Living In Montpellier

Last Friday in Nottingham : Light Night (4)

2012-02-13T07:06:00.000-08:00

Last Friday in Nottingham : Light Night (3)

2012-02-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

Last Friday in Nottingham : Light Night (2)

2012-02-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

Last Friday in Nottingham : Light Night (1)

2012-02-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

Week end in Liverpool (2)

2012-02-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday the weather was much better : dry , not so cold and no more icy pavements ! We strolled along the docks and had lunch at Malmaison. A nice brasserie. We then did the discovery Mersey Cruise. Nice views over the City but otherwise not really exiting.
Our train back was in the early evening so we ended up our stay by the Cavern Quarter. Can't go to Liverpool without a Beatles pilgrimage !

Liverpool : a cow (6)

2012-02-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : a cow (5)

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Liverpool : a cow (4)

2012-02-08T05:01:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : The Beatles (4)

2012-02-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : The Beatles (3)

2012-02-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : The Beatles (2)

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Liverpool : The Beatles (1)

2012-02-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Mersey Cruise (2)

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Liverpool :Mersey Cruise (1)

2012-02-08T04:50:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : a cow (3)

2012-02-07T09:33:00.001-08:00

Liverpool : a cow (2)

2012-02-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : a cow (1)

2012-02-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (7)

2012-02-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (6)

2012-02-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (5)

2012-02-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (4)

2012-02-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (3)

2012-02-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (2)

2012-02-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : the Docks (1)

2012-02-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Williamson Square and the Playhouse

2012-02-07T09:11:00.000-08:00

Week end in Liverpool (1)

2012-02-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

Last time I went to Liverpool was in the late 80's when I was living in Ashby. I always wanted to go back especially since it has been a European City of Culture in 2008. So last Friday evening T. and I we went on the train to this exiting place. There the weather was horrid until Saturday night : rainy ice and bitter cold - obviously. The pavements were hardly walkable. Anyway we bravely made our way along the sides of the streets 1st to the Anglican Cathedral and then to the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral after lunch. This last one should have been much bigger and in fact the crypt reflects that. See : http://www.liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk/content/Visitus/VideoTour.aspx?vidId=64
Absolutely amazing ! We had lunch next to the Metro Cat' at "The Quarter". It has a nice selection of Italian food. We ended the day at the International Slavery Museum. Very interesting. As we were staying next to Albert Docks we opted for a dinner at the exquisite and friendly "Spice Lounge".

Liverpool : Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral (4)

2012-02-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral (3)

2012-02-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral (2)

2012-02-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral (1)

2012-02-06T05:35:00.002-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral, paintings (8)

2012-02-06T05:35:00.001-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral, paintings (7)

2012-02-06T05:34:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral, paintings (6)

2012-02-06T05:33:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral, paintings (5)

2012-02-06T05:32:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral, paintings (4)

2012-02-06T05:29:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral (3)

2012-02-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral (2)

2012-02-06T05:27:00.000-08:00

Liverpool : Anglican Cathedral (1)

2012-02-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Orléans, Les Halles, rue de la Charpenterie (2)

2012-01-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

Orléans, Les Halles, rue de la Charpenterie (1)

2012-01-29T07:11:00.000-08:00

Wendy's blog : full of practical info and wise advise for your move in the Languedoc

2012-01-11T04:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.moving-to-montpellier.com/

And link on my flat for sale in Montpellier Antigone blog ! By the way I have added more photos.

New Blog !

2012-01-06T08:23:00.001-08:00

http://flatforsalemontpellierantigone.blogspot.com/

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe : 275 000 Euros (9)

2012-01-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've decided to sell my flat in Montpellier. It is free from tenants. No Estate Agents please. This is an offer from private owner to private owners.

More Info :

There is a bathroom & a separate loo

Taxes Foncieres : 1 331 Euros (i.e 111/ month)
Taxes Habitation (with TV tax) : 1 274 E (106/ month)
Co-ownership fees (Foncia) : 100 E / month - that's included hot water & central heating

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, View (8)

2012-01-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, View (7)

2012-01-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, Office (6)

2012-01-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, Master Bedroom (5)

2012-01-06T06:26:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, Kitchen (5)

2012-01-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, Lounge & Dining (4)

2012-01-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, Lounge & Dining (3)

2012-01-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe, Lounge & Dining (2)

2012-01-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

Flat for Sale, Montpellier Antigone Esplanade de l'Europe (1)

2012-01-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New year to everyone from your blogger

2012-01-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

That's how the "Carpe Diem Calendar" works : each day of the year is on a removable square starting by day # 365 on the bottom left hand side. As you can see there are already 2 squares missing. Tonight before going to bed I'll detached # 364 i.e 3d January and looking at it I'll wonder what have I done with this day... And so on until day # 1 i.e. 31st December when there won't be anything left on the calendar !
Isn't it clever ?

Carpe Diem Calendar (2)

2012-01-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Carpe Diem Calendar (1)

2012-01-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

Your blogger at a pre-Christmas meal in Paris

2012-01-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

Paris, Place Dauphine

2011-12-26T01:47:00.000-08:00

Paris, Notre Dame : Nativity (3)

2011-12-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

Paris, Notre Dame : Nativity (2)

2011-12-26T01:44:00.000-08:00

Paris, Notre Dame : Nativity (1)

2011-12-26T01:42:00.000-08:00

Paris, Charlemagne and Notre Dame

2011-12-26T01:40:00.000-08:00

Padlock incident

2011-12-19T02:44:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time I had a padlock on my suitcase and I left the key inside the luggage... So when I arrived at St Pancras International I was sort of hoping they would search my luggage... They didn't ! I asked them if they could help me. They tried to open the lock with spare keys. I said "what would have happened if you had to search the luggage ?" No answer. I then added : "surely a crook could do it..." "Oh yes" the helpful officer said "you wouldn't have noticed anything" Anyway eventually they said all they could suggest was to call "maintenance" but that it always took ages for them to come.
I caught the Eurostar to Lille. At this station I asked for some help from the staff. They couldn't (or wouldn't ?) help me. At the end I sent a text message to my friend N. in Montpellier. She had one of her student bringing a saw for me.
Now I have a padlock with combination.

Sunday 11th December

2011-12-19T02:40:00.000-08:00

I was at my parents' and we went for lunch at the "Relais de Sologne" (see : http://www.lerelaisdesologne.com/) which is a nice "provincial" restaurant in the pretty village of Minestrau en Villette 20 minutes away from Orléans.

Ménestrau en Villette nr La Ferté St Aubin, Sologne (3)

2011-12-19T02:39:00.000-08:00

Ménestrau en Villette nr La Ferté St Aubin, Sologne (2)

2011-12-19T02:38:00.000-08:00

Ménestrau en Villette nr La Ferté St Aubin, Sologne (1)

2011-12-19T02:37:00.000-08:00

Birmingham

2011-12-19T02:10:00.000-08:00

I was invited to a WRVS meeting in Birmingham on the 7th. It was to do with the major restructuring of the charity. Fairly interesting. Afterwards I met my colleagues who are volunteer's partner like me. It was my birthday so I treated myself to a concert at Symphony Hall : Bruckner's 7th. (See : http://www.thsh.co.uk/event/cbso-nelsons-conducts-bruckner-s-seventh/) The 1st piece was by a living composer. Mr Ruders was on stage at the end to be lapped up by the audience. Very good evening.
I enjoyed too going back to Birmingham. My last visit was in the late 80's and it has changed quite a lot since then !

Birmingham (9) : a canal on Broad Street

2011-12-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (8) : Chamberlain Square, Council House

2011-12-11T00:55:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (7) : Chamberlain Square, it's a building for offices

2011-12-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (6) : Chamberlain Square, Edward VI (1537 – 1553)

2011-12-11T00:42:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (5) : Symphony Hall

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Birmingham (4) : James Watt, William Murdoch and Matthew Boulton Statue

2011-12-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (3) : Chamberlain Square

2011-12-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (2) : Homage to the Archers, Radio 4 soap

2011-12-08T00:11:00.000-08:00

Birmingham (1) : Symphony Hall from Broad Street

2011-12-08T00:08:00.000-08:00

My Week with Marilyn

2011-11-27T03:22:00.000-08:00

"My Week with Marilyn" is the true story from Colin Clarke's diaries. This ambitious young man spent a week as Sir Laurence Olivier's 3d assistant on "The Prince and the Showgirl". To be honest I went to see this film last night because I saw the trailer and Eddie Redmayne as Colin Clarke is rather cute. So I thought why not ? It turned out to be an awfully good moment of cinema. Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe is absolutely astonishing ! Not to mention Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier. And, yes, Eddie Redmayne is very good as well.
I have never been personally fascinated by Marilyn Monroe. As depicted in this film she was a "poor lost girl who couldn't cope with her fame but couldn't live without it" In the same period in France my film icons are Simone Signoret and Yves Montand. Not only they were outstanding actors - and Yves Montand a great singer, I love his interpretation of the songs drawn from Jacques Prévert's poetry - but they had strong left wing awareness to say the least. When I go to Paris I always try to go to Place Dauphine (see : http://mymelange.net/mymelange/2007/01/the-prettiest-square-in-paris-the-place-dauphine.html) where Simone & Yves used to live in a flat called "la roulotte".

Nottingham by Night (2) : Old Market Square

2011-11-27T03:20:00.000-08:00

Nottingham by Night (1) : Old Market Square

2011-11-27T03:19:00.000-08:00

Either ignore the 18th November post or spot the differences !

2011-11-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

Klaus Weber at Nottingham Contemporary. See : http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/

2011-11-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

Handel's Messiah in Wakefield Cathedral. See :http://www.yorksphilchoir.co.uk/wp/

2011-11-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

Week end in Wakefield

2011-11-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

I stayed with my friends E & J in Wakefield. Saturday afternoon we went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. As I mentioned here it's really worth a visit. They have an indoor exhibition and a tea room as well. Sunday morning E & J introduced me to Hepworth Wakefield. It's the largest purposely built museum outside London. Mainly dedicated to Barbara Hepworth who was a sculptor from Wakefield . For more info see : http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/. In the afternoon with E. we had a stroll along Thornes Park in Wakefield. J. was at her choir rehearsal for the performance in the evening of Handel's Messiah in the cathedral. It was very good and the venue was fully packed.

Hepworth Wakefield (2)

2011-11-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

Hepworth Wakefield (1)

2011-11-20T08:13:00.002-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (10)

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Yorkshire Sculpture Park (9)

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Yorkshire Sculpture Park (8)

2011-11-20T08:11:00.001-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (7)

2011-11-20T08:09:00.002-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (6)

2011-11-20T08:09:00.001-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (5)

2011-11-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (4)

2011-11-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (3)

2011-11-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2)

2011-11-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (1)

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Balloon over Nottingham roofs

2011-11-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

Post Horn Gallop at West Bridgeford Drama Society (2)

2011-11-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

This time I am involved with the lights. Once I have been shown how to operate the console it hasn't been difficult. On this play there are only 2 settings : black out & full blast. I have already been part of 2 rehearsals and I have 2 more to go to before production week Tuesday a week. The cast is quite good and it is truly a funny play.
For more info see : http://www.wbds.org.uk/productions.asp

Post Horn Gallop at West Bridgeford Drama Society (1)

2011-11-18T03:21:00.000-08:00

Touchng Horizons

2011-11-18T03:03:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to the Arts Nottingham Theater with J. I had been invited through the drama group to see a dance production by this new company : http://ampersandance.com/index.htm
If you look under "Arts Directors" you see how different are the backgrounds of those 2 artists. As it happens each one had choreographed a piece. Although they had both a definitively contemporary touch, the 1st one - choreographed by Benoit - was more classic.
All in all as I say a very pleasant evening in an old fashioned and cosy theatre.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

2011-11-18T02:38:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I went to the Playhouse with my new friend J. "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" by Bertolt Brecht. It's in fact a parallel story the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 30's in Germany. Very powerful play indeed !
For more info see : http://www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/drama/the-resistible-rise-of-arturo-ui/