Day six in France

Today, my wife and I had our worst meal in France, this being over the numerous trips we have had to France. When I say numerous, it is not that many, but our lunch today in Clermont-l'Hérault left a lot to be desired. The setting was great, live music from a busker, and a view where we could people watch. But while the waitress who served us was skilled and friendly, the food took ages to come and as not worth the wait. We had travelled there to enjoy the market, while I am not sure my wife liked the trip as much as I did, it was good to visit it.

Dinner was much better. We ate in a local place which brews its own beer. While it took time to get served, we were aware about this because they warned us. And the service was warm and lovely. I would recommend anyone trying the food here! 

Day five in France and the Afghan data leak

The holiday continues. My son has been volunteered to take part in gardening thanks to his grandfather but says he is enjoying his time outside London. I am sure that he is, but I find it hard to believe that he is enjoying himself as much as we are. 

The insect bites are healing and we have spent a lot of the day in the pool. We did go out for a meal in the evening where we were greeted by a puppy (who was taken away for eating the floorboards) and two other dogs.  My daughter too a photo of me cheating on our dog (she did as well) and is to show it to ours when she returns to the UK. 

Before I got to listen to The NewsAgents and heard an interesting story. It referred to a superinjunction about a data leak. I was sure I had heard about it before, but while I had, this turned out to be another one. Listening so far, it appears that the government initially did not want to resettle as many refugees as it has done since. I am concerned that this scheme is to stop. Those in Afghanistan risked a lot to help our troops there, I met one who is in a wheelchair for doing so. It may be that now the risk they face is low but I say we owe those remaining the chance of sanctuary in the UK. Forcing them to live in what is essentially The Republic of Gilead is not the thanks we should give.  

Saying that, I have yet to listen to the full story as a second episode dropped later, that will be interesting. 

Day four in France

Again another relaxing day, enforced due to the numerous insect bites that I have. My daughter has been sensible and has been using lots of insect spray but yesterday I did not and have payed the price. My wife has a lot of bites as well. I realised today that flies can inflict them when I saw one land and I had the pain on the bite.

While I rested, my wife was reading and my daughter enjoyed the pool. The covers are now off but we have been advised not to put them back on again.

Later in the day, we went to a nearby village where I bought some wine which I prepared dinner with. It was essentially bangers and mash which was improved by the tomato salad my wife made. The wine was nice, local, but had a little too much oak for me.

Our son says he is enjoying his stay with his grandparents. It would be nicer with him here, but it is his choice not to come and forcing him here would not have achieved much. 

My wife and I are hoping to be a lot better tomorrow and to be able to go out. We may just eat in the evening, but we are considering a day trip as well.

Day three in France

Another day in France. Today we had to do another supermarket run and my wife drove through stunning countryside to get there. My daughter and I tried to access the pool, but the mechanism to pull the covers back is not working. I was unsure if I may have broken it by accident or if it was broken before we got here. But, as tomorrow is bin day, I put our rubbish in the bin to see that the previous occupants have put items that should be recycled in the bin. I am hoping it still gets taken, if not, it will be a fragrant trip to the local dump! 

The down side of today is that I have been bitten, a lot. I need to get some decent insect repellent. And not scratch. 

Day two in France and discussing ethnic cleansing in Gaza

We are at the holiday cottage we have rented. It belongs to the parents of a friend of our daughter. It is amazing. The drive was not as bad as yesterday, and while it has rained since we got here, I am hoping for better tomorrow.

During the last two days, I have ensured that my wife sleeps by listening to podcasts. She hates the voice of Jon Sopel. My daughter has listened to some of them yesterday, less so today and this led to an interesting conversation, this being about Gaza. We were listening to The Rest is Politics and there was a discussion about if the horrors in Gaza met the international definition of a genocide. My daughter felt it did, I did not. We had to disagree agreeably about this, much in the same way that Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell had to do.  Like on the podcast, we both agreed that what is happening in Gaza is horrific and should be stopped. I compared the horrors of Gaza to the genocide in Rwanda, what happened to the Rohingya and the evils of the Srebrenica massacre. I stated my view that the actions of Israel meets the criteria of Ethnic Cleansing but does not meet the threshold of genocide. My daughter disagreed with me and I found myself trying to defend Israel of one charge but not another.  While we did discuss it briefly today, notably with the actions in China where we both consider the Uyghurs to be subject to genocide. I will return to the topic of how Israel appears to ending the conflict through ethnic cleaning later this week if I can though. 

We went out for a meal today at a local place, this being called El Rancho Larzac and it was great. My burger was almost as good as that which I ate yesterday, the chips, while amazing, again not as good, but this place is still better than most burger places in the UK. We will hopefully be returning before I leave on Saturday.  You never know, it might not rain, for today, after we arrived here, it rained and rained and rained.  It is meant to rain tomorrow, but it should not be as much. On the way in, we had stopped at a supermarket and loaded up on supplies, my wife being shocked that I bought myself some Frosties! 

Anyway, it is late, so it is time for me to sleep and tomorrow, our plan is to test and recharge! 

Day one in France

We are in the city of Orléans. By we, I mean my wife, daughter and me.  My son decided not to come, preferring to spend time with the parents of my wife. We met them near the M25 to hand him over to them. My Mum is not too happy that he did not want to spend the two weeks with her. She is not aware that a few weeks ago, when he has an argument with us, that he wanted to travel to London to spend a night there to calm down.

Anyway, it was an interesting drive as we drove through Paris during rush hour and I ended up getting slightly lost in the city after encountering a huge traffic jam. But we are now resting. We went into the city itself to have dinner and gaze upon the statue of Joan of Arc. Sitting down, is when I started to relax. The picture is one my daughter took. In the square, we sat at a French restaurant, enjoyed good food, and if we wanted to, we could watch the basket ball games taking place.

My son would have loved it. On the way, we stopped at a service station where my daughter had a raspberry macaroon which she loved. He missed out on it, my daughter saying that it was better than any she has eaten in the UK. He also would have loved the menu at the restaurant where we ate, the dish of tagliatelle and shrimp being the one I would imagine he would have gone for. 

Do Junior Doctors want Nigel Farage to destroy the NHS?

Junior Doctors are to go on strike.  Since 2010 they have had numerous real terms pay cuts.  But this year, when they are to get an above inflation pay rise, they are going to strike.  They have previously gone on strike in 2016, 2023, 2024 and I supported them with this.  There was no strike in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 or 2022 when they had pay cuts.  In 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 Junior Doctors got an above average pay rise. 

The pay rise that they are to get is not only above inflation, but is more than other NHS staff are getting. The only reason that I can see why the BMA would recommend not striking during the many years what Junior Doctors got below inflation pay rises and to strike when they are to get an above inflation pay rise, is that they want to see Nigel Farage take power.  And we know what he wants for the NHS...