Château de Beauregard near Blois (3)

Château de Beauregard near Blois (2)

Château de Beauregard near Blois (1)

Stourbridge near Birmingham : Hagley Church

Stourbridge near Birmingham : Hagley Hall (2)

Stourbridge near Birmingham : Hagley Hall (1)

Birmingham : Botanical Gardens (2)

Birmingham : Botanical Gardens (1)

Week end in London (2)

Signor Sassi was certainly up to his reputation. Incidentally they have restaurants in Leicester too.

Saturday morning we met up with my brother & niece. We watched my brother's girl-friend on TV. She was live on a BBC current affairs show. A. then came home. So it was sort of "funny" to see her on TV and 25 minutes later in blood and flesh !

My friend and I we went back to our hotel on foot through Primerose Hill, Regent Park, Baker St and Hyde Park.

I had booked tickets to go to see "Wicked" at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. It was an enjoyable musical although maybe slightly too long (see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical)

Sunday we had an other chance to see F, A & G. This time we met up at the Tate Britain to see Susan Hiller exhibition. See : http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/susanhiller/default.shtm

We had lunch the 5 of us in a cafe near Baker St. My brother and his family went back home. T. and I visited the Wallace Collection. It's really a gem. See : http://www.wallacecollection.org/

They have as well a very nice restaurant and tea room but it is so succesful you can't get in without booking ahead even for a cup of tea !

We ended up at the Lanesborough Bar at Hyde's Park Corner while outside there was a demo about all the going on in the Middle East.

Week end in London (1)

I'm spending a week end in London. My friend is arriving later on tonight but I was already there last night. I had to go to the French Consulate 1st thing this morning.

I went for lunch at "World Food Café" in Neil's Yard. It's a vegetarian restaurant and take away. Nicely freshly cooked cuisine in a friendly atmosphere. I had seen on the web that there was an exhibition on 'tattoos' at a place called "The Tapestry" on Frith St. It was a bit disappointing : only about 4 pictures... I then had a cup of tea at Princi's on Wardour St. It's in fact an Italian bakery and cafeteria. It was absolutely packed and the food , including the cakes, seems really mouth-watering...

To burn off the calories I walked down to Trafalgar Square, visited St Martin in the Fields and ended up at Somerset House. I didn't know that London Fashion Show was held there : I couldn't get in and had to content myself with the outside gallery.

Eventually I had yet an other cup of tea at the Lobby Bar on Aldwych.

Tonight we are going to dine at Signor Sassi's near Harrod's.

London, St James St Nr Covent Garden : Bridge of Aspiration

London, Trafalgar Square : 'Nelson's Ship in a Bottle' by Yinka Shonibareis

London : Cambridge Circus

Lost in Translation

In 2002 and 2003 I went to Japan 3 times . I learnt some rudiments of Japanese. That was quite handy at times as only a few people spoke English over there.

During one of my trips I was in Osaka and on my way to the railway station to catch a bullet train to Nagasaki. The hotel was minutes away from the station and I had decided to visit the neighborhood before departing. So there I was with my heavy backpack braving the crowd and avoiding the bikes (or were the bikes weaving around me ?), when I realised I had really to head for the station. I did have a map but in English, and most of the street signs where in Japanese characters. « Come on Ben », I thought, « remember your Japanese lessons and translate ! » Well ! Easier said that done ! Ah ! then came to my mind a tip I read in a guide book : « if you get lost in a City, go to find a policeman and show him your map ». I actually spoted a policeman across the street. I went to him and did as advised. He bowed to me and before I could even utter a word he pointed to me the nearest tourist attraction. I bowed back and thanked him. Tip # 2 : « don’t argue with anybody, always be grateful even if the person at the other end of the conversation misleads you ! »

By then I was begining to panic. I had booked on a train and someone was actually expecting me at the other end. I will spare you with the details of how complicated it would have been to change the ticket and to contact my host to be, in Nagasaki. All those people around me were probably thinking that I was a mad man, because in Japan, even if you have nothing to do you always have to be on the move, to look like you’re preoccupied and busy. And I was standing there, in the middle of a crossroad, my bagpack atrociously heavy…

Then a miracle occcured. A gentleman appeared from nowhere asking me in perfect English if he could be of any help. I explained my predicament and very kindly he walked with me to the station which was just 200 yards away. I bowed very low and thanked him profusely. He bowed back even lower and wished me a good trip to Nagasaki.

Song from « Looking everywhere » by Gershwin

Looking everywhere, haven’t found it yet

You’re the big affair I cannot forget

Only place I’ll ever think with regret

I’d like to be in Osaaka again

Tell me, where is the station for this lost lamb.

There’s a somebody I’m longing to see

I hope that he, turns out to be

Someone who’ll show me the path

I’m a little lamb who’s lost in Osaka

I know I could, always be good

To one who’ll watch over me

Although he may not be the man

Some boys think of as helpfull

To my heart he carries the map

Won’t you tell him please to show me the way

Follow the tracks,

Oh, how I need someone to get me on this train

Someone to drive me to Nagasaki…

My Ashby Years (4)

The following June I was invited at a wedding in Orléans so I decided to go back and terminate my job in Burton. I had done what I wanted to do : spend sometimes in England to be able to be raisonably fluent in English. I wanted to carry on in the catering trade but maybe as a hotel receptionist. Easier to be said that done and I thought in the meantime I would stick being a restaurant waiter. I applied in several nice places. I even did a couple of trials. I suppose it’s still the case nowdays : you are employed for one shift and straight afterwards they tell you if they offer you the job or not. Basically the restaurateurs didn’t like the fact that I had been initially trained in the U.K. and not in France. Then the Job Centre suggested I’ll go back to work in England. But they said my English wasn’t good enough and most positions were in London. I didn’t want to go to London. I wanted to go back in the East Midlands.

By then 4 months had passed. I went back to square one : packed the car with everything except the sink and went to stay at Mark & Julie’s B & B. On the 10th day I had found a job 5 minutes walk « from home » in a recently refurbished posh hotel-restaurant, The King. The maître d’O was Italian. We were only a few staff and we had to do the washing up as well as the waitering. It was very quiet. In fact dead boring.

One morning I was on breakfast and the chef didn’t turn up. The only customer had to open for me from the inside and I had to wake up the manager to get a cooked breakfast !

Nevertheless I think this job lasted nearly 2 months until they sacked me for « economic reasons ».

I'm going to be a Sound & Light Operator !

Last Tuesday with the Theater group (see 2/02/11 post) we had an audition on the play which is going to be produced at the end of May : Copenhagen (see :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_%28play%29) I was not a candidate but afterwards the production manager asked if I wanted to be in charge of sound & light ! They will train me.

Talk on advising parents how to prepare their teenage children for a study programme in Nottingham

To start with let me tell you that Nottingham is a great City for your children to study in. I have met several former French students who had only good memories from the time they spent in Robin Hood’s place. And also Nottingham is as safe as any European City.

I think the most important point to get across to your sons and daughters, is to mix as much as possible with British people. Suggest to them to join « Meetup ». See www.meetup.com/nottingham; the French equivalent being « On Va Sortir ». It’s a nice way to go out with people from different back -grounds.

Living in England can be quite costly, especially with the pound being stronger than the euro, but saying that Nottingham offers a lot of different discounts for students even in some pubs. And some art exhibitions are free. A good idea as well, if your children like the theater and the cinema, is to become a member at the Playhouse Theater and the Broadway Cinema. They are vibrant places with high quality shows.

That’s , in a nut shell what I had to tell you tonight. But I’d be happy to try to answer any questions you may have. However I’d like to give you a final piece of advice : just before your son or daughter set off from home, introduce discretely in their luggage, yes, even in your daughter’s, a couple of condoms.

My Ashby Years (3)

I was discovering a new trade and I quickly enjoyed it. It was certainly hard work. And long hours too. When we were working on Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner we used to say : Bloody Long Day ! The Duck had a nice family atmosphere . Most employees had been there for quite a while and everybody was showing me the ropes very kindly and patiently. To me serving in a restaurant was like being on stage : you have to behave and look happy in front of the customers but once you go behind the scene almost everything goes . And we did have fun !
Thanks to the Ashby twinning association I had made a few friends. I was spending most of my spare time going round to visit them. I joined the Rotaract in Swadlincote. It's like the Rotary but for young adults. At the time it was mainly a social club. We were meeting in the chalet of the artificial mini ski resort.
I came across the LGCM (Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement). I was not interested about the religious aspect but they had quite a few different activities : afternoon teas, outings, folk dance. This last item was particularly enjoyable : we were practicing line dancing (Scottish, Irish...). We were mainly men so the one who were playing the role of ladies were wearing pink stripes ...
Otherwise nobody knew I was gay. That wasn't very easy at work as everybody was talking about sex one way or an other.

Yet a new activity !

I've decided to go back to be involved in a amateur theatre group. They have already planned most of this year productions so I might only go on stage in July. In the meantime I'm hoping to give them a hand behind the scene. See : http://www.wbds.org.uk