Being the respectable immigrant that I am, I am regularly bitching about the Versailles' weather and some of my blog readers haven't escaped from reading it in the past either. Everyone who comes from a sunny or a continental temperate country is hit by the same difficulty in getting used with the eternal grey, sad sky and in every respect the desolate weather we have in here - not counting in the rain (119 days of rain a year on average, tells us Météo France, that is about one in three days!). But I need blue sky and sun and starry nights: it's in my genes and there's nothing I can do about it! One must possess a great dose of natural optimism, a loving entourage and a busy life if they want to escape the inescapable weather blues (which will add up to the inescapable culture shock eventually).
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Price-less: The Lambinet Museum on a wintry Sunday afternoon
It's really hard to believe that there are other museums in Versailles - that is, other than the Château(and, in a broader sense, that there is any life out there other than the Château...) - but there ARE!!! I mean, there is, because there's only one: the Musée Lambinet, the city museum. Quite neglected by tourists (just like almost all the rest of the city - thing that started to become a bit of a problem for officials lately, btw, and for easy-to-understand reasons...) this 18th century building turned into museum is a small jewel well worth the detour off Versailles' one and only beaten path.
The museum proudly presents artifacts tracing the history of Versailles after it became the city of kings and, even if it's a relatively young city (the first citation of its name in an official document was in 1038, something about a guy named "Hugo de Versaliis"), Versailles was nonetheless the theatre of big historical decisions and dramatic situation reversals deserving a museum in its own right. You already know from my previous posts how the people of Versailles are perfect, so, logically, they made a city history museum and this is the Musée Lambinet!
The museum proudly presents artifacts tracing the history of Versailles after it became the city of kings and, even if it's a relatively young city (the first citation of its name in an official document was in 1038, something about a guy named "Hugo de Versaliis"), Versailles was nonetheless the theatre of big historical decisions and dramatic situation reversals deserving a museum in its own right. You already know from my previous posts how the people of Versailles are perfect, so, logically, they made a city history museum and this is the Musée Lambinet!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The Versailler's Paradox
I already had an idea of how Versaillers were viewed by their French fellows, then I have given you more than enough samples of my own personal views in the matter, but now I stumbled upon a French article about it, I mean a real one - written, admittedly, some time ago in 2006 in the leftist journal Libération but nonetheless still valid (as prejudices usually die hard).
And I thought it would be interesting to translate it in here so you can have other viewpoints at hand. Hopefully I'll find some more articles like these in the future (written by a rightist journalist maybe?) so we can try to obtain a broader picture about this whole Versailles thing. I, at least, I find it fascinating and it helped me find out that not only the French have their paradoxes, but so have the Versaillers, which endows me with one too, by extension. Here you go:
"The Versailler's Paradox
by Sibylle Vincendon
And I thought it would be interesting to translate it in here so you can have other viewpoints at hand. Hopefully I'll find some more articles like these in the future (written by a rightist journalist maybe?) so we can try to obtain a broader picture about this whole Versailles thing. I, at least, I find it fascinating and it helped me find out that not only the French have their paradoxes, but so have the Versaillers, which endows me with one too, by extension. Here you go:
"The Versailler's Paradox
by Sibylle Vincendon
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Price-less: Rock me, Versailles!
Versailles isn't a city easily associated to rock music, that's why I've been more than curious to go see the concert of three local rock bands, in my quest for things to do in Versailles at a low (or no) price.
This is the second year when the municipality organizes the rock contest "Les vendredis du rock" (=The Rock Fridays) in a somewhat sterile, closely supervised space at the sports center Richard Mique - and I can tell you that I deeply felt that arid environment: I so missed a beer to go with the music and drown my teenage memories! But since the event is specifically aimed to teenagers I had to go cold turkey and was forced to admire those (more or less) teenagers in all their splendor and awkwardness. Without even being able to blame it all on the alcohol!...
This is the second year when the municipality organizes the rock contest "Les vendredis du rock" (=The Rock Fridays) in a somewhat sterile, closely supervised space at the sports center Richard Mique - and I can tell you that I deeply felt that arid environment: I so missed a beer to go with the music and drown my teenage memories! But since the event is specifically aimed to teenagers I had to go cold turkey and was forced to admire those (more or less) teenagers in all their splendor and awkwardness. Without even being able to blame it all on the alcohol!...
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Would you be my Russian doll?
I've been writing about Russians in Versailles more than once on my blog, but today, despite the post title, I'll write about French men. B.I.G. subject!!! Valentine's day is almost here so, sistah', if you haven't find your French soulmate yet, it's time for me to send you to the movies.
Specifically to "Russian Dolls" by Cédric Klapisch because I strongly believe that the character played by Romain Duris is a perfect illustration of a type of French man that I often see around here and I think it's more typical to this part of the world, making it a kind of a new species: homo francesicus.
Specifically to "Russian Dolls" by Cédric Klapisch because I strongly believe that the character played by Romain Duris is a perfect illustration of a type of French man that I often see around here and I think it's more typical to this part of the world, making it a kind of a new species: homo francesicus.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Price-less: Versailles Conservatory
Every now and then I get *the look* when I tell someone that I live in Versailles. A look of profound respect and deep consideration, which stopped to take me by surprise eventually because I learnt to know the cause: the interlocutor associates right away Versailles with the French royal house and reckons by extension that everyone who lives in Versailles has to be either a descendant of blue blood or at least a magnate who just bought half of the château (that's right: our castle - which, of course, is better than yours! - is magic! It must have at least 86110 halves, to follow the widespread prejudice with dignity...).
The town's reputation is really hard to break, and, while it's true that sometimes you have to spend a small fortune to go to the Opera House, people think that the residents are some overly rich bourgeois who live in castles and whose women are dressed in Chanel suits with Peter Pan collars.
The town's reputation is really hard to break, and, while it's true that sometimes you have to spend a small fortune to go to the Opera House, people think that the residents are some overly rich bourgeois who live in castles and whose women are dressed in Chanel suits with Peter Pan collars.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Smoke on the water - Time Travel to Versailles: February 1913
The Versailles Chronicle - February 1913
"Good finds and curiosities
Afternoon tea. A whiff of the weed
Just imagine! A new fashion is to be established in France and all is due because we so much love to imitate our neighbors. Lately, the "Gazette médicale de Paris" reported that in New York and the main cities of the United States, the young ladies have now begun to ask to their jeweler for the cigarette or cigar holders made of gold and inlaid with precious stones. They carry these objects at their wrists, attached with a small chain.
The appetite for tobacco is nowadays generalized on the other side of the ocean and women are particularly fanatical about cigarettes, and even about cigars and pipes. On the programs of the many feminine get-togethers, we can frequently read:
'Afternoon tea. A whiff of the weed.'
That is:
'Thé d'après-midi. Une bouffée de tabac' (Afternoon tea. A puff of tobacco)
These ladies smoke at table, lunch and dinner, when desert is served. And men have no excuse left to isolate themselves in the smoking room.
So many women made a habit of smoking in England that one of the most important railway companies, the 'London and North Western Railway' had to reserve a first-class car for women who smoke, 'lady smokers', in every train.
Lastly, we know that, in Europe, a great number of women of the upper class didn't disdain the cigarette, to say the least. The sovereign ladies themselves have been their example: the Queen Margherita of Italy, the dowager Empress of Russia, the ex-Queen Amélia of Portugal, the Queen Maria-Christina are among the known smokers."
The Versailles Chronicle - February 1913
"Good finds and curiosities
Afternoon tea. A whiff of the weed
Just imagine! A new fashion is to be established in France and all is due because we so much love to imitate our neighbors. Lately, the "Gazette médicale de Paris" reported that in New York and the main cities of the United States, the young ladies have now begun to ask to their jeweler for the cigarette or cigar holders made of gold and inlaid with precious stones. They carry these objects at their wrists, attached with a small chain.
The appetite for tobacco is nowadays generalized on the other side of the ocean and women are particularly fanatical about cigarettes, and even about cigars and pipes. On the programs of the many feminine get-togethers, we can frequently read:
'Afternoon tea. A whiff of the weed.'
That is:
'Thé d'après-midi. Une bouffée de tabac' (Afternoon tea. A puff of tobacco)
These ladies smoke at table, lunch and dinner, when desert is served. And men have no excuse left to isolate themselves in the smoking room.
So many women made a habit of smoking in England that one of the most important railway companies, the 'London and North Western Railway' had to reserve a first-class car for women who smoke, 'lady smokers', in every train.
Lastly, we know that, in Europe, a great number of women of the upper class didn't disdain the cigarette, to say the least. The sovereign ladies themselves have been their example: the Queen Margherita of Italy, the dowager Empress of Russia, the ex-Queen Amélia of Portugal, the Queen Maria-Christina are among the known smokers."
The Versailles Chronicle - February 1913
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Happy Chandeleur Day!
Today is the Chandeleur, aka the crêpes holiday, which means that I will be stuffing myself with sweet crêpes - and I invite you to do the same - all with the same excuse: La fête de la Chandeleur. The origins and the pagan (then Christian) meaning of this holiday are lost in the misty darkness of the past, but the name suggests candles so just take your beautiful darling, light some candles on the table and prepare for a gustatory bliss.
These thin, light and flavored pancakes, that only the French know how to make properly, are one of my favorite desserts ever and can be filled with whatever fancies the happy owner: the sweeter the better (I actually like them even better without filling, but don't listen to me, I'm weird!).
Here's the crêpe recipe:
These thin, light and flavored pancakes, that only the French know how to make properly, are one of my favorite desserts ever and can be filled with whatever fancies the happy owner: the sweeter the better (I actually like them even better without filling, but don't listen to me, I'm weird!).
Here's the crêpe recipe:
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