PRESIDENT HOLLANDE FALLS INTO VERY HOT WATER INDEED!

President Hollande has fallen into yet deeper trouble over his choice of scooter when he visits his actress friend, Julie Gayet. A Peugeot concessionaire has written to Arnaud Montebourg, minister in charge of promoting French products. The letter starts:-

 

“Minister, it is with very great pleasure that we learned that the President of the Republic assures his personal mobility on a 3-wheeled scooter. Our joy is however slightly lessened by the fact that the presidential scooter is a foreign brand”, begins the missive. Indeed, if the Italian brand, Piaggio and its emblematic model three-wheeled MP3 are the market leader, Peugeot is now a serious competitor. Their ‘Metropolis’, released in 2013, "well-received by consumers, is sensitive to the ”Made in France” label”. The scooter was also labelled “France original guaranteed” by the association Pro France.  

 

Noting a space in the President’s personal diary on Friday, from 11 to 5, the concessionaire offers him a test ride of the Peugeot machine. They also note that all is not lost. The President has a French helmet.

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THE SHAPING OF WATER - THE COVER

This is what it will look like. Sorry I can't adjust the size!

THE CRANES, THE CRANES

The cranes have flown over, heading South on their annual migration. A frost within the week!

 

 



This is two skeins joining up over our house this week.

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THE SHAPING OF WATER - NOT INDIA, NOT YET

We have been back from India for almost a month and still not blogged it. Admittedly we had been to the UK, celebrating Ruth's birthday, meantime, but the lack of anything written on India is beginning to get to me.

 

The reason, of course, is that we have been busy with other things. The most important Other Thing has been Ruth's book, The Shaping of Water, which is now due for release in 6 working weeks. We have proof-read it twice in the past week and it should now be ready for printing, but there have been other things to be done - getting the text written for the cover, tightening up the Advance Information etc., so everything else had gone by the board. (What board is this, I wonder?)

 

I really must get better organised.

SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS

When we were at the Monfaucon (English) beer festival last Saturday night a thunderstorm blew up. We were under cover so did not get wet - outside. It has saved us watering the garden again but in the mountains it brought the first of the season's snow, as we saw on our weekly village bike ride this morning.

 

The next British beer festival is at Bétracq on 9th. November.

LES RENCONTRES DE MAUBOURGUET - a break from The Shaping of Water

Last weekend our nearest town/village (they don't seem to be able to able to make up their minds), Maubourguet, held its 24th. Rencontres - a kind of mixed arts and sport (and culture, although there wasn't much of that) festival. The sports section consists mainly of rugby and bullfighting and sports personalities are invited to attend, some as artists. There is the usual eating, drinking and fairground, which you would expect, but the main interest for us is the eating and drinking art.

 

Ruth set aside the keyboard, and thoughts of The Shaping of Water, and picked up again her trusty paintbrushes and charcoal. The main artistic activity consists of an Exhibition in the Town Hall and a Nuit des Regards in the main street. 50 or so artists - mainly painters, but with a few sculptors and a tailor for good measure (!) - are invited to install themselves under the awnings to produce a work of art over the evening and then, on the Sunday, the works are auctioned for charity, this year for two children's charities based in Toulouse.

 

Time for some pictures.......

 

The first three were taken in the Exhibition. The first shows the general scrum (!) when the artists were let in to view each others' work.

 

The second one shows Ruth's work "Harpy". And the third shows a visitor in awe of the picture.



Here is Ruth at work.

And this is the finished work, a kind of tetraptych, the wings of which are turned to show the development of human life.

 

 The auction afterwards raised over 17,000 Euros.



MY, BUT IT WAS HOT!

As you may know, I am not much of a walker - except when I am "running" paradoxically enough. However, this year I took part in my second organised walk. I walked into it backwards, so to speak.

I had been asked to help with the inscriptions for the meal which was to follow the walk and fishing contest which take place every summer in the village. I cycled up to the village hall and my general plan was to go home straight afterwards. Cowardice and a feeling of "What the Hell" meant that I allowed myself to be drawn into the walk itself.

Here are Pierre, the walk organiser, and me walking at speed and in step not far into the walk.

Here are the rest of the walkers.

Here's the fishing contest.

And here's the meal. I'd been home to collect Ruth by this time.

Apparently this July was the hottest on record.