Is it Friday again?

Well, I’ve been here in France for a while now and I still haven’t quite adjusted to these Bank Holidays in the middle of the week. We had one last Wednesday and now there are two, tomorrow and Thursday.

Last week was ‘Workers’ Day / Labour Day’. I’m used to it being added to the first weekend in May for a long weekend. Tomorrow it is ‘Victory in Europe Day’ and Thursday it is Pentecost. My husband works with a German company, they are on holiday on Thursday as France is. When asked why France is on holiday tomorrow, it feels a little awkward to  explain what this holiday is about as we ‘don’t mention the war!’ (Fawlty Towers, of course.)

Business can’t be easy with all these mid-week holidays. Last night the news was full of woe as to how many million euros are lost economically due to these, and what can be done about it. There didn’t seem to be many solutions offered, c’est la vie, c’est la france. I’m not complaining, it is life and it is life in France which I love. I do see how difficult it is with my husband running his business to have all these breaks in the work-week and people being less productive. Who wouldn’t be!

• I wonder why France has never moved the holidays and added them to weekends like the UK does? Perhaps it does all balance out, after all there are years where the holidays do fall at weekends and these aren’t shifted to the Monday like they are in the UK.
• Why does the UK not have a holiday for ‘Victory in Europe’ or ‘Remembrance Day’?
• Does everyone get as confused as I do as to what day it is here at this time in May?

Right, I realise that this is dry and boring, they were just small thoughts running through my head as I was waiting for the return of my other half ready to start our mid-week weekend:)

I will have more interesting random ramblings soon.

Surely it’s not nearly Friday Wine O’Clock again already?

Here’s a tune which goes with the wonderful sunshine we are having today, and it’s only 14 days until Daft Punk – Random Access Memories.

Dreadful graffiti, good graffiti and some random ramblings

I mostly admire the graffiti I spot on my travels or just on general outings. I will often take a photograph of a slogan, picture, statement etc that has made me laugh, makes a good point, good art or generally interesting in my view. I’ve posted a couple previously on here. Here’s a few more from France and Germany in the last 2 or 3 months:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do the French know ‘Arkwright’ and ‘Open All Hours’??? Only joking – this was in the town Granville, France

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now this following piece of graffiti / random scrawl which I stumbled upon on the way to the market is certainly not something I admire, it is dreadful. I have seen this kind of graffiti a lot here in France. (I can imagine that this is certainly not limited to France, I think that I only started noticing and looking at graffiti on moving here.) I have got used to harsh, sadly some racist or anti-certain-religious slogans but it’s the product placement that makes this quite sickening.  It is so provocative and offensive. I was taken aback by this. It is really bad isn’t it?

awful behaviour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now to get back to the more tolerant and good things in France.  I enjoy a good walk around Paris on a Saturday afternoon, we headed in after lunch, popped into a few shops, soaked up the atmosphere of the city and enjoyed the general ambiance. As it was the Rugby Union 6 nations final England game we also thought we’d be patriotic and watch that.

Here’s a couple of observations:

• I saw a woman walking / strutting along in Le Marais looking quite beautiful and well dressed talking on her mobile hands free whilst smoking a massive cigar. A cool look. I’m sure only women of Paris can carry this look off.
• We watched the rugby in an Australian Bar, the French definitely weren’t supporting the English. There were a number of Scottish people in there having a ‘few’ beers in their kilts before heading off to the Stade de France for their game later on. They were definitely bonding with the French with their seemly common interest of not wanting England to win. It was all in jest (I think). Quite amusing.
• Whilst we were getting a drink at the bar, a French guy told the barman he needed to be in work soon but he’d have a quick Jägerbomb before he went. I’d never heard that kind of request before.

I will leave my very random post here with a quick music recommendation. It has been out a little while. I love this, it is a little weird (I’m not sure that’s the right word), psychedelic and gorgeous. Perfect!

 

An English day in France

Well, I need to get back on it over the weekend. I have listened to BBC6 Music ALL DAY! It has been #6MusicGreatest, the top 100 records of the decade. I haven’t had a day like this in France for a long time. I normally listen to French radio and catch the news on the TV at some point through the day. I’ve been very naughty today, I didn’t mean to do it! There are some French bands in the top 100 (as I’m writing this M83 are on) does that count as something French?

This day has come just as this last week I felt like there had been a switch in my brain. I’ve started to read my first French novel, up to this point I’d stuck with magazines, poetry, internet sites etc but I at last felt ready and able to read and enjoy.  We have also filled in our first census for the town we have made home, which for some reason has made me feel like I sort of belong here. I suppose I must have been feeling a little in limbo.

I really like our little town, the mayor is of the Parti Radical Gauche. Very, very left wing – not quite communist though. We have met him, he’s a nice fellow. When we informed him that we were English, (it is obviously obvious that I am!) he informed us that he just loves going to the theatre in London, especially musicals. He was funny.

I’ve just received our lovely glossy brochure from the Hôtel de Ville, they do spend a lot of money on informing you what is going on in the area.

We can go and watch this at our local theatre:

How very French!

I’ve finished my little ramble and I’m ready for a more French weekend.

Nearly the end of January….., that was quick!

This month has flown by, I’ve been really busy and will update over a few posts.  Not all of what has been busying me is that interesting – here’s a few early January musings.

I have enjoyed the French detox for January. See attached:

Detox – French style

No mention of giving up wine – just remove fruit juices, fizzy drinks, other forms of alcohol and strong coffee but not wine. This was from the Chemist. How very French!

In other news, another ‘how very French’ moment as my husband returned from work from evening. He had been given a few gifts from some of their distributors in the South. Here is one that isn’t appropriate for his office wall. It’s not appropriate for the office wall at home either! A calendar full of scantily clad women. This is one of the shots that wasn’t too bad. Again, ‘how very French!’:

I will update further with thoughts, our travels in January, music etc soon.