Cold Sweats, I would much rather they where cold sweets!!!! but then you don’t get those when you decide to give up cigarettes. Its been 7 days, 0 hours and 35 minutes since my last cigarette, not that I’m keeping track, or anything!!! This is not my worst cold turkey time, but the last couple of days have been a bit hairy and I’ve woken up drenched in sweat a couple of times. Trying very hard not to get into the habit of eating junk to kill the cravings, but keep reaching for the peanuts and any other nibble in reach. When I feel a bit fidgety I grab a 6kg barbell and do 20 reps on each arm. That seems to help some, but not that convenient when out and about.
French fashion icon Ted Lapidus died the other day. Lovers of safari and military styles will be crying onto their epaulettes!!!!!
A Video Moment
Medieval Fete in Durban Corbieres
Just Finished Reading
The Edge of Madness by Michael Dobbs
Edge of the seat reading. A look at the possible real side of a Cyber War. Even for those with little understanding of such a things, this book, be it only fiction, will shed some light on the possible future of warfare between major global players. The only downside for me was the fact that the characters are just so stereotypical. That said it is a good fun jaunt in Cyber Warfare and is not heavy on the little gray cells. A good read.
Product Description
Cyber-warfare: the kind that brings nations to their knees, switching off energy lifelines, crippling the financial markets, starving leaders of authority. An old Russian nuclear reactor goes into Chernobyl-style meltdown while, on the other side of the world, the US Eastern Seaboard is plunged into darkness. No one knows - yet - who is responsible for the chaos. Hidden from view of the rest of the world, an extraordinary meeting of the US President, the Russian President and the British Prime Minister is about to take place. They have the weekend to save the world - and they must do it alone. Something serious is going on in Beijing. Military manoeuvres. Troops on the streets. It’s as though the Chinese are preparing for the final thrust against their old enemies, bringing them to their knees in a war that will see not a single shot being fired.
Tags: Durban Corbieres, Michael Dobbs, Quit Smoking
Diana Leaving her Bath, 1742, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Tags: François Boucher
Hibby gibbies. Christmas Eve morning saw me smoke my last cigarette. 9.30am was zero hour. I’m not going 100% cold turkey. I’m having the odd puff of a King Edward cigar to take the edge off a bit. Lucky for me my father sends me a packet each Xmas, so I had 4 packs of 5 cigars sitting in a draw.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I felt O.K. but yesterday (Boxing Day) I started to fell a bit twitchy and I feel a bit Tom and Dick (Sick) today. This is not my first time (fingers crossed it’s the last) kicking the habit, so I’m well acquainted with the joys of nicotine withdrawal. The worst thing for me is been unable to stay focused on anything for any length of time. 10 minutes seems to be my limit for any one task and then I have to do something else. That rather puts a spanner in the works, with regards to most things. Take this blog post for example. I started it over 3 hours ago and reckon I will finish in another couple of hours.
A Video Moment
The drive from Villeneuve les Corbieres to Tuchan
Part 1
Part 2
Just Finished Reading
Found Wanting by Robert Goddard
This is a O.K. but well below Robert Goddard’s normal high standards. I FOUND the plot WANTING, that’s for sure. I flips around Scandinavia far to much, which makes it very hard to keep up the the current location and there are far to many secondary characters blurring the story. The whole Romanov conspiracy thing is a bit dated now and this is the central plot to the novel and it never reaches any conclusion at the end, leaving you felling a little cheated and let down. This novels ends with a whimper rather then a bang.
Product Description
Richard Eusden is on his way to work in London one unremarkable winter morning when he is intercepted by his ex-wife, Gemma. She has sad news of his old friend, her other ex-husband, Marty Hewitson. Marty is dying, but needs a favour done for him - now, today, at once. Eusden reluctantly agrees and sets off on what should be a simple errand. But, soon it turns into a race for life, his and Marty’s, across Belgium, Germany and Denmark and on into the Nordic heart of a mystery that somehow connects Marty’s long dead grandfather, Clem Hewitson, an Isle of Wight police officer, with the tragic fate of the Russian Royal Family.Eusden discovers to his dismay that he can trust no-one, not even an old and dying friend, in a battle for survival with those who are determined to steal the secret they believe he and Marty hold - and will kill for it if they have to. Every move Eusden makes threatens to be a step into disaster. But, move he must - in pursuit of the truth, on the heels of history. It is his only hope.
About the Author
Robert Goddard was born in Hampshire and read History at Cambridge. His first novel, Past Caring, was an instant bestseller. Since then his books have captivated readers worldwide with their edge-of-the-seat pace and their labyrinthine plotting. His first Harry Barnett novel, Into the Blue, was winner of the first WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award and was dramatized for TV, starring John Thaw.
Tags: 0593060237, Quit, Robert Goddard, Smoking, Tuchan, Villeneuve les Corbieres
A pleasantly fruity wine from Les Vignerons de Puisserguier. Good warm cooked red fruits with a slight woody and vanilla finish. A robust wild cheery nose and an even dark ruby colour add the finishing touches to this wine. At only just over 4€ a bottle, this is an excellent value for money wine.
©The Wine Connoisseur
Tags: Hubert de Roueyre, Saint Chinian
Walking in a winter wonderland. Well not me.
It started to snow at about 8.30am this morning. It’s the first snow we’ve had for a couple of years.
I was happy to pop my head out of the front door for a few minutes and take a couple of photos. It has been raining for a few hours so the snow is not really settling, which is a good thing.
The last time we had a heavy snow fall it rained heavily the next day causing the snow to melt, and because the ground was frozen, the river flooded and we had water lapping at our front door. Not Fun.
My ‘better half’ decided to walk to the recycling and shoot some video on the way back home, so now I have some video editing to keep me out of trouble while I watch the snow falling outside.
Oh the joys of rural life!!!!
Tags: France, Snow, Winter
Portrait of the Painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry Oil on canvas Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Tags: Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Jean-Baptiste Perronneau
Posted in
French Music by Administrator on December 26th, 2008
Francis Cabrel ~ Sarbacane
Tags: Francis Cabrel
The sun, she shone so off we headed to central Narbonne for a wander. This years the Christmas market seems a good bit smaller and is spread out on both sides of the Canal de la Robine then it was last year. A good number of the stalls where closed and I do know they open at night, but given the poor weather this last week, you would have thought they would be all open on the first full dry and sunny day. maybe these retailers have not heard about the credit crunch!!!!!!!
The main square and Christmas Tree, Narbonne
A Video Moment
A short drive from Tuchan to Paziols
.
Just Finished Reading
The Charm School by Nelson Demille
A cracker of a cold war novel. It ranges from outrageously funny to bitterly sad. There is action from the start to finish and it is well paced and intense. It sometimes seems a little far fetched by then you remember the things that really happened in Soviet Russia. I first read this novel many years ago, and even after all this time sitting on the book shelves it’s lost none of its contemporary feel.
Amazon Review
Starred for excellence in set decoration, a thriller whose Moscow backgrounds make up for a pivotal gimmick not far off from The Stepford Wives. Gregory Fisher, a 24-year-old MBA graduate, is driving through Russia in a glorious Pontiac Trans Am roaring with Janis Joplin and Bruce Springsteen when - just outside Borodino - he is accosted by an American fighter pilot (taken in Vietnam) who has escaped after ten years internment in a nearby secret Russian POW camp called The Charm School. The pilot tells Fisher he must warn the defense attache in the American embassy in Moscow that nearly a thousand POWs are in the camp. But when Col. Sam Hollis, a damaged ex-fighter pilot and the Air Force attache, sets out to bring Fisher into the embassy, he finds that Fisher has been kidnapped and murdered by the KGB. Hollis and Lisa Rhodes, a cultural liaison, spiral ever deeper into a KGB plot centered around hiding the Charm School not only from the West but also from peacenik politicians rosy with glasnost and detente. Hollis is slightly at odds also with Seth Alevy, the CIA chief at the embassy, who is Lisa’s ex-lover. Both Hollis and Alevy believe the summit and arms talks should be dead and buried. Eventually, Alevy penetrates the Charm School after the KGB kidnaps Hollis and Lisa, and tries to turn them into spy-instructors. . .for what the Charm School does is turn out perfect Russian spies who have been groomed by American POWs: in the past 20 years, over 3,000 flawlessly well-spoken spies have been infiltrated into the States, become sleeper agents, agents in place, agents of influence, whether as computer operators or trash collectors at the CIA, not as conventional spies but something even more insidious: a Fifth Column encased in hyper-real Americanism.
Tags: Canal de la Robine, Narbonne, Nelson Demille
1750s Oil on canvas The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
Tags: Charles Joseph Natoire
This is an organic wine from Domaine de Mayrac in Couiza, Aude. Organic wines have come on leaps and bounds these last few years, and there’s been a big increase in organic wines from Aude. This wine is very good, with pleasant notes of wild black currants and cooked plums. Lots of full red fruit flavours with a hint of wood and earthyness in the finish. A good all round wine and excellent value.
©The Wine Connoisseur
Wine around the Web:
Tags: Couiza, Domaine de Mayrac
The rain, oh the rain. We don’t get many days of clouds and rain, but when it does rain, it rains nonstop for days. We seem to be in one of those cycles at the moment, which is a real shame because I’ve a fancy to pop into the centre of Narbonne and have a wander around the shops and market, but not if it involves getting wet and cold. Fingers crossed the weather will clear soon so we have check out the Christmas market and maybe even buy something.
The small supermarket just down the road in Durban Corbieres have a small section selling British food stuffs and every now and then they have cans of Strongbow cider for sale. Today was the magic day and they had 6 cans on the shelf, which now feel more at home in our fridge. Later I will get out my pint glass that I got one year at the Great British Beer Festival and relax in front of the fire with a cold pint (or 2) and imagine I sitting in English pub.
A Video Moment
A peek inside the Basilique de Saint Serin, Toulouse
Tags: Durban Corbieres, Narbonne, Strongbow, Toulouse
France gave us the phrase “nouveau riche” but is now focussing on the new poor.
Posted in
Art/Culture by Administrator on December 18th, 2008
“L’Aigle et la Plume”, an exhibit at the Invalides Museum in Paris presents 500 different documents written or dictated by Napoleo Bonaparte, the enigmatic French Emperor. The collection is unprecedented in its depth and breadth.
Tags: Invalides Museum, Napoleon
The Triumph of Venus, detail, 1740, National Museum, Stockholm
Tags: François Boucher
