PHILINFRANCE

My wife and I are off to Porto for the last week of May. We have booked a very comfortable central hotel, but are intending to explore outside the town centre itself. Does anybody on here, @Porto Red perhaps, have any recommendations such as trips to nearby beaches/islands? We are familiar with, and love, the local cuisine, but any restaurant recommendations would be appreciated. Many Thanks in advance.

I have visited ‘La Ville Rose’ on numerous occasions, mostly for business reasons and, unfortunately, generally just for a day or two. I do remember two magnificent meals there, though; one in the centre (the street directly opposite the railway station) and, memorably, in a relatively small village a few kilometres outside. In the town centre restaurant, I was advised by my client to try the ‘magret en croute de sel’. I was extremely sceptical, but it was magnificent - the first and only time I have tried it. The village restaurant remains one of my favourite experiences (of traditional French restaurants). It was early lunchtime, and I had a few hours to spare, so stopped in this small village, intending to have a light lunch before my final meeting at 16H00. Unfortunately, I was tempted by the ‘Plat du Jour’, a duck cassoulet, with which I ordered a pichet (25cl) of the local red wine. So far, so good. And then the owner/chef popped out to serve my starter (some homemade duck terrine) and my wine, explaining that the main course would be ready in a few minutes. Upon hearing my accent, he sat down to chat (and share my pichet of wine). Well, the pichet was finished pretty quickly, and he soon returned with a replacement, 50cl of a better wine, that would go better with my duck cassoulet and which, of course, we again shared - still no main course. In fact, said my new found friend, he had some wonderful saucisses de Toulouse, which he would add to my cassoulet. Oh, and of course, he would also replenish the now empty pichet. And so it went on. Finally, my cassoulet arrived (and it was truly magnificent), and I managed to leave at about 15H30 - the restaurant was long empty and, would you believe it, the lovely manager refused payment! I slipped a generous tip under the place mat, but this remains one of my favourite ever meals, both for the food itself and the overall experience. Can you imagine something similar in the UK?

Reverting to the subject of ‘Indian’ restaurants in France, and following on from the responses from @ralphindevon and @frenchred, the poor ones to which I referred earlier were mainly Bangladeshi or even Pakistani. The two or three good ones were Indian managed, although, interestingly, none of them had an English background. My main complaint was not so much the spice level, something that is easily rectified, but the generic sauces. On one occasion, in a restaurant managed and staffed by Indians, I commented that it was a shame there was no lamb Rogan Josh on the menu (just various lamb ‘curries); the manager stated that it would be no problem to prepare me a Rogan Josh. Et Voilà, two minutes later, our dishes arrived; my wife’s chicken Tikka Masala and my lamb Rogan Josh - with what looked and tasted like identical sauces .

Out of curiosity, did you ever try any Indian restaurants whilst you were living in France? I have tried quite a few, most of which were embarrassingly poor, but I have also found two, perhaps three at a pinch, that have been surprisingly good - all in Paris/Île de France.

I may be wrong, but doesn’t Huddersfield also have the largest number of public toilets in the UK? Again, at the risk of confusing Huddersfield with another northern town, is this where the most ornate public toilets are located? Oh, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got this one right, they also have a beautiful railway station.

To be fair to @StGeorge, it was pretty impressive. There, their and they’re are frequently misused and, in true Eric Morecambe style, @Open End Numb Legs managed to get them all in to one sentence, but not in the right order. I must say, though, I suspected that he might have done it intentionally, especially as he went one step further with his wear ever.

It would seem there are quite a few Jim Croce fans on here.

Digressing slightly, but I am coming over to Bristol next week - €70 return trip with EasyJet from Paris/Lulsgate. I shall only be bringing small hand baggage, but, as @Slippin cider mentioned above, had I wanted to bring a suitcase, it would have cost in excess of €300!

I have just read JB's tweet. What on earth is wrong with the man. Unless I have totally misread and misunderstood his message, JB is calling out a young lad (13/14 years old?) and threatening to flush his head down the toilet. Obviously empty, meaningless threats, but even so. JB has evidently lost the plot entirely. Oh, just one more thing - it isn't possible for JB to find out our true identities and addresses is it?

And even then, only when we are live on SKY.

So, I think I can forget any wild thoughts about Somerset being on top of the table this evening. On another subject, I see that Essex prepared another awful pitch at Trent Bridge.

Wow, Kent 10/2, with both openers gone. Hopefully, I shall get another comeback reply from @slartibartfast at close of play, collector's item and all that .

Gloucestershire top of their league. Make a note of it @slartibartfast, a collector's item and all that . County DIV2 2024 - Points Table County Championship Division Two TEAMS M W L T D N/R PT Series Form Next 1 GLOUCESTERSHIRE 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 A vs YORKS, SUSS, MIDDX 2 DERBYSHIRE 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 A vs GLAM, LEICS, YORKS 3 GLAMORGAN 1* 0 0 0 0 0 5 vs DERBS, NHNTS, YORKS 4 YORKSHIRE 1* 0 0 0 0 0 3 vs GLOUC, MIDDX, DERBS 5 LEICESTERSHIRE 1* 0 0 0 0 0 3 vs SUSS, DERBS, NHNTS 6 MIDDLESEX 1* 0 0 0 0 0 3 vs NHNTS, YORKS, GLOUC 7 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 1* 0 0 0 0 0 2 vs MIDDX, GLAM, LEICS 8 SUSSEX 1* 0 0 0 0 0 2 https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-division-two-2024-1410192/points-table-standings

Sad, but I must admit I thought (assumed) he had died years ago. He was a great player for Tottenham, but I feel he let himself down a bit with his escapades at Newcastle.

Disappointing, as I was thinking only a few minutes ago that he looked in fine form and set for a big score, hopefully beating his FC career best 116. Surprisingly (to my mind) Goldsworthy seems to be justifying his promotion. I see that Tom Banton has come in ahead of James Rew, presumably with an eye on the forthcoming new ball? Two wickets for Parkinson as well, who appears to be getting some reaction from the pitch. I wonder whether Somerset might regret not picking Bashir instead of Ball.

….for a first innings lead and, hopefully, some useful batting points. I’ve not really been following the match closely today - as ever, the live stream from Canterbury is pretty poor - but does anyone know why Somerset decided to bring in Goldsworthy ahead of Rew and Banton?

Nor at Canterbury . UPDATE: Unfortunately despite the efforts of the groundstaff there will be no play today due to a wet outfield

To be fair, nor do I, but apparently he could lay a very nice patio .

An interesting career progression. Sandhurst, SAS, Mercenary and now TMS .

Surprise, Surprise. No play before lunch at Canterbury.

I may be wrong, but I think that Kent are the one county that have their in-house live feed on pay to view.

It never rains, does it? Even in Canterbury, although it is forecast to brighten up around 11H00.

Your penultimate paragraph is interesting. Over the years, I have experienced several tasting menus, sometimes accompanied with the recommended wine floats, and, whilst most have been interesting, I can’t say I have left any of them with the feeling that I have enjoyed a fantastic meal. As I said, the experiences have generally been interesting, but not sufficiently so that I felt like returning. I appreciate that age affects appetite, but I far prefer a delicate starter followed by a well prepared and presented main course, than the typical 9 course tasting menus. I rarely have a cheese course nowadays, as I have a wonderful cheese shop close by, and I find frequently that their choice and quality is superior than the majority of local restaurants, even including Michelin starred - obviously, far from the Île de France region, one is tempted to diversify and try local cheeses, dishes and wines.

Very interesting, in fact, that you had to look up George Burley and describe him as ‘the old Ipswich manager’. It is obviously an age/generation thing, and please don’t take offence as none is intended, but George Burley was a fantastic full back, who played in the late, great Bobby Robson’s fantastic Ipswich team of the late 1970s/early 1980s, winning quite a few caps for Scotland, who, believe it or not, were not a bad team back then. George Burley did manage Ipswich for some years, but, unfortunately, suffered (allegedly) from a drinking problem. He had a nephew (or son?), Craig, who was also a very good full back, playing for Chelsea and Celtic, and also capped numerous times for Scotland. Yes, I used to like Ipswich back then and, were it not for a certain CEO, would be willing them on for promotion.

Obviously too late for this season, but the game was available to watch on FA Player. It requires just a basic task of registering - I'm not sure, but I think I registered originally in order to watch some of the England women's matches. Feel free to send me a PM should you require some guidance.