Welcome to France and buy a pigs entrail from a vending machine!

When we think of vending machines we think of cold drinks, coffee, chocolate and sweets.

Only in France, can you buy eggs, potatoes, bread, cheese, steak and pig’s intestines from 24-hour street vending machines!

In the Parisian meat vending machine you find everything from Carpaccio de Boeuf at €6, a tender 250g faux-filet steak for €8, pork chops for €5 but also Bayonne ham from the Basque country, chicken and even eggs.
 
Payment can be made by cash or by credit card.

The installation of the meat vending machines, continues a long a trend in France of making sure the public can get their fix of Gallic food 24 hours a day.

In 2011 Paris got its first 24-hour baguette dispenser when Jean-Louis Hecht put one next to his bakery in the 19^th arrondissement.

Dismissing the notion that selling bread in automatic dispensers was tantamount to sacrilege for the French, he said: “This is the bakery of tomorrow. It is answering a real need. To me it’s a public utility.”

Baguette vending machines are now a fairly common sight in French cities.

Working factories increase in popularity.

Finding out just how things are ‘Made in France’ is a growing tourism sector with many businesses now opening their doors to visitors.

Websites and guide books have been produced promoting venues from traditional crafts such as pottery, cheese, wines and olives to heavy industry including car, boat and plane manufacturers.

The idea is that tourists will look up these factories in the same way that they seek out museums and historical monuments when they go on holiday.

As the number of manufacturing companies declines people have less day to day contact with industry and they are keen to find out how everyday items are produced. The companies involved also see this as a way to promote their businesses.

We have visited many working factories in Brittany and I would really recommend la belle-iloise conserverie à Quiberon (sardines), the Airbus factory at Saint Nazaire and the Biscuiterie à Muzillac.

King Arthur, was he French or English?

King Arthur was a British leader, wasn’t he?… Well, that is what I always thought, now I am not so sure.

We seem to live in the heart of ‘King Arthur world’. Every other street in Guer and Ploërmel are dedicated to the King Arthur legend.

Several episodes of the Arthurian saga take place in the magical Forêt de Brocéliande, which is just ten minutes away! In this forest you will find ‘Merlin’s tomb’, ‘the Valley of no return’ and The Église Sainte-Onenne which is steeped in Arthurian lore – its windows depict many scenes of Arthur’s adventures.

Being very diplomatic, I don’t think King Arthur was either French or English. The legends surrounding King Arthur date back to a time before there was a Britain or a France. Before France was unified, Britain (la Grande Bretagne) and Brittany (la Petite Bretagne) had very close ties.

Legends may well have been exchanged, with several episodes of the saga having taken place in the magical and mystical Forêt de Brocéliande.