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French writers, part 5. Victor Hugo. Great French men.

I wasn’t going to write anything about Victor Hugo, judging him to be sufficiently well-known, but this morning something on the internet made me change my mind.  It was a discussion about theatre and somebody had stated:-  “les Miserables“, meaning “the miserable ones”   It does not.  Les miserables means “the poor”.  And that in […]

Posted 12 years ago

French writers, part 4. Voltaire. Famous Frenchmen.

A few million years ago, when I was a student, I read “Candide”.  I can’t remember whether I read it in French or in English, but I do remember commenting that I thought it was a really stupid story, and getting in to considerable trouble with my Voltaire-loving lecturer.  I started leafing through some Voltaire […]

Posted 12 years ago

French writers, part 3. Rousseau. Famous Frenchmen.

We tend to think of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1844-1910) as French, but he was Swiss.  Indeed, he signed his books “Jean Jacques Rousseau of Geneva”.  However, it was in France that he became a writer and thence became famous. Rousseau’s early years. His mother died a few days after his birth and the first ten years […]

Posted 12 years ago

History of France in snippets. French writers, part 2. Moliere.

I must say I don’t go over board about writers of this era, either in France or in Britain.  I’m not very keen on the heavily-flowered vocabulary or the heady innuendo of the Grand Siecle and, although I daresay the quips and double-entendres are very clever, they always leave me feeling somewhat blank. For the best […]

Posted 12 years ago

We cannot prevent people from having children …

. Tenants, France 2009. Some years ago we had a tenant in one of our flats, a young chap of 19, named Pierre-Anton.  Or it might have been Pierre-Antoine. I can’t remember. He moved in to the flat with his girl-friend, a weighty young lady of about the same age and named Corinne.  Both were […]

Posted 12 years ago

French writers, part 1. Emile Zola. Famous French people.

I read “La Terre” when I was at University.  I remember it partly because it is a very good book, haunting and hard-hitting.  I remember it also because the lecturer one day, during a discussion near the start of the book, blurted out somewhat loudly : ” … so you see, he preferred to ejaculate […]

Posted 12 years ago

Myths and legends from this part of France, part 3.

The coastal area here, like coastal areas all over the world, was subject to raids and piracy, lootings and pillaging for many centuries. One day some Spanish ships anchored off shore and the sailors came on land and raped and murdered the people and stole their possessions.  They then sailed away in to the night, […]

Posted 12 years ago

Myths and legends in this part of France, the Charente Maritime; part 2.

There is a forest nearby, called La Foret de Combot.  It was once inhabited by two sisters.  One of the sisters was called Elea, and she was very beautiful and local people called her the Fairy of Combot.  The other sister, Sylvine, was very ugly and in no time was dubbed the Witch of Combot. […]

Posted 12 years ago

Myths and legends in this part of France

Once upon a time four handsome, strapping young lads were teasing a young girl.  She was small for her age and not very strong, and as she and the four boys made their way through their daily chores with the fishing nets, the girl stopped to rest frequently.  The boys found it funny, flexed their […]

Posted 12 years ago

Bird sanctuary

Yesterday we went for a walk in the bird sanctuary at Moeze, some fifteen minutes’ drive from us.  It was a lovely bright spring day, a bit on the chilly side in view of the mild weather we have been having, but very pleasant nonetheless.  This is the time of year to see the migrating […]

Posted 12 years ago

Books now available on Amazon:

A Call From France
French Sand
Kefani: An African Childhood
The Man With Green Fingers
Saying Nothing