The croissant looks wonderful, I can feel the crunch the pull the chew and smell the aroma. Cheers!
Any candidate offering free sausages.
The clouds in photos one and four are magnificent! I too will be dreaming of Italian Easter eggs. Perhaps there will be visitors to TROF after they have voted? Sophie has much to watch today!
Well, Macron has a dog. Marie Pen says she doesn't need a husband or a dog. My choice of candiate would be clear.
Post a Comment