les Davey de France

Well it's been a hassle today ! We delivered Catrin and Pat to the church at (just after) 10:30 for the kids' club (which went very well). For some reason the ring road was suddenly completely clogged, we saw two firemen's vehicles go by and a police car, then all of a sudden everything flowed again and there was no accident, no nothing. If it wasn't such a frequent event we'd think it weird. Then Gwilym to the barbers. I was scheduled to take some folk from Pessac to Bordeaux at just before 1, so plenty of time, we arrived at the barbers' at 11. You'll have a 20 minute wait, he said. OK; No problem. I went to find some paper Catrin needs for school and failed. Got back to the barber, Gwilym was just having his hair washed. The barber was very nice, very chatty. So chatty, in fact, that the cut took 2 hours. TWO HOURS. T W O   H O U R S !!! By the time he'd finished the hair had started growing back ! I phoned my folk and told them I was on my ...

Thomas Quasthoff is a German baritone who was refused admission to conservatory because he is unable to learn piano. He studied voice privately and became a remarkably engaging and verstile singer. He gave up singing earlier this year because of persistent health problems. He's just a little younger than me.

The café where we have held our Cafés Philos is closing down. In a way I am not all that surprised. It was a super little place, but tucked down a side-street and easy to find once you knew exactly where it was. So we are moving to a different café, to the place where the Intermediate English Group have had their after-class coffee for a while. Here's some photos for you to see :

Last night after the English class I walked to the tram with my Moroccan muslim friend. We heard the tram arriving but when we got to the tram stop it was clear that something was up. A police car was parked diagonally across the crossroads. Police officers were moving crowd control barriers to block access to the cross roads. A policeman came up and told us that the tram stop would not be in action for some time. We got off the tram stop and started to walk up to the next, but a policeman directed us away from the crossroads down a side street, from where we could turn and get to the next stop. As we went down I overheard one policeman say " un ...... suspect"...package ? car ? I wasn't sure... Anyway we got to the next tram stop, a tram arrived and off we went. France is on high alert after the events in Toulouse. It's very sad in such a quiet and peaceful city as this.

Now and again in France you come across people who practice the art of the extreme jobsworth. It was our privilege to meet a splendid example this morning at the lycée where Catrin wants to go. We both went to give Pat some getting about practice (her back is improved but not yet right...) We arrived at the reception with Catrin's dossier. Up the stairs, first floor, door on the right, "Service scolaire". Well we found the right area but no door was marked service scolaire. Someone walked by, "Hallo, are you looking for something ?" "Yup, service scolaire" "It's that door, knock." I knocked. Nothing. I knocked again. "UNE MINUTE !" Some pupils came up. One opened the door, then shut it again quickly. After a brief discussion between themselves they decided to come back this afternoon. We heard various noises come from inside. It appeared to me that someone was having a fairly animated argument on the phone. Th...

Dans la semaine qui vient il y a beaucoup d'activités différentes centrées sur les évènements de Pâque. Ce samedi (31.3) il y a le Club Bonne Nouvelle pour des enfants de 4 à 12 ans. Il y a aussi ce weekend le spectacle "Marc l'Expérience" à Pessac, Latresne et Bordeaux. Mercredi il y a la soirée film "le Pont" au temple d'Anglade. Jeudi la même chose à Cenon à partir de 20h30 avec le film, "Le Pont" sous-titré en français, bien sur. Vendredi Saint, à partir de 20h un culte centré sur la croix de Jésus. Dimanche matin Maxime Soumagnas qui prêche à Cenon, Patrick à Anglade.