I may not have mentioned it but I live half way up a hill. Not a little gentle slope type hill but a f**k off steep one, that has steps going up it in places instead of pavement (think San Francisco) I also cycle home a lot and try and kid myself and everyone else who looks at me in amazement when they realize I cycle home, that it is good for my heart! Hahahaha. Though if I am trying to impress some tall, dark, good looking stranger then I may omit (or play down the fact) I live half way up the hill, not the whole way! Also the fact that the route to my place goes uphill, a flat bit, more uphill, a flat bit, a very long uphill bit, a teeny tiny flat bit, and then another uphill bit (which I live part way up).
So, enough scene setting.
Last night I was cycling home and to my astonishment I over took someone on the second uphill bit.!!!!!!!! You cannot imagine how pleased I was with myself. I cycled along the next flat bit feeling Queen of the Hill.
Then came the extremely long uphill bit and my pleasure began to turn to panic. I could hear the guy getting nearer and nearer me (his padlock was clanking against his bike frame) Was I going to let him overtake me? Oh No. Pride kicked in. So I was doing my best to maintain a steady speed up the bloody hill. With a sigh of relief I zigged off the main road (or is a zag?) and continued up the hill, thinking he would go straight on and I could slow down a bit. When I hit the teeny tiny flat bit, I realized to my horror that he had zigged as well and was still behind me. No chance of slowing down.
I went into the last uphill bit, cursing him, as this meant that I had to cycle the entire way up to my front door, rather than get off at the crossroads a few metres before and walk the last few paces because otherwise he would go past me before I reached my door and it would look like I had given up ....
So I got to my front door, a sweaty, heavy breathing mess and made a big show of getting my keys out of my bag. The man cycled past and as I was pushing my bike through the door and thinking to myself 'Got away with that, well done.' I could see out of the corner of my eye the guy getting off his bike and starting to walk up the hill.
What's the betting he was thinking to himself 'Thank god she stopped there, I'd never have made it up the hill at that pace!'?
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Summer in France
Now, I'm only really talking about Lyon here as it is probably slightly different in more touristy places but here goes...
On Friday, I walked up the hill (please note the 'up the hill', it was about 34 degrees and it is a steep hill.)to go to the local transport office - TCL, to pick up some bus timetables that I will be using a lot this summer. I arrived and the office was closed. It was only 10.30 in the morning - way to early for lunch, even a French lunch. I then noticed the sign on the door, helpfully pointing out that the office was closed. The reason given - because it was July. Not because of staff shortages, a strike, the aircon not working but because it was July (FYI it will also be closed in August too)
The annual French migration has began. For some reason everyone goes on holiday during July and August. Once the schools have closed, zoom, everyone goes. Lyon becomes a ghost town. People who can afford to, go away for the whole time or at least a month. Others make do with 2 weeks.
The first summer I was here, I was nannying for a couple who are both journalists. One of my French friends was amazed that I was not going on holiday in August because I had to work.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because the parents are working."
"Why aren't they on holiday?"
"Because they work for a 24 hour news channel."
"But why don't they go on holiday? It's August?"
"What part of 24 hour news channel don't you get?
As all the French go on holiday at the same time there is chaos on the roads and you get Red days - when you are advised to avoid the autoroutes, but everyone ignores these messages and sits in a traffic jam on the autoroute. (The one sensible thing that does happen on these days is that they ban lorries from the main roads.) You try and politely suggest to a French person that they may want to travel on a Friday or a Sunday to avoid the traffic and you get an incomprensible look and the explanation that they always travel on Saturday.
Then as everyone is away, everything closes. Transport services are reduced, libraries and other municipal services have shorter opening hours. Usually the little local shops manage it quite well and take their 2 week breaks at different times, so there will always be a bakers, pharmacy, bar etc open. Some of the larger shops remain open but suddenly shut at lunch time or earlier in the evening. Or if you are the information office of the local transport service, you close for 2 months. The 35 hour week and the fact that of your 5 weeks holiday you have to take at least two weeks together, takes some getting around. As the French go on holiday in France, I suspect the more touristy places like Corsica and Paris remain open, but I haven't been there in the summer time to find out.
There are usually several expats left as the big expat employers here are the 24 hour news channel, the RAC and the AA and Interpol. All needed throughout the year and of course the young, childless non-French have all worked out that it is cheaper to go on holiday outside of July and August!
On Friday, I walked up the hill (please note the 'up the hill', it was about 34 degrees and it is a steep hill.)to go to the local transport office - TCL, to pick up some bus timetables that I will be using a lot this summer. I arrived and the office was closed. It was only 10.30 in the morning - way to early for lunch, even a French lunch. I then noticed the sign on the door, helpfully pointing out that the office was closed. The reason given - because it was July. Not because of staff shortages, a strike, the aircon not working but because it was July (FYI it will also be closed in August too)
The annual French migration has began. For some reason everyone goes on holiday during July and August. Once the schools have closed, zoom, everyone goes. Lyon becomes a ghost town. People who can afford to, go away for the whole time or at least a month. Others make do with 2 weeks.
The first summer I was here, I was nannying for a couple who are both journalists. One of my French friends was amazed that I was not going on holiday in August because I had to work.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because the parents are working."
"Why aren't they on holiday?"
"Because they work for a 24 hour news channel."
"But why don't they go on holiday? It's August?"
"What part of 24 hour news channel don't you get?
As all the French go on holiday at the same time there is chaos on the roads and you get Red days - when you are advised to avoid the autoroutes, but everyone ignores these messages and sits in a traffic jam on the autoroute. (The one sensible thing that does happen on these days is that they ban lorries from the main roads.) You try and politely suggest to a French person that they may want to travel on a Friday or a Sunday to avoid the traffic and you get an incomprensible look and the explanation that they always travel on Saturday.
Then as everyone is away, everything closes. Transport services are reduced, libraries and other municipal services have shorter opening hours. Usually the little local shops manage it quite well and take their 2 week breaks at different times, so there will always be a bakers, pharmacy, bar etc open. Some of the larger shops remain open but suddenly shut at lunch time or earlier in the evening. Or if you are the information office of the local transport service, you close for 2 months. The 35 hour week and the fact that of your 5 weeks holiday you have to take at least two weeks together, takes some getting around. As the French go on holiday in France, I suspect the more touristy places like Corsica and Paris remain open, but I haven't been there in the summer time to find out.
There are usually several expats left as the big expat employers here are the 24 hour news channel, the RAC and the AA and Interpol. All needed throughout the year and of course the young, childless non-French have all worked out that it is cheaper to go on holiday outside of July and August!
Friday, 25 June 2010
Men and quizzes update
Yep, got my phone call this week, asking if I was going to go to the quiz "Incase they ask a question about lavender or flower arranging." I kid you not, that was the reason given as to my presence being requested.
I turned up late as I had a previous engagement at a picnic/live concert of Irish music (will talk more about this on another post). All the lads were looking terribly serious and I was immediately inundated with unanswered questions - 'Who did Jude Law marry' 'What colour do Indian brides wear?' But did have a drink brought for me.
One of the funniest exchanges was around the question 'What word now used to describe a type of French restaurant comes from the Russian word for quick?' Our sports journalist team member said 'Bistro' which was generally accepted as correct, except by the Kiwi/English teacher team member who queried the entomology of the word. The reply was "No idea but he" (a nod towards the journalist) "is Russian."
We won the box of shite again.
I turned up late as I had a previous engagement at a picnic/live concert of Irish music (will talk more about this on another post). All the lads were looking terribly serious and I was immediately inundated with unanswered questions - 'Who did Jude Law marry' 'What colour do Indian brides wear?' But did have a drink brought for me.
One of the funniest exchanges was around the question 'What word now used to describe a type of French restaurant comes from the Russian word for quick?' Our sports journalist team member said 'Bistro' which was generally accepted as correct, except by the Kiwi/English teacher team member who queried the entomology of the word. The reply was "No idea but he" (a nod towards the journalist) "is Russian."
We won the box of shite again.
Parents really shouldn't cut hair
Yesterday at work one of the children was sporting a classic 'My father wouldn't pay money for a hairdresser, decided it couldn't be that difficult and so cut it himself' haircut.
The fringe was incredibly short and lopsided.
I guess everyone has had one of these haircuts in their lifetime. If not one of these, then the closely related 'My sister/brother got hold of a pair of scissors and decided it would be fun to cut my hair' haircut.
Whilst hiding laughter I did my best "Wow, you've had a haircut!! Looking good!" attempts and as the child concerned is just three and has no idea of hair fashion, he smiled and agreed and then pointed out his new t-shirt.
I guess as the other parent there is not much you can do in case like this (except go for a No1 all over) but to have a rant and then buy a hat for the child and hope his hair grows quickly!
Let's hope that for this child/parent concerned the lesson has been learnt and won't be repeated again....
The fringe was incredibly short and lopsided.
I guess everyone has had one of these haircuts in their lifetime. If not one of these, then the closely related 'My sister/brother got hold of a pair of scissors and decided it would be fun to cut my hair' haircut.
Whilst hiding laughter I did my best "Wow, you've had a haircut!! Looking good!" attempts and as the child concerned is just three and has no idea of hair fashion, he smiled and agreed and then pointed out his new t-shirt.
I guess as the other parent there is not much you can do in case like this (except go for a No1 all over) but to have a rant and then buy a hat for the child and hope his hair grows quickly!
Let's hope that for this child/parent concerned the lesson has been learnt and won't be repeated again....
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Men and Quizzes
What is it with men and quizzes? They take it soooo seriously and often ignore a mere female in the process. Quizzes are very serious business here in Lyon and every anglophone pub has one - so from Monday through to Thursday you can go to a quiz. Some offer money prizes, others meals and drinks, others offer boxes of crap. Typically questions are asked in both French and English and I got into them as it was helping me learn French and a good way of meeting people.
The team I tend to play with is a flexible one, with different people playing each week, due to the odd nature of some of their working shifts, and generally speaking we do quite well at winning the box of crap and sometimes we win money and drinks. However it is a very male dominated team and each week there are only one or two females.
What gets me though is the way that the men talk over, ignore or completely put down suggestions from me, DESPITE sending me messages asking if I am playing the quiz that night?? Yep, I'm confused and not so vain to think that it is my stunning looks and company they want for the evening, these boys take the quiz very seriously and don't like carrying lame ducks.
Here are a couple of examples from last Thursday.
"Which hollywood actor has a pilot's license and flew his own Boeing 707 to South Africa for the World Cup this week?" I said "John Travolta" before the question had finished. My team mate who was writing the answers refused to put anything down until he heard the question in French (fair enough) but as no one had anything better and I was so quick with the answer, it was accepted.
Later there was a question on tall buildings - which they wanted to put down Empire State Building and this was where I went wrong - I suggested a possibility rather than going in with a statement. I said "Wasn't the Chyrsler building built before the Empire State?" Big mistake. it was completely ignored. (I was right). I then repeated this mistake with a question on which UN members vetoed sanctions by saying - "Oh, it could be Turkey as that would explain a headline I saw on the BBC website." The two journalists (who had not been working that day, nor it appears, been anywhere near a newspaper or the internet) went for Burma and North Korea (I was right).
I did get slight victory for the question "Which tournament started in August 2007, with a match between Tahiti and New Caledonia, which New Caledonia won 1-0." After much pursing of lips and deep frowning, especially from the sports journalist, I chipped in with "Is it the World Cup? Don't the qualifying rounds start years before?" This was initially greeted with negative comments and more frowning as they tried desperately to think of any other tournament - possibly some french DOM-TOM tournament, and probably because each week I cheerfully admit to my lack of sporting knowledge, before they admitted defeat and wrote down 'World cup 2010', as "We've got no other answer."
I guess the solution is to be the one who writes the answers on the quiz sheets, as then you have ultimate control and can put down whatever you want, which I did one week when they were debating whether it was the Jules Rimet or not. I just wrote down 'Oscar', as that was the right answer and left them bickering amongst themselves.
The team I tend to play with is a flexible one, with different people playing each week, due to the odd nature of some of their working shifts, and generally speaking we do quite well at winning the box of crap and sometimes we win money and drinks. However it is a very male dominated team and each week there are only one or two females.
What gets me though is the way that the men talk over, ignore or completely put down suggestions from me, DESPITE sending me messages asking if I am playing the quiz that night?? Yep, I'm confused and not so vain to think that it is my stunning looks and company they want for the evening, these boys take the quiz very seriously and don't like carrying lame ducks.
Here are a couple of examples from last Thursday.
"Which hollywood actor has a pilot's license and flew his own Boeing 707 to South Africa for the World Cup this week?" I said "John Travolta" before the question had finished. My team mate who was writing the answers refused to put anything down until he heard the question in French (fair enough) but as no one had anything better and I was so quick with the answer, it was accepted.
Later there was a question on tall buildings - which they wanted to put down Empire State Building and this was where I went wrong - I suggested a possibility rather than going in with a statement. I said "Wasn't the Chyrsler building built before the Empire State?" Big mistake. it was completely ignored. (I was right). I then repeated this mistake with a question on which UN members vetoed sanctions by saying - "Oh, it could be Turkey as that would explain a headline I saw on the BBC website." The two journalists (who had not been working that day, nor it appears, been anywhere near a newspaper or the internet) went for Burma and North Korea (I was right).
I did get slight victory for the question "Which tournament started in August 2007, with a match between Tahiti and New Caledonia, which New Caledonia won 1-0." After much pursing of lips and deep frowning, especially from the sports journalist, I chipped in with "Is it the World Cup? Don't the qualifying rounds start years before?" This was initially greeted with negative comments and more frowning as they tried desperately to think of any other tournament - possibly some french DOM-TOM tournament, and probably because each week I cheerfully admit to my lack of sporting knowledge, before they admitted defeat and wrote down 'World cup 2010', as "We've got no other answer."
I guess the solution is to be the one who writes the answers on the quiz sheets, as then you have ultimate control and can put down whatever you want, which I did one week when they were debating whether it was the Jules Rimet or not. I just wrote down 'Oscar', as that was the right answer and left them bickering amongst themselves.
Sunday, 30 May 2010
I was going to write about the performances in the Eurovision song contest, but, well, we all saw it....
What has been interesting is different people's (and nationalities) views on it.
The British seem to be bored by the whole thing and who can blame us when we have terrible 'poppy' entries that are quite frankly emabarassing and completely out performed by the Turkish nu-metal entry. I think the apparent lack of interest is a self defense mechanism.
An Irish friend was so happy that a trip back home would coincide with the final as he would be able to party with his friends. They all seem to enjoy the kitschness of the show.
A Swedish friend said how last year she had gone round the bars in Lyon, convinced that they would be broadcasting the competition and was disapointed in her quest.
The French girls at work have made no comment on it at all.
The commentry on the French TV was fantastic and wonderfully biased. I tuned in slightly late and so wasn't exactly sure who they were, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. From the begining they were actively telling the viewers to call their French friends in other countries and get them to vote for the French entry (which incidently had to win the prize for the most Classic Eurovision Lyrics) informing everyone it was song number 18 and the singer was 'Adorable!' Then there was a big debate on the gender of the Serbian singer and who can blame them? They were disapointed with the number of entries singing in English so gave high praise to those who sang in their own languages - especially the Portugese entry (they seemed to like her a lot), and were beside themselves when the Icelandic song contained French phrases.
One of them obviously spoke English and was translating, he did well on the prounciation of the Belgium singer's surname - Dice, though his colleague insisted on 'dix', but they both struggled with Niamh Kavanagh.
In true Terry Wogan style they moaned throughout the voting and talked about a 'Jeux Political' and everytime an obvious 10 or 12 points went to a neighbouring country it was accompanied with a 'eh voila!' Then they were in fits of giggles over one results presenter's dress, which they didn't recover from for 3 more sets of results.
For me personanlly the moment of the night wasn't Most Weird Costume - the Belarus butterflies or the Most Outrageous Use of Hair Extensions - Amenia, but seeing Graham Norton surrounded by Union Jacks. So European!
What has been interesting is different people's (and nationalities) views on it.
The British seem to be bored by the whole thing and who can blame us when we have terrible 'poppy' entries that are quite frankly emabarassing and completely out performed by the Turkish nu-metal entry. I think the apparent lack of interest is a self defense mechanism.
An Irish friend was so happy that a trip back home would coincide with the final as he would be able to party with his friends. They all seem to enjoy the kitschness of the show.
A Swedish friend said how last year she had gone round the bars in Lyon, convinced that they would be broadcasting the competition and was disapointed in her quest.
The French girls at work have made no comment on it at all.
The commentry on the French TV was fantastic and wonderfully biased. I tuned in slightly late and so wasn't exactly sure who they were, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. From the begining they were actively telling the viewers to call their French friends in other countries and get them to vote for the French entry (which incidently had to win the prize for the most Classic Eurovision Lyrics) informing everyone it was song number 18 and the singer was 'Adorable!' Then there was a big debate on the gender of the Serbian singer and who can blame them? They were disapointed with the number of entries singing in English so gave high praise to those who sang in their own languages - especially the Portugese entry (they seemed to like her a lot), and were beside themselves when the Icelandic song contained French phrases.
One of them obviously spoke English and was translating, he did well on the prounciation of the Belgium singer's surname - Dice, though his colleague insisted on 'dix', but they both struggled with Niamh Kavanagh.
In true Terry Wogan style they moaned throughout the voting and talked about a 'Jeux Political' and everytime an obvious 10 or 12 points went to a neighbouring country it was accompanied with a 'eh voila!' Then they were in fits of giggles over one results presenter's dress, which they didn't recover from for 3 more sets of results.
For me personanlly the moment of the night wasn't Most Weird Costume - the Belarus butterflies or the Most Outrageous Use of Hair Extensions - Amenia, but seeing Graham Norton surrounded by Union Jacks. So European!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)