A TALE OF TWO NATIONS
I found your April edition very interesting as usual, especially as it exposed so many differences between our homeland and our current abode in France.
Blair Bowman’s article on whisky was particularly remarkable. Here in France single malts are 10-15 a bottle cheaper than in Scotland, and our local supermarket always has over 30 single malts available (many more during Scotch whisky fairs when the prices drop further). However, our local supermarket only stocks a few brandies – unlike Morrison’s in Edinburgh, which had twenty.
I was also surprised by the ridiculous prices to eat out in Scotland compared to France. Our local restaurant’s menu du jour includes a choice of three good courses plus wine and coffee, but costs just 25 for two at lunchtime and 35 in the evenings.
They take food and wine seriously in France. Our local cookery school teaches young cooks and waiting staff, most of whom are 15-17-year-olds, and we help with English. For one test, I had to pretend to speak no French when ordering fish from a menu. Was the fish white or pink? I asked. And did it come from the sea or fresh water? And – surely the most difficult one for a 15-year-old – what wine would they recommend? After a moment’s pause: ‘I’d recommend champagne, sir!’ Perfect answer...
The French love Scotland. Our local town, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, is twinned with Troon, and my wife and I have built up the local membership of the Caledonian Club from 40 to 140 (virtually all French) over the eight years of my presidency. Our Burns Night, at which 135 out of 140 guests are French, is great fun and includes a French piper, who owns and plays ten types of pipes, plus two singers – one an opera singer – who sing Burns songs exquisitely.
They would not have been impressed had they been with me at Christmas when I went into the post office in Davidson’s Mains in Edinburgh. There was a queue of five people so I said ‘Good Morning!’ as we always do in France. Four of the five totally ignored me, the fifth, a man, gave me a very dirty look. Ken Napier, Chazarem, Beaugas, France
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