Lunch In Entrevernes

[poliphilo]

We went shopping. The music coming over the speaker system in the supermarket was mostly English language drek. I noted Rod Stewart and Bonnie Tyler. I've been coming to France for nearly 50 years and in that time I've watched it grow notably less French. When I was a kid I was told you were taking your life in your hands if you addressed a French person in English.These days most of them are only too willing to try out their language skills on you. My conversational French is passable, my grammar lousy and I have a fairly large vocabulary. Most of the conversations I had featured me talking in French to a French person who replied in English. The world grows smaller, more homogenous. I think this is bound to happen- and that if we want to be fit to mix in planetary society it's important it does happen. All the same, I would have preferred Trent or Brel or even Chevalier to Rod.

We bought picnic food and took it up into the mountains. At the village of Entrevernes the road gave out so we pulled into the car-park and ate. The local cider- 99 cents a bottle- turned out to be exceptionally good.
 






The mountain is called La Tournette.

Comments

[aellia.livejournal.com]

I've really been looking forward to your holiday posts.
Thanks for sharing the beautiful scenery
x

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. That's quite a bit more to come.

[aellia.livejournal.com]

Oh,good!
Is this where they are doing all the space stuff?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You mean CERN?

No CERN is about an hour's drive away- on the outskirts of Geneva.

[aellia.livejournal.com]

Did you go there?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We did- but not not underground. They do run tours but they're not wheelchiar-friendly.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

The French have certainly become more open to other languages. The Parisians, not so much.

I never tire of mountain scenery. I am always drawn to how clouds seem to cling to the peaks.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We've seen a lot of mountain scenery over the last week or so.

[sovay]

All the same, I would have preferred Trent or Brel or even Chevalier to Rod.

For their free skate on Monday, the French ice dancers Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder skated to Jacques Brel's "La quête"—his translation of "The Impossible Dream," from L'homme de la Mancha (1968). It was awesome.

Thank you for all of these photographs.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I didn't know Brel had done that.

I love French chanson.

[sovay]

I didn't know Brel had done that.

He did the entire musical. I'll send it to you, if the e-mail address I have for you is still accurate. It's very good.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'd like that.

[sovay]

Thank you. I'd like that.

You should have the e-mail by now; if it went astray in your spam filter, I'll try again.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's arrived. Many thanks. Now I need to get my headphones out.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

Yummy Yummy! I pine for the Alps. I haven't been there since I was a kid.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

This is my third visit to the Alps. Even when you sort of know what to expect very high mountains take your breath away.