Summer food

How do you like your ratatouille? The question arises because it's ratatouille-making season. The end of summer heralds a glut of summer vegetables which means, here in Montpellier, aubergine, courgettes and tomatoes. Plus green peppers.

I do not have a garden that produces anything more than sage, laurel and the odd chive so I have to buy all my veggies, unfortunately. Organic veg is never a huge bargain, but it tastes good, so now I have some time, I've been cranking up the ratatouille machine a.k.a the slow cooker.

I like ratatouille with still-crunchy veg plus soft well-cooked aubergine. It retains more of the vitamins this way and tastes lovely and fresh. My DB, on the other hand, likes it cooked for hours and hours so it becomes a rich-tasting mush. The slow cooker is ideal for this.

I fry the aubergine first to get them lovely and oily and brown, and add them to the slow cooker along with everything else (green and red peppers, onions, courgette, tomatoes, garlic, herbes de Provence). The oil from the aubergine is enough to flavour the whole pot once the whole thing is boiling happily.

The hardest part is resisting eating it straight away, because the idea is to freeze it to enjoy over winter.

I've also made some tomato sauce with some left-over sun-dried tomatoes added to the fresh. The flavour when finished was incredibly intense. Should be lovely over pasta and is great when you are in a rush and have nothing easy to cook quickly without resorting to an industrial ready meal. This Sunday is the Tomato Festival in Clapiers where I bought all my dried tomatoes last year. I've now finished them so I hope the same stand will be there this year too so I can stock up.

There is more to come as I ordered lots of aubergines from the Ruche Qui Dit Oui this week. I'm going to try caviar d'aubergine and make some baba ganoush which I learned how to cook from a Palestinian boyfriend back in my university days. It's absolutely delicious - so creamy, with a lovely smoky taste.

I only wish I had a larger freezer so I could fill it up more!

This summer I've been eating a lot of salad. It's been extremely hot, and I've developed a vinaigrette that I can't get enough of, and neither can my DB. I make it with whole almond purée which has a lovely rich roasted flavour, and add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, turmeric, dried nettles, herbes de Provence, garlic, S&P.

To this, which is made in the bowl, I add chopped mushrooms, cucumber, onion, raw beetroot, tomatoes, courgette, green pepper and of course, lots of lettuce. Then I add chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and hemp seeds, plus some chopped fermented tofu with olives and some avocado if I have any that hasn't gone off... (we've had lots of rotten avocados this year).

It makes a lovely, hearty, tasty salad that's healthy and a pleasure to eat.

What have you been eating this summer?

End of Term

What a week! The last official week of term has been quite hectic what with trying to buy shoes for my youngest and failing until an hour before their train was due to leave for Paris yesterday, moving my TWDB into his summer quarters chez moi, and going to a merry piss-up welcome apero at HSBC on Thursday.

My eldest started his end of term early; he's already been farting around for a week now with his friends. On Thursday they were roasting marshmallows with a lighter on my (tiled) coffee table. I think they must have run out of gas though because I also saw evidence of much match use when I came in from my gallivanting at HSBC.

Appealing HSBC ad, especially the détente bit..

I had been with my TWDB downtown enjoying the bank's hospitality as I'd opened an account there earlier this year. I was considered (rightly) as a new client and got invited to the piss-up after-work apero for encouragingly copious amounts of Laurent Perrier and delicious nibbles. There's no doubt about it, a bit of customer care and attention goes a very long way. LCL has never invited me to share a peanut let alone quaff bottles of decent champagne.

My LCL conseiller is a nice guy, but at HSBC they do it with class. You should have seen the courtyard we were in with the most amazing stone staircase. It must have been part of one of those hotels particuliers because it was lavishly built and decorated, and part of HSBC. Apparently the flat at the top used to made available to the bank's current director, but they've since sold it and the poor incumbent now has to slum it in the open market.

It's not that I'm anyone's (commercially speaking) for a glass or two of champagne and a tray full of nibbles, but it does help! In fact, to date I've been very pleased with HSBC, especially because my conseiller is tip top. I might also be easy to please because I have only modest amounts of the readies and am not asking too much... HSBC already have a huge advantage over other banks however in that they communicate, are reachable easily, and use the parrain/marraine system to acquire new clients from happy current ones. For that you need to be recommendable!

Earlier in the week my eldest went swimming in the river with his pals, had a picnic in the garrigue of the parcours de santé and enjoyed the delights of one of his friend's swimming pools. He's had a marvellous time. Now both boys are up near Paris chez their dad where they know no one and can't racket around with such alacrity and freedom. I'm sure there are other advantages however...

So I'm blissfully free of boys for a month, much as I love them and I intend to take full advantage of their absence. Last year it was spring cleaning, this year I have a cleaner so I'll be catching up with some of the writing I've accumulated thanks to ex-hs, boys, and end of terms. Also some R&R I think - aperos on the beach, dinners out, and evenings on the sun-bed (rosé in hand) without the Xbox roaring.

Cheers!

Ground Air France

Were you thinking of flying into or out of France this summer? If you are, I would advise you either not to fly at the weekend, or use a company that is NOT Air France.

Just for a change, we are to endure yet another strike. This time it's the pilots and they plan to do this on the weekends between 10 July to 3 August. Mind you, they've only indicated that they intend to strike. If their demands are met in the next two months, they may deign to withdraw the threat.

What demands? you may ask. More pay, better security, fewer hours, longer tea-break, higher overnight stay standards, 'personal assistant' at every airport, nicer luggage, comfier seats? No, none of that. Well, they are very well paid and have already taken much action for the hours they work so it's neither of those sticky issues.

No, what they want is to have a specific union representation. Yes, you read that right. According to new rules, unions have to represent 10% of total employees, but the pilots only make up 5% of Air France, so they will no longer have their own voice.

I can understand that this is a major blow and should be rectified somehow, but threatening to sabotage the vacation time of blameless passengers is NOT the way to do it. I hardly think many passengers will be sympathetic to their demands, either. If they were striking their way out of filthy mucky working conditions or 5-min tea breaks or crappy airline luggage or unattractive cabin staff one could understand it.

But more union power? I don't think so!

I am not too worried as I hardly ever travel on Air France, and certainly not to the UK. I always take Eurostar and SNCF. By the way, did you know that you can reserve Eurostar tickets on the SNCF website now, at 3 months in advance too? Well played both companies for getting their act together and making passenger bookings and thus lives easier.

I used to have to wait to make the Eurostar reservations which were only open 2 months in advance and so lose out on the cheapest SNCF tickets which came on sale 3 months in advance. This year I've saved 100Eurs on summer transport tickets. Am I happy? You bet!

So beware Air France this summer, and if it's not them, it'll be the air traffic controllers and if it's not them it'll be the baggage handlers and if it's not them it'll be the ground staff. In fact, it's a brave person who opts to fly in July and August; one who enjoys living on the edge in a high-risk environment. It's a bit too much for me. I'm all for a quiet life, a low carbon-footprint and more than 15kg of luggage.

Fingers crossed that SNCF don't let me down...

Wednesday Afternoon

It's Wednesday afternoon. I don't work on Wednesday afternoons. In term time I'm ferrying boys to activities, running errands, writing cheques at the Mairie for canteen or childcare tickets, getting cash out to pay the student who tutors my eldest at maths, and trying to think of something tasty that's boy-friendly for supper.

With the boys away, errands fade into insignificance. The heat evaporates not only all moisture but all desire to move. If I have something to do, I can do it... later. Yes, later will do fine.

For the moment, I take the much un-used sunbed, spread it with a thick furry blanket then a towel, install it under the parasol and pick up some easy reading. The bamboo fencing that lies over the wooden supports shading the terrace is itself shaded by an encroaching vine from next door. I lie, dappled by strips of shade and mottled by leaves. Bunches of unripe Muscat grapes hang from beneath the bamboo having forced their way through. Come the Autumn, they'll be bursting with juicy sweetness.

The heat makes my eyelids heavy as I read. Finally I can bear it no longer and flatten out the sunbed into siesta mode, stretch out luxuriously and snooze while I tan. My book is a novel set on the island of San Antonio and I dream of Spanish fishing villages and little yachts anchored on an azur sea.

I shift lazily onto my stomach and listen to the crickets. Flies buzz annoyingly around my skin, attracted by trickles of sweat and moisture. I realise it's time for tea. With some relief, I haul myself up and into the coolness of the house. Soon I'll have to run my errand... later. Yes, I'll do it later.

Is it nearly summer yet?

With the rain lashing the side of the building, low storm clouds racing across the sky and a general feeling of doom and gloom, one's thoughts turn to the summer. Winter hasn't been around long - what is it, barely two weeks? - and I've had enough already.

I'm fed up with going home to a cold, dark dwelling, casually warmed by two crappy electric heaters. The odd draft from who knows where, like an icy finger caressing delicately one's tender cheek. Under the stairs seems to be the main source of suspicion but I can't actually pinpoint the precise spot which I could then block with blutack...

The only thing good about having a cold season is that you can turn on the bed warmer and plunge your toes not into the freezing depths of potential frost-bite, but down into toasting heaven. It's almost worth suffering the unwelcoming cold dampness of an early morning bathroom for... almost. You will have gathered by now that my house is not centrally-heated...

However, it could be worse... I could live in Canada!

Anyway, back to the summer. In days of yore, one would pore over brochures of tantalising summer destinations. In these mad modern times, one presses a key or two and brings up every single destination on earth, including Bradford.

However, I am just looking for a nice cheap place to stay in Gower for the atomically expensive week of July 26. There'll be three of us, unless I pick up a tasty hunk of male 'perfection' between now and then (who'd fancy holidaying with me, two boys, the folks, possibly sundry brothers, cousins, uncle Tom Cobbly and all...) and you would think that a nice little cottage would be just the thing at less than £300. Or a caravan. Not a bog or a sea cave though. Or even a tent.

And pigs might fly yonder o'er Port Eynon, and Oxwich because there is not a cheap rental to be had this side of Merthyr Tydfil.

Which brings me to an annoying feature about this week. It seems to be following a certain pattern which I am getting a tad snippy about. What's the point of trying to be well-organised if all around you are not cooperating? Can one be well-organised in a vacuum? I think not.

Come to think of it, I may just go back to Giles' place outside Mumbles which, at £360 for the week is coming across as more of a good deal with every day that passes. And it does have a marvellously well-stocked bar! (which I do no more than admire...)

In the meantime, the sky is now black, the wind is raging and I have to go out in it. Wish me luck...

Sunny St Laurent le Minier

Last weekend we had a picnic in the mysterious mists of a drizzly day at St Laurent le Minier.

This last weekend, due to popular demand, from my youngest, we went back, this time in the sun, and what a different scene greeted our eyes. The river banks were no longer empty but full of life. Children splashed in the shallows, women sauntered about in bikinis and young men dived off anything over a deepish pool.

Picnics were laid out, babies were being changed on picnic tables, and beach balls tossed from one side of the river to another.

Young men hovered on the edge of the dam, others hovered on the edge of the bridge, some even having the courage to jump into the river below. It is early summer and there has been rain, otherwise this would be a foolish thing to do!

The atmosphere was light and airy with holidaymakers and locals wiling away a warm afternoon by a cool river. They probably didn't notice the extraordinary rock formations they walked on; plates of rock pushed up then weathered and eroded to provide shelves for bums and picnic plates.

There was no sense of mystery; no dark corners, no damp hideouts reeking of lush, rotting vegetation. All was brightly lit, a bit smelly with the stagnant pools, and frankly juvenile despite the evidence of ancient rocks and a beautiful bridge. The sun bleached all the dark corners and exposed them to the glare of sunscreen and nappy wipes.

I enjoyed our picnic, as did the boys, especially with an ice-cream in hand. But... I think I preferred the one in the rain.

Summer Schools

It's coming round to school registration time again. My eldest is automatically enrolled into 'sixième' if his marks are good enough which they should be easily even though he has just done a series of tests he wasn't too happy with. He has been tested this year five times in total; before each holiday. It seems like a lot of testing, but the tests are not national ones and are merely used to ensure the child is keeping up.

My youngest is currently in Grande Section Maternelle so will be going into CP in September; the equivalent of starting primary school. He goes to school in the village next door and has thus the choice between continuing there, or changing schools and going to the local one. Despite the fact that his friends are all there, there is one over-riding Bad Point - they go to school on Saturday mornings.

For this reason, my youngest has decided he'd rather go to the local school where they have school on Wednesday mornings instead. However, because he is changing village schools, enrollment is not automatic, so I popped into the mairie last week to enquire about a certificat d'inscription.

I have to go back with proof of domicile and the livret de famille, then they give me the certificate and I have to go and see the head of the new school. Considering the number of papers they could ask for, it sounds fairly simple.

A lot more simple than enrolling the boys at the summer school, in fact. As I work, the boys attend a centre aeré, and have been going to the one where we used to live. They are now bored of it so I suggested investigating the local one. The summer programme looks pretty good, with opportunities to do such things as learning to scuba dive (75eur for three half days) in Carnon, building a radio-controlled vehicle, learning to rock-climb, and so on. Otherwise they can participate in half-day activities which cost 7-8eur per half-day, plus lunch.

The boys will only need five days' worth as we'll be going off on holiday after that, so I registered them, and came home with a list of papers I need to take back:
Photo d'identité
Liste des personnes autorisées à venir chercher l'enfant
Les numéros de téléphones où l'on peut vous joindre
N° de Sécurité Sociale
Adresse du centre payeur (du Sécu)
Nom et téléphone du médecin traitant
Décharge parentale
Autorisation parentale de sortie
Photocopies des vaccins
Certificat médical de vie en collectivité
Attestation du domicile
Photocopies du livret de famille
Attestation signé du règlement intérieur
Attestation d'assurance
En cas de divorce ou de séparation, extrait du jugement de divorce concernant la garde de l'enfant.
Plus for the scuba diving course:
Attestation de nage de 25m
Certificat médical
I'm surprised they didn't mention the cat!

No doubt, once my youngest is enrolled at school, they'll ask for most of the above documents too. In fact, I may just as well photocopy them all twice. Of course, some, such as proof of domicile have to be less than three months old. I'm sure they used to ask for a fiche d'état civil too, but one of the better moves of the previous government was to stop doing these. They used to be required, dated less than three months' old too, for many things as though the ID card could easily be forged and was thus not reliable enough to prove identity. When the new format cards were brought in, I suppose it made the fiche d'état civil redundent, or what would be the point of the new cards?! Lateral thinking was applied! Amazing!

By the way, for all those thinking of driving in France this summer, the government is cracking down on speeding. You can be caught now for driving 1kmph over the limit and fined 45eur. Be warned, and you won't get away with it just because you are a foreigner either. Systems in different countries are talking to each other and cooperating.

Anyway, I've got my hands full running about sorting out the dossier for the boys so they can have fun in the few days before we go on happy hols, but I'll certainly be watching my speed while I'm doing it.

For those interested in my carbon footprint, you needn't worry unduly. We're going to the UK as usual, on the train. Ryanair can get stuffed with its baggage limit, its baggage fees, its uncivilised return flight time (0605) and the generally unpleasant flying experience. The cost once you include car parking at the airport, and the Stansted taxi is pretty much the same as the train, so we'll be travelling first class, dahhling, and not cattle class.

We are all looking forward to the summer!