Italian summer

5 weeks of trawling through the south of France and Italy...

Here are parts of the cinque terra and portofino...

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Karen Hitchcock

We have returned from our gruelling 5 week tour of the Pyrenees, Provence, Tuscany and Sardinia.. We're safely back in Paris and there will be photos to come.

In the mean time - for those of you who haven't, you must buy this recently released book of short stories:

Little White Ships - Karen Hitchcock

Karen is a great friend of mine and a brilliant writer. You can read the Australian or SMH reviews for all the superlatives, but I just say - read it!

Poppies and Paris

The spring poppies were special, but the light in Paris just keeps on giving...

Parisian stories

Paris is full of tourists, Parisians and stories.

Lumière

Well they don't call her the city of light for nothing.

The sun now sets around 10pm so we have gorgeous light all evening...

Men and Machines

I'm no great fan of motorsport. I've always preferred a good book, and have even been known to spout the cliche: 'how interesting can it be watching a car go around in circles?'

Well I'm now in a position to answer. It is incredible. Even my vegetarian, 'save the planet by driving an Echo' better half had a smile a mile wide when the cars first passed. Then we put in our earplugs.

The machines are really a triumph of engineering and the sensation of standing 2m from them passing at truly unbelievable speeds is just exhilarating. I've posted a little video from where we were standing to give you a feel.

The Monaco Grand Prix is definitely something to experience once. There is something for everyone - even the leathery speedo clad 80 year old gent flanked by 4 amazonian women on his rather large yacht was enjoying himself.

Ile Saint Louis

Here are some happy snaps from (and of) our little island. Quite a convenient location for those who may be coming to crash on the couch...

[click on photos to enlarge]

Paris in the Spring

Australia doesn't really have seasons. We definitely have winter and summer although the other fringe seasons were always a bit of a mystery. They have been clarified in Paris. The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and the parisiennes are taking off their shirts and basking in the warm glow...

Meanwhile I am taking some photos.

The French are revolting

I'm sure it is the first week of intensive French lessons, but my English grammar has gone to pot. The French were revolting some time ago, around 1789.  I've just finished reading some basics on the French revolution. Call me naive but when I thought of the French revolution, I thought of:

- the evil nobility who were completely out of touch with the peasants

- poor oppressed peasants wielding pitchforks

- said pitchforks (and guillotines) doing the good work of bringing about liberty, egality and fraternity

(with all of this playing out to the rousing soundtrack of the Marseillaise)

Well, it seems that while Australia had aboriginal history revisionism (think Keith Windshuttle), France also went through a serious challenge to the strictly positive account of the French revolution. This all came to a head around the bicentenary in 1789...

For those interested in a 'give someone in the pub a potted history of the revolution', here is my summary - leaning heavily on William Doyle's very nice little book.

I think the most interesting stuff began after the storming of the Bastille. By this stage an elected Assembly was in charge of the country. Doyle gives three polarising factors that determined what happened next:

Polarisation 1: Religion

In the early 1790s in France the church got a pretty good deal. In addition to owning 10% of the country's land, they collected a 10% tithe (read tax) on everything else. At the same time France was broke (with massive debts from a number of wars) and needed cash fast. The Assembly decided the easiest source of cash was the church: the 10% tithe was abolished, and church lands were sold with profits going to the state. Unsurprisingly some of the clergy weren't particular happy about this, and the priests split into 2 camps - those who signed a declaration of allegiance to the new order, and those that didn't. Polarisation.

Polarisation 2: Monarchy

While Louis 16 was forced to accept a raft of reforms - he still continued to receive the catholic sacraments from a priest who had refused to sign the declaration of allegiance. The parisennes weren't happy with this and started causing more trouble around the King's palace. Concerned about what may happen, Louis 16 decided to try and make a run for it with his family. He didn't make it too far - the attempted escape further enraged the Parisiens. In fact this stirred some of the first serious discussions about republicanism.

Polarisation 3: War

The thought of a French king being deposed was a real concern for the local monarchs - what if this sort of thinking was contagious? Threats came from Prussia, tensions built, armies amassed, and finally the French declared war on Prussia - ironically embraced by Louis 16 who saw it as his only chance of saving his monarchy. The war now meant that the success or failure of France the nation, was in effect the success or failure of the Revolution. If you were against the Revolution, you were against France, and you were therefore a traitor.

Ultimately Louis 16 was identified with the Prussian enemy, his guards were massacred and the Assembly suspended the Monarchy. Sweeping new powers to arrest and detain filled the prisons. Along with a healthy dose of populism, this culminated in a mob of Parisiens breaking into the prisons and slaughtering those inside.

Louis 16 was later tried and in two days found guilty of 'crimes against the nation'. The vote to chop of his head passed by a single vote. Some wanted clemency, but the crowd baying for blood ended that possibility. The head of Louis 16 rolled early in January 1793.

Subversion in Fiji

The judges are being booted out, and Bainimarama is generally clamping down on all freedoms. But the local journos still have a sense of humour - I'm not sure it is much of a consolation. Great subversion of the situation:

Read all about it - man gets on a bus