Food And Politics

Food

This is the beginning of a week that promises plenty of good food. Yesterday Georges Corbo put on a sea food lunch at the Bar du Pont. He was the village metal worker before he retired, making the iron steps that lead from my terrace to the garden at the back among other things. After his retirement last year he tried offering a plate of oysters and prawns on Saturday lunchtimes at the Cafe des Sports but didn't get enough takers to make it worthwhile. But sea food is clearly his thing and so he put on the lunch at the Bar du Pont.

The sea food platters comprised brown shrimps, prawns, oysters, whelks and half a crab, more than enough for everyone and there were 14 of us tucking in. I hope that was enough to make it worthwhile and merit a repeat. The dessert was, inevitably at this time of the year a “galette des rois”. And I learned the reason for the two types of galette made here. Georges Corbo proudly told me he had made the galette himself, a Marseilles galette. Apparently, the galette consisting of a sponge cake with dried fruit is typical of this locality, with its tradition of dried fruit. The other type of galette, flaky pastry with a solid marzipan filling, is apparently typical of Marseilles. I have often wondered at the reason for the two different types of galette. To the amusement of all, the charm hidden in the galette was a small metal penis. Only in France...............

Next Saturday friends Robin and Jill have invited me to a goodbye lunch before they return to England and the following day there is the old wrinklies' lunch offered by the Mairie. So I shall have been well fed over the week.

Politics

Conversation at the sea food lunch focussed on the political situation in France, with Hollande now as popular as the proverbial fart in a lift and the subject of ridicule from all quarters. He didn't help himself in a speech last week that was supposed to be important by making the core of his speech the statement that he had changed, in view of the economic situation, from being a socialist to becoming a social democrat. This may be a significant point in terms of political philosophy, and the French are fond of that, but the current situation would seem to demand rather more than a fine philosophical distinction. And Hollande's buffoon image wasn't helped by pictures blazed across all the papers of him hiding under an over-large helmet on a chauffeur driven scooter on a visit to his mistress.

He did earn sympathy of a sort from my French friends but because the media coverage was diverting attention from more important matters rather because of any intrusion into his private life. This last would no doubt make even more headlines in England. Having sired four children with Segolene Royale while keeping journalist Valerie Trierweiler as his mistress, he now apparently has an additional mistress in dancer Julie Gayet. That would certainly provoke headlines in the British press but is pretty much par for the course among senior French politicians and would not normally be deemed worthy of press coverage.

That it has could be a result of paucity of other news or it could mark a shift in French attitudes. In a way, the general French attitude to love, sex and marriage seems to have been shaped by their nobility, for whom marriage has always been essentially an economic or political alliance, separating love and marriage and focussing on the family fortune. That stance seems to have been adopted widely by the populace. A recent survey revealed that two fifths of men and women did not believe fidelity in marriage was important, two thirds of men and one third of women regard love and sex as separate entities and the same percentage of men and half of all women think physical attraction automatically leads to sex. That helps to explain why dismay here at press coverage of Holland's private life is not directed at the salacious details, as it would be in Britain, but at its diversion from more important issues.

Loth to see my French friends in despair at the lunch over their political situation and the dearth of alternatives to Hollande, I suggested that perhaps Britain could help by offering France a king. After all, we have a large number of princes and I'm sure we wouldn't miss just one. However, I have to admit that my suggestion was not met with great enthusiasm.

Carols Again

Carols

We duly sang our carols again just before Christmas at both the old people's home and the Bar du Pont. The audience was larger this year at the old people's home but smaller in the Bar du Pont so there is clearly some more work to be done on drumming up an audience. I had contacted the school hoping to get some interest from the kids who would then bring their parents along but that didn't work. We'll just have to try something else next year. Anyway, everyone who did come either to listen or join in seemed to enjoy the event.

The local paper, La Tribune, printed a write-up likening us in our red “bonnets” to the sans culottes in the revolution, saying we erected barricades of mince pies and Christmas cake. Armelle did the introductions at the old people's home and Rene in the Bar du Pont, in his usual humorous style. Below is his speech (in French of course).

“Cher public, chers amis,

Comme on dit dans les séries télé – et pour ceux qui nous suivent depuis nos débuts – voici la saison III de nos chants de Noël, ce qui ne serait jamais arrivé s'il n'y avait eu auparavant les deux précédentes. On voit par là l'importance de la comptabilité.

Il en découle des craintes fondées. On regarde derrière soi, on se compte et on se rassure d'être encore tous là. Car danCarols s une chorale, cher public toutes les voix comptent. Même les moins belles !

C'est à elles qu'on reconnaît les meilleures. Et nous en avons aussi. Vous les repérerez facilement. Surtout de profil, ce sont les mieux nourries.

Troisième saison, cela sous-entend que nous sommes aujourd'hui au sommet de notre art. Quand vous nous aurez entendu ce soir, vous cesserez définitivement de croire aux causes perdues. Vous trouverez – vous qui doutez de votre voix – à nous écouter le début de grandes espérances.

Parmi nous, comme chaque année nous avons nos amis étrangers. Pas d’inquiétude pourtant ! Il ne s'agit là que d'un effet secondaire de l'hérédité que nous nous efforçons de corriger au maximum. D'ailleurs, ils n'ont presque plus d'accent. Hélas, par un réflexe excusable ils chantent parfois encore Noël à leur façon.

Chanter Noël est une spécificité de notre chorale. En fait la seule. Nous ne chantons que Noël. Au clair de lune et dans la neige, c'est très impressionnant. Il ne s'agit pas là d'une maniaquerie mais d'une obsession qui date de notre enfance et qu'on nous interdit de pratiquer en dehors du mois de décembre.

Telle est la vie des chorales de Noël !

En effet, il aurait été remarqué que chanter Noël entraînait une baisse notoire des températures, voire des chutes de neige, pire encore, l'obligation faite aux parents de cadeaux coûteux à leurs enfants. Ce sont des choses qu'on ne peut accepter qu'en décembre. Le reste de l’année nous sommes aussi discret qu'une gendarmerie en Corse. Aussi est-il inutile de nous espérer lors des prochaines festivités qui marqueront au village le rattachement de Mollans à la COPAVO.

Mais peut-être existe-t-il des chorales spécialisées dans les transferts inter communautaires.

Résumons-nous ! Nous ne chantons Noël qu'en décembre et qu'une fois, ce qui fait de cette soirée une occasion unique et de Vous, cher public, des privilégiés. Enfin : Nous avons remarqué que pour les choses difficiles à supporter, il était préférable de s'en débarrasser en une fois. Donc – et par respect pour notre public – il n'y aura pas de pause entre les différents chants.

Pour terminer nos remerciements à Valérie et Patrick qui nous accueillent dans leur crèche pour la troisième fois, à Liz qui nous accompagne résignée au piano et à Jo qui nous dirige sans illusion.

Et maintenant, chantons et vive Noël !”

Et maintenant, chantons et vive Noël !”