Real country, real close!

When we lived in London, one thing we used to do on a regular basis (well, at least three times a year) is go to France for Sunday lunch. We would take the ferry or Eurotunnel and go to a lovely restaurant on the Cap de Gris Nez called La Sirene. It was a typical French restaurant, nothing fancy, an architecutural mess of original 19c and horrible seventies and eighties add ons, but it looked out onto the English channel. The food was typical French fare, but lovely, that's why we went. The reason why I say this is that as we drove from Calais down the coast towards Boulogne over the chalk downs we used to see hundreds of men with guns and Breton spaniels hunting in the fields. 'Oh' we used to say, 'you don't see that in the UK! How we love France, it's so French!' However, today, two men with a Springer and a Black Labrador knocked on my door this morning and asked if they could ferret the bank along the side and back of our garden. They were typical country men dressed in flat caps and tweeds with their guns under their arms. So, so much for saying you don't see that in the UK anymore.

When we had our lunches in France, what we did see that you definitely don't see in the UK is dogs in the restaurant. Whilst we were eating our lunch there was a steady stream of diners entering nearly all of them with dogs, who all lay under the tables while their owners enjoyed their Sunday lunch! So glad health and safety hasn't reached France yet!

Went to see my allotment today! At the moment it's just a piece of grass that was ploughed last week by the council. I'm off with my garden fork in a mo to do my back in!