Mad March Days
February 7, 2010 by tony · 3 Comments
Our VillaRoquette January sale has ended, many guests took our special early bird offer and have booked our apartments or BandB for later this year – we still have most of March and April free so we are starting our March Sale for any booking made from now until the end of April at half price, subject to availability. Book with a deposit now and pay the balance on arrival.
Since writing this headline I have had the poem I remember from my first school buzzing in my head – I always recall the last verse as we said it loud in class – chanting it in a quick, staccato and finishing loudly with “Cheap Tin Trays”
Cargoes by John Masefield –
Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Dirty British Coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rail, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.
I can’t promise Apes or Peacocks, but Sweet White Wine is on the menu.
Beziers the Gateway to the South of France
Our home in the village of Montblanc is between the towns of Beziers and Pezenas. We are a few minutes from the Mediterranean, and are now the focus of a communications network of airports, motorways and high speed rail connection – yet we nestle in a calm and tranquil river valley which has not changed for centuries.
- Image by tibchris via Flickr
I am busy sorting out the marketing for our Apartments and Bed and Breakfast accommodation in our home and
we are offering some great deals and discounts for 2010 in our January Sale.
These are exciting times, the new Motorway from Paris, the A75, a
rrives a few kilometers from us. You cross the highest viaduct in the world, often above the clouds, at Millau.
For centuries, over 800 years, after the crusade against the Cathars, Languedoc was a forgotten backwater, lost in time. The combination of sun, soil and steam-trains in the 19th century brought enormous wealth to this quiet paradise, but not many visitors. The Internet has changed this – in under 20 years, Languedoc has become not only the most desirable place to live in France, but the wines, once considered a vast lake of cheap plonk, are now rated as some of the best in the world. The sun shines longer in Languedoc and communications are the best in France with the best road, rail and air connections in France.
- Image via Wikipedia
At the center of Languedoc is the city of Beziers. An ancient Roman town which still has bullfights in the arena each year. Famous for the birthplace of the Canal du Midi, a World heritage Site and also for the massacre of thousands in the crusades against the Cathars in the 14th century.
Beziers is coming back to life with a new airport and new ideas to show the world how Languedoc became the cradle of Western Civilisation in the age of the courts of love of the troubadours.
A new website from Beziers begins to show the return of this cradle of enlightenment.
- Image via Wikipedia
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Drinking Water In France – If you Must
September 16, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
There has been some bad press about the quality of drinking water in France recently – my experience is that the water from the tap has been clear, cool and clean – but don’t just take my word for it – you can see the latest regulatory test results online at…
http://www.sante-sports.gouv.fr/dossiers/sante/eau/eau-potable/eau-potable.html
Bottled water is good, but not tested as frequently as tap water and it costs about 1,000 times more.
If in doubt, drink wine – if you are not sure about the quality call round to my place and I will test the wine for you with great pleasure
Google Video Player
May 23, 2008 by Tony · Leave a Comment
I am beginning to use videos more in my blogs and on websites I use – I have been telling myself for years that this is important and that I should be giving a video blog regularly – it is a much better way to show people and places for travel and lifestyle.
I have experimented with many systems, usually I use YouTube, but there are limits to length and size for a video. Interestingly although Google own YouTube they offer a more powerful tool with their first offering, Google Video. The big advantage with this is that it is that you can start playing from anywhere in the clip, but it doesn’t appear to be streaming.
Google Video uses an advanced form of progressive download which means that no matter your bandwidth you’ll be able to watch the video (it may take a while to download enough of the clip if your connection is slow). You can jump anywhere in the clip even if it has not downloaded that part yet and watch from that moment in time even if you do not have enough bandwidth for a real-time stream. It is the best of all worlds.
Recently I was a judge at a wine-tasting for Languedoc wines – I had to wade through 119 different wines and then have a twelve course lunch…
…I ended up with over a gigabyte of video which I could not load to YouTube, but Google Video took it calmly.
A Foaming Pint from Wigan
May 23, 2008 by Tony · Leave a Comment
Although the red wine from Languedoc is among the best in the world, on a rare trip to the UK last week I rediscovered the joys of weak, warm English beer…
…and barmaids…
Amazon Wine
March 9, 2008 by Tony · 2 Comments
I have drunk wine from most South American countries including, Peru, Chile, Mexico and Argentina – but Amazon wine conjors up an image of muddy water and pirana fish in my glass. However, to my relief it is an announcement that Amazon.com
This is very interesting news, if they do make a genuine global offer. The problem with wine is that it usually ships in bottles which are expensive to pack, heavy and fragile – also there are customs dues and taxes to pay as they cross borders – so delivery is a nightmare.
My idea is to start a specialist wine club from my site at www.Winorati.com – the idea is that I buy you the best wines in France – I then drink them for you and give you a very attractive certificate of appreciation (or not, if it was not good) which you can keep.
This saves all shipping costs and is very good for your health – to protect my liver I would sub-contract a lot of the drinking by opening specialist wine bars where all the drinks from a huge selection of wines are half price (the imbiber has to complete the certificate of appreciation). Or you can come to my wine bar and drink your bottles (already paid for) or take them away (if you can still walk).
All I need now is some venture capital funding to start this new online community.
Snaps of Plonk
February 25, 2008 by Tony · 2 Comments
When we first moved from the UK to France, nearly 20 years ago, I was working as a commercial photographer, most of my work was for advertising agencies in London – I also taught “Zone System” black and white photography for fun (and profit) – so as there are no big agencies in our French village, I thought I would open a small school in the South of France in the vast rambling pile of rubble Carole and I had bought for our new home and new life.
Dreams can come true and after five years of blood sweat and tears we had built accommodation and I had a darkroom.
One of my first students was a neighbour in our village of Nizas, Barbara Heide – she is making a name for herself now as a photographer and is seeking commissions – her speciality is orking within the wine trade – and why not.
Here is a portfolio of her work taken at “Vinisud” in Montpellier last week
http://www.pbase.com/barbara_heide/vinisud
- you can see more of her work at
http://www.redbubble.com/people/barbara34
I like this snap – click on it to see an enlargement.
Running a bar in France
February 16, 2008 by Tony · 3 Comments
Starting and running any business in France takes dedication, contacts and paperwork – I love hearing from people who take the plunge and do this – if you go near Pierrereu – call in and be their customers.
===
Dear Tony,
We were in touch a few years back before I moved to France. how are you!
We live in France now too, near Forcalquier region PACA, and have a nice little bistrot de pays which works quite well…would have been a lot better if it had not been for some bad accounting advice, combined with some language problems…but that is another story…Thanks to your web site, tho, i found some great info regarding tax regimes(in particular, franchise en bas de tva)and I have fired my accountant and found another who is helping me to take that regime…
My question now is, do you know anything about debits boissons, ie License IV, or Lic Grande Restauration being operated by Americans? We have a Lic IV now but it is owned by the mairie, and there doesn’t seem to be a problem with us using it.
We have an opp to take another resto nearby and I don’t want a full bar, just wine and apperitifs and I am wondering if we can get our own license or do we need a real french person!!
Thanks in advance if you can help! hope some day we can venture near your neck of the woods to actually meet you!
best regards,
Maryvonne
Le Bistrot de Pierrerue
rue de la ferraille
04300 Pierrerue
0492753300
==
Dear Maryvonne,
I am very well thanks – delighted you are keeping folks well fed here in the south of France.
Setting up and running a business in France is not easy and you have found that getting the right advice can be difficult – I always advise people to get good, professional advice from people who are fully insured for their services and not to be afraid of asking for a second opinion.
My understanding is that a licence IV (the one for a bar or cafe selling alcohol) is simply a restricted asset, like a taxi license it is limited in number in any department and can only be transferred from an existing owner. They change hands for many thousands of euro – anyone can apply and be granted to hold this licence – you do not have to be French. I understand that Americans are normally good human beings and are usually respectable. If you live in France and pay taxes – you are a French person (or at least as French as the President of France).
A licence for a restaurant is completely different – the Marie can grant this at their discretion and it is not a valuable asset like a class IV.
If your Marie are keeping the Lic IV it is probably to make sure to keep it in the area as if it is sold to another town – it can never be replaced and the local community has lost a cafe forever.
You are doing well with the first rule of running a local business in France “keep friends with the Mayor”
Hope to see you and sample your wines
Best wishes
Tony
One Life is Not Time Enough
It hit me straight between the eyes today when chatting to my daughter Miranda on Skype – she is in Vienna and went to the Albertina Museum – only later did she realise that she had only visited one small part of the museum and one exhibition. I explained the joy of discovery and that you could go to somewhere like that every day of you life and still discover new things.
Then it occured to me that I could discover a new cheese and a new wine every day in France – so I am going to try to write a daily record of this, for pure research purposes only of course, and blog it on my other test-bed blog at www.FrUK.eu and here is todays experience.
I have always said that life is one continuous voyage of discovery, but I suppose I have not really thought much about what this means – now I have a mission. I will of course increase my exercise routine and test the wines in moderation.
If anyone would like to join me in this scientific project I could develop another site I have at www.Winorati.com so we can all share notes on cheese, wine, the universe and everything.
I must away to fill my glass.
Recipes from the South of France
I was reminded by a reader that we used to run a regular series of recipes given to us by ladies in the local villages so I have made a new section with these online.
If you have a recipe or would like to comment or add to these, please write to me or comment on these pages.
