Island Life by David Slack

Right, now I'm hungry.

If you find yourself in the southwest of France, look in the markets for a friendly, smiling, Spanish-looking woman with trays full of duck.

Heh heh

Let me warn PAS readers that M'sieur Slack is pulling your leg. Every town/village in the southwest of France has a market. You may spend a lot of time looking for a friendly, smiling, Spanish-looking woman with trays full of duck. Indeed, every town/village in France has a market.

My wife spent $200 (100 Euro) on a magnificent cut glass crystal at one of the (many) antique stalls. I think about $180 of the price tag was for the charming story about the stall holder's grandmother who owned the crystal all her life, since she was a small child in 1905; because the crystal looks very much like the $20 ones you can buy in the Fairy Shop on Ponsy Rd.

(Telling my wife at the time it was tosh served no purpose. She had come to the markets in a small town in the South of France to buy an antique something so __dammit she was going to buy something!!)__

Oh No! Poor Mary-Margaret. I had a dose of the Gastro last year and my sister has it at present courtesy of Burger King and it is not of The Fun. Hope she gets better soon. Lots of Electrolytes and rest, the worst is over in four days and you're tender for about a week after that.

Such choices. Albondegas - a form of spanish meatball; daube of canard; choux farci; duck breasts as big as you'll find on your turkey this christmas; pure duck sausages; 99 ways to eat a canard.

Mmmmmm ...

But how was the coffee?

I'm definitely not a fan of French coffee (the one exception being an espresso I had in McD's in Lyon - go figure) but the coffee in Italy is **OMIGOD** ... no wonder they're all Catholics. One sip and you can see Jesus ...

sweet jesus... i can't begin to express my envy...

david. eat at least one more duck before you leave. one more, for me.

I found the coffee very good in Aix & Arles... and a super little place called Frejus.

But I came here to mention that I have experienced the health system in France - with a sick relative - and it was fantastic. And quick - like WAY quicker than here, in & out of the clinic, with diagnosis & prescriptions & schoolboy French, within an hour.

I'm definitely not a fan of French coffee (the one exception being an espresso I had in McD's in Lyon - go figure) but the coffee in Italy is OMIGOD

I wonder if this is because it's the Italians with their fancy espresso machines that have come to dominate coffee here - it's what we consider good.

And, curiously enough, I also had good coffee in a French McDonalds. But I also had a lovely cafe au lait at the old bus depot in Noumea.

Aaaahhh the French and ducks.

In my French sojourn I ended out at at a ski resort in Provence called La Foux d'Allos. Just outside the town was a barn which housed a restaurant called "The Farm".

Everything on the menu was made of ducks. INCLUDING THE ICE CREAM. But there I had duck livers that melted in the mouth as though made of ice and yet the flavour was as thick as a stew.

And on the coffee. I had the best in the world at the fish market in Nice every morning at 5am as I headed off to work. It's in a small square by the bus station off Vieux Nice.

Oooh It's fun to sound like a pretentious wanker 15 years on.

PS The French ripped my girlfriend guts out tout suite and flew her to Paris for the privelege, thereby saving her life. Not bad for an etranger

Best coffee ever - Ecuador - coffee syrup topped up with hot milk. French coffee - average. Italian coffee - ok. New Zealand coffee - amongst the best.

Ducks: yep. Time to let them in to the country. French ones, that is. Even at risk of avian influenza. And un-pastuerised cheese. For God's sake, we're adults. Let us take the risk ourselves.

And let markets open up in our towns. A food market came twice a week into the parking square below our hotel in St Germain. Superb. They may have buggered us in the WC but they do food rather well.

This, of course, is a measurement which can be enormously problematic.

You can always look at the most easily measured health indicator: Life expectancy. (Figures from WHO). US health spending does not seem very efficient. And if you want to have a play for yourself
http://www.who.int/whosis/database

France
Life expectancy at birth (years) males ? 77.0 (2005)
Life expectancy at birth (years) females ? 84.0 (2005)
Per capita total expenditure on health at average exchange rate (US$) ? 3464.0 (2004)

New Zealand
Life expectancy at birth (years) males ? 77.0 (2005)
Life expectancy at birth (years) females ? 82.0 (2005)
Per capita total expenditure on health at average exchange rate (US$) ? 2039.6 (2004)

United States of America
Life expectancy at birth (years) males ? 75.0 (2005)
Life expectancy at birth (years) females ? 80.0 (2005)
Per capita total expenditure on health at average exchange rate (US$) ? 6096.2 (2004)