Skip to main content

Language problems,

 The other day my neighbour banged on my door and asked to borrow something.  I didn't understand what she meant, so she said blanc en neige.  White on snow.  I shook my head, so she hurried back to her apartment and re-appeared with a bowl containing egg whites.  Ah she wanted a hand mixer to beat the eggs whites but blanc en neige?  Then it clicked, whites to snow.  This conjures up  something so much nicer than ' beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.'

I was trying to phone a dentist but the recorded message said they  would be closed until the 9 May so today I tried again.  Same message except 'en plus' had been added.  Does that mean it could be closed after the 9 May? I wondered.  'Mm', my neighbour said, 'it could mean anything.'  Well if the  French  don't understand it how am I supposed to figure it out?

The 9th May is Putin's excuse to show the world that he is important.  Why did every news channel show him inspecting his armed forces and weapons?  They don't normally so why give him exactly what he wants - world attention.  They should have simply ignored him and his ridiculous goose-stepping generals, or overlaid it with scenes of death and destruction being carried out in his name in Ukraine.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm Free

 After being incarcerated in my son's house waiting for the results of the day 2 test I was finally allowed out today.  I went to Chichester and was saddened by the number of familiar shops that have disappeared from the town centre.  Bognor is the same.  You wouldn't die of thirst in either town though as the number of cafes has increased.  Both town centres were busy making it difficult to keep a safe distance from others but many people were wearing masks in the street. I was pulled over by Customs in Caen.  As I opened the trunk of the car one of the officers asked me if I was carrying goods.  'Yes,' I replied, ' French Champagne and French wine'  They nodded approvingly and waved me away. During my 3 days in the house, I have cleaned, filed all their paperwork, mended the shower, cooked dinner and tried watching television, the latter being totally uninspiring.  The news consists of covid, travel restrictions, forbidden Christmas parties...
Post a Comment
Read more

D day lasts 3 days

 This morning, with my head full of things I still have to do, I got on the tram and forgot to scan my ticket.  The inspector got on 2 stops later and said I had to pay 45€ for this lapse.  Why can't I scan it now?  a reasonable question in my opinion, was met with scorn, so I  paid up.  On the tram back from the hospital there she was again and checked my ticket with glee.  While she was doing that a young man got on, sat down  and did not show any sign of even having a ticket, let alone scanning one.   The inspector passed him by without a second glance.   Today is the last day for packing and organising.  Tomorrow the removal company will arrive at 6am to take it all away and put it in storage.  Tomorrow night I will sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and Thursday I go to the hospital to be nuked for the last time.  The sleeping bag is the one that saved me from hypothermia when a friend and I were lost for ...
1 comment
Read more