Sacré Blue! Is that ketchup on the moustache of Astérix??

Par Toutatis! McDonalds’ latest publicity campaign - in an aim to signal the chain's eco-friendly attitude, shows Astérix, the world-famous comic-strip star and legendary defender of all things French, eating in a McDonalds restaurant! Ca alors! The presence - and let's be honest, the popularity of McDo in France is already an anathema to me, but Astérix? Is nothing sacred anymore?

We know why the French eat snails -- because they don't like fast food, of course! And having the golden arches scattered all over the beautiful French countryside is an eyesore which makes the blood boil at the best of times. But we also know that times change and eating habits too, and like the frog in the bucket of water with the slowly raising temperature, we are all guilty of calmly conforming and adjusting to those changing times. But --- Astérix? Digging into a Big Mac and fries with his merry band of lovable Gauls and with poor old Assurancetourix - as usual- cruelly gagged and bound to a tree outside -- THAT is no laughing matter!

Apparently the idea was dreamed up by Marketing Consultants BETC EuroRSCG and is part of a publicity campaign which also features ads using scenes featuring Cinderella and the serial killer from Scream. So, the question out there is what next? If this sacred comic strip loved and enjoyed and treasured by children and adults all over the world for the last 50 years,(The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959 and was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. Uderzo also took over the job of writing the series after the death of Goscinny in 1977.)can eat where no puritan gourmet would dare to even look at the menu, then are we also going to see Tintin's Milou doing an ad for dog food, many outraged Blue supporters are asking.

In a word then, could it be that one of the most redoubtable of all French national heroes, the indomitable defender of Gauls, who resists oppression thanks to his magic potions and irresistible humour, has finally dropped his guard and been beaten by a Big Mac and a Coke? Has he abandoned his beer and wild boar? Should this iconic symbol of France be used to commercialize American hamburgers? After valiantly resisting the Romans for so long, have the Americans have overcome his resistance to all things un-Gaulish?

I think not! Did we worry when Astérix went to England and drank tea? Quel horreur! Did we get concerned when Astérix went to Belgium and gorged himself on moules frites? #@!!! No! We did not because we knew this valiant little Gaul will, in the end, conquer all and come out the other side saying something like "Ils sont tous bêtes et je suis leur chef, ha ha ha!"

A few months ago, McDonalds started opening 10 prototype restaurants across America -- whose goals were to be to reduce energy and waste. The plan is apparently to eventually have these practices in all McDonalds restaurants . For instance, the Chicago restaurant is reported to use 25% less energy than your average McDonald's location and their tabletops are made of recycled milk jugs...

KeenforGreen.com reports that in 2005 McDonald's was listed as an approved business at Ceres -- a network that works to promote corporate sustainability. This was based on their energy efficiency, food resource sustainability, and "'greening' its supply chain. In an aim to become more acceptable to the McDo sceptics, McDonalds has worked with the Environmental Defence Fund for almost 20 years now. In the process they claim to have gotten rid of the Styrofoam sandwich containers, switched to unbleached bags, began using recycled materials for items like booster seats in their restaurants, and more. But, in spite of all of this, McDonalds doesn't always have a great past track record when it came to the environment. In 2006, Greenpeace accused McDonalds (and other fast food restaurants) of destroying the rainforest by feeding their chickens soy-based animal feed derived from soybeans grown in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Since then, McDonalds has worked together with Greenpeace and agreed to stop selling chicken fed on that soy.
However, last year, when they began serving sweet tea, it came in a Styrofoam cup. What's up with that, Mickey D's? You stopped serving the Big Macs in Styrofoam a long time ago!

Even in Europe, McDonalds "golden arches" against a red background are getting a makeover. The first McDonalds to "go green" (green being the colour chosen because it evokes respect..)were the one that are newly built, including a €1.4 million "flagship" restaurant in the Munich airport, and around the corner from Chateau Lalinde, there is a new 'green' McDo next to the new Bergerac Carrefour. The McCafe coffee bars, with their sleek leather-look seating, warm niche lighting and free WiFi, are a modern departure from the restaurant's old Formica tabletops, molded-plastic chairs and fluorescent lights.

There is no doubt that McDonalds has begun to make efforts to go green, but are their intentions truly altruistic or is this just green-washing? There's been a lot of debate over this on the green blogs over the past few years. At most it is to help their negative image, but at the same time, if their locations are really using 25% less energy and they're making tables out of recycled materials, is that anywhere near enough? McDonalds still does have a VERY long way to go before they can be called a truly green company. If more companies made small strides towards eco-friendliness, even if it's just to receive good publicity, it's something that will help the environment in even a small way.

Now the (lack of) nutritional value in their food? That's another story... I think I am with Astérix and Obélix all the way -- I shall be staying with a good hind quarter of a wild boar and some good mead...

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Chateau Lalinde : Home from home in the Dordogne

A French Phrase for the Day

I often refer to language on this blog. As a South African expat living abroad, I am probably more conscious of the importance of language than most of my local neighbours.

A while back I commented on the film "Entre les Murs" -- or, as you might know it under its English title "The Class".

In this article, I made this comment: In one scene there is a discussion about the meaning of the word 'honte' -- 'shame'. Each child had a different understanding of the word, depending on his or her background, religion, customs, frame of reference. The teacher -- their language teacher, tried to explain the meaning of the word and soon discovers that the real meaning does not feature in these children's lives -- their individual interpretations have completely changed the word.
This use of words and language and grammar to demonstrate and illustrate one sociological aspect after the other was brilliant. The lack of communication between generations, social strata, backgrounds is illustrated in the subtext, but it illustrates so much more -- not just the lack or difficulty of communication -- also the struggle of a fourteen year old to establish self esteem and self worth and the struggle of a caring teacher to help that process but being confined by a system of norms and mores and customs. The adults who are all well educated teachers do not understand each other but talk past each other -- how would they ever understand the uneducated youngsters who are all from a background completely alien to theirs.

I said 'As a South African' - so why should I be more aware of the importance of language in understanding my neighbours? Well, South Africa is a country where there are eleven official languages (they are Afrikaans, English, IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga), and we are very aware of how ones language is your heimat. As JMG LeClezio said: -- la langue francaise est mon seul pays, le seul lieu ou j’habite.’ : the French language is my only country, the only place that I live. To be in foreign country, as any expat will tell you, you will always be a complete outsider -- until you have mastered the language of your adopted country.
But -- it is not enough to master the language. You also have to understand the thinking of your new neighbours. You have to understand where they come from, their culture, their history, their philosophy, and yes, their sense of humour.

Let me use my French Phrase for the Day as an example: When we say "She turned her nose up at the way the French laid their table", you would immediately get the picture, wouldn't you? 'Turning your nose up' to something is just that - putting your nose ever so slightly in the air as a sign of disapproval.

(And by the way -- they do lay their table differently as they put their cutlery 'upside-down' because the family crest or initials on the silverware is always on the 'back' side of the forks and spoon handles. We have ours the other way round because our engraving is always on the 'front' side)

But, the French do not turn up their noses to show disapproval, so, if you want to translate and say Elle lui tourna le nez vers le haut à la manière dont le francais mit la table, it would be wrong and they would probably laugh at your funny way of speaking.

The French, when they show disapproval, faire la fine bouche - they 'make thin lips'-- such a descriptive way of exactly what happens, non?



faire la fine bouche
to turn one's nose up



So, next time you criticise the French, remember: don't pull up your nose at them -- you might just end up making an ass of yourself -- tu te rends ridicule/ tu te conduis comme un idiot ou un imbecile!



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Chateau Lalinde : Home from home in the Dordogne

Stories of love in the story of France

Ah! the pleasures (yes! once again!) of living in a country where culture and history and heritage all form part and parcel of the daily life and love of the people!
I had a fascinating discussion with friends this morning about the role of the women behind the men who have governed this country through the ages -- more so here in France than probably anywhere else in the world -- and mention was made of a book that records just this phenomemon, called "Histoires de l'amour de l'histoire de France".

So, when I finally got back to Lalinde, the Thursday market stall holders were all in the process of packing up and leaving, and I quickly went to look for my favourite little book stall just past the boulangerie -- and there he was, the owner of the stall, busy packing books away. "Ah! et c'est lequel livre que tu cherche aujourd'hui, ma chere?" he greeted me with a big smile. (And which book is it that you are looking for today?)

I asked him if, by any any chance, he has the 'History of love in the history of France', knowing that it is an old, old book and no longer in print and the chance of hearing of a book during a conversation and then finding that book in the weekly market of my little village, are very remote - if not impossible.

The book stall owner gave me a quizzical smile, raised one eyebrow in silent respect, put up his finger -- as one does when a light bulb goes on in your head, turned around, scratched through a box at his feet, and "Voila! First Edition, 1956, I have all three volumes for you! -- and by no chance either! " Could this happen anywhere else, I would like to know!

I am now in possession of three beautiful books on yellowing paper, bright yellow covers, black and white copper etching illustrations -- the stories of Mme de Chateaubriant (mistress of Francois I) Mme de Gramont and La Belle Fosseuse - Francoise de Montmorency (two of the mistresses of Henry of Navarre), Queen Margot (she who carried the hearts of all her dead lovers with her),La marquise de Verneuil (another mistress of Henry IV), all four of Charlemagne's concubines, Saint Louis - who went on the Crusade as his honeymoon -- in order to be with the woman he loved without the interference of his mother and others -- and the man who legalised prostitution in Paris, Queen Isabeau who had the Duke of Orleans killed when he lost his prowess as a lover - and who suggested to the Duke of Bedford that he should burn Jean d'Arc at the stake -- and Madame de Maintenon, mistress of Louis XIV, La Marquise de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, and of course, Diane de Poitiers -- who was the governess of little Henri II as a boy and then became his mistress when he took the throne (and for whom he built the beautiful Chateau de Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley)-- not an easy task when you consider that he was married to Catherine de Medici, ---- and many more fascinating stories of women who had more power behind the bed curtains than one could imagine.

And that is what is so interesting -- to track the women who stood behind the men who ruled this great country and to read about the amazing influence they played on the big and important decisions that shaped the history of France. -- What a pity then that the books stop short of the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, of Mitterand, of Chirac and ..... well, that we do not have a more up to date account of the history of love in the making of the history of France. Perhaps one day soon the fourth and fifth volumes will appear on the book shop shelves. I do hope so -- I would far rather hold another of these beautiful tomes in my hands to read about the juicy bits of history than the messy print and sordid tales of the tabloids!...

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Chateau Lalinde : Home from home in the Dordogne

Summer - time for sun and scandal - in the Dordogne

Félibrées, music evenings, summer meals on the Chateau Lalinde terrace, ducklings nestling into their mother's back, Godfrey the Goose adopted by swan parents, book launches, flowers in windows, art exhibitions under the stars, traditional music and dance in the streets, flower markets in the square, heritage and history, sunshine and blue skies ... once again summer in the Dordogne-Perigord is magic.
In France, everyone goes on holiday in July-August. Even the government is in recess. The result is a an abandon of music festivals, flower festivals, cultural festivals, traditional festivals -- and of course, in true French August fashion, a few political 'festivals' to add a little extra spice to events -- and to have something to print in the papers!

This year the scandal of the August Break was the Bettencourt/Woerth scandal: French President Nicolas Sarkozy had his time cut out to defend his beleaguered minister for labour and social affairs - and also the treasurer of Sarkozy's UMP party, who was accused by a former accountant of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt of accepting an illegal contribution from Bettencourt of 150,000 euros (189,000 dollars) for Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign. To add insult to injury -- and again almost to be expected from the modern French Court machinations, Woerth was also accused of conflict of interest because his wife, Florence, worked until recently for a company that managed Bettencourt's wealth. I defending Woerth, Sarkozy cited a report by a finance ministry investigating body that cleared Woerth of having intervened in the tax affairs of Europe's richest woman, and he advised Woerth to resign from his position as treasurer of the UMP.

Every Frenchman knew that the whole scandal was stirred up to give them something to read in the papers -- and what better to read than scandals involving beautiful heiresses, butlers' gossip, government ministers, money, sex and unpaid taxes? But, every Frenchman was also aware that the whole scandal was raked up to keep their attention away from the new reforms of the pension system. Sarkozy's government seeks to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018 - and the man in the street was not going to be happy about that. At all.
A French prosecutor conducted three separate investigations into various aspects of the scandal, including one focusing on the allegations of illegal party financing and one on tax evasion and money laundering by the Bettencourts or their advisers - while the rest of France bronzed on the beaches or walked in the mountains during the long hot summer days - and debated about the culpability or innocence of their rich and famous and of the efficacy or incompetence of their president during the long, balmy summer's evenings.

Le Chemin de St Jacques (The Camino) in Bordeaux

I have had to spend quite a bit of time in Bordeaux recently going from one appointment to another and whenever there was not a convenient tram, I walked -- ending up walking all over the city from one side to the other, and loving it. So, it was with great excitement that I noticed the bronze Camino shell in the pavements and the shell sign on the street names, and before long I was following the signs and walking the Camino all over again!
It is wonderful to know about something -- because then you recognise it when you see it. ...

- Well, that statement needs editing, doesn't it?

The official term is brand-recognition. For instance, when you have decided to buy a green car - because you know there are very few green cars on the road and want to be able to recognise and find(!) your car quickly in a large parking lot, and you are waiting for your car to arrive from the factory, you suddenly notice that every second car on the road is green! In other words, you may see an object every day but never notice it. Then, one day, someone talks about this object and you become aware of its existence. The very next time you walk past this object, you notice it immediately - as if it is the first time you have ever seen it.

Before I had walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostella and wrote a book about the experience, I had never noticed the many shell signs that are in villages, towns and cities all over Europe. Now that I have walked the 850 kilometres from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostella and followed those shells laid in pavements and roads, in walls and posts, I suddenly started noticing them everywhere -- on fence posts, on street signs in cities, on signs outside churches and buildings. They were always there, but, probably because I never realised their significance, I never registered their existence!

When next you go out your door, look out for the signs -- and let me know where you noticed them for the first time!




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Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your event

Relocation Orientation in France