25 July 2017

Followup

Everything went smoothly yesterday. The Peugeot was a pleasure to drive, and I made the trip to Montrichard and back with no trouble — not that it's very far. I have made a wager that spending about a thousand euros on repairs for the old Peugeot will be a good investment. They say that keeping an old car running is cheaper than buying a new one (or even a used one), and I'm hope that "they" are right. I wouldn't buy a new car, and buying a used car would be time-consuming (have to find one like I want) and I might just be buying somebody else's headaches.

One of the most plentiful wildflowers that grows in the vineyard here is Queen Anne's lace.

Over in Montrichard, the dentist, Dr. Klotz (pronounced more or less like "klutz"), quickly re-repaired the filling that he had first repaired a couple of weeks ago but had broken (partially) again. It only took him about 20 minutes, and he didn't charge me for the visit. The original visit, by the way had cost 90 euros (compared to the standard 30 euro fee for a cleaning and exam).

Here's a flower going, I think, to seed. When I took the photo I noticed red-and-black insects hiding inside.

Of course, I get 65% of those costs back from the national health plan, so the filling repair cost me only about 30 euros. Remember, the standard fee for seeing a doctor here is 25 euros, and it had been only 23 euros until July 1, when it went up. And we get 65% or 70% of that back from insurance too. So there's no reason not to go see a dentist or doctor when you feel the need.

What we call "Queen Anne's lace" is actually the wild form of the carrotla carotte sauvage in French.

I mentioned "green mayonnaise" — mayonnaise verte — yesterday. It's a regular mayonnaise except that it's made with vegetable (olive, canola, sunflower) oil that you've poured over fresh herbs (just the leaves) like parsley, tarragon, basil, or dill and then blitzed in a blender or with a stick blender. 

La mayonnaise verte made with pureed basil and parsley leaves

I've posted about home-made mayonnaise several times over the years. It's really good with poached fish, asparagus, steamed potatoes, cold meats like chicken or pork, etc. I learned how to make it in the 1970s when I was spending a lot of time with a French family. It's different (less sweet) and much better than commercially made mayo.

The wild carrot is often considered to be a noxious weed. Some people feel that way about all carrots.

Our weather is pretty chilly right now. We've again gone from blazing heat back to temperatures that feel autumnal. We've had some rainfall too, which we needed. I think summertime weather will return someday soon, but you never know. Often August is our hottest month, and September is often very pleasant too. This year, we may have had all our hot weather in June and July.

9 comments:

  1. Oh, yes! There's the green mayo!
    Glad you were able to so easily get your tooth taken care of, and enjoy a ride in your Peugeot!
    Judy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The mayonnaise is good. We're having it again tomorrow with poached fish and steamed potatoes.

      Delete
  2. I wonder how the roots of the wild carrot look like. They’re probably very skinny.

    Yesterday was overcast all day and rather cool (cold for me!). Today, so far, there is some sun between clouds. Let’s hope it will clear up and back to summer.

    Tomorrow morning (?) we’re leaving Bayeux for Péronne. If my niece moves her whatever and stays away from her smart phone long enough we might leave early so she will be able to visit that wonderful cathedral in Amiens. We might have lunch in Poix as we did, you and me, in 2010.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you go to Neufchâtel-en-Bray, I hope you can have some Neufchâtel cheese. I wonder if that café/restaurant where we had the selection of Neufchâtel cheese is still there. Got to check Google. And I do remember the restaurant in Poix, but I don't remember what you or I ate.

      Delete
    2. The bar-restaurant in Neufchâtel is called Chez Jean-Pierre and it's on the Grande rue Saint-Jacques. It gets pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor.fr.

      Delete
    3. Cannot believe you don't remember what we ate at that restaurant in Poix. Be careful, you're on the slippery slope! :—)

      In any case, j'aurai une pensée émue pour toi à Neufchâtel-en-Braye.

      Delete
  3. I agree with your sentiments with the Peugeot although Sue does now have a new Peugeot 2008 (pretend SUV) but although our old Citroen Xantia is worth nothing, its still the most comfortable car I have driven and I can't bear to let it go.
    Leon and Sue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wanted a Xantia but they are too old now. I've never had a car like the Peugeot 206 before — mine has a 2L diesel engine so it's fun to drive — because we really don't have cars like that in the States. We have mainly sedans, and my cars between 1984 and 2003 were a VW Jetta, two different VW Passats, and years ago a Subaru sedan. Actually, the Jetta was a great car. The Citroën C4 that we have now is comfortable, but the driving experience is very different compared to driving the 206. When we first got the C4, Walt said he felt like he was driving a bus.

      Delete
  4. Love the hiding insects. Good luck with the tooth and Peugeot. I'm sure you'll do fine.

    ReplyDelete

What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?