francofiled

Wallace Fountan at Hertford House, London Yesterday's le Parisien carried an interesting article about the decision to change the colour of the city's Wallace Fountains. My initial reaction was one of shock - How could they?! The fountains are a symbol of Paris and an earlier time. I would really like to preserve them as they are. On the other hand, in repainting them they can be restored and maintained for future generations. Sometimes we take our patrimoine for granted and our cultural heritage in the form of statues and monuments can be passed by - unnoticed. A bit like the painted bears of Berlin, the cows of Geneva and the bulls of Barcelona, the loud colours of the repainted Wallace Fountains call for our attention. The fountains have their own diaspora and can be found all over the world - there are two in La Rambla in Barcelona and we have two in nearby Lisburn. While the yellow or pink might not be to everyone's taste, I would be sure that local people w...

There is a lovely custom that takes place all over France, throughout January. La fête des rois on 6 of the month commemorates Epiphany when the three kings or magi came to pay their respects to the infant Jesus. In many homes and offices, family and friends get together to enjoy a "galette des rois", helped down with a glass or two of fizz, white wine or sometimes cider. The galette is a type of cake made up of leaves of puff pastry with a filling of almond paste. A "fève", literally a bean but more often a tiny ceramic object, is baked inside and the cake is presented with a golden paper crown.  Portions are disributed with a warning to eat carefully and the lucky person who finds the "fève" claims the crown and is honoured as king or queen of the occasion. Earlier this month, the Cercle Français de Belfast gathered in the Dark Horse Coffee House in Belfast's Hill Street to celebrate La Fête des Rois. 50 of us munched our way th...

2004, Entente Cordiale, Commemorative Crown One of the beneifts of social media that I appreciate is the ease with which I can keep in touch with news and stories from France. I have a particular interest in Le Berry in the Région Centre and so will often browse to the local edition of newspapers.  Recently a story caught my attention in Le Berry Republicain .  A statue had been found in a clearing in an estate in the Sologne. It used to belong to a factory in Vierzon but had been moved when new owners took over in the 1960s. The statue was referred to as La Française and it made me think of my favourite French symbol - Marianne.   Although the French flag is the only official symbol for France, Marianne embodies the values of the nation.  She has two sides to her character - the angry warrior on the Arc de Triomphe or the sower, scattering potential, as depicted on French coinage and stamps. The newspaper article refers to the Roman goddess, ...