Look what I saw outside the town hall last night !

This is an eSolex.

Modelled on the VeloSolex that coughs and sputters its way round the streets of the city in a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke, this one gets charged from the mains and runs silently and greenly on France's 80%-nuclear electricity.

They have only recently started being sold. They're quite expensive and this is the first one I've seen in the flesh.

Comments

Pecheur said…
Merci de votre commentaire sur mon blog!!

Alors, vous et votre famille travaillent en France. Ohlala!! Quel travail dur, n'est-ce pas?

I will be writting a lot about the Sarko book in the coming days. hope to see you around some.
8:22 pm
Anonymous said…
Very nice too. Would prefer a deep red seat though. Why is it not chained up? Are French folk very trusting, or are there cameras everywhere?
9:27 pm
Alan said…
As I took the picture with my phone I was aware that the policewoman standing on "sentry duty" outside the town hall was watching me!
11:02 pm
Anonymous said…
A check of the front wheel will reveal a strategically placed 'U' lock.

I note that our 'fisher' friend points out something that us Brits frequently get wrong about the French expression that we claim that they have. We regularly accuse them of saying 'Ooh la la', yet I have never heard one say it yet; it has always been what I previously thought was 'Oh la la' but now know to be 'Ohlala' which figures when one considers the rapidity with which the phrase is expressed.
1:11 am
Alan said…
Ah bon !

Such eyes and ears combined in one head !
7:04 am
Anonymous said…
Yes, but please don't stare!
12:02 pm
Anonymous said…
In actual fact, on reflection, depending on whereabouts in France one is, the expression referred to above also frequently sounds like 'Ohlolo'; the two 'o's sounding like the first one in the word 'lollipop'.

Pendantic? Who? Me?
12:09 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A bit about music exams in UK and France

They're really different. I think I have already mentioned that while in the UK people generally find a private teacher for their instrument, or do it through a school scheme, here there are municipal music school, conservatoires and so on. The situation is a little more complex than I had first understood, because the schools vary in the rigidity of their organisation: the most, the conservatoires, next the municipals, then the associations. Our music school is an association, but it tends to apply the standards of the municipal schools with its programme of cycles, etc. Britain - grade 1 to 8, grade 8 being roughly equivalent to A-level, pre university/conservatoire. France - 3 cycles, each taking about 4 years, with 3ème cycle being roughly equivalent to grade 8. Theory of music - UK to take grade 8 you need theory grade 5. In France you study theory alongside your instrumental studies, very slowly. Catrin's flute music is MUCH more difficult than the stuff she does in theor
Read more

The Kitchen

 Our new apartment will be equipped with toilet and bathroom etc. but not with anything at all in the kitchen. Not even a sink. So we need to purchase a kitchen and engage a kitchen fitter. A friend who knows how to fit kitchens suggested buying an Ikea kitchen. "They're guaranteed twenty years and they honour their guarantee", he said. "I've proved it". Well I don't know any other kitchen laces in France, and I can't imagine there's much that's cheaper than Ikea, so I was happy to accept his advice. So it was that on Monday I booked an appointment with the Ikea Kitchen Planning Service in the centre of Bordeaux. The woman was friendly. "You've already started the process", she said, (have we?) "so that will save us lots of time". "What are you aiming for?" Something not too country, something discreet, something that can adapt to whatever colours we put in the rest of the room. She understood our dislike of
Read more