ONZE: Atlantique Sunset

I had to wait a couple of hours for the sun to set in order to get my atlantic sunset picture. I drove south to Anglet Plage de La Barre. I expected big waves and strong wind, having watched countless documentaries about rogue waves in the atlantic ocean. Perhaps it was due to the high pressure over the whole of Aquitaine, for the sea was extremely calm, unlike the rough coastal conditions off Perth Western Australia or the windier conditions off the coast of San Francisco. Anyway, sunset was spot on at 2125h, as my GPS said it would be. Enjoy this sunset.

I also discovered that I did not need to drive the 297km from toulouse to see the sunset off anglet, but I like driving and I wanted to test out my new SLR. OK for those armchair explorers, see the link below:
http://www.anglet-tourisme.com/webcams/webcam_plage_barre.htm

Cheers
TO

DIX: Fêtes de Bayonne

I wanted to see the french atlantic coast and decided to head west from AUCH via the RN. Big mistake! While I managed to get to Auch without problems, the route to PAU-DAX and Bayonne was more difficult and I had to get assistance from 2 Gendarmerie on bikes who were kind enough to escort me to the correct turn off and pointed me to Mont-de-Marsan which then led me to PAU and onto A63.

I arrived in Bayonne which was in a bit of a mess, with thousands of people dressed up in white and wearing red scarfs on their necks, drinking heavily and engaged in merry making. The streets reeked of stale urine as many of the participants needed to relief their bladders after all that partying. Even Sponge Bob was there.

See the link for live webcam of bayonne.
http://www.ville-bayonne.fr/index.php?id=130

Cheers
TO

NEUF: French Kiss

Saw this sign at Carcassonne Airport.

Bon Voyage, XXX
TO

HUIT: McDonald's in France and the Conspiracy!

Is it a figment of my imagination or are burgers getting smaller? Since my first "plain" Fillet -O- Fish in 1980 at McDonalds in Shenton Way, I've noticed that:

1) the burger bun is smaller

2) the pattys are smaller

3) the slice of cheese is smaller and tartare sauce is getting less (I started eating the normal fillet-o-fish slightly later in life after my taste buds changed.)

People have told me that it's just a perception based on the fact that I was only 7 at that time and the burger would have be "relatively" big in my young hands... which in theory could be true. However, this perception is not just based on my childhood era alone, I've noticed that the KFC Zinger burger has also shrunk.

As the only NSF MT Spec for 20 SA for about a year, I was constantly on Stand-By, not allowed to "book out" for 2-3 week stretches. Geoffrey, my bunk mate would buy me a Zinger when he booked in and I can say this for a fact, the Zinger in those days were the best! The chicken fillet used to be thick, juicy and crunchy, but theses days the Zinger is a very pale shadow of what I considered the best chicken burger ever.

I believe there is a conspiracy by these fast food corporations, who probably change the specifications of the buns, meat pattys every year. Each year trimming the size by a millimeter, a gram or so, (changes small enough to be not very perceptable) until we have the situation today, where the prices keep going up and the sizes keep shrinking. I think the only thing at McDonalds that has stayed the same would be the quarter pounder, where it is based on weight of the patty. (McDs must be cursing themselves for that).

It was at Paris CDG that I encountered the most pathetic Fillet-O-Fish ever! The slice of cheese covered less than half the bun, and they are also rationing the tartar sauce. Check out the picture above. 2 mouthful later, it was gone!

Having said that, it seems that McDs has entrenched themselves very deeply in France. So much so that everywhere I looked, there was a McDs in the corner. Same cannot be said for KFC though, the nearest KFC to toulouse is in Andorra.

Bon apetit!
TO