A Frenchman's Lunch...

Obviously, the French have the right and proper attitude towards lunch - that it consists of three courses and that it takes two hours. Think this is a stereotype? Well, working people do manage to get back to the office in under two hours, but they do all eat properly. They find the idea of eating a sandwich in front of your computer so bizarre that it doesn't really seem believable to them. And of course they're right - taking a proper break is better for health and productivity (and keeps crumbs out of the keyboard...) But there have clearly always been jobs where a picnic lunch is all that's going to happen. In the early 20th century, those lunches were carried in these diddy little enamel pails. The one on the left is my first buy - it's battered and doesn't seal any more, and I got it for a euro with some square mosaic tiles which had been stored in it - garage fodder, clearly.

But the new one, which I found today at the troc shop, is in full working order. Apart from two chips on the rim, everything is brand-shiny new. I wonder where it's been lurking all these years? It's going to hold batteries for recycling in our kitchen now (quick green note: we do use rechargable batteries, but the odd non-rechargable one does seem to intrude now and again).

Do you want to see how much the (overpriced, it's-old-so-we'll-sting-you-for-it) troc shop charged me for this shiny beauty?

Worth drinking to!

Foodie note: I know what the working French man has in his lunch box because when our pavement was being laid I stood behind the 'jeune' (the apprentice) who'd been sent to get the team's lunch at Intermarché. He bought baguettes, cheese, saucisson, apples and red wine. So there you go.