Expat Life in the South of France

As of this writing our mayor  is in jail pending an appeal against a guilty verdict on a charge of paedophilia! The acting mayor, I understand, is also a local insurance agent.  The main topic of discussion in the bars and cafes around the old town are - is he or isn’t he guilty?  And a lot of people get quite emotional about it - foreigners included. I have no idea whether or not he is guilty. On the other hand, it was comon knowledge that there was a case pending against him which was wending its way through the convoluted judicial system at the time of his election.  So why was he elected? Did the electorate think even a paedophile was better than the previous mayor (who was a disaster in my opinion), or that the charges against him are trumped up (which is entirely possible given his reported family circumstances), or, in the typical, very practical French way of compartmentalising events, that one has nothing to do with the other (even if he abuses a kid or two, at least the streets are clean)?  Interesting, isn’t it?

Is this a disaster or what? My husband, daughter and son-in-law are all vegetarians.  And, being a carnivore myself, although I can understand the French predilection to sink one’s gnashers into the flesh of dead animals, la gastronomie française is really lacking in high quality vegetarian dishes. I’ve just returned from a trip to the UK and was very impressed with the imaginative vegetarian meals on offer in restaurants/pubs/cafes.  For now vegetarians in restaurants here seem to be restricted to veggie pizzas, pasta and salads. One gets the impression that  French cuisine is too busy resting on its laurels to innovate, whereas the stodgy British cuisine of old has turned itself around, and is now producing some of the most imaginative and innovative food in Europe. Some cross channel cooking lessons seem to be in order for our snooty French chefs.