#Asterix fondue series#

This pandemic may be a perfectly good place to start. I'll keep saying it until the record is taken off the deck: Irish people deserve universal healthcare. In reality, Ireland is too small a country not to have all hospitals pulling in the same direction. And others who work in private hospitals who wouldn't dream of taking a position in a public one. There are those in public hospitals who wouldn't be seen dead in a private hospital. As for doctors, there are many who work in both. Private hospitals have long been doing public work, while HSE and voluntaries happily admit private patients for extra income. Ireland has three types of general hospitals - HSE ones (the vast majority outside Dublin) voluntary ones (most of Dublin's hospitals) and private hospitals, of which there are about 20. Distinctions between public and private hospitals are subtle. The Government's move to unite Ireland's health services in the face of the coronavirus pandemic is welcome - 2,000 extra beds in a crisis is wonderful. The other condition which affected Uderzo came to light when he used red pens to colour grass on his early artwork. He did a DIY job on himself with a sharp knife and catgut. The West Indian cricketer wasn't so lucky. He had an operation in childhood to remove the spare fingers. Like cricketer Sir Gary Sobers, Uderzo was born with polydactyly, which gave him six fingers on each hand.

He was born with two separate genetic conditions, only one of which was apparent at birth. Uderzo grew up in northern France, the son of Italian migrants. I don't believe Asterix ever visited Ireland, but he was under the impression that native Hibernians, like their Scottish Caledonian cousins, would always stand by quaint Britons in a crisis. Grumpy Greeks would welcome tourists with open arms and would always canvass for family members when a job was going. Swiss folk (Helvetians) ate little else but cheese fondue and obsessed about money, cleaning and time-keeping. Britons were a nation of garden-obsessed oddballs where most foods were made palatable by the addition of mint sauce. As Asterix and his pals spread wings in later books, it became a hilarious social commentary on the wacky races of Europe. The story of Asterix began as a tale of a small Gallic settlement that used native cunning and magical powers to repeatedly outwit the mighty Roman empire. Albert Uderzo, pictured, the French cartoonist who drew wily Asterix and his rotund friend Obelix, passed away last month. Our old family home had well-thumbed hardbacks of Asterix, but alas, none survive.

#Asterix fondue series#

Top of my wanted list is a copy of Asterix the Gaul, which spawned a series of wonderful cartoon books from the 1960s on. I have a nice book token to use since a recent birthday, but it could be some time before its redemption.

The death of a favourite French cartoonist during the coronavirus crisis rekindles some memories for Maurice Gueret as he looks at variations of cabin fever.