General Chat

Mmm! Jill, cheese sounds delicious, but not so good for weight gain or cholestrol etc. Nice to have the choice though, I love french brie.

We try not to eat too much cheese and bread and now just have it when eating out or dining at home with friends. There are so many different types over here and some lovely creamy ones that nearly run off the plate when left out for a bit.

When we first moved over here (10 years this year) our french friends delighted in getting us to try all sorts . They were farmers and a lot of their food was raised or shot by Joel.

x Jill

Yes we have cholestrol problems but do eat a small amount of cheese.

I occasionally eat a nice little bit of salami! Genova is my favourite. :)))

Sylvia, you have my sympathies as at least I can have a little treat if I feel like it although I tend to avoid cheese these days in order to keep the cholesterol in check.
I do really miss those lovely salamis though ................full of fat but mmmmm!

Hi Ann and everyone


Persey .................... strange to say, I read something this week about riding trains in Canada, and one comment was about standing around the iron stove in the Guard's cabooche (at the back of the train), and in the baggage car, to try and keep warm in the bitter cold. That was sometime in the 1950s


Oh those French meals, especially the cheese and baguettes! Problem is, I can't eat any dairy at all now :((((




sylvia

Hi Jill,

That's what I love about eating out in France, they are so relaxed about it, especially when groups of people, usually large famillies are being catered for.
Memorable simple meal for me was lunch with sixteen family members in a small village restaurant where we had frog's legs, salad, ommlette, cheese, plenty of bread and wine and all so laid back..................lovely.
It's been about 25 years since I last visited relations in Roanne and my French is so rusty these days!
You can see by my boardname where I was born.

Good morning Jill, glad you had two good lunches. Nice to find somewhere new to eat that is good isn't it?

Good morning
Our champagne lunch went very well, it was a friends 72nd birthday and think he enjoyed the get together :)
We also ended the week with another birthday celebration for another friend, this time, 15 of us had a meal out. First time we have tried the place and it will not be the last , will be recommending to this years guests in the gite.
Hope you are all having a good weekend

x Jill

Good morning again Jill, spoke to you on the birthday thread. A Champagne lunch sounds nice Mmmm!!!! Enjoy it.

Good morning from a sunny but cold Maine et Loire. Days like this are good as the fields are dry which means no muddy paw prints in the house from our three dogs :)
Been a very quiet but relaxing weekend so far, OH watching sport and me shut up in the craft room with a DVD set to watch while I craft, plus the odd glass of wine or two :)
Tomorrow we are at a lunchtime champagne buffet to celebrate a birthday and end of chemo for one of our friends, a double celebration for him. OH not a lover of bubbly so he will do the driving for a few of us :)
Hope every one's enjoying the weekend

x Jill

Yes,my mother didn't suffer fools gladly.

It wasn't so much " See you Jimmy " more like " See your mummy "

That's the snow and ice all gone at last, whoo hoo!!

Your Mother was obviously a force to be reckoned with Frank Lol!!!!

Hi all,

Talking about train journeys, when we were younger we used to take the train and boat to Calais then board the Couchette train service to Nice for our annual holiday, long overnight journey but at least you got a good sleep lying down! There were eight of us and we all fitted into the six berths nicely.

On one return journey we found our reserved cabin occupied by a bunch of obnoxious Glaswegians who had got in and occupied our couchettes.
My French father remonstrated with them but they would not open the door claiming they could not understand French and that they had tickets.

When my mother, (a wee Glesga wumin herserlf) recognised their accents she gave them such a rollocking that no translation was required and a few minutes later they all trooped meekly out of the cabin!

Happy days..............

Thanks for that info Sylvia.

Oh yes

those long freight trains!


They have the right of way on the tracks ............ ahead of the passenger trains! If a passenger train gets delayed for some reason, it might end up having to sit in a siding for an hour or more as freight trains go ahead of it.


The freight trains used to average about 100 cars, then it went up to 130 ....... on our trip last year we counted one that passed us going in the opposite direction

I counted 173, another guy counted 174

Not counting the engines.


They usaully have 2 or 3 at the front, and may have one or more in the middle of the train to provide extra ooomph as they climb the Rockies ............. not necessary of course on the flat Prairies.

They've done away with the "caboose" at the back of the train, where the conductor used to be.


Ann .... if you mean the Rocky Mountaineer, then it is expensive, horribly so!

The advantage to it that you only travel during the day, get to sleep in a hotel for the one night, and get to go to a dinner show. Plus having delicious meals, and entertaining helpers.

We've ridden it once ................... between Christmas and New Year 2003, when it was about half price. It was quite magical with the snow all around, even though several hours were in the darkness! They had 2 runs, one before Christmas and one after ...... but I don't know whether they still do that. I thought that what we paid then was good value for what we got .................... but that spring and summer rates were far too high. That was husband's retirement trip .............. and Santa came to visit, and gave everyone on the train a gift, a lovely wool scarf in red and white.


The service Via Rail now starts at a time from either Vancouver or Toronto that allows it to go through most of the northern part of the Rockies (near Jasper) in the daylight ................. and costs about half the price. You get to sleep on the train, get delicious meals, and have attentive service!


The travel agent has booked the train trip, and is now trying to ensure that I do get my non-lactose meal on all legs of the trip! The one from Toronto to Vancouver has a chef onboard, and is no problem, they can cater for all kinds of allergies and intolerances, and lactose intolerance is really so easy compared to others.

But the other 2 legs have meals brought on board, then heated and served. Montreal to Toronto has been no problem. But we've had problems on the Halifax - Montreal leg the last two times .................. the onboard staff have been fantastic in trying to solve the problem of not having been told in advance by Head Office that I needed a special meal.


Persey

they've done away with a lot of the train lines that used to exist herre as well .... and we also have walking paths where the tracks used to be!

I seem to remember going through Hunterville on several occasions.



sylvia

Been out today, withoutnthe Ring and Ride. Managed to get into town, go to the Library and a near by place for a savory pancake. (yum-yum)

Now very tired and need a rest/sleep.

Will be back fo0r a chat tomorrow. Love all te stories about trains.

I had forgoton about Bridget the Midget, Queen of the Blues. BUT beware if you Google to get the lyrics! All sorts of info on line, most of it wasn't what I wanted.

Tess

P.S. I can't sit still, hence the board name.

They have those endless trains in Germany too Jill, remember seeing them when we stayed on the banks of the Rheine and the railway ran down the opposite side of the river, if it wasn't long trains it was lots of linked barges. we could learn a lot from them.

We have always fancied the train through the Rockies but it is very expensive. Loved the Rockies when we went some years back, drove up from Banff to the ice field, spectacular.

Good morning from a very grey but dry Maine et Loire.
During our Winter trips to Banff we are always fascinated by the very long freight trains that travel across Canada, they never seem to end. We were always trying to beat the train if we saw or heard it lumbering along the tracks as once you get to the barricade that was it for what seemed like ages :))
We have always fancied the domed train and be able to see a lot more of the country but it would mean giving up the ski holiday. If OH had his way we would be living in Canada and not France:)

x Jill

They have done away with a lot of our trains now - it is called progress.

In the South Island - people walk and cycle the rail trails - they have left a lot of the old stations standing.
They stopped the rail travel between Auckland and Wellington but have brought that back and we now have the all day train that goes down. When I was young - the trains left in the evening and we travelled down over night. The refereshment station at Taumaranui used to be very busy in the middle of the night all vying for a cuppa and a ham sandwich. It was one of the few times I was allowed a bottle of lemonade - and it was lovely nothing like the fizzy lolly water they make now.

Palmerston North had the railway run right through the middle of the town but that has been shifted. It's quite a nice place but can get bitterly cold in the winter. My husband was born down that way in a place called Hunterville - not far from Marton.

Persey