Wednesday 20 June 2012

Une Bicyclette

Quirky photos of France:

Took a photograph of this bike - a classic design as far as I'm concerned - whereupon the owner came up and asked me what I was doing. I was about to defend myself, beg her not to call the gendarmerie and generally plead for mercy - in fact, say anything, rather than resort to explaining what the hell this blog was all about - when she smiled and explained that lots of old people stopped to take photos of it because it reminded them of their childhood. I told her about the blog, explained that it was very silly but she still insisted on me telling her how to access it. All in all, a very happy interaction.



One of the joys of being in France is buying anything in a little patisserie. Even a humble slice of apple turnover is packaged in a beautiful box.




An even greater joy is sitting in a cafe with un pain aux raisins and a cafe au lait, reading a book. Today's effort was excellent with hot milk already in it; the coffee that is.


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Last night's dinner:

Too tired to see the shepherds etc last night so had steak frites and low alcohol draught cidre in local brasserie. It was OK but I much prefer eating fish these days: I find chewing meat to be too much like hard work.


And the night before last:

Cold chicken on the hotel room veranda looking out to the ocean.



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French Radio:

There are dozens of French radio stations to listen to.

What amazes me is the sheer number of adverts. I would say possibly 60% of air time is advertising.

What does that say about the economy?

Yesterday, in the car, tuned in to Classique and was midway through a piano concerto. After some minutes thinking, thought that it was possibly Mozart. Then heard a familiar little melody embedded within it and stepped back a few years to Haydn.

Once it was finished I stretched my listening capabilities to hear what the French compere was saying and it was definitely Mozart. Not too bad a guessing process.

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