francofiled

We recently took a mid-week break in one of our more prestigious hotels and among the facilities I spotted on arrival was a small library space but with expansive shelves. Books! Forget about the spa; a reading nook is my pamper place. Getting absorbed in a book is something that I really enjoy and what a delight it was to find these volumes from the Masterpiece Library of Short Stories.  Naturally I picked the one marked FRENCH - Volumes 3 and 4.  Just look at this contents page. Wouldn't you be tempted to spend an hour or two?  Well, I was and that's just what I did.  It was time well spent. What a labour of love it must have been for editor Sir JA Hammerton   He and his board of eminent critics worked under the auspices of The Educational Book Company to compile these volumes of stories across countries and time periods. The books, dating from the early twentieth century, naturally show signs of age, wear and tear but those stories are timeless...

 I've only been to a couple of such exhibitions in which the work of artists is projected onto walls, ceilings and screens to the accompaniment of musical soundscapes. As it was nearing the end of its run in Belfast at the Carlisle Memorial Church we decided to make a day of it and visit The Claude Monet Immersive Experience.   Although not as extensive as an experience we viewed in Paris at the Atelier des Lumières  we very much appreciated the scale and depth of this one and its venue -  an old church at Carlisle Circus in Belfast. It was just right and care had been taken to present material in fine detail. Monet's art was set in context through several information boards, again that music bathing us in sound. A walk through a set with the bridge and the artist's home at Giverny; books on top of a table as if they had just recently been read and set down. Details. We moved on through into the body of the church taking a seat in one of the many deckchairs arou...

  Dessert for our French-themed dinner last night. Lovely!

  Not long to go to a talk with my daughter, Rachel on the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. It's for the Cercle français de Belfast and will cover Edgar DEGAS' sculptural masterpiece and Camille LAURENS' book of the same name published by Les Fugitives press.  Oh, and Théophile GAUTIER gets plenty of attention too thanks to his short treatise on Le RAT - the name given to the young dancers at the Paris Opéra. One of those "little rats " is the subject of the talk, Marie Geneviève van GOETHEM.  She was born in 1865 and grew up to be our Little Dancer and model for Degas.  Check out the Cercle here  and the book at Les Fugitives available here . It's fascinating and well worth a read.  Maybe see you there?

Now that was a substantial and great value lunch. Moules frites and a Moroccan stew.  The mussels were enough for two - a huge portion. Très bon rapport qualité-prix. Next time you are in Dublin give yourself a treat and visit Chez Max at the Alliance in Kildare Street. It's like being in France for an afternoon. Check it out here.

  Marking the occasion of France's National Day - La Fête Nationale - by putting my feet up. There's all sorts of marching going on along the Champs Elysées and it would be nice to be there but nice too to be at home, shoes off self, showing off socks! Bonne Fête Nationale ! 

An old friend has left the magazine shelves - France - the magazine for Francophiles.  I collected it for very many years, since the 1980s and started becoming a subscriber with Issue 2.  Back then it was published four times a year and was a very collectible publication. You could even get slip cases to hold four issues, the series for a year. Later it was published monthly and still managed to retain its freshness with new and interesting articles. While sometimes some features would recur they always had a different angle or approach. Back then the magazine had competitions and I was lucky there on a couple of occasions winning some lovely French-themed books.  But my special win was a return Motorail package with ferry crossings between any two rail stations.  I opted for Calais to Nice return! Eventually decades of issues built up and I decided on recycling and give aways. I have held on to several significant issues: The 150th offering and the homage to Paris e...