Carol funds

The carolers have returned with the proceeds of the night's 2 hours caroling. The youth from the church are here for 2 nights and they decided they wanted to help fund this year's Christmas party. 

They came back with an impressive 4 days wages that would be earned by a labourer here. And they plan to go out tomorrow too. 

So the young people have effectively paid for transport and the location hire. That's very well done! 

The photo is of some of them practicing before they went. 

Terry Westoby
terrywestoby@gmail.com
+33 6 75 91 87 71

Free travel in Paris

Free travel. So it is a good time to visit this capital, see the Christmas lights, do some Christmas shopping, and enjoy the French food.

Or is it?

The travel has been free for three days now. On day one I wondered if it was the cold weather. I arrived at work and heard my boss complain of a bad throat (avoid him, I thought). Then a colleague suggested it was the pollution.

Yes, he agreed. Most likely now it is so bad.

I asked my colleague if that is why the transport was free. Exactly, he replied. This has happened before in an attempt to get cars off the road.

I saw that only even numbered car plates were being allowed on the road. So when the transport was again free the second day I checked the cars to see if odd numbers were circulating.

Odd, even, even, odd, even, odd, odd.

Perhaps I live and work too far out from the center of town.

Day three and I pick my way through the gridlock of cars, busses, and lorries that are stuck at a crossroads. There are vehicles going nowhere in all directions.

The bus was packed too and my boss has just arrived after 2 hours in a jam.

Because pictures of static busses are uninteresting, here is a picture I took as I walked rather than waited in the cold for a crowded bus. It is an outside decoration filled with plants that you would be able to see if it was daylight.

Perhaps the still cold air is keeping the dust down and pollution up. We need some good old English rain!

The rain in Spain

So if you go to Spain you could hope for warm(er) weather. But my arrival was greeted with heavy rain (and flooding on the autoroutes) and the next morning I was greeted by damp fog. It is a good job that modern cars are dry and have heaters.

I took the car to work in the morning, with the fog lights on. Photos. But by lunchtime the cloud was on the nearby hill.

The best place for it if you ask me.

Spanish measure

I ordered my food tonight and the waitress asked if I wanted wine. I did and she came out with a bottle and promptly doubles back.

I thought I had lost the wine but she returned with s larger glass. You can see the pair here.

Here in Spain there are no official measures.

Brexit post 2017

A university based conference was organized last night to hear experts talk rationally about Brexit. It was a ticket-only event at the British Council in Paris. I got a ticket and went.

There was a business expert, a legal expert, and an expert representing international research, and therefore us all (so she said). They sought to give a balanced view from their perspectives.

It filled out a lot of detail, and otherwise generally confirmed what I suspected.

In business, nothing has yet changed and the expectation is that Britain will adapt well to whatever change results there are. Britain imports more than she exports to Europe. She needs to improve her infer structure and efficiency, but that is true anyway. Bankers will change as little as possible!

The legal perspective is that while experts are saying "no problem", there will in fact be lots of renegotiation. As usual with lawyers, so he said, there is a simple statement followed by pages of caveats. Most trade in Europe currently appends English terms and conditions.

The scientific community is likely to lose access to Horizon 2020 funding, and is already experiencing some reluctance with investors concerning British participation. EU students are likely to experience large cost increases to study in Britain and that is a concern for attracting the brightest minds. Scientists are fighting for transparent access and international cooperation and the British government is aware of the problem.

In summary, the current uncertainty is the difficulty and the sooner things are resolved the better.

During Q&A an Italian man suggested Britain was the problem. Nobody took up his point, but I am sure from an EU point of view he is right. From a British viewpoint the reverse would certainly be said.

The council building is in a great spot near the Hôtel des Invalides and the balcony afforded these great nighttime views of Paris. On the left the Hôtel des Invalides, centre picture- guess what! And to the right a distant view of Le Grand Palais.

Snacks and drinks are already consumed, so enjoy the photos (click to enlarge them).

Gâteaux Entrées

It is the midweek church meeting (ok it's Friday) and as we are in France, that means food.

They asked me to bring "gâteaux entrées". I had never heard of this but I said ok and consulted Google.

I did not like the examples in the local shop so I decided to try the recipe I found on-line. The first try on Wednesday was flat and not enough of them. I bought the topping on the way home on Thursday and tried again but with bicarbonate of soda in the flour.

Much lighter.

The Wednesday ones are in the small box for a laugh. Hopefully they will appreciate the home made efforts.

Gâteaux Entrées, by the way, are little savory starters. In this case flour, butter and cheese topped with confit de tomate.

And yes, with a little rising agent.

Snow

This morning started with rain. Quite heavy, steady, and my phone warned me it was only 4 degrees. Once on the train, at the first stop I began to notice the "rain" had taken on a white aspect and appeared lighter. The ground was still wet, but umbrellas started to go white.

By the time we passed the airport, the snow was heavy. Usually I can see the control tower and some planes behind the fields. Today it was a white-out. I knew the airport was there, but there was no evidence to confirm it.

The snow eased, and came back heavily as we journeyed. Then on the bus, everyone was packed on, cold and wet. You can see the bus in one of the photos. The other photo is the car park where I work.

Those who come by car are complaining of the time it took. All traffic going very slowly. "It was hell" one said. "It couldn't have been!" I replied and he saw the joke (too cold).

Well I will be traveling later this week and I am glad to have left several hours slack in my plans. But the forecast is warmer than today so the worst I should expect is rain.

Normal for this time of year.