Mariette pulls a fast one

The blog about our visit to Mariette got messed up by dear Blogger and co. 
So it's gone.

The Glums

Re: Les Miserables

The English name for the stage production is "The Glums". - AJW
I can believe it!

The film versions were very long for all their abbreviations so I can't imagine it on stage at all. There are so many stories on the periphery that you would probably confuse your audience in you did include them. Most of them are depressing in their concept but the book does not come across that way. Probably why it is remarkable literature.

Most of the stories are typical French romantic- terrible self-sacrifices for a lie (but they don't know that and often die in happy ignorance). And then there are the main characters who triumph despite the odds stacked against them. For the rest, all of humanity is analysed within the backdrop of "the glorious history of France"- or sometimes "inglorious".

Can't put it down once I have picked it up!

--
Terry 

Les Miserables

Terry has seen this film im the English and the French versions. The
actors are the same but the French version has more scenes than the
English (dubbed one).
Now he has read up to book 4 (but not as far as volume 2) he can
confidently report that both film versions have greatly abbreviated
it!
"I will watch the film versions with a much better understanding!" T

--
Envoyé avec mon mobile

Regards
Terry and June Westoby
Fixé +33(0)9 81 47 75 13 (à Vitry)
Mobile +33(0)6 75 91 87 71
Business email twestoby@acthom.fr
Roaming email terrywestoby@gmail.com
Skype: terry.westoby
Website www.westobyweb.com
Blog: http://westofthetown.blogspot.com/
Photos: photo.westobyweb.com

Gold into Silver

We watch TV in French here in Vitry - so please come and visit us, but don't come hoping to catch your favourite English soap - we ain't got it!
But being an Englishman I have a learned understanding of the language so that my understanding is not intuitive. I suspect what I am about to relate would appear daft to a Frenchman, but to me, who had to change it into English in my brain, it is clear as precious metal!
You have probably seen adverts in the UK for changing your gold into cash ("postal gold" I think). Well that's fair enough. But here it they say "change your gold into money". Now you may recall your French education where money in French is the same as silver. So here the slogan is:

D'or entre argent!

or to put it another way:

From Gold into Silver

Now why would anyone want to do that?

Cottage in winter

So we went down to our cottage just after the cold snap. The ice near us was 5 inches thick so I had concerns over our water and what we would find.
In the event we were delayed setting off, so it was after 1:30am when we arrived. I turned the stopcock on. A brief surge to refill the system and the dial stopped. All ok! Our neighbour, who has been here
many years, said he had never known it to freeze over, it is, so he said, far too deep down.

Half done!

But we came to paint. So next day we set too and painted the shutters front and back. Despite it being February we had a good enough day to get it done before nightfall. And the fire has made the house lovely and warm to come back into.

--
Envoyé avec mon mobile

Terry and June Westoby
Fixé +33(0)9 81 47 75 13 (à Vitry)
Mobile +33(0)6 75 91 87 71
Business email twestoby@acthom.fr
Roaming email terrywestoby@gmail.com
Skype: terry.westoby
Website www.westobyweb.com
Blog: http://westofthetown.blogspot.com/
Photos: photo.westobyweb.com

Amusing, sometimes useful, France

When you move country, there are many things (often small things) that are different. At times it can be annoying, like typing ">" instread of "." because the French keyboard has swapped these and right now I am using an English one...

But then there are the things that amuse. Like today, when I went out to catch a supermarket still open (no 24hr shopping here) so that tonight's dish had its missing ingredients. I needed 2 avocados. So great, there was a large stand of unpackaged avocados just inside the door.  "Promo" (special offer) it said, but for the promo you have to buy 3. Still 3 are only E1.49 (no euro sign on this English keyboard) so I looked to see if I could buy individuals. At the bottom of the sign it said "50cents each". Well the mathematicians among you can work out the special discount on 3 avocados! I bought 2!

Earlier today I needed to call my bank. It is the one far away that is now dormant and which I had set up to be charge free (or so I thought). I rang the number provided during office hours (no 24hr banking here either). A computer greeted me. Now its bad enough in English trying to get through the computer menus to get what you want. In France you have to know the right French phrase and understand all the options you don't want to help you select the one you do. And the computer speaks fast fluent French and wont be told otherwise. I took a deep breath.

But then it said "all you need to do is say what you want". Stunned I mumbled something. The computer ignored me and repeated the instruction adding "to consult you account, for example, just say 'je peux consulte mon compte'". I thought "what do I want?" and said "je veux parle avec quelle qu'un" (I want to speak to someone). "Ok" it said, and put me through! Brilliant! Nerve racking for us foreigners, but brilliant just the same! (And the lady who resulted, without a long wait, and no premium number, was great too. Slow and clear, patient and helpful).

But I still ended up closing the account. (You can bank for free, but then internet banking is not free- no good to me!)

For a third thing, just to complete a triplet, the French love English fruitcake. June made a quickie "boil and bake" one and took it along to her French lesson. It (the cake) wasn't a particularly good one, she told me (I have yet to find out for myself), but the French friend and her mother loved it! So June is down to make another "posh" one sometime soon. Incidentally the French margarine is quite different too, and makes lovely flaky pastry (whether you want flaky or not). Heaven knows what the difference is? We just keep on learning.....

--

Terry

Photos: photo.westobyweb.com

A ps.
I stopped and issued this blog earlier because a wonderful chicken and avocado bake turned up- all piping hot. And then I sampled the fruit cake. If it was not the best, yet there wasn't much that came back from June's visit!

Adventureousness

In theory this email should become a blog just by me sending it! If so, you may see more of these!

Whilst it is getting warmer (at last) the rivers and lakes remain frozen. No doubt it will take time to remove the several centimetres of ice that has formed over the last weeks of sub-zero temperatures.

It was -13C at its worst!
At least today the sun shone

But the warmer weather has brought us out of hibernation to some extent. We no longer need to dress up like Russians in order to survive! And June has been visiting a French lady-friend (who speaks a little English) to chat in French as a way of improving. Then last Tuesday she took the plunge and went with another French lady to a daytime church event in Chalons. This time no-one spoke English at all. Whilst she understood only a little of all that went on, she did understand enough to get the gist, and everyone said she was very brave! June said it tired her out somewhat with the need to concentrate continually. But she is up for doing it again whenever the opportunity arises!

Whilst we are still using the BBC teaching CDs (which do help) and we had adopted French TV, this is the only way forward if you want to make real progress - be adventurous!

--
Terry

Photos: photo.westobyweb.com