Our American friends here in France are a lot further from 'home' than we are, and we think especially of those 'stranded' on this side of the Atlantic by the accidents of timing and lockdowns - however much they love France, they will be missing the USA and their families there.
My day now starts with a quick scan of the local paper Midi Libre. Like all local rags, it has some trivial things, but often good articles too. I am building up a nice collection to highlight in my wine blog soon, but there are plenty of other local stories of interest - today for instance the political journalist Laurence Haïm talks about her view of 'three Americas' in the USA, from the surprising buoyancy of the Trump vote (she has just done a documentary about Melania) to the Democratic camp of Biden, but for her in between in a huge group of disillusioned Americans, fed up with the electoral choices they have and full of strong social movements like BLM and #MeToo. Difficult to sum up her interview quickly but here is her Wikipedia entry She also notes that Americans are generally obsessed with not getting ill - perhaps among other things because it costs a lot.
Meanwhile there is often in the paper an interesting article on local history - today about the origins of the
Pays de Lunel, our area collective of several communes including Lunel, which has its orgins in the 13th century Barony of Gaucelm, whose first recorded leader was Raymond de Gaucelm, declaring himself 'king' of the collection of villages centred on Lunel. Along the river Vidourle just east of us, the land around Marsillargues was constantly changing hands through armed struggles and lawsuits! And one of my favourite areas around the Pic Saint Loup, the 'local mountain' in a very flat landscape, has just been voted the favourite walking area by readers. In a rare verbal contribution, the mountain here expresses itself -
"oh merde, goodbye to a peaceful life". |
| The inset shows our neighbours' (Michel & Monique) house across the road with the original bungalow originally owned by our friend Madame Picard who died a couple of years since, just visible at the left side. The two larger photos show the 2 larger houses now nearing completion. Our house and car are just visible on the extreme right. The new building seems nicely done, but we'll have more demand on parking with two 2-storey semi-detacheds in place of one bungalow. Progress despite lockdown. |
I have just been reading the 'authorised' biography of Victoria Wood, an extraordinary writer, actor and comedian (feminine endings can be added as required!) who died of cancer 4 years since, very sadly, at 63. She has been a constant and welcome presence in our lives since the 1980s, and we still return regularly to some of her shows, and her humour is extraordinary. She had the talent to gather around her many of the great comic talents of the late 20th/early 21st centuries. Over the years we have enjoyed many of her shows on tv, and were lucky enough to go to one live show in Nottingham.
The pen portrait (Let's do it by Jasper Rees) is a very detailed account of her life and work which shows the light and shade in the life of a woman who, like other comedians, paid a price in inner uncertainty beneath the extraordinary demands of a very public life. She made life hard for herself and often for colleagues because she was a detailed perfectionist. Her scripts charted every word and inflection, and experienced actors were either awed or daunted by her insistence on the right way - and all admitted in the end that 'she got it right'.
One comment she's quoted as making, experiencing the enthusiastic fans rushing up to her in the street, was 'they think I'm that woman on the tv' - in other words the real VW was not on show. But it was a confusing thing - she was writer as well as actor, and many of her best lines and plots were delivered by other people. To start with I saw this as different from acting in period dramas for instance - but after a while I though again. To what extent do we all identify an actor with her/his character - Jennifer Ehle really is not Elizabeth Bennett, nor Colin Firth Mr Darcy but when my mind wanders...
Having read Victoria Wood's biography I am much more aware of the amazingly complex process of creating an apparently spontaneous and very funny show. We have also recently followed with interest the start her daughter Grace Durham's singing career - also entertainment but on a very different stage which is a lot closer to the musical world we both know.
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