French GP 2019 - Pre-Race news

I don't believe in stereotypes: people are the same all over the world; you just have to take care choosing whom you are about to deal with...

Rgds

 

True, there are nice people in all the countries, but it's also true that some countries are more welcoming than others...

 

Hahahaha. You must be used to me by now! Stereotypical humour is very British! You should hear what we say about the Germans!

 

..or what i say about brits!!!!!!!!

 

Snore fest incoming? Another Merc 1/2? Probably...

 

I was just watching the Fawlty Towers sketch,u know , the one with the German guests ,freakin hilarious

 

I think you'll find that it is lamb with mint sauce

 

"Fawlty Towers" is a gem.

Rgds

 

In fact, I was just wondering this morning, while walking to the office...
I've been working for 35 years now, and considering that for my job I have had many lunches or dinners all over France in many different restaurants...let's say about four times a week on average, which gives us "about 200 times per year eating at a restaurant for 35 years", which gives us "about 7.000 business lunches or dinners"...
I don't think I have actually seen once a french participant (eating at the same table than me) asking for snails, certainly never seen someone at the same table than me ordering some. Frogs, yes, but not often, let's say "from time to time"; usually in the places/region where theye are traditionnal (for instance, in "les dombes", between Bourg-en-Bresse and Lyon, where there were many swamps in the XIXth century and frogs were usual meals) but snails?
True, you can find snails in many restaurants on the menu; was having lunch yesterday with a friend, and the restaurant has some; there was even a guy eating some. But the fact is that I have never seen a person eating with me ever ordering some. Perhaps we keep these as a curiosity...

Rgds

 

Probably...I was not a fan...
(But, on the other hand, I am the kind of guy that thinks that local traditions in cooking must be kept alive; otherwise the world will one day end with every country all over the world eating the same cooking, and it will be poorer for this...)
Rgds

 

Manuel!
Si?
LOLOLOLO, priceless!!!

 

snails are quite comon around here, in some regions, but not the big ones, we (not me) eat sea snails, the litle ones....with a bear...

 

Ah yes, the sea snails, fine by me.
As for the others, those on the earthy ground... as far as I know: here we go…the first attested proof of snails as food were found in Spain; then, it is well known that the romans were often eating snakes, either fried or grilled, as a delicacy. But the Catholic Church decided that it was impure meat, so snails became the poor man’s meat, and usually eaten during lent. As for France, some sources say that snails were in favor with the french royal court, and therefore the aristocracy, after the renaissance, but most disagree with this and simply state that they were still the poor man’s meat, and mainly peasant food until 1815.
In 1815, after the fall of Napoléon, Talleyrand was supposed to have lunch with Czar Alexander 1st of Russia at Antonin Carême’s place, a reputed chef from Bourgogne, but they were very late. When they eventually arrived, Carême has nothing left to cook, so, as the story goes, he catched some snails in his garden and cooked them; the Czar loved the dish, and so the “escargots de Bourgogne” were born (It is the Russian’s fault!). Since then, they were often associated with Christmas as an “entrée”…
But, as I wrote above, unless someone would specifically request from me to find a place where you can eat snails (which has never happened with my french friends…) it would never cross my mind, even remotedly, to invite someone at lunch/dinner and order snails. Frogs is another matter; harmless, if you ask me; taste a bit "like a cross between chicken and fish".
But for someone who really wants to look at weird cooking, the best is the traditional chinese cuisine...they beat the french by a country mile!

Rgds

 

What kind of food do they serve up to the masses at P Ricard? Crepes,frites?

UK get the usual Sausages,burgers,chips ,all the healthy stuff!

 

Yes, probably the same, with a lot of ham sandwiches, etc...although nowadays efforts are made to propose some more varied food: green vegetables, salads, etc...and of course you would probably be able to find more elaborate and better meals, but I would not be surprised if at lunch time, you'd have to wait and queue whatever your choice is.
And I wouldn't be surprised either that it would be expensive; this is a region which has been used for about a hundred years to manage heavy tourism every summer, and everything, down to the smallest sandwich, is usually very expensive here.

Rgds

 

Yes, chinese food is crazy...i remenber eating there and i could not tell what the heck i wa eating...nor even if it was vegetable or animal!!! saved by cookies in the hotel!!
But now i have a friend french couple (the wife is chinese) and she cooks really well, vegetables are great!

 

Just finished watching 2003 Malaysian GP.

Drivers where SOAKED coming out of the cars. Even Michael, the epitome of fitness, had it a bit rough.

Drivers where pushing throughout the race. Till the last corner.

 

...but they say that one shouldn't live in the past...
(Gosh I miss those ENGINES...)

Rgds

 

well they are wrong...the noise! wow. And proper racing.