Archive for December, 2007



Monday, December 31st, 2007

A Chapon is a Capon

Last week’s excursion to Auchan was educational. Our final shopping list before Christmas had all the usual suspects upon it - except Mince Pies, which we already knew were strictly British fare. So, this being our first proper Christmas in Strasbourg we had the chance to find out exactly what the French do [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart


Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

Les dungeons et les dragons

‘Join a club or society’ is the advice I’ve had from several quarters, when I have complained of my limited exposure to French people.
You see it’s all very well chatting away in French to your fellow students, but this won’t advance your understanding of the language beyond what you already know. Furthermore [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart


Monday, December 10th, 2007

From a French Fulham Farmer

Someone pointed out this amusing little article in The Times to me. Clearly it’s slightly skewed, being based upon a Fulham & Kensington lifestyle (which is hardly representative of the country) but there are many chortle-worthy truths in there that apply to us all.
It is an extract from a book by Hortense de Monplaisir; [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart


Friday, December 7th, 2007

France24

Alas I must withdraw my commets in praise of the France24 website - which now causes my Web-browser to crash, no matter what’s in the news.
Maybe I’ll just read the paper in future?

No Comments » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart


Thursday, December 6th, 2007

A Domesday Book of the mind

Today my thoughts are featured on whatenglandmeanstome.co.uk - a website dedicated to studying the concept of Englishness.
The site has been set up by a group of Academics at the University of Ulster who are hoping to gain some insight into the way England is regarded, now that devolution has paved the way for a possible [...]

1 Comment » - Posted in Life in Strasbourg by Bart