RESOLVED

I'm not really one for resolutions just because it's new year but I've been thinking recently and wondering if I can take some little steps towards being a better person. So, in this 'on the eve' spirit, I will try very hard:
- not to do everything, right now, all at the same time, immediately;
- to do more yoga;
- to eat more sensibly and not survive just on apples and michokos.

Happy New Year!

THE PANTHEON

On a hill in the midst of the Sorbonne there stands the Panthéon where a grateful French nation lays to rest some of its illustrious men like Rousseau, Hugo and Braille (only one woman, who is not even French). It is an interesting, yet crumbling, building which used to be a church dedicated to St Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. The white, suspended, things you can see amongst Foucault’s pendulum are part of an exhibition which attempts to contrast the starkness and coldness of the Panthéon (and the ‘gods’ contained within its walls) with the tangible ‘life and animality’ of the Leviathan god represented. Personally, I prefer the Panthéon in all its full emptiness.

LA MAIN

Well, I've been out and about (the weather has warmed up a little although mittens are still needed) mingling with the masses of tourists here in Paris (what are they all doing here?) and I can’t tell you how excited I was to see that there is going to be an exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay dedicated solely to hands next year! It means that I am not the only person with a ‘thing’ for them! Suddenly, I feel less alone!

PARIS AGAIN

After what seems like a whirlwind celebration of Christmas, here I am back in Paris, where I can tell you it is wintry-hot-water-bottle-weather-hat-and-mittens cold. And yet those leaves on the tree outside my flat are still clinging tenaciously to those branches.

CHRISTMAS EVE

© stade.fr

Christmas Eve seems much more magical to me than The Day itself and especially so when Stade won their last match of the season yesterday 41-0! (even if Mirco and Mauro weren't playing.) And also especially so when you've had lots of fun partying with special people, although I have to say I’m disappointed to report that there was not nearly enough strutting of funky stuff (are you taking note, "Mr. Soulmate-Snake Hips”? ;p ) Anyway, Happy Christmas!

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHANNEL

© nationalgallery

So, here I am back on English soil and with a little bit of time to tell you how I have been enjoying myself since returning home before disappearing again briefly for the Christmas period. Thursday was the winter solstice, one of my favourite days of the year since it seems to be a day especially meant for contemplation and it also means that the days will henceforth be longer. I spent the day enjoying the delights of London and in particular the very interesting Velázquez exhibition (see above). And yet, somehow, I still prefer Paris and the Louvre ..

CHRISTMAS: NOTRE DAME

Today, I’m heading off back to England, so I’ll leave you with one last seasonal picture from Paris to get you in the festive mood (in case you weren’t already).

MARBLE SCULPTURE

H-CUP: ROUND 4

© ercrugby.com

So the return H-Cup match yesterday was a very different affair from last week-end’s, in fact, a good old-fashioned game of English rugby: very rainy, very muddy, very physical, with ‘truck and trail’ tactics and sometimes brutal (sometimes ‘suspect’) defending and attacking .. in any case, it didn’t work for Stade; they lost 12-6. The Independent put it thus:

“This was a remarkable victory. A victory of substance over style, but no less special for that. Stade, blessed with all the attacking potency in the world in the shape of Mirco Bergamasco, Julien Saubade and the marvellous Juan Martin Hernandez, could not begin to find a way of breaking the shackles.”

The only positive thing is that Stade managed to get the defensive bonus point which means they are still top of their Pool. The next game is in January: against Neath-Swansea Ospreys ..

NIGHT TIME: CHAMPS ELYSÉES

PREMIER AMOUR

Yesterday, the school day started very slow and tedious and I was flagging even by the second hour. However, I was amazingly brought back to life during the ‘vie de classe’ of the sixièmes (10 and 11 year olds) when, out of the blue during discussions about whether and how to contribute to the journal of the local primary school, two of the pupils announced that they wrote their own poetry - not for homework, mind, but for pleasure! After some hesitation, they even agreed to recite their poems in front of the whole class. They weren’t at all infantile, resembling some sort of haiku and covering universal themes of love, desire, longing, death. And thanks to beloved tutor, we managed to make the activity even more useful by translating one of them into English!

TEMPTATION

© mbergamasco.it

I don’t know if I should be admitting this to you but, while I may not have been enticed by the 'dieux' calendar, I have faltered and succumbed to the DVD ..

PETIT PALAIS

THE GIFT

Yesterday, I had an early christmas present made by the own fair hands of my talented and creative ‘artist’ friend! It’s so special that I will forgive her the fact that it is in the colours of the Biarritz Olympique rugby team ;p

MISTLETOE

© linnaeus

Trusty old Radio 4 informs me that this year has been a particularly good year for a plant I’m very fond of: mistletoe; there is a positive glut apparently. And I was very interested to see that tenbury-mistletoe are selling a ‘grow-your-own’ and even a ‘passion’ pack! But I hope you are aware that mistletoe is not just a plant under which you are supposed (some might even say obliged) to kiss, it is also a useful herbal medicine.

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND ..

It seems that while you love seeing my photos of Paris, you feel they are lacking somewhat in narrative and don't really give you a sense of what I've been up to. Go on, admit it: you missed me, didn't you?

Anyway, here I am back again to tell you all about the exciting rugby this week-end! It was the H-Cup game between Sale (English champions) and Stade (top of the French league and quite obviously the best team). The match was (almost) all you could wish for: drama, tension, Sale taking an early lead with a penalty but Stade responding with an immediate try, a score of 17-6 in Stade’s favour at half-time, Sale clambering back to a nailbiting 20-16 with an intercepted (and converted) try but finally another try and a steady boot and Stade won 27-16! And Mirco was at his tackling, attacking and defending best! Next week: the return match! Are you having second thoughts about the return of the tales yet? ;p

SF-SALE

ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE

MUSÉE D'ORSAY

NOTRE DAME

MADELEINE

LE JARDIN

A sad little story apropos the jardin des plantes: I arrived full of the joys of autumn at the entrance to the herb garden to find the gardeners digging up one of my favourite trees there (fremontodendron californicum). Imagine my distress! Apparently, unfortunately, its trunk had broken in two and so it needed to be removed for safety reasons. There is just a big hole now but luckily they allowed me to take lots of its branches as cuttings. I hope they will take ..

JARDIN DES PLANTES

LE BASILIQUE DU SACRÉ COEUR

HÔTEL DE VILLE

CONCIERGERIE

SKYLINE

CHIMERES

IMAGES OF PARIS

It occurred to me that I may be boring you all slightly with my endless wittering on about rugby and observations on queues, so I've decided to let my photos do my talking for me for a while.