Read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, which takes place in 1799 at the Dutch East India Company trading post Dejima in Nagasaki, with Jacob de Zoet being a young Dutch trader. There are a lot of threads, from the Tokugawa closure of Japan to foreigners (called sakoku), to the hidden Christians, to the mutual xenophobia of Dutch and Japanese officials, to the emergence of a global commercial system (with de Zoet carrying Adam Smith in his travel box), to supernatural powers of zen monks, &tc., &tc… As The Guardian puts it, “the final effect is confused. The main problem seems to be that Mitchell hasn’t decided if he’s writing a straight historical novel, a grandly themed fable or a cheerfully trashy romp.” Also read a BD taking on Animal Farm, called Animal Castle where the dictator is a massive bull and the enforcers Dobermanns. With a modern twist and both humour and resistance in the face of tyranny.
Made more rhubarb preserve, more galettes and more almond butter. Of which the later may have costed me dear since a parking car presumably damaged my most useful bike to a point of no repair, while I was purchasing those almonds. (I ended up find a used and cheap version of my light city bike to be cannibalised for parts.) I also tried to make the galettes on a traditional cast iron billig (pancake pan), but could not keep the galettes from sticking. And became a Holy Grail father by making a jar of elderberry jelly out of the berries growing from an old elder in our garden, a first attempt if the last type of berry I made use of! It proved rather time-consuming from collecting the berries on high branches to combing them from the stems, to cleaning them and to finally press them into a juice (that need be well-boiled to avoid poisonous cyanide effects!). Also made a few jars of blackberry jam out of invading vines from a deceased neighbour’s garden, which took about a tenth of the time necessary for the elderberry jelly.
Watched Old Guard 2, irremediably terrible (in The Guardian‘s terms, “this delayed Netflix sequel is an incomplete mess”). And the 2009 Japanese 
series Jin, another time-trap scenario when a character gets sucked into an earlier era (1860’s Edo Japan in this case) and brings changes while trying to avoid impacting the current era. As a neurosurgeon having to fight cholera with no drugs. Enjoyable enough, with a crazy samurai reminding me of Mifune Toshirō. Apart the soapy parts and the long periods when the surgeon stares at the sun (without turning blind). But not as funny as the South Korean Mr. Queen. However it made me aware of the time when the Tokugawa shogunate ended and the Meiji Imperial Government took over. The characters include historical figures like Katsu Kaishū and Sakamoto Ryōma. I also discovered how much France and Britain were involved in this transition.
Cooked little while being away, except for a Flemish red cabbage stew and a batch of mini buckwheat galettes, and fortunately escaped the huge meals that usually plague this time of year. Avoided as well some viral issues with French oysters, despite enjoying several servings of Norman origin. While in Aubrac, has a taste of the local beef, the well-named… Aubrac breed, whose herds are raised on this immense and treeless plateau during the warmer months. Most crucially, we enjoyed very much the few days we spent there in a remote farm with no Internet, great company, long trail runs, and simple home-made dinners. (Foodwise, the difference of food prices on the local markets like Saint-Chély d’Apcher when compared with Paris and its suburb was noticeable, if not a major surprise, meaning we brought back home a month worth of local cheese.)
In contrast with my earlier light encounter with COVID, I attended a COVID funeral in Normandy a few weeks ago, which, besides the deep sadness of seeing a relative depart, made me question the general laisser-faire attitude about COVID, despite the dozens of thousands of daily cases (in France) and more than an hundred death. With hardly anyone wearing a mask in public transportation for instance. (In a cruel if not unexpected irony, some people attending the funeral later tested positive.)
