France – Page 2 – A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity

RKS 2024 Wine: So What if 2020 Was a Good Red Bordeaux Vintage?

The pundits say 2020 was a good vintage year for red Bordeaux wines. This does not mean you fall hook line and sinker for every 2020 that comes your way. Who is behind the juice is perhaps most important. Not all wineries are created equal. One should ask when the grapes were picked. What wereContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: So What if 2020 Was a Good Red Bordeaux Vintage?”

RKS 2024 Film: “All To Play For” (Rien à Perdre): Boxed in by the State!

Sylvie (Virgine Efira) is a widow in Bretange, France with teenage son Jean Jacques and a younger boy Sofiane. While at work as a barmaid on the evening shift Sofiane, who has behavioural problems, suffers second degree burns while attempting to cook some fries. Older brother Jean Jacques was on his way home from trumpetContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “All To Play For” (Rien à Perdre): Boxed in by the State!”

RKS 2024 Wine: Plenty of Red Bordeaux at Affordable Prices

One example of the plenty of moderately priced red Bordeaux’s is a $16.00 2020 Chateau Hyot. 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. No oak ageing or fermentation. Aroma: One senses a young and fresh wine attempting to decide how it will mature. Lazy black cherry with no attitude. Blackberry, blueberry and someContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Plenty of Red Bordeaux at Affordable Prices”

RKS 2024 Wine: A Beaujolais Cru from Nicolas Potel

As far as official classifications and the textbooks read the 10 Beaujolais Cru’s rank over Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages. The Nicolas Potel 2022 Fleurie Cru du Beaujolais then should be put to test about how it justifies the textbooks! Aroma: A lively melange of raspberry, cherry, milk chocolate and vanilla. Palate: Crafted in a subtleContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: A Beaujolais Cru from Nicolas Potel”

“Travels to a Different Time” : 14August1975: Strasbourg, France: Swindler of Canadian Taxpayers

A great sleep then a hot shower. A most unpleasant “stinking hot” day. Got a lift from a Frenchman who was working as a bartender at the Canadian armed forces base in Lahr. We stopped at his flat in Strasbourg which was littered with “hot merchandise” stolen from the base. Booze, cigarettes (cartons of them)Continue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 14August1975: Strasbourg, France: Swindler of Canadian Taxpayers”

“Travels to a Different Time” : 6August1972: Paris, Dieppe and Newhaven: Right into a Pub after Arriving in England: Driving Too Fast With a Man With a Toothache

Up early knowing a long day of travel. Do I head south through France to Spain or head north to England and Scotland home of my ancestors? I did a coin toss and fate has determined north I go. I took the Paris Metro as far north as I could and that left 180 kilometresContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 6August1972: Paris, Dieppe and Newhaven: Right into a Pub after Arriving in England: Driving Too Fast With a Man With a Toothache”