Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Friday 11 November 2005
On arriving back in France, in fact on first seeing the hotel TV at Nice, we became aware of rioting going on in Paris suburbs, and as the days wore on, in the suburbs of many large French cities. Although these seemed to have started in the department of Seine Saint-Denis, they were not in Saint-Denis itself, and we personally have not seen anything of them, as they are mostly in housing estates with large tower blocks. But we have received several e-mails from friends and family asking if we are all right! And we have watched much TV news coverage, and televised messages by Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. I was interested to know whether the chorale concert scheduled for last Saturday 5 November in a church in Stains had taken place, as it is an area only a short bus ride from here, and one of the places the rioting started. We were due to go in cars, those with them giving lifts to those without, and I couldn’t have imagined people would have been happy to leave parked cars there for several hours during an afternoon and evening. When I went to the rehearsal yesterday evening, it certainly seemed that the concert had been cancelled – which from my point of view was good, as I hadn't missed it! Whether or not it will be rescheduled apparently depends on the priest. Anyway, we are rehearsing now for the "Téléthon", a fund-raising event on 3 December which I shall miss as it is the date we go to see Casse Noisette (Nutcracker) and last night sang the same popular song as before; and a new negro spiritual. I still haven't filled in any kind of official fiche, or been asked to pay anything. There is talk of learning some choruses from West Side Story, which will tax their English pronunciation a little more than the spirituals, but this may not be until the spring, by which time I shall unfortunately probably not be with them, but spending more time in La Neuve-Lyre.
Talking of which: I have received a message from Abels saying they can deliver my furniture on 22 December, as a part-load as agreed. We have been in e-mail contact with Mme V and the agent at Conches, to try and agree that the date for the signature will be the 20th; Mme V is in agreement and M Urset the agent says that should be fine, but that it may not be able to be confirmed until 8 or 9 December.
Otherwise, since coming back we have been doing all the usual coming back things: catching up with correspondence, washing, cleaning, food shopping, and just pottering, of which we seem to do a lot. Last Sunday lunchtime we attended the Fête de Vins here in Les Ursulines (the former convent in which the apartment is situated).This event was formerly La Fête du Beaujolais Nouveau, but has been brought forward a few weeks because the weather was usually very cold. It takes place outdoors in the courtyard; there is a large quantity of barbecued meat and other things to eat apart from the wine, and traditional music in the shape of a street entertainer complete with barrel organ, complete with books of words for those who didn't know all the songs. Participants were asked to bring other dishes, and I made an Italian pepper salad which I was told had been "beaucoup apprecié", gratifying, even though it turned out I was one of the few who had brought anything. There was a good sized crowd, including a neighbourhood cat and dog who were especially interested in the meat, cooked and uncooked. I had hoped to get to know a few neighbours during the course of this event, but don't seem to have made much progress.
On Tuesday a man came to service the boiler (and will return next week with an expensive spare part) and on Wednesday we went into Paris for the first time since coming back, to see an exhibition called Vienna 1900, of paintings by Klimt and three others, at the Grand Palais. It involved a lot of standing around, queuing for almost an hour to get in, queuing for tickets, and then afterwards queuing for lunch, in the Ladies and at the cash desk in the gift shop. The part in the middle was well worth it though; many unusual and beautiful paintings, most of which we did not know. Afterwards we walked all down the Champs Elysées towards the Place de le Concorde, along the Rue de Rivoli, past Palais Royal to the Grande Poste by the Louvre, which is where N always stocks up on stamps. He then went home, and I went back towards the Avénue de l'Opéra, where I spent a long time in Monoprix, one of my favourite shops, which I have not visited since arriving in September, buying a very attractive casual black jacket. Feet needed resting a long time after all this walking.
Today is a jour de fête (public holiday) as it is Armistice Day. I remember from living here before that November is a good time of year with two days' holiday (1st and 11th) which if you are lucky means two holiday weekends. A bit better than in Britain, where apart from school half term, there are no holidays between August Bank Holiday and Christmas. There are only the first signs of Christmas now, one or two shops in Nice, and the odd advert on TV; much later than in Britain.
Saturday 12 November 2005
This morning the piano tuner came, and the piano now sounds much better. N had been playing in the evenings while I got dinner ready, very enjoyable but now even more so.
Mme V has sent us some useful reading material on La Neuve-Lyre, including practical addresses for shops and services, and details of local things to visit.
I have found a second hand clothes shop here in Saint-Denis, which I have visited for the first time. I was able to have a good look round without needing to speak to the proprietress who was engaged in an argument with a young African woman over the price of a Moschino handbag, all the time I was there.
I have also been making cakes using cake mixes as at the moment I don't have my cake recipes or cake tins here with me. I am limited to those needing a cake tin the size of the only one N has: 24 cms diameter. The first one was a complicated lemon/pine nut custard cake, bought it Italy, complicated linguistically and in method, but very good. I have just made a simpler French chocolate one.
This evening we are going to the opera at Bastille, to hear Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. I think it was last June when the date was fixed, it seemed such a long time away, but 12 November has finally arrived. When N sent the confirmation by e-mail, I was amazed at how much it had cost, and e-mailed back "Quel prix!" His message came back: "Quel opéra!"
Sunday 13 November 2005
The opera was wonderful. Very long; it started at 6.30 so we left the house at 4.45 after a large lunch and early afternoon tea. It was in three acts, with two intervals, the first one of 45 minutes to allow time for a little supper. It was a fairly controversial production including a background video, which we had originally wanted to see on my birthday last May but was sold out, and on Radio 3 last summer and here on Radio Classique recently I have heard interviews with the producer of the video. The costumes and the set were very simple and black, and the video was like a cinema screen behind, showing sometimes sea or forest, and sometimes alter egos of Tristan and Isolde. This meant there was a good deal to look at; switching constantly between the screen, the singers and the surtitles above, not to mention the orchestra, superbly conducted by Valery Gergiev. As always, the audience are as interesting as the performance, if not more so, and kept us interested during the intervals. It was due to end at 11.15 but overran, and we got home at about 12.30. It always amazes me that the metro is full of people at that hour.
Tuesday 15 November 2005
N has not been at all well today, having taken a (prescribed) drug to see its effect, and one which he won't be taking again in a hurry. He has been very dizzy and mostly asleep. This means that I have had a quiet day, apart from dealing with the man coming to mend the boiler, and taking a phone call from my notaire's secretary to confirm my address; but it seems all is going smoothly, and the signature for the house sale will be on 20 December at the very latest. It also means that I have been able to do a lot more reading than usual; I am still very much enjoying Il Disprezzo by Alberto Moravia, which wasn't the film I thought it was, but have recently realised is the source of the Jean-Luc Godard film Le Mépris, also seen at the Arts in Cambridge (not surprising as it's the same word; scorn) but with quite a different slant. Even more exciting was the fact that I found that Le Mépris is showing in an obscure little cinema in Paris; if that's still the case when I've finished the book, I shall go and see it again. I think this is the first Italian novel I have been unable to put down, and look forward to reading more Moravia, when I can unpack my books. (Also can't help wondering how many other students in my Italian university class are still reading in Italian…..) Then I must get back to reading War and Peace, (in English!) which was going very well before I started on Il Disprezzo. I thought there was going to be a lot more time for reading once I got here, but we seem to spend so much time talking, and watching interesting videos. The latest one is all about Brussels and the history of the Belgian royal family, but must we confess to having watched several Inspector Barnaby episodes in French, aka Midsummer Murders. N's theory is that once having left England, it's necessary to see English villages. I prefer Morse and Oxford, though.
On arriving back in France, in fact on first seeing the hotel TV at Nice, we became aware of rioting going on in Paris suburbs, and as the days wore on, in the suburbs of many large French cities. Although these seemed to have started in the department of Seine Saint-Denis, they were not in Saint-Denis itself, and we personally have not seen anything of them, as they are mostly in housing estates with large tower blocks. But we have received several e-mails from friends and family asking if we are all right! And we have watched much TV news coverage, and televised messages by Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. I was interested to know whether the chorale concert scheduled for last Saturday 5 November in a church in Stains had taken place, as it is an area only a short bus ride from here, and one of the places the rioting started. We were due to go in cars, those with them giving lifts to those without, and I couldn’t have imagined people would have been happy to leave parked cars there for several hours during an afternoon and evening. When I went to the rehearsal yesterday evening, it certainly seemed that the concert had been cancelled – which from my point of view was good, as I hadn't missed it! Whether or not it will be rescheduled apparently depends on the priest. Anyway, we are rehearsing now for the "Téléthon", a fund-raising event on 3 December which I shall miss as it is the date we go to see Casse Noisette (Nutcracker) and last night sang the same popular song as before; and a new negro spiritual. I still haven't filled in any kind of official fiche, or been asked to pay anything. There is talk of learning some choruses from West Side Story, which will tax their English pronunciation a little more than the spirituals, but this may not be until the spring, by which time I shall unfortunately probably not be with them, but spending more time in La Neuve-Lyre.
Talking of which: I have received a message from Abels saying they can deliver my furniture on 22 December, as a part-load as agreed. We have been in e-mail contact with Mme V and the agent at Conches, to try and agree that the date for the signature will be the 20th; Mme V is in agreement and M Urset the agent says that should be fine, but that it may not be able to be confirmed until 8 or 9 December.
Otherwise, since coming back we have been doing all the usual coming back things: catching up with correspondence, washing, cleaning, food shopping, and just pottering, of which we seem to do a lot. Last Sunday lunchtime we attended the Fête de Vins here in Les Ursulines (the former convent in which the apartment is situated).This event was formerly La Fête du Beaujolais Nouveau, but has been brought forward a few weeks because the weather was usually very cold. It takes place outdoors in the courtyard; there is a large quantity of barbecued meat and other things to eat apart from the wine, and traditional music in the shape of a street entertainer complete with barrel organ, complete with books of words for those who didn't know all the songs. Participants were asked to bring other dishes, and I made an Italian pepper salad which I was told had been "beaucoup apprecié", gratifying, even though it turned out I was one of the few who had brought anything. There was a good sized crowd, including a neighbourhood cat and dog who were especially interested in the meat, cooked and uncooked. I had hoped to get to know a few neighbours during the course of this event, but don't seem to have made much progress.
On Tuesday a man came to service the boiler (and will return next week with an expensive spare part) and on Wednesday we went into Paris for the first time since coming back, to see an exhibition called Vienna 1900, of paintings by Klimt and three others, at the Grand Palais. It involved a lot of standing around, queuing for almost an hour to get in, queuing for tickets, and then afterwards queuing for lunch, in the Ladies and at the cash desk in the gift shop. The part in the middle was well worth it though; many unusual and beautiful paintings, most of which we did not know. Afterwards we walked all down the Champs Elysées towards the Place de le Concorde, along the Rue de Rivoli, past Palais Royal to the Grande Poste by the Louvre, which is where N always stocks up on stamps. He then went home, and I went back towards the Avénue de l'Opéra, where I spent a long time in Monoprix, one of my favourite shops, which I have not visited since arriving in September, buying a very attractive casual black jacket. Feet needed resting a long time after all this walking.
Today is a jour de fête (public holiday) as it is Armistice Day. I remember from living here before that November is a good time of year with two days' holiday (1st and 11th) which if you are lucky means two holiday weekends. A bit better than in Britain, where apart from school half term, there are no holidays between August Bank Holiday and Christmas. There are only the first signs of Christmas now, one or two shops in Nice, and the odd advert on TV; much later than in Britain.
Saturday 12 November 2005
This morning the piano tuner came, and the piano now sounds much better. N had been playing in the evenings while I got dinner ready, very enjoyable but now even more so.
Mme V has sent us some useful reading material on La Neuve-Lyre, including practical addresses for shops and services, and details of local things to visit.
I have found a second hand clothes shop here in Saint-Denis, which I have visited for the first time. I was able to have a good look round without needing to speak to the proprietress who was engaged in an argument with a young African woman over the price of a Moschino handbag, all the time I was there.
I have also been making cakes using cake mixes as at the moment I don't have my cake recipes or cake tins here with me. I am limited to those needing a cake tin the size of the only one N has: 24 cms diameter. The first one was a complicated lemon/pine nut custard cake, bought it Italy, complicated linguistically and in method, but very good. I have just made a simpler French chocolate one.
This evening we are going to the opera at Bastille, to hear Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. I think it was last June when the date was fixed, it seemed such a long time away, but 12 November has finally arrived. When N sent the confirmation by e-mail, I was amazed at how much it had cost, and e-mailed back "Quel prix!" His message came back: "Quel opéra!"
Sunday 13 November 2005
The opera was wonderful. Very long; it started at 6.30 so we left the house at 4.45 after a large lunch and early afternoon tea. It was in three acts, with two intervals, the first one of 45 minutes to allow time for a little supper. It was a fairly controversial production including a background video, which we had originally wanted to see on my birthday last May but was sold out, and on Radio 3 last summer and here on Radio Classique recently I have heard interviews with the producer of the video. The costumes and the set were very simple and black, and the video was like a cinema screen behind, showing sometimes sea or forest, and sometimes alter egos of Tristan and Isolde. This meant there was a good deal to look at; switching constantly between the screen, the singers and the surtitles above, not to mention the orchestra, superbly conducted by Valery Gergiev. As always, the audience are as interesting as the performance, if not more so, and kept us interested during the intervals. It was due to end at 11.15 but overran, and we got home at about 12.30. It always amazes me that the metro is full of people at that hour.
Tuesday 15 November 2005
N has not been at all well today, having taken a (prescribed) drug to see its effect, and one which he won't be taking again in a hurry. He has been very dizzy and mostly asleep. This means that I have had a quiet day, apart from dealing with the man coming to mend the boiler, and taking a phone call from my notaire's secretary to confirm my address; but it seems all is going smoothly, and the signature for the house sale will be on 20 December at the very latest. It also means that I have been able to do a lot more reading than usual; I am still very much enjoying Il Disprezzo by Alberto Moravia, which wasn't the film I thought it was, but have recently realised is the source of the Jean-Luc Godard film Le Mépris, also seen at the Arts in Cambridge (not surprising as it's the same word; scorn) but with quite a different slant. Even more exciting was the fact that I found that Le Mépris is showing in an obscure little cinema in Paris; if that's still the case when I've finished the book, I shall go and see it again. I think this is the first Italian novel I have been unable to put down, and look forward to reading more Moravia, when I can unpack my books. (Also can't help wondering how many other students in my Italian university class are still reading in Italian…..) Then I must get back to reading War and Peace, (in English!) which was going very well before I started on Il Disprezzo. I thought there was going to be a lot more time for reading once I got here, but we seem to spend so much time talking, and watching interesting videos. The latest one is all about Brussels and the history of the Belgian royal family, but must we confess to having watched several Inspector Barnaby episodes in French, aka Midsummer Murders. N's theory is that once having left England, it's necessary to see English villages. I prefer Morse and Oxford, though.
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 6:08 PM 
