Monthly Archives: June 2004
Blessed silence
One thing I will really miss about France is the blessed silence. It’s been several months since I had to overhear other people’s conversations. The last time this happened we were on a train between Derby and Sheffield when an obese office admin from Brighton regaled the entire carriage with a one-sided phone conversation about [...]
Wilting
I don’t know whether it was a bumble bee or a bluebottle, but whatever it was that just buzzed past the window, it was the size of a sparrow.* It’s so hot here today I’m wilting on the sofa. Maybe it will be cooler on the seafront. J., who is in the UK this week [...]
Coeur de boeuf
The old woman next door is watering her cats again. She has four or five cats and is constantly calling them to the back door for treats – “kittieees-kittieees-kittieees”, she sounds like the call of a bird. She doesn’t see too well and when she gets the hose out to water the plants, her beloved [...]
War. What is it good for?
Do you ever feel like we’re standing on the brink of a cliff looking over the edge into something ghastly? Something like the valley of the shadow of death, something like German people must have felt when Hitler came to power? Lately I have been feeling this feeling more and more. I see the brash [...]
Grass Pollen, Olives, and Foie d'Agneau
Grass pollen allergy season has hit at last, and whilst my allergies aren’t as extreme as previous years, I’m still suffering with sinus pain. It’s hot now too, and at seven thirty at night I’m sweating a little still. I went for a walk earlier to try to clear my head. In between ogling designer [...]
Lake Geneva
This weekend we went to Geneva. A little background: Geneva is in Switzerland, just over the other side of the Alps, and only 40 minutes from here. Think Heidi, Saint Bernards with barrels of brandy attached to their collars, flowering meadows of lush green grass, goats, Swiss chalets and snowy Alps. Well, that’s the stereotype [...]
