Click on Link:
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, August 24
Saturday, August 21
The Gendarmerie in all shapes and sizes?? NOOOOO!! I want my heroes to be goodlooking, please!!
Height and weight rule axed for French police, was reported in the news last week..
Apparently height and weight requirements for police officers and other uniformed services have been scrapped. Until now officers in France needed to be at least 1.60m tall, not obese and have decent elocution -- and for us, on the other side, it was fabulous -- if you needed help, or needed to be saved, or needed directions, or needed to be protected, it was always going to be by a good looking, tall, strong, fit and well-spoken person -- as well it should be...Now the new criteria for officers will be based on their skills using firearms, eye sight, their general behaviour and a medical exam. Do I care that the man in whose strong arms I am going to be carried away from the scene of the danger has good eye sight? On the contrary - I prefer that he does not notice the wrinkles! Do I care that the hero on his 1200 BMW motorbike who is coming to my rescue when I am in distress has passed his medical exam or is in need of a new filling or can shoot straight -- or knows how to behave? Of course not! In fact, I would not mind one bit if he misbehaved just a little...
Pics: Swimmers Alain Bernard et Hugues Duboscq are both gendarmes
At the moment, the gendarmerie in France have strict politically incorrect standards in their qualifications required to join the force -- and they make no secret of the fact that they are proud of how good their uniformed officers of the law look -- they are generally what could well be termed une bonheur pour les yeux(also known as eye-candy).
"Someone who can't run 1,300m will not be accepted," says a spokesman for the Ministry of Work and Civil Servants, but the relaxed rules would "open up the administration to all French without exception
A sad day indeed when they don't look like this anymore!:
Alain Bernard et Hugues Duboscq, the two swimmers who between them won 5 gold medals in the last Olympics and have just smashed all the records again at the European Swimming championships last week, are gendarmes. Do you agree that they should all like this??
Or these two brothers, Steeve and Christophe Guénot, and then there are many more in good looking young men in the police and security forces -- such as Boris Sanson, gold medallist in fencing (sabre) and Benjamin Darbalet, silver medallist in judo, -- and of course, not to forget the good looking women, such as bronze medallist in archery, Sophie Dodemont -- to name but a few.
Click on Link:
Wednesday, August 18
More excellent offers! Learning French the easiest, the most fun, the most efficient -- the best way
Learn French - the easy and fun way!
There is only one way to learn a new language and that is to speak it! There are so many people I know who attend French classes given by people who are either not qualified to give lessons -- and I am not talking about formal teaching qualifications, but meaning that they have no idea how to teach a language. These classes are often the choice of people who wish to learn the language simply because they are free or very cheap. No one wants to go spend a few hundred Euros on language classes when you can go spend an afternoon amongst other Anglophones and have fun and chat English and learn a few now words and bits of grammar.
A second group of French teachers in this region (and probably all over France) are the English-speaking people who feel they know enough French to be able to teach others and who see French lessons as an easy and sociable way to earn a few Euros. Again, it is cheap and easy and non-demanding -- if you are happy to always keep your strong English accent and never progress further than the very basic grammar (the present, the future and the compound past tense) and the very basic conversational French that will see you right in the hardware store but won't take you into any kind of philosophical or cultural discussion -- the kind of which the French cannot live without.
And then there are the seriously good French teachers - who do not charge a measly €10 in return for a measly and worthless lesson, but who charge the going rate for properly qualified language teachers and in return give you true value for money: You learn the language -- the grammar and the idiom and the references and the background, but you also learn about the culture, the thinking, the history, the literature, the philosophy, the passions of the French people.
It is said that to learn a new language is to gain a new soul. For the French, their language is their soul. To fully understand and speak their language is to understand and be able to inter-react with the French people. As Jean Marie Gustav Le Clezio put it so beautifully when he referred to his language as his heimat, his country; ‘…c’etait ma langue, c’est-a-dire la chair et le sang, les nerfs, la lymphe, le desir et la memoire, la colere, l’amour…’ he writes. ‘… ce que j’avias respire…la langue francaise est mon seul pays, le seul lieu ou j’habite.’ : my language is my flesh and my blood, my nerves and my lymphe, desire and momory, anger and love… that which I breathe…the French language is my only country, the only place that I live.
The Aquitaine Langues School of Languages in Bergerac offer excellent, value for money language courses for people at all the levels. I cannot recommend highly enough the intensive courses that you can attend at the school and there is still time to invest some time and money in one of these before the end of the summer -- the very best investment you will have made in this upside down world of ours -- and probably the only wise and profitable investment you will have made this year!20 Sept - 1 October Beginners and intermediary I Mon-Fri 09h30-12h30 daily
4-15 October Intermediary II and advanced Mon-Fri 09h30-12h30 daily
8-19 November Beginners and intermediary I Mon-Fri 09h30-12h30 daily
22 November-3 December Intermediary II and advanced Mon-Fri 09h30-12h30 daily
Thirty hours of intensive interactive teaching, three hours per day for two weeks at only €378 all inclusive. Definitely not an offer to be sneezed at! Contact Albert Croce NOW to avoid disappointment:
Telephone: 0033 (0) 553 74 17 85
or
Email: admin@aquitainelangues.fr
At the Domaine de La Tour
769, route de Ste Alvère, 24100 Bergerac
And, if you come to the Dordogne to attend a language course at the The Aquitaine Langues School of Languages, the ideal place to stay - and continue to practise your French between classes, is of course at Chateau Lalinde!
Click on Link:
As summer starts drawing to a close, there are still great offers in the Dordogne to be had!
Le Cariol
There is something magical about an ancient chartreuse that has been beautifully restored and brought back to life...
Marthijn de Groot, renowned artist, came to the Dordogne three years ago, saw the old chartreuse, Le Cariol, fell in love with it and bought it. Over the three years, he has lovingly restored a ruin into a work of art -- attention to detail, exquisitely artistic touches and delicious little surprises, perfection and above all beauty -- that is what now awaits you when you arrive at Le Cariol.
But -- with Marthijn there is always more. A visit to Le Cariol now not only includes the pleasure of seeing some of his amazing body of work -- both paintings, ceramics and sculptures, but invariably there will be something else added to the experience -- a jazz evening, braziers with fires shooting fire fairies into the dark Dordogne night, a piano recital in the art studio, a luxurious sauna in the wellness spa down below, an after dinner drink in the pool pavilion under the stars.Marthijn and his lovely Irene now offer chambres d'hotes (B&B style accommodation -- or rental of the entire house) -- five star luxury in an ancient chartreuse -- as well as tables d'hotes -- a dinner with the two of them and the current residents with the excellent cuisine of Chef Paul, three times a week.
And -- special for the last days of summer, a fabulous offer:
A week of yoga - from 10 to 17 September, under the guidance of visiting instructor, Lilian van Dam. Attendees stay at Le Cariol and the price for the week includes three delicious vegetarian and organic meals per day, refreshments, and of course use of all the wonderful facilities. The group will be a minimum of five and a maximum of 12 -- so be quick to book your place :
Contact Irene at irene@lecariol.com
____________________________________________________________________
Chateau Les Merles
Driving up the gorgeous treed lane to the Chateau les Merles (Remember? merles= blackbirds, merlot = baby blackbird!), is a little like driving into an adventure filled with delectable pleasures and enjoyment. Not only do you know that you will eat like royalty at the table of the excellent chef, Darius -- either in the more formal La Borie Blanche (White Heather) restaurant, or in the more informal bistro, that you will drink the best of the best wines of the estate of Les Merles - or any other top wine domaines in the southwest of France -- that you can indulge in a round of golf on a most beautifully kept course, you can play tennis, enjoy the last of the summer sun around the gorgeous black swimmingpool -- but you can also get all this, if you stay at the Chateau during the months of September, October and November 2010 -- i.e. during the 'Indian Summer' of the Dordogne, at a much reduced cost -- you stay three nights but only pay for two, stay seven nights for the price of five!
What an amazing offer! Make your bookings now -- before the 15th September!
Contact: Jan & José van Grinsven
Judith Wagemakers
Château les Merles
Tuilières
24520 Mouleydier
France
tél.: +33 553 63 13 42
fax: +33 553 63 13 45
E-mail: info@lesmerles.com
www.lesmerles.com
Click on Link:
French Phrase for the day
la boucle est bouclée
=
to come full circle
Ever since I arrived in the Dordogne, I have been telling people that the reason I believe I am so totally bien dans mon peau (feel good in my own skin = at home) here, is because I have fait un cercle plein (completed the circle);
My ancestors, who were French Huguenots, left their home in 1682, boarded a tiny ship in the harbour of La Rochelle, not far from here, and sailed for South Africa. I, last in line of the last male descendant of the youngest of the three brothers de Villiers that left on that fine day in 1682, have now come back chez moi (home).
Only, every time I have made the remark, no one has corrected me and given me the correct French idiomatic expression for faire un cercle plein/complet -- to come the full circle.
Now I know -- la boucle est bouclée -- so, I suppose that means I can say that again -- finally the circle is indeed complete -- la boucle est bouclée!
Click on Link:
