Never heard of that hiking race, Max, but I do not concern myself much with
such things, racing is so not my bag. Several people organise hiking
excursions round here, those in the Gorges de l'Ardèche being very popular.
Friend of ours does it sometimes - he's a descendant of the famout poet
Francis Jammes, is always building dry walls with the plentiful white stones
characteristic of the area. Book festival - hmm, lots of visitors, some
possibly interesting local authors give readings, some chansonnier sings in
one of the 2 local restaurants, secondhand stands, drinks etc. Most
important in the last 5 or so years: Art Des Corps , which fills the village
with local & not so local art, very adventurous in part. My partner
exhibited in the last 3, she's away this year & can't. This is organized by
the Art organization Pas d'Panique - very enterprising local thing: we've
had excellent cabaret groups, rock concerts, films in the open air, plays in
the Mairie, I especially enjoyed a production of Synge's In the Shadow of
the Glen, which made perfect sense in French because there is still a strong
feeling for the old ways here (check Jean Giono) & wandering tramps are a
fixture, like the shepherds (tinkle tinkle) with sheep & goats, mists storms
& streams etc - only the bogs are missing...And every village has its Jour
de Fête mid-August, goes on loudly for 3 days, young & old dance together
some of the time before disco house & rap take over after midnight.
Enviable, yes, might as well get depressed here as anywhere ;-)
mj
And the globe keeps rolling towards a pocket without a bottom although on
the way the green cloth field is smooth. - Louis MacNeice
----- Original Message -----
From: Max Richards
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: concert of frogs & birds
sounds enviable, Martin.
(I just tried googling and requesting automatic trans from French to
English,
never done this before. I learn:
Calendar of the main events:
June: Translagorçoise: hiking race for great and small. Its popularity is
such
that runners of the whole department and adjacent departments meet in
Lagorce.
First Sunday of August: Feast of the book: it is the meeting of the book
lovers
who organize stands on the street of the temple until the place of the
Tithe. In
1999 was even organized a feast of the painting. This appointment was a
success,
we hope that it is in program for the next festivities.)
Haven't been in yr France since 1960s, to my shame.
best from Max
Quoting Martin Walker <[log in to unmask]>:
> Ardèche, France, Max. Drive down motorway to Marseille from Lyon, turn off
at
> Montélimar Nord, Le Teil, Aubenas road, turn off left to Lagorce & Vallon,
> left again to Lagorce - looks like a saurian sitting snugly on the crest
of a
> hill, the village is built on the slope down to the valley of the
Salastre,
> which dries out in the summer.
> mj
> And the globe keeps rolling towards a pocket without a bottom although on
the
> way the green cloth field is smooth. - Louis MacNeice
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Max Richards
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 2:02 AM
> Subject: Re: concert of frogs & birds
>
>
> where is this village, Martin?
>
> I fondly recall spring 1980 in Old Boars Hill when the cuckoos sounded
so
> boldly.
>
> If I remember aright, after a few weeks their call changes to oo-cuck,
> oo-cuck.
>
> Our rented cottage backed on to 'Matthew Arnold Hill' (or was it
'Field'?),
> and my son attended Matthew Arnold College, a fairly tough high school.
>
> Trying to recall the name of the village where Ruskin led undergraduate
> acolytes
> (inc Oscar Wilde) in a spot of roadmaking.
>
> In an Oxford lecture hall I heard Terry Eagleton urging the young on to
the
> Necessity of Theory.
> I gathered one was needed by the young BEFORE they read literature.
> Otherwise they would be trapped by bourgeois ideology.
>
> Max
>
> Quoting Martin Walker <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > Thou wast not born for death, immortal bird - the first two
nightingales
> of
> > spring have just joined the frogs' nocturnal concert, piping and
trilling
> in
> > descant, down near the brook at the bottom of the village.
> > But I was already a sod before I heard their high requiem.
> > mj
> >
> > And the globe keeps rolling towards a pocket without a bottom although
on
> > the way the green cloth field is smooth. - Louis MacNeice
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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