Key West Lou / IF YOU DON’T SPEAK FRENCH, BE WARY OF EATING IN CHAMONIX…..THE BOILED HOT DOG CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

DAYS 36 and 37…..Greece the First Time
Posted on July 3, 2012 by Key West Lou
I am back!
It is a question mark each day whether I will return. I failed to bring my computer with me. I am at the whim of internet stores and friendly people. One thing I know for a fact. Everyone in Italy is using old and sick machines. Each day is a task and a surprise.

I have been sleeping in Courmayeur the last three nights. Driving back and forth to Chamonix each day. The Alps are always before me. From the moment I rise to the time I go to bed. They are there on the drive to Chamonix and back. The mountains dominate the scene.

I would be remiss if I failed to make some additional comments regarding Mont Blanc. Recall it is 11 peaks on top of an already big mountain.

Mont Blanc defies description. I guess that is why I am back trying to tell you more about it. Words do not adequately verbalize what the eyes see.

The mountain is high and tall. It stands defiantly. Speaks quietly. Says…..Don’t screw with me!

Impossible to see all 11 peaks at one time. Clouds up high. Block the view.

Trees cover the lower range of Mont Blanc. Pine. All the way up to a certain level. Then nothing but bare rock. Someone told me pines will not grow above 2,000 feet. The bare land is formidable. Then comes the peaks. Not just the very top. The top for a considerable distance downward.

When I arrived, some of the peaks had valleys of glaciers. Ice. One day later all the peaks were covered with snow. A significant dusting. Impressive.

Many waterfalls. They are streams running down the sides of the mountain. All over. Some a foot wide. Others up to 20 feet. Beautiful. They run in and out of the woods. You see it, then you do not. All of a sudden the stream reappears again.

The thinner streams were not running yesterday. They were frozen. Yesterday at this time (11 am) the temperature was 29 degrees F. At the same time 24 hours later it is 50 degrees F.

The waterfalls are attributable to two factors. The first is the melting glaciers. The other is that the mountain top is loaded with natural springs and wells. Below ground. They seep their way upward and add to the glacier spill off.

Yesterday morning, I had a unique experience. When I opened the door to the balcony starring at Mont Blanc, I saw a number of clouds. Some were below my eye level. Others at my eye level. Others above my eye level. All set against the green pines of Mont Blanc. A wow!

Last night when driving back to Courmayeur, I had another experience. Though one I have had before. Fog. Big time. There were occasions I could not see at all. Bad.

Moving on from Mont Blanc, let me share two food experiences I had yesterday.

The first was in Chamonix at lunch time. I went into a big restaurant at the main corners of Chamonix. Where all the world walks by. It was too cold to eat outside, however.

The menu was in total French. No English sub titles as I had become accustomed to elsewhere on this trip. I saw what appeared to be the word sausages. I have been eating many sausages this trip. All different. All good.

I ordered sausage. Pointed to it on the menu to the waitress. My mistake was not asking her to spell out exactly what I was ordering. Assuming she spoke English. I do not know. I found whereas many Greeks and Italians have at least a smattering of English, the French seem to be above a second language.

I was served two boiled hot dogs and french fries. Not big fat hot dogs. Not long ones. Two regular sized.

I looked at them for a few minutes. And then decided, oh well! My mistake. Eat them. I did not wish to be the ugly American.

I called the waitress over. Asked for ketchup and mustard. The least I could do was dress the meal up. She looked at me in shock. I knew what was coming…..We do not serve ketchup and mustard! We are French!

I quietly ate my boiled hot dogs and fries.

Dinner last night got screwed up, also. I was at what might best be described as a good neighborhood restaurant in Courmayeur. It had been so described to me. I was told to be sure to eat polenta. It is the favored dish in this Alpian village.

There were only six entrees on the menu. Each served with polenta. The only thing I recognized was chicken cachetore. I asked what polenta was. No screwing around this meal. Lunch had been bad enough bad enough.

The waiter provided a polenta description. It was crushed corn. All mashed together with what I could not understand. He told me it was everyone’s favorite. Had me look at the other tables. Each had a heaping large dish of yellow stuff on their table. He further told me Christopher Columbus introduced polenta into Italy. There was no corn in Europe prior to Columbus. He brought it to the old world from the new world.

I did not like the polenta. I was told to bury it in the tomato sauce. That is the way it is supposed to be eaten. I did. Better, but still not my dish.

The polenta alone cost me 12 euros. About $16 American money. Not worth it.

I am absolutely impressed with Italian roads and bridges. All appear in tip top shape. The Italians have also recently constructed a speed train from Milan to I know not where. A new road was built near the railway tracks. The road had to have 72 bridges. So the trains could pass underneath.

Italian roads and bridges are well maintained. There is a reason for it. At some point a law was passed that whoever built or constructed a road, received a contract to maintain the road for 30 years. The money for maintenance comes from tolls. The contractor charges the tolls. The contractor keeps the money and makes repairs as needed.

A good deal for the contractor! Positive cash flow!

The Italians using the roads are not very happy about the 30 year thing however. The tolls are expensive. My two hour drive from Novara to Courmayeur had cost me 25 euros one way. The Italians are an adept society. Their way around the burdensome toll is to drive back roads. They know all the bye ways.

I think the Italian way of building and maintaining roads and bridges is worthy of investigation. Gets the job done! The job we are not and have not been doing for years. Our roadways and bridges are a disgrace. Forget maintenance. A pot hole per family. The cost is not a tax to be imposed. It is paid daily by the users of the roads and bridges.

It is probably a screw job either way. However, worth exploring.

A few words about Chamonix. Lovely! Gorgeous! Exciting! People all over. Summer and winter. Great pedestrian walk ways. Terrific high scale stores. No tee shirt vendors. Very European. I sat several times having a coffee at an outdoor cafe and watched the world go by. It was the world. The whole world. Every nationality walking the streets.

I got to Chamonix through a tunnel. A nine mile tunnel. The Italians and French built it. Runs right under one of the Alp mountains. Cool!

Somewhere in the back of my mind comes a recollection of Mary Shelley and this area. I did not have the time to research it. Forgive me if I am wrong.

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein’s Wife. A best seller at the time. She lived in the Courmayeur area. Courmayeur provided the background for the book.

Recall that her story took place in a castle. Castles all over the place here. Recall also the fog. Fog frequent here. Recall further the fog I drove through last night. The fog was thick enough not only for Frankenstein, but also Dracula and Wolfman.

Later today, I am driving to the Portofino area. The Italian Riviera. A three hour drive.

I will be staying in Camogli, a town immediately next door to Portofino. Camogli a part of the Italian Riviera also.

The trip should be interesting. It is summer time and the area should be flourishing.

Enough for today. I am going to be thrown out this internet store. It closes from noon to 3 each day. In Chamonix, all the stores closed from 1 to 3. Siesta time.

Enjoy your day!

—

Florida’s Governor DeSantis maintains a fixed place in my mind. Incompetent. Grossly incompetent. Yet he still ranks high on the list of Republican Presidential candidates for 2024.

Vaccine distribution has been a disaster in Florida. Everything COVID has. DeSantis generally the blame. To place my observation in better perspective, Trump considers DeSantis the best Governor in the U.S.

Florida uses Publix as one of the places where vaccine shots can be received. Seventy thousand doses a week are delivered to Publix’s distribution center in Lakeland. From whence Publix distributes the vaccine to various Publix stores throughout the State.

This system has been ongoing for 5 weeks. Three hundred fifty thousand vaccine shots distributed thus far.

One problem. Officials do not know where the vaccine is delivered once in leaves Publix’s distribution center in Lakeland. Florida has not required any such information. Publix has provided none.

Not the way the distribution should be handled. Problems will reveal themselves at some point.

Publix was a major financial supporter of DeSantis.

The 70,000 vaccines received by Publix weekly represents 25 percent of Florida’s available doses.

Most Republican governors are not on the ball when it comes to the virus.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbot an example.

What he has done represents pure insanity.

Abbott announced yesterday that he was opening Texas as of next wednesday. One hundred percent. All businesses. Mask requirement will no longer be in force, also. He is reversing his own pandemic orders imposed several months ago..

Abbott has his reasons. Though not correct.

He claims Texas vaccination numbers are increasing. The State and people generally have more knowledge as to how to manage the spread of the virus. Hospitalization and positivity rates are decreasing.

Abbott’s representations much like Trump’s. Permeated with falsehoods.

Texas is not out of the woods. Masks still needed. COVID-19 continues to be widespread. Following Abbott’s address yesterday, the San Antonio mayor said in response there were still too many cases, Abbott’s decision was a mistake.

Texas likes to dance to its own tune. The recent grid power failure an example. Texas believes it knows better.

Here are the facts. Only 6.5 percent of Texans have been fully vaccinated. Herd immunity has not yet arrived. May never.

What follows is the best. A recent study of U.S. counties having the “worst” of virus conditions has been made public. The 20 worst counties the most interesting. Eleven of those counties are in Texas.

Additionally, not all health case workers have been vaccinated yet. People are told to sign up to get the vaccine shot. They are told no vaccine available when the time comes to receive their shots.

Biden will have to make a decision soon. To save the filibuster or pass his agenda. He cannot have both. The Republicans a long time ago forgot bipartisanship.

The stimulus package will pass. It is not subject to filibuster. However the voting rights bill will fail because it is so subject.

One or the other. Biden’s program will fail unless he gets rid of the filibuster. He will face problems with Democratic Senators Manchin and Sinema who support filibuster.

Biden has his work cut out for him.

In the modern era, it is becoming more frequent for Presidents and former Presidents to be indicted. Israel’s Netanahyu is one.

Another France’s former President Sarkozy. He was charged with forming a “corruption pact.” Tried and convicted. Sentenced to 3 years in jail. Two years suspended. The Court not sure whether he will be jailed or serve home confinement for the third year.

In 2 weeks, Sarkozy faces his second criminal trial. The claim is he violated campaign financing rules in 2012.

Sarkozy’s third problem still under investigation. He remains under investigation for allegedly receiving millions of euros in campaign funds in 2007. From who? Mommar Gadafi.

Trump’s time is next. He has the Manhattan District Attorney investigating him for tax and bank fraud. The Futon County, Georgia District Attorney announced yesterday that she had convened a grand jury to investigate the telephone call between Trump and Georgia’s Secretary of State. Trump wanted the Secretary to find some 11,000 votes that Trump could say were wrongly counted and should have been in Trump’s column. The Secretary refused.

The telephone call was recorded.

Stormy days ahead. Black clouds are assembling.

Pope Francis continues to play out as the best of men.

It is Lent. Catholic Church members give up something. Could be candy, drinking, swearing, food, etc.

Francis says lets be more realistic this year. Give up something of more value. Like gossiping/speaking ill of others. Christians should stop spreading hearsay/false rumors. He also recommends the Bible be read with more frequency. In most instance, a start to reading it. Francis suggests only one verse a day. No big deal.

Great show last night! Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Outstanding topics. Everything meshed.

Enjoy your day!

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