The Michelin Guide 2015 tomorrow

Tomorrow in the salons du Quai d'Orsay in Paris chefs will be waiting in the presence of Laurent Fabius. Fabius, in charge of promoting tourism in France will be waiting with others to find out the choices of Michael Ellis who has been in charge of compiling the list. 

Who will be given 3 étoiles and how many will there be. I would hazard a quess that Michel  Bras will keep his three.

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A snow plough is a chasse- neige

We do not see them often here, in fact I do not think I  have ever seen one. A  chasse - neige is a snow plough. The one in the picture was clearing the road in the High Pyrenees where some schoolchildren had been stuck overnight.
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Nous sommes dimanche, le premier

​ratatiné​​​​shrivelled/wrinkled

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Danny Boon's next film

"Une jolie Ch'tite famille" is going to be Danny Boon's next film. After the success of  Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis this will be another film to look forward to. If you have not seen the first it is very funny and worth seeing.
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Formation flying

Dear Val and Malcolm,
I know Geese are not as exciting as a Firecrest or even a Goldcrest, but when it is raining and cold you have to take the shots where you can.  These were taken locally at the Caussade lakes, which is a posh name for gravel pits.  The great thing is that when these particular birds are flying they make quite a racket, so it was a case of lining up the camera, pointing it in the direction of noise and hoping for the best.  Animals do not have that movie star attraction to a camera lens, so there are some headless flying geese, see if you can spot them.
Nev
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Everyone makes mistakes

The Connexion have published a retraction and apology on a story which got out of hand stating a farmer in the Aveyron was a terrorist and was off to Syria. The strange thing is I saw this article and thought it was something about nothing, a bit fishy and all adding to the hysteria of the on going terrorist subject. I decided not to mention it.
It does show though that re reporting the news is a tricky business and so easy to publish " the baker is dead story," when actually like his bread he had risen. You have to admit that one was  my best so far!
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Trial of the year coming up

The court has got to decide if Strauss Kahn was just a sexually obsessed man or a pimp The court is likely to hear sordid details as the state seeks to portray Strauss-Kahn as a sexually-obsessed man who knew no limits. The pimping charge against Strauss-Kahn is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to €1.5 million ($1.7 million). He is one of 14 defendants in the trial which is expected to last three weeks. He is scheduled to take the stand himself from February 10th.

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Manon with Nathalie Dessay at Mas del Sol

The March production on Wed. 18th of March at 6 pm we will be showing this fabulous production of  Massenet's Manon with Natalie Dessay.  Get booking your seats now, I think this is going to be another popular one. In French already, so no worry the subtitles will be in English.
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Two brothers,twins with cystic fibrosis

Mucoviscidose is cystic fibrosis in French. These twins were both born with the genetic illness and have suffered much in their lives so far. They have written a book  about  the way their lives have been and want their final end to be with dignity.  Damien et Nicolas Delmer luttent who live in "les Pyrénées-Oriental" have spoken to Francois Holland hoping to get the law passed here for assisted suicide. The book is called " Frères jusqu'au dernier souffle" They are 34 years old and Damien the most fragile is in hospital at the moment.
 One feels for the boys and their parents, however you feel about assisted suicide. I agree and want a law to be passed but Malc I think is not so sure.
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Doreen Porter gives her ten random facts

Hi Val

They are very odd, but it was fun remembering! Doreen

1.     I once played a version of The Weakest Link at 10 Downing Street

2.     I passed O level Russian

3.      I’ve been ‘on patrol’ with the police in Miami, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Berlin and The Cayman Islands

4.     I was at Pegasus Bridge on the exact 50^th anniversary of D-Day

5.      Max Bygraves made me a cup of tea and played a Singalongamax CD to me while I drank it!

6.      I landed on a warship in the North Sea by helicopter

7.      As a child I lived next door to a chap called Laurie London who had a no 1 hit with ‘I’ve got the whole world in his hands’

8.   I’ve published a book, ‘An A to Z of life in France’

9.      I had lunch with Joan Collins at the top of the Post Office Tower in London (shows how long ago that was!)

10. I helped bathe an elephant in Sri Lanka

Val says - can anyone beat that!

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Local newspapers to unite

Jean Michel Baylet is the president of the departmental conseil general of Tarn and Garonne, leader of the Parti Radical de Gauche (a social democrat party to which our local MP Sylvia Pinel belongs) and is also the principal shareholder in the Depeche du Midi group.
He announced yesterday that the group is to buy control of the Midi Libre group. This group of newspapers is widely read in Languedoc and Aveyron and presumably the new group will be better placed to deal with the new amalgamated region Midi Pyrenees/Languedoc Roussillon.
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Sylvia Pinel, the minister of housing was in Cahors yesterday

Sylvia Pinel minister of housing and our MP, was being shown the centre of the historic old town and work being done on revitalising the area. 500 houses are being rehabilitated over 6 years and 100 buildings in a bad state are being recycled and improved. The idea that a revitalised centre would bring jobs, visitors and money to the town and improve the lives of the residents is to be applauded.

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Pizza with cassoulet

I  quite like pizza and I love cassoulet but the two together can be found served in the Aude, the area known for cassoulet. I think I will stick to one or the other.
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Weather conditions in the Grand Sud

Here in Tarn and Garonne we " fingers crossed" are missing the worst of the conditions.Snow is making access to ski stations difficult or in some cases impossible. The risk of avalanche is high and thousands of homes have lost electricity. Last night we watched the meteo on TV and saw snow in the north, snow in the south and we were in a little clear pocket.. but will it last?
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Nous sommes samedi le trente et un

​le tabagisme passif​​​passive smoking

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Weather troubles in the South West

Riverside road completely flooded

Rather more to the south of here yesterday the weather seems to have been very agitated. Snow in the mountains, rain on the plains and violent winds causing multiple power cuts. Certainly we had strong winds attested to by the numerous branches and twigs on the roads and about 2 inches (50mm) of rain.
The Aveyron at Varen was about 3 metres, normally about 1 metre or less and tons of debris has been washed down.

Debris gathered at the Moulin de Varen

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More on winter fuel payments from the Connexion

Click the link
http://www.connexionfrance.com/13-MPs-WFP-Winter-Fuel-Payment-Gale-16594-view-article.html

Published yesterday in a Moroccan newspaper

This is the front page of a Moroccan weekly newspaper called "Al Watan Al Ane" ( wonder if it has anything to do with donkeys?)

Anyway the 29th of January saw this mock up of Francois Hollande. Abderrahim Ariri, the directeur of the publication, was unrepentant after the Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

Anybody read Arabic? A reader has asked for a translation of the headline!

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It is a boy

Shakira and footballer Gerard Piqué are celebrating the birth of their second baby, a boy. It does not seem that long since their first when Shakira posed in the nude whilst heavily pregnant, all to raise money for Unicef. There was some comment that they want lots of children, maybe to have their own football team?
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Dental hygienist?

Dear Val

I am aware that you are currently compiling a list of highly recommended
dentists but I now have to visit a dental hygienist regularly. Please could
you ask your readers if anyone knows of one. I live in the Villefranche area 
but am prepared to travel for an hour or so..
With many thanks and kind regards.
 Andrea
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