Day 2040 (Saturday) 31st October

Day two of lockdown and I’m bored! I found it easy the last time because we didn’t know what to expect and it was a new thing but this time we know what’s coming and we’re dreading it. To make matters worse it’s not even sunny! 

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but there is a man who lives on a yacht in Port Sante who has Tourettes and makes all sorts of really loud weird noises and this morning he was on top form and really annoying. We are stuck indoors and have to listen to this racket – I know he’s not well but the noise…

Anyway, yesterday Huw watched him jump into the sea and tow a boat out into the bay.

 

I know I keep saying that it’s lovely and warm and it is but it’s not swimming in the sea weather.

I found this story in the Local France – hope you enjoy it too

(All the photos were taken recently) 

Meet the French frog farmers attempting to crack the local market

Every year, the French consume some 4,000 tonnes of frogs' legs. But nearly all the amphibian limbs that land on French plates come from abroad, since wild harvesting of the protected creatures is all but banned and their cultivation strictly controlled.

One of France's handful of frog farmers, Patrice Francois, provides cuisses de grenouille to the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants and neighbourhood bistros alike.

Yet the 100,000 animals being raised at his greenhouses in Pierrelatte in southeast France hardly make a dent in demand for a delicacy that helped earn the French the nickname 'frogs', in the English-speaking world.

"Raising frogs is hard!" Francois told AFP amid a deafening chorus of croaks coming from dozens of ponds teeming with marsh frogs, his farm's speciality.

"It is starting to work out, but I am not yet making a living from it," said the 56-year-old, who started France's first frog farm ten years ago.

To make ends meet, he also runs a fishmonger's in Roanne, around 230 kilometres north.

From the incubation of eggs through raising the tadpoles and fattening up the adults, it takes about a year to produce a frog weighing 50 to 100 grammes, each yielding two hind legs much smaller than chicken thighs.

"We control the entire production chain, from breeding to slaughter after anaesthesia by cold, then butchery and shipping," Francois said.

But there are many hurdles along the way.

For mating to happen, conditions have to be just right, with the weather and even the lunar cycle affecting the creatures' amorous moods.

Each fertilisation by a male frog of eggs deposited by a female can have a success rate of zero to 100 percent, depending on conditions, Francois said.

For a million eggs produced on the farm, some 100,000 or ten percent eventually mature into frogs.

The animals are easily stressed, which is harmful to their health and growth, and can suffocate if too many are grouped together.

The frogs also have to be grouped by size to prevent the larger ones from cannibalising smaller tank mates.

Five farms in France produce about 10 tonnes of frog meat every year on average, according to the agriculture ministry, an amount that could reach 20 or even 50 tonnes as soon as this year.

Frogs have been eaten in France for centuries, particularly in the country's east, but have been protected species since 2007 because of rapidly declining numbers.

Only small wild harvests for domestic consumption are allowed, with large fines for anyone trying to catch them for sale.

Ninety-nine percent of frogs consumed in the country come from abroad - shipped alive or refrigerated mainly from Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Belgium and Italy, and in frozen form principally from Indonesia, Vietnam and India, according to the French agriculture ministry.

Frogs are also eaten in other European countries such as Belgium, in the southern United States, and in parts of Asia.

Global consumption, according to a 2010 study, was 800 million to 3.2 billion frogs, with the US and European Union the largest importers, and Indonesia and China the main exporters.

Conservationists warn that many frog species are at risk of extinction, driven in large part by human appetites.

In key exporter Turkey, harvested species may be extinct by 2032, according to a study published this year by Cambridge University Press.

Among Francois's top clients is the storied two-Michelin-star restaurant Bocuse, near Lyon in eastern France, which boasts frogs' legs on its autumn menu.

Chef Gilles Reinhardt said the restaurant long had no choice but to rely on imports.

"But nothing beats these ultra-fresh French frogs. The clients love them!" he told AFP.

"The meat is much more delicate, the frogs fleshier and firmer... while still tender," he said.

The restaurant gets 400 legs - or 200 pairs - twice weekly from Patrice Francois.

"We are selling them all, despite the context of Covid and the dearth of foreign clients," Reinhardt said.

It was very sad to hear about the death of Sean Connery today – this photo of him was taken here in Villefranche near the entrance to the car park when they filmed Never Say Never Again

At the beginning of the original lockdown Huw entertained our WhatsApp group with daily photos of Andy and Chadwick in different scenes and he used this photo

He started doing them again yesterday and today’s offering with Michael Jackson in Thriller in honour of Halloween.

Enjoy the video