A Taste of Garlic

That was the week….

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceEvery Tuesday I intend to do a quick review of some of the posts from the last week that have made me smile, made me chuckle or, even…. just made me think.

Some of these you may have seen yourselves.

And some of them you may have missed.

I don’t think of these in any competitive sense at all.

This isn’t a top-ten listing.

They’re merely the posts that have stuck in my head.

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France1). Susan and Simon at Days on the Claise deserve a mention for their fantastic post about The Mushroom Caves at Bourré.

I was salivating visibly when I read it and it was all Mrs A Taste of Garlic could do to restrain me from putting on my wellies, grabbing my mushrooming basket and heading off to do some late night/after hours mushrooming there myself!

Susan – my recollection is that some people are naturally allergic to Pied Blue and that it really does need to be well cooked (and never eaten raw) anyway.

I don’t think that there’s any adverse relationship with alcohol because Pied Bleus are sometimes stored in it?

A very under rated mushroom in my humble opinion – one that is often the only thing about in early winter and a real joy to cook with!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France2). And whilst we’re on the subject of Mushrooms, Mya at Missing You Already was taking about a Mushroom Cloud.

Now, Mya can’t eat Wild Mushrooms and says of them…

“I don’t know their names, just that they look like they have been pulled off people’s feet, or in some cases the side of someone’s head. All frills, gills and scabs.”

Which effectively means that…

Mya is off my Christmas Card List!

And did anyone else notice Little Miss Greedy Chops attempting to nick the food off Mya’s plate in the comments?

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France3). I seem to find myself constantly in search of the perfect tart.

So, it was a great relief to find a French Apple Tart with an English Twist over at In and Around Braye-sous-Faye.

Attractive, tantalising and tempting (just as all tarts should be), this one really hit the spot!

And the recipe looks simple enough for someone like me to follow!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France4). Getting better all the time, Looking for Johnny Onions is starting to become quite a seducing blog!

Especially with posts like… From father to sons.

This is the sort of blog that should have a public health warning on it!

It would be so easy just to have a little peek and find yourself, emaciated and dehydrated, 48 hours later….

Still reading through it!

So, take my advice and visit this site but…

Make sure you pack some sarnies and a few bottles of wine!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France5). And still in Brittany mode, Owen at Magic Lantern Show deserves a mention here for his post called… Just a Glimpse… where he so aptly sums up Brittany by calling it….

“The land that time forgot”

To be honest, I was a bit worried about Owen returning to civilisation as the previous two posts on his blog apper to have been broadcast from a bar and as I know from personal experience that once you find a nice welcoming bar in Brittany (and they’re all pretty welcoming)….

The hours, days and even weeks can pass in friendly conversation and, before you know it,

You’re a native, part of the furniture…

And can never leave!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France

OK – now all that stuff is out of the way, let’s get on to the really important stuff…

Of course, it’s Awards Time!

And, I am proud to announce a new winner of the Blog of the Week Award!

This is awarded to the Blog post that has tickled my fancy the most during the past seven days.

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceThis week’s Blog of the Week has been won by Jean at A Very Grand Pressigny.

The post that caught my eye was the one about A Renault with a cake on top.

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceWhich was mainly about the wonderful Renault 4 (the second sexiest car in the world) although Jean did manage to sneak in a photo of a blue Citroen 2CV…

Largely, I suspect…

To keep me happy?

Jean, if you’d like to place your award on your blog sidebar just email me and I’ll send you the code.

New blogs on the block….

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France A New Blog that has only just come to my attention is Burgundy Relocation which is Laura’s blog and aims to promote….

“What Southern Burgundy has to offer: great way of life, beautiful countryside, fantastic weather and many colourful villages and towns to explore. Add to this the fact that Southern Burgundy is the 3rd cheapest area for property in France, means you are bound to find a property that you love at a great price!”

Although it’s still quite a young blog it is growing and already has a lovely photo gallery with some fantastic pictures….

Like this one of some delicious snails!

Now, the following blogs are from my box of Blogs That I May Have Mentioned and, if I Haven’t, really Ought to Do So Now!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceThe Girl Who Stole The Eiffel Tower is not (for those of you who were wondering) a blog about architectural larceny but, more a description of an Audrey Hepburn admirer’s Successes and Failures as she starts a new life in Paris.

She has a pretty good eye as in her first blog posts she says… “All sorts of mammals relieve themselves on the ground in a city.”

Paris summed up, really?

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAnd Then I Moved to France is Emily’s blog and, so far….

Emily doesn’t appear to be attempting to steal any architectural monuments.

But perhaps it’s just early days for her?

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAmericanFrenchie is a blog by an American girl who was born 28 years ago in Sacramento, California and, according to her mom, on a stormy night.

She has recently got married (in Provence, I believe) and, even though she now lives in Paris, like Emily she has shown no outward signs of wishing to walk off with the Eiffel Tower.

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceUn arc en ciel dans the lavabo is Valerie’s blog.

Valerie lives in western France with husband M & daughter L, loves L.I.F.E and…

Takes a damn fine photograph!

Breaking news….

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in Francethat was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France Well we certainly had some news this week!

1). Top of the list was Laura at The Everyday Life of a Young American Girl in France who, having shocked and delighted us last week with her photo of a bridge in Normandy, was now to be found down my way and busy writing a missive called… La Bretagne: Prémières Impressions.

And one of her first impressions was that… “Most people who are actually from Brittany are extremely tan.”

I would go on and reveal her other impressions of this lovely part of the world where, it is rumoured, God comes for his holidays when he’s bored with heaven but…

I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France And, in a surprising turn up for the books, Milk Jam was spotted clutching a passport and squealing Squeeee!!!

Now, I’m not sure if it was her passport or just one she found in the street but it does look like she’s having fun so….

I may just pop out with my passport later on and have a go myself!

We make our own fun, here in the countryside, we do!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France And alerts were going out all over France when L from Toutes Directions revealed, in a post called… What not to eat, that she had bought some cheap and nasty Ice Pops and was now trying to find a new home for them.

The official government line appears to be to…. “Check your freezers carefully to ensure that there are no unexpected deposits of Yeti Panaches”

Although it has been reported that many people are buying padlocks and chains to reduce the risk of finding something that tastes like toothpaste or bubblegum (or worse, toothpaste flavoured bubblegum!) in among the frozen veg!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France And doubtless busy checking her freezer as we speak, Leesa from News From France announced that she has spent 5 years in France Today!

Congratulations Leesa, and I hope that the next five years bring you more cupcakes, fun, never ending holidays and pink flip flops!

You know that I’m never going to forget those pink flip flops, don’t you?

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAnd whilst we’re on the subject of funny footwear…

Long suspected of wearing Pink Flip Flops in secret, Sarah at St. Bloggie de Rivierre informed us in a post called… Inspector Montalbano that she’d been watching television!

What exciting lives they lead down her way!

I just don’t know where she gets the stamina from?

Especially at her age!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAnd just to prove that life can be equally exciting and newsworthy up here in rural (and slightly backward) Brittany….

Rosalyn at An English Rose in France shocked us all by going…

Shopping!

These girlies…

Whatever will they get up to next?

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAnd, compared to all that shopping, television watching and cheap and nasty ice pops stuff this following news flash really sort of pales in comparison but I’ll mention it anyway…

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceIt was noticed that Gérard Depardieu Relieved Himself in a Plane Cabin last week.

Obviously, here in France, the sight of a man whipping his todger out and weeing on the pavement (or the wall, or your car) wouldn’t be considered newsworthy but….

Air France obviously cut a few corners and neglected to install drainage facilities on their latest planes.

Now for the rest of the awards….

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France There really ought to be a special award for Romke Soldaat – perhaps the Award for Being Romke Soldaat This Week which would, no doubt, be won by Romke most weeks?

However, until we order just such an award, Romke will have to settle for the Well Spotted That Man, Award of the Week for Fanny is Funny which can be found at Frogsmoke.

He says… “Brits love this sort of humour.” And he’s right!

I especially loved the Rich in Juice bit!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France In a way I’m kind of sorry to award Sion at Paris (im)perfect the Weird Things Spotted in the Street Award for her (Almost) Worldess Wednesday: Street Scene because it was supposed to be a secret!

You see, Mrs A Taste of Garlic and I decided to copy that Google Street Car thingy and devise something similar of your own!

We were hoping to wander among you unnoticed and catch and photograph you up to your mischievous tomfoolery!

Unfortunately Sion let the cat out of the bag with this photo of…

Mrs A Taste of Garlic (very slightly disguised) on a trial run in downtown Paris!

Personally I think the beard suits her and I disagree with those who feel that she should shave it off!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France The World Famous and Seriously Rather Sexy Award For Making Pesto gets awarded (in a rather impressive ceremony in Las Vegas) to……

Wait for it….

Delana at Du Jour for her post called It IS Easy Being Green

Now, as I’m sure that many of you have surmised, The World Famous and Seriously Rather Sexy Award For Making Pesto didn’t actually exist until a few minutes ago when, after an all night session, the International Judging Committee decided to create it just so that Delana would actually win something for a change!

And, obviously, the Las Vegas that is due to host the awards ceremony is that scummy bar in Ploermel where all the jailbait hangs out in their tight jeans and with their scooter riding boyfriends!

Still, Delena; we created this award just for you….

I hope you’re happy now?

Congratulations… I suppose!

Although if we’d seen the state of your fridge beforehand…

I don’t think you’d be up here with the winners!

Shame on you girlie!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France This week’s Wow, They’re All Having Babies Award goes to Barbara at Footprints in the Sand for 19 weeks.

Now, one of these days some one is going to have to explain to me (preferably with pictures or photos; videos also acceptable) about how babies are made (I’m rather less interested in the actual having of the baby bits?) because I was off sick with Chickenpox the week they did all about the birds and the bees at school.

I do have to say that there seems to be a lot of this Having Babies going around?

Amber, Piglet, Kung Fu Dana, Kim (The Cabes in France), Kirsty at You had me at Bonjour…

And probably many more that I’ve forgotten about?

What’s the story? Do you get extra Green Shield Stamps or something?

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceIt’s been a while since we’ve awarded the Poo Post of the Week Award but this week I’m happy to say that we have a worth winner of that wonderful award in A Faigle in France who is, of course, the brains behind Life in France.

In the post You’ve just got to get over it! the intricacies of squatting one way or another are discussed in detail!

And this post was almost a contender for the Rant of the Week Award with choice sentences like…..

“The toilets in parts of Europe…Italy, Spain, France especially…are for the most part totally revolting to a clean freak!! I would hazard a guess that most Americans…well the female persuasion at least…would choose to go nature potty over using these sad pathetic excuses for a toilet.”

Such was the quirky perspective of this post (with phrases like… “the skier’s squat is still a necessary skill to perfect before visiting Europe”) that it really comes an no surprise to me the Sussargues (where this blog lives) is only….

9 miles from Montpellier!

And, as I’ve often said… “They’re a funny lot, that lot down in Montpellier!”

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France The desperately coveted Rant of the Week Award goes to Reb at Uh Oh Spaghettios for the The 15 Year Bitch in which she rants and rails about pretty much everything but these are the highlights (lowlights?)….

1). Not being allowed to have Mustard on her sandwich instead of Mayonaisse!

2). Standing under a nosmoking sign smoking!

3). Letting your dog poop right under a clean up after your dog sign!

4). Parking in front of someone’s garage!

5). Peeing on someone’s garage door!

6). The snobbiness about the French language!

7). And lastly, dog crap. What more can I say?

A beautiful rant with a hidden undertone of violence (especially when it comes to snobby waitresses!) that should stand as an example to all our usual ranters (you know who you are!) who have been somewhat resting on their laurels recently!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAlthough she won the Rant of the Week Award last week (not that that disbars her from winning again; Piglet and Amber won the award every other week for about 50 years before they got too old and stopped ranting!) and even though she hasn’t won it this week (because, as you can see, Reb has already won it), I grabbed a cornflakes box that I found in an alien spacecraft that crashed in our back garden recently and quickly knocked up an Award For Almost Winning The Rant Of The Week Award for Little Me at Pint Sized Rants for her lovely post called… A Rant about the Too Posh to Push Myth which was largely about pain, having babies, squeezing large objects out of small orifices and women having… “their fanjos stitched up!”

There’s also a not so subtle full scale attack on the NHS thrown in for good luck!

And I suppose that I should apologise for the length of that sentence; I am, of course, trying for The Longest Sentence of the Week Award; winning it has been an ambition of mine for some time now and I’ve been diligently practising with semi-colons at every available opportunity!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceThe Quote of The Week Award goes to Small Fry at LA Mom who, in the post called… You Know You’ve Left Paris When…said… “Always be careful where we walk – eviter les crottes.”

Which I guess must be a mantra for anyone who lives in Paris?

Actually, Small Fry also said… “Eh, la grosse dame, nous sommes bientot arrives?” but we’re not going to mention that because the Audit and Compliance Department (I bet you didn’t know we had one of those?) couldn’t decide exactly how large LA Mom’s bottom is and didn’t want us to get entangled in a long and costly libel case!

And just for the people who didn’t win an award this week….

Here are the famous Awards for not Winning an Award!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceTanya in Transition almost won a real award but then Mrs A Taste of Garlic reminded me that Madrid is in Spain and Spain isn’t in France and this being a Life in France review site (she does call it a number of other things on occasion), Tanya’s post about Marvellous Madrid shouldn’t (nay, couldn’t) be considered and we really shouldn’t be talking about it at all!

So Tanya, it’s an Award for not Winning an Award This Week for you and…

Mrs A Taste of Garlic wanted to know….

When you’re going to stop gallivanting around all those furrin (that’s how she pronounces it) places and stay at home for more than two seconds so that you might win a proper award?

Personally I wouldn’t worry too much what Mrs A Taste of Garlic says as the farthest she’s ever been is when she took that day trip to Rennes (all of 40 km away!) and that shocked her so much that she locked herself in the pigsty for three weeks and wouldn’t even come out when the vicar popped round for a cup of tea!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAnd, no doubt Piglet at Piglet in France thought that she deserved an award for her Jardinage Jeudi – New Beginnings.

And normally she would have got the Green Fingers of the Week Award or something like that.

However, our third party Data Validation Service (it costs an arm and a leg but should pay for itself with the reduction in expensive awards that we have to post out!) alerted us to the fact that (sorry Professor Strunk) although Piglet had talked about all the gardening she was going to do, she hadn’t actually got round to doing much, if any, of it yet!

Piglet, if it were down to me I’d have given you an award!

By the way, I did like your excuses for not gardening; Too cold, too hot, not knowing where to start etc…

But….

It has to be an Award for Not Winning an Award This Week for you!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceDefinitely an Award for not Winning An Award This Week for Andy at Prunings from the Vines for his post called… Velosolex – not another one!

Now, to be honest, as blog posts go, it’s a pretty good one and Andy probably deserves to win something for it but…

As it’s all about Andy buying his 3rd Velosolex (which means he now has three more of those delightful little speed machines than I do) and I can’t find my I’m a Greedy Little Bunny Award…

And I am, actually, as jealous as hell….

It’ll have to be an Award for Not Winning an Award This Week for Andy!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceI read it three times; I gave it my best shot but…

Even so, I haven’t got a clue what Left Bank Manc was going on about in Daddy Issues.

Detailed analysis did reveal something about having a fire breathing father, an imminent trip to Ibiza and then a return to Paris where LBM promises that the phrase… ‘Shit Au Pair’ will not be uncommon!

Even reading yesterday’s post, Loose Ends didn’t really help me to understand so, unable to award her even the Award for the Most Impossible to Understand Post of the Week so, LBM, I’m sorry but….

It’s an Award for Not Winning an Award This Week for you!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceAnd Jacqui at The French Village Diaries almost won the Salacious Sex Scandal Post of the Week Award for Do Bicycles Have Sex? until our Director of Ethics (whom we’d locked in the toilet with his laptop in order to determine exactly how racy this post was going to be) casually informed us that there was, in fact, no sex at all in this post, of the two wheeled variety or otherwise!

So, disappointed, the entire A Taste of Garlic Office Staff took a quick vote and decided to award Jacqui an Award for Not Winning an Award This Week and vowed not to get so excited in the future!

Hold the press!

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in FranceGood news in Brittany as Emma from Ma Vie Est Belle let us know that she is on the way back to France!

You can read more about that, in the summertime…

All the best

that was the week That was the week.... because we all love reading blogs about life in France

categories That was the week.... | August 23, 2011

5 Comments

  • By paris (im)perfect, August 24, 2011 @ 10:43 pm

    Oh my gosh! Weird Things in the Street Award! This is my favorite award EVER! Didn’t you know it’s my life’s goal to find weird things in the street? (I’m not really joking about that).

    Thanks, Keith. Hope you’re having a great summer.

  • By Valerie @ un arc-en-ciel dans le lavabo, August 29, 2011 @ 3:52 am

    Merci Keith, so nice of you :)
    ps : I love garlic !!

  • By Keith Eckstein, August 29, 2011 @ 10:26 am

    Valerie

    We (well, most of us), love the people who love Garlic (well, most of them, most of the time!)

    You’ve got a lovely blog with some really lovely photos!

    All the best

    Keith

    P.S. You do know that if you want to win an Award, posts about Citroen 2CVs (preferably blue ones – they go faster!) are the way to go?

    P.P.S. Failing that, a bottle of Ricard in the posts generally does the trick!

    P.P.P.S. Oh Dear… Mrs A Taste Of Garlic says to ignore that last suggestion as I’m fat enough already!

  • By Reb, August 30, 2011 @ 11:32 am

    I’m honored and humbled…or maybe I should be scared of myself…?

  • By Keith Eckstein, August 30, 2011 @ 1:39 pm

    Reb

    Just keep ranting – that’s what we’re not getting enough of!

    Especially about dog poop!

    There just aren’t enough rants about dog poop happening these days!

    We should all be manifesting against excessive dog excrement.

    All the best

    Keith

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