Marching on, and on

 

Tom with me and sister Pam

13 March would have been my brother Tom's 70th birthday. He and his family are very much in our minds - departed far too soon. 

Meanwhile 12 March was another milestone in progressing our established status as French residents. That morning Mary and I surrendered our temporary EU cartes de séjour at the préfecture; our new cards as permanent foreign residents should arrive by post in a few weeks. Despite gripes elsewhere I have always respected French bureaucracy - if you follow the instructions you get the right results. The woman who dealt with our dossiers was very friendly and the whole rendez-vous more or less on time. We even had time, in a strangely quiet Montpellier, to buy some excellent kitchen gear before heading home to the dogs by midday. A good morning’s work.

There was some other welcome news for we Britons living abroad this week, or at least a promising development.  Buried in the details of the UK budget was news that the government plans to scrap the rule that bars those who have lived abroad for more than 15 years (as we shall soon have done) from voting in UK elections "the government is providing an additional £2.5m to remove the limit preventing British citizens who live overseas from voting after 15 years.”  So we shall be able to continue to vote in the West Derbyshire constituency where we lived before leaving the country.  

One story in the local paper caught my eye - of the revival of a traditional industry making fabric in Nîmes.  The blue denim, named ‘de Nîmes’ by the Americans who popularised it for jeans, is now going to be manufactured by a family firm in this area.  Among other local news, another story this month of wartime good deeds - A Jewish man has bequeathed a sizeable chunk of his fortune to the French village whose residents hid him and his family during the Second World War, despite the risk to their own lives. Eric Schwam, who died aged 90 on Christmas Day, is believed to have left s2m to the remote mountain village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which gave shelter to 3,500 Jews during the war. Schwam and his family arrived in 1943 and stayed until 1950. In his will, he said the gift was an expression of his gratitude, and suggested it be spent on youth services.  We have friends whose family shared in the efforts to rescue Jewish people in this part of France during the war -  this strikes many chords with me.

This cartoon is for our daughter-in-law and many other friends involved in theatre and music. The Paris Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe has been occupied by protestors, with Union support demanding reopening of theatres and extension of government support to the so-called intermittents who would normally be working there. The Minister Roselyne Bachelot has intervened but has not apparently been able to reassure all protestors. 

Sport has been a frequent interest for us as always.  I'm still reeling a little from the turbulent reversal of fortunes in the final stage of the Paris-Nice cycle race. Having led for most of the week, Primoz Roglič ended up 16th overall with ripped clothing and having dislocated a shoulder, and the winner in the end was Max Schachmann who also won last year. Riveting watching all the same.  Meanwhile the 6-nations rugby has caught fire despite the absence of spectators with a fizzing match between France and England and an absorbing on between Scotland and Ireland.  Meanwhile the woes of 'my' football team Liverpool continue, but it is after all only sport.  Another picture to end with.