MOULES FRITES (SANS FRITES)

I was just getting down to business with the stock for the moules I bought yesterday at SuperU in Bourgueil.  They had big vats of Saint-Brieuc (Sant-Brieg) mussels for €2.75 a kilo.  I picked through them carefully but at that price it's easier to shovel them into the bag and throw away the dead ones when it's time to clean them.  They had amandes too for a reasonable price, but when I asked the guy at the counter how best to prepare them he said he had only just started work there and didn't know.  I wonder how long his career as a fishmonger will last!

I had the big pot on the hob with onion and shallot and butter and parsley bubbling away, when there was a knock at the door.  It was "les filles" from next door.

—Can we talk to you for a moment?
I felt my balls tighten.
—Sure, come on in.  What do you want to talk about?
—How are you planning to refinish that wall we have in common.  Since you demolished the staircase we can hear everything going on next door.
—I'm not planning to do anything with it other than run the electrical cables through the joints and clean it up.  It is such a beautiful stone wall there is really nothing else to be done with it.
—Doesn't it upset you that you can hear everything inside our house the way we can hear everything going on in your house.
I had remarked to Anne-Marie that these girls are noisy but they are rarely here so it hasn't really been a problem.
—You should put sound insulation on your side so we don't hear you. Don't you think that would be better?
—Up until now it hasn't been a problem for me to hear two lesbians having sex, so no, I am not about to cover up this beautiful wall with placoplâtre and isolation.  However, if it upsets you to hear two gay men having sex then there is a simple solution - you can put a thick layer of soundproofing on your side of the wall.
—We don't have a budget for that.  We have so many expenses with our other properties we can't afford to do anything in Montsoreau.
—Sorry to hear that.  I don't have a budget either for rebuilding your house the way you would like it.

While this exchange was taking place my liquid evaporated and the onions burned.  I had to start all over again.

Playlist:

Our House
Madness


Our House
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young