we do keep hearing bam bam shots somewhere. we duck every time!

We will try to remember to ask them in the morning.

I wonder if they intentionally planted that pokeweed plant. Reading, I find that it has become naturalized in Europe. Somewhat invasive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana

After further reading, they are very nasty!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_hornet

Hi Bill,
They are known as frelons asiatique or Asian hornets here, and are an invasive species that destroys native beehives. Very agressive and can cause death to those unfortunate enough to disturb a nest of them. Their bite is painful in a high voltage sense. Takes a couple days for the pain to subside.
Cheers

Dodie feels the same way.

Ouch, not something to try to experience, even for blog research.

Probably not many still in use.

Of course you are correct. We passed some hunters today, who when asked what they were hoping to shoot, almost literally said "anything that moves." Good thing the Grampies preferred cycling colour is bright yellow.

Hi Betsy, we have not yet looked at your references, but we will. However in general we think that it is not wise to live based either on general fear or especially media reports that can be sensationalist. The number of lithium battery fires needs to be weighed against the billions currently in use, not only for bikes but for phones, drills, mowers, etc. The National Fire Protection Association (https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Top-fire-causes/Electrical) certainly does mention a growing incidence of ebike fires, with growing ebike use, but the top causes of house fires remain cooking, heating, bad wiring, smoking, and candles. That's why, as the conflict with our hosts "heated up" I stressed to the lady that if she wanted to be paranoid about fire safety she should first get a fire extinguisher for beside her stove, rather than harrassing cyclist customers with $1000 each Bosch batteries quietly sleeping (and not charging) in a bag. Read tomorrow's entry for the gory details.

Interesting about the e-bike charging situation. There have been lots of battery-caused fires recently, and more landlords are starting to ban bikes from being stored indoors. Yes, the fires are probably mostly from crappy batteries and/or 'universal' chargers. The Atlantic had an interesting take on it: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/07/e-bike-battery-lithium-ion-fire/674622/
Numerous fires and deaths in New York City this year have raised awareness - this article may be behind a paywall, but googling will find others: https://www.nytimes.com/article/ebike-laws-nyc.html
I don't have an e-bike, but I have lithium ion batteries for some yard equipment, and I don't leave them on the charger overnight.

I would not linger on this bridge, then, no matter my advanced age.

Light is the biggest reason for the switch from Romanesque to gothic. Notre Dame is romanesque and St.Pierre gothic, not to restate the obvious. One more reason to love Poitiers.

Sting would be painful? Can confirm.

One horse or maybe ox charrette for hay.