We did actually watch the match between France and Uruguay and I can't say it was impressing, fram from it.
Both teams played bad and the tempo was so low that one sometimes thought they were showing the match in slow motion. The French team lacked fantasy - besides tempo - and one of my favourites - Franck Ribery - didn't succeed playing as well as he actually is able to do.
This is an exhibition we haven't yet visited and I (Gunnar) will probably visit this one on my own, as Aurore is no fan of photo exhibitions.
Christian Saint-Louis is a photographer who, in his photos, tries to capture the light in all its diversity, depicting both Indre and Loire but also making journeys to Germany and the Nordic Countries. In the only photo displayed on the internet site of Hôtel de Villaines (the exhibition hall) one can see a mill that very much resembles the mills on the island Öland in the southern part of Sweden, the same island where my mother was borned and raised, the very same island I used to spend my summers during the 1960's and 1970's. If it's a photo from this island, I can't say but I will 'investigate' it.
Exposition de photographies de Christian Saint Louis
Exposition d’une cinquantaine de photographies de paysages de l’Indre, de la Loire jusqu’aux contrées plus lointaines de l’Europe du Nord avec pour fil conducteur la volonté de saisir et de capturer les variations de la lumière.
(Photo taken from La Nouvelle Republique with the information: Christian Saint-Louis et Maurice Bourg, adjoint à la culture lors du vernissage. - - Photo NR)
This is a film about a woman with the above name (information in French: Imogène McCarthery), a mixture between James Bond, Chief Inspector Jacques Closeau and one of Louis de Funès characters.
Imogène (Catherine Frot) is Scotish and very proud of that, although living and working in England. She loves rugby and bagpipes. She works as an secretary at the British Admiralty with a superior who she detests and of course this feeling is mutual. They quarrel all the time and one day her superior tells her that the Big Boss - sir Woolish (Michel Aumont) - wants to talk to her. She prepare herself being dicharged from her job but instead he assigns her for a secret mission to Scotland and notably her hometown Callander, where she was born and where she lived for many years. Her mission is to deliver a secret document containing a plan for a new war aircraft, to one of their contacts in Scotland. On the train down she encounters three Scottish men with whom she becomes acquainted. Unfortunately it turns out to be three Russian spies, inviting her to drink her favourite alcohol, whiskey. This leads to that she falls asleep. Meantime they steal the plan. When arriving she is met by her gouvernante (who later turns out to be her mother) and she also meets her first love Samuel Tyler (Lambert Wilson). He is now working as a police man - or at least that is what it seems as. She becomes aware of that the plan is stolen, in connection to her meeting the contact person and now the hunt to find starts, confronting her with 'tough' Russian agents among others. In a way I found that this film couldn't really decide whether it should be a straigth forward, silly comedy or somewhat more 'serious'. It ended up in between I think. This might be due to the fact that there where comical hints that I didn't understand, connected to the fact that England and France to some degree has been enemies over the years and that they like to make fun of each other (this in spite of the fact that they helped France during the Second World War and also protected France 'war hero' no 1 - or coward - Charles de Gaulle). All 'British' characters talked French and the only French woman in the film talked French with a British accent! The French sense of humour?
Well I can't say that I always understand French humour mais c'est pas grave! A kindheartedly film with some good laughs and maybe more so among the French audience, better understanding the 'blinks'?
We try to use the sunny days to our 'mandatory' pique-nique's and as the day was sunny and warm we left the house at lunch bringing our vegetarian meal and snacks.
These crackers were very tasty containing cheese and seeds of pumpkin.
Aurore's homemade makis (makisuchi) were delicious....
...and the cherry tomatoes as tasty as they were read!
Of course we should have brought white wine not Perrier and Coke but one can't have it all?!
When lying in the grass after the meal, four young men crossed the small bridge, passing us on their way to prepare for a barbecue on the other side of this small 'island'. Again I established the fact that it's still a great difference between most French young men and women and most Swedish young men and women, concerning their behaviour. These young men passed us saying 'bonjour' - even though we didn't know each other - and this would never happen in Sweden! They arranged with their barbecue and listened to music but not - as with Swedish youngsters - at 120 decibel but in a very moderate way. This is extremely nice for me as a Swede being used to the rude behaviour of not least people living in Stockholm.
We did actually watch the match between France and Uruguay and I can't say it was impressing, fram from it.
