"...second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..."
Peter Pan's directions don't exactly describe the route to L'Auberge Vigneronne, but after a couple of switchbacks and several single-lane bridges on a road above St. Chinian that climbs continuously until it ends in the little hamlet of La Bosque, you might think that they do. That's OK, though. Like arriving in Neverland, you'll be pleased that you made the trip.
No. L'Auberge Vigneronne is not Michelin quality. No dots or squirts or foams. And the green beans were probably out of a can. But it's one of those quirky, one-off French restaurants that's worth a visit now and again to remind you that French farmhouse cooking is worth the freight. And that's more than good enough for us..
How about a homemade, nut-based liqueur for an aperitif and a homemade quince liqueur for a digestif? For starters, try an omelet, laced with wild asparagus, straight from a hen that lives up the hill on the farm behind the restaurant. One of those hens might be roasting on a spit in the fireplace, ready to be cut into chunks and served to the table family-style. Not in the mood for roast chicken? Try the other special of the day, pork cheeks slow-cooked in white wine, not red. An interesting twist. And if you are up for four courses and something a bit fancier, try the St. Jacques swimming in an earthy, creamy mushroom sauce.
Thirteen cheeses to taste? Really?
Six of us drank quite a bit of wine on the Sunday afternoon that we visited. Some had four courses, some three. Some had an apertif at the start, some had coffee at the finish. In the end, the bill came to 200€. As I said, worth the freight.
AOC & HILLARY
They've got their knives out and they are coming after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She only has another forty years or so of savaging to endure before she can truly understand how Hillary feels.
BREXIT
Is Bercow a hero or a villain? In my estimation, he's the adult in the room. Even if you believe that he is interfering, that interference demonstrates a level of competence that I haven't seen from May or Corbyn or just about anyone else in Parliament.
BOEING
From what I have read, since a plane may stall if it climbs at too steep an angle, Boeing put sensors on the 737 Max to automatically nose the plane down if the sensors detect what the sensors consider a dangerous climb angle. It may be that a single malfunctioning sensor caused two recent crashes. I repeat...MAY be. My reading further indicates that sensors automatically nosing down planes at takeoff is a known phenomena. Pilots are actually trained in the override procedure.
That training MAY give Boeing cover to blame the pilots for their design flaw, if that flaw is found to be at fault.
To quote Tom Hanks quoting Sully, "Can we get serious now?" (If you don't know the scene that I'm talking about, search that quote on YouTube.) If you have to train pilots to handle a common design flaw, the designers, the manufacturers, and the FAA are the responsible parties whether or not the pilots were properly trained.
BEING LIBERAL
I thought that I was a liberal. I believe that a woman should have control over her own body. I believe in equal pay for equal work. And that color makes a difference in paintings but not in people. And that if the state imprisons people, the state should run the prisons in addition to collecting the garbage and owning and operating the turnpikes.
I know that single-payer healthcare leads to better outcomes.
I thought all of that makes me a liberal. I have recently discovered that I'm not a liberal. I am a neo-liberal. Why? Because I haven't given up entirely on capitalism.
Progressives tell me that I'm dead wrong. Capitalism is bankrupt. I should embrace democratic socialism. But here's the rub. I live in France, a country that damn near invented democratic socialism, on a continent with several democratic socialist governments. And guess what. Capitalism is alive and well. Entrepreneurship thrives. There's even a profitable and competitive supplemental health insurance industry to go along with single-payer.
So call me a neo-liberal. Just don't call me late for supper.
BONUS
Newt Gingrich should sue Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for plagiarism. Gingrich co-authored the Contract With America, a document that contained reforms that were both politically and economically unattainable. The object of the exercise was to move his political party farther away from the political center and toward the fringe that he and his cohorts represented.
He succeeded. It took more than two decades, but Republicans have embraced that fringe.
Now comes AOC and the Green New Deal, a politically and economically unattainable manifesto designed to move her political party farther away from the political center and towards the fringe that she and her cohorts represent.
Those who do not study history don't realize thatwe have been here before...
"Of course people don't know what to make of it," opined famed linguist Noah Lipski. "She spoke in complete sentences. She didn't obfuscate. She didn't patronize. She stated her position clearly and unequivocally. She provided an alternative position. In writing. The encounter was so atypical of modern political discourse that it boggles the mind."
Lipski was referring, of course, to the recent encounter between between Senator Dianne Feinstein and a group of young activists lobbying her in support of the Green New Deal. The following statement was released by Feinstein's office:
"After my friend and colleague Nancy Pelosi demonstrated that it's not wise to take women of a certain age lightly, that you were likely to hear truth spoken, I thought that the youngsters who came to my office would understand the value of hearing from a woman with considerable political experience. I was wrong. Next time, I'll be certain to just pretend that I'm listening, agree with everything that they say, and offer them cookies."
How about a homemade, nut-based liqueur for an aperitif and a homemade quince liqueur for a digestif? For starters, try an omelet, laced with wild asparagus, straight from a hen that lives up the hill on the farm behind the restaurant. One of those hens might be roasting on a spit in the fireplace, ready to be cut into chunks and served to the table family-style. Not in the mood for roast chicken? Try the other special of the day, pork cheeks slow-cooked in white wine, not red. An interesting twist. And if you are up for four courses and something a bit fancier, try the St. Jacques swimming in an earthy, creamy mushroom sauce.
