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[frenchdoctor]

Brassens is awfully difficult, since he uses so many old words and grammatical forms -- of course, they were outdated even as he was writing.

Don't take everything I write too seriously. The Paris/Province thing is part of local folklore. And I'm certain Parispundit keeps a very détaché stance when he goes to the kind of cocktail where they discuss the foucaultian aspects of Christine Angot prose in a derridian perspective and things like that.

Indeed, being a Napoleon III fan is an evidence of utter snobbery. Weeping at the souvenir of Camerone makes Parispundit so special. He is probably seen as a snob by the snobs themselves. He's a metasnob.

I'm afraid he may be right. To find good bread in the country is becoming more and more difficult every year.

Finally, I'm not anti-intellectual, since I'm an intellectual myself, who writes silly books that no one reads anyway. But some could give more attention to the wider world out there. Parisian centralism can be pretty oppressive sometimes. 

[dellaroux]

Mais, j'adore Brassans...

I actually like his resistant use of old French/patois-like forms, some of them, I believe, reflecting early modern French itself. It went with his crustiness and yeasty center (like that good bread you're talking about, maybe..)

<<Les copins d'abord>> was the first piece of his I ever heard, at the Cambridge, UK, Youth Hostel the year my sister and I were bicycling in England. Someone was playing it on the guitar in the common room as we entered. I remembered it so clearly that I transcribed it when I got in that night and started asking around until I got the full verse and title info.

Learned and played it as soon as I could find the music.

Still do.

I should say though, that I differ on the "quality" issue of Paris breads, etc.  The best hot pain chocolate I ever ever ever had was in Orleans...melty, warm, buttery....mmmmm.

Too bad I'm on the bus to NYC right now; they just have bagels...

[embitteredhistorian]

Mais, j'adore Brassans...

I actually like his resistant use of old French/patois-like forms, some of them, I believe, reflecting early modern French itself. It went with his crustiness and yeasty center (like that good bread you're talking about, maybe..)

<<Les copins d'abord>> was the first piece of his I ever heard, at the Cambridge, UK, Youth Hostel the year my sister and I were bicycling in England. Someone was playing it on the guitar in the common room as we entered. I remembered it so clearly that I transcribed it when I got in that night and started asking around until I got the full verse and title info.

Learned and played it as soon as I could find the music.

Still do.

I should say though, that I differ on the "quality" issue of Paris breads, etc.  The best hot pain chocolate I ever ever ever had was in Orleans...melty, warm, buttery....mmmmm.

Too bad I'm on the bus to NYC right now; they just have bagels...

Oh boo hoo, the center of western civilization and one of the marvels of the modern world full of gorgeous cafes, galleries, and skyscarpers. My heart--it bleeds.

[dellaroux]

But, well, I haaadd to go, we have two meetups tonight and tomorrow, what else could I do?

And I usually stay at hostels and cook my meals but it turns out this time, what with catching another friend for breakfast tomorrow AM, I'm going to be eating out for almost all of them...I still brought some stuff, since it's quicker to make a sandwich and have a thermos of soup to maximize time in the libraries...

But you're right, it is a great playground!

I should say, too, thinking about it, that the fact that the manuscripts I look at are in several different non-Paris locations, I have gotten a much more balanced view of France (and several other spots) than I think I would have had otherwise.

That's another reason I like working when I travel, it brings you in touch with more of the actual "life on the ground," of more different places and people, than if you're just hitting the tourist-y spots.)

It's helped with having research partners, too, but that's almost a pleasant side-benefit, people you get to know even better, since you both have such closely shared interests.

I guess I don't think so much of Paris "vs." the provinces but see them more as points along a continuum. Just the way the stucco buildings in the North make more sense now that I've seen them in the South and see how they work there (they stay clean and the roofs don't get so mossy!) the different parts go together in their own way.

And that's true for other places, in their own way, as well.

[frenchdoctor]

The perfect match between great, jazzy music and outstanding lyrics puts Brassens above nearly anyone else. I like Cabrel as a lyricist, for example, but his melodies are often mediocre. Brassens did everything well, words and notes. "L'orage" and "les sabots d'Hélène" are perfect examples of this. Old words are swinging.

[dellaroux]

Oui, d'accord...Je connais <<Les sabots d'Helene>> de meme!

I think he sang Azanavour's <<Sur ma vie>> also, didn't he?

Or maybe it was that other slow reflective one...Can't recall the name at the moment...

[frenchdoctor]

"L'orage" is a splendid song as well :

By the author himself :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sAyO7o6RBo

By Julien Clerc and Maxime le Forestier (guitar) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87nPWJcU5Uk&feature=related

Lyrics :

http://fr.lyrics-copy.com/georges-brassens/lorage.htm

I've also found this old video of Michel Berger singing "La groupie du pianiste" live. The video screams "eighties" at every frame, which makes me feel really old :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReBPYIWl_KI&feature=related

Oddly enough, it's a sad love song, about a woman who is in love with an self-centered artist :

http://fr.lyrics-copy.com/michel-berger/la-groupie-du-pianiste.htm

The tempo isn't the one of a sad love song, though. The complete discrepancy between music and lyrics is the kind of genius move Michel Berger was renowned for. Thanks to the tempo, this one-way love story becomes something completely different, even more humane and moving.

[frenchdoctor]

It seems I've nothing else than bad news to say.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2010/01/13/01016-20100113ARTFIG00574-universite-de-perpignan-un-etudiant-tue-une-secretaire-.php

An administrative assistant was murdered by a student this morning at the university of Perpignan. Three other persons were injured. The student assaulted them with a 10 inches butcher knife.

And guess what : the student was already diagnosed with severe mental disorders, like in Aix a few monthes ago. How come that people suffering severe mental disorders are welcomed as students at university ? Shouldn't such a dangerous mental disease be incompatible with the intellectual work students are supposed to do ? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question). Why does nobody care about teachers and other students who have to work near such psychos ?

This damn list is getting too long. I'm sick to see university teachers and employees turned into targets.

[daurousseau]

The perfect match between great, jazzy music and outstanding lyrics puts Brassens above nearly anyone else. I like Cabrel as a lyricist, for example, but his melodies are often mediocre. Brassens did everything well, words and notes. "L'orage" and "les sabots d'Hélène" are perfect examples of this. Old words are swinging.

I always get a kick just thinking the words "un beau p'tit diable a la fleur de l'age, la rose au chapeu et les botillons..."

[dellaroux]

It seems I've nothing else than bad news to say.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2010/01/13/01016-20100113ARTFIG00574-universite-de-perpignan-un-etudiant-tue-une-secretaire-.php

An administrative assistant was murdered by a student this morning at the university of Perpignan. Three other persons were injured. The student assaulted them with a 10 inches butcher knife.

And guess what : the student was already diagnosed with severe mental disorders, like in Aix a few monthes ago. How come that people suffering severe mental disorders are welcomed as students at university ? Shouldn't such a dangerous mental disease be incompatible with the intellectual work students are supposed to do ? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question). Why does nobody care about teachers and other students who have to work near such psychos ?

This damn list is getting too long. I'm sick to see university teachers and employees turned into targets.

I saw that the other day and it confused me; at first I thought it meant the other situation had come to trial and the report was on the trial results, they were that similar.

There's also the issue of the three motorcycle joyriders, one of whom died after a police chase, yesterday, I believe. They're talking about a potential riot, along the lines of last year's response to the boy's death outside the Peripherique, last year.

Whatever other issues are involved, I'm very sorry to know of the high-speed chase. Police should know better than to engage in that way, it never ends well.

[frenchdoctor]

I saw that the other day and it confused me; at first I thought it meant the other situation had come to trial and the report was on the trial results, they were that similar.

Disquietingly similar. You can say such are only coincidences, or that bad luck happens... But, in both cases, severely unbalanced persons (diagnosed and known as dangerous even before they committed their main crime) were registered as students at university, without any institutional response.

The Perpignan murderer was student since 2005. Since this time, he achieved no academic result at all. His incoherent and threatening behaviour was feared by other students and faculty as well. Four female students filled complaints against him because of harassment. It appeared that he had already threatened his victim at least once -- for no other reason that she was employed by the university.

And yet, he was still a student. I know that "no selection" is some sort of sacred dogma here in France, but that situation, in my opinion, pushed it a little too far. I find crazy that an incoherent student, with no academic achievement for more than 4 years, showing violent behaviour, who threatens students, faculty and university employees, can still be considered as college material at a research university.

What happened to academia, for holly sakes ? A few decades ago, when a student had a threatening behaviour, the first measure was to fire him. Today, the first measure is to blame the teacher.

Well, I know the answer, at least in France. The government prefers to see potentially dangerous young people at university, rather than taking care of them in specialized institutions. Thanks to open-enrollment magic, you can turn an individual who needs extensive -- and costly -- care into a college-level citizen. It looks much better in the statistics.

And the victims ? And the students who filled the complaints without any institutional response (you can imagine how easy it is to study with a psychopath in the class harrassing you) ? And the teachers, and the university staff who had to work in fear ? Who cares about them ?

No one. No selection, that's the law.

[parispundit]

On a completely different subject, I am finally going to visit Toulouse with my family for a 3 day weekend. Besides the obvious, e.g. churches and museums, what should we see? Where should we eat?

[luder]

It seems I've nothing else than bad news to say.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2010/01/13/01016-20100113ARTFIG00574-universite-de-perpignan-un-etudiant-tue-une-secretaire-.php

An administrative assistant was murdered by a student this morning at the university of Perpignan. Three other persons were injured. The student assaulted them with a 10 inches butcher knife.

And guess what : the student was already diagnosed with severe mental disorders, like in Aix a few monthes ago. How come that people suffering severe mental disorders are welcomed as students at university ? Shouldn't such a dangerous mental disease be incompatible with the intellectual work students are supposed to do ? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question). Why does nobody care about teachers and other students who have to work near such psychos ?

This damn list is getting too long. I'm sick to see university teachers and employees turned into targets.

There's also the issue of the three motorcycle joyriders, one of whom died after a police chase, yesterday, I believe. They're talking about a potential riot, along the lines of last year's response to the boy's death outside the Peripherique, last year.

Whatever other issues are involved, I'm very sorry to know of the high-speed chase. Police should know better than to engage in that way, it never ends well.

I must disagree with you, Dellaroux. French police already work under fairly strict rules of engagement (though it's not yet clear if they operated by the book here). And the abdication of responsibility you are advocating seems to me of a piece with the "tolerance" that enables a clearly unhinged and incompetent student to enroll in university five years in a row.

Your views are also out of step (not necessarily a bad thing, I grant) with those of broad swathes (swaths?) of the French population, if the readers' comments on even a purportedly left-leaning paper like Libération are anything to go by. And imagine the comments on articles in Le Figaro or the provincial rags!

I'm pretty sure I myself would never leave a comment saying that the three "joyriders" got exactly what they deserved, as many hundreds of French readers have, but, in a way, I do understand the impulse that moves them to do so.

[dellaroux]

For Toulouse (and the nearby area):
   
1) Perpignan, despite the recent tragedy, has several worthwhile medieval sites and events and it's the capital city of Roussillon, a part of Catalonia that's over the border in France. It's also a source for much of the table wine in France, and may be worth checking out for winery tours if that is of interest. It's currently the off-season for their medieval festivals, but see:
   http://www.mairie-perpignan.fr/actualites/les-grands-rendez-vous-annuels

And for current events, see:
   http://www.perpignantourisme.com/

Also, Figueres, Salvador Dali's birthplace, is nearby--on the train, in fact, between Barcelona and Perpignan, if that's how you're traveling: See:
   http://gospain.about.com/od/barcelon1/qt/figueres_dali.htm

2) Toulouse: The general city plan is well-represented at:
   http://plan.toulouse.fr/

There are at least three early must-see structures/sites:
                  a) The Cathedral St-Etienne (until the cult of the Virgin began to motivate their renaming to
                   "Notre Dame," most important primary sites, like the one in Paris, were originally under the
                   vocable of the protomartyr), see: (parish site): http://cathedrale.toulouse.free.fr/
                   Historic info: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_Saint-%C3%89tienne_de_Toulouse
   
                  b) Musee des Augustins: http://www.augustins.org/intro/accueil.htm

                  c) Basilique (church) of St. Sernin, an important transitional Romanesque building: See: 
                    http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_Saint-Sernin_de_Toulouse

3) If you're into Romanesque, it would be a good and easily-made trip to Moissac, where St. Pierre-de-Moissac has very interesting (angular Romanesque expressionistic) jamb carvings, and another "take" on the transitions between round and pointy arches (the nave is essentially macaronic, half-Rom, half-Gothic). A dependency of Cluny, it was a significant abbey in its day, as the 11th c. attestation to its dedication (still exant, on display) shows. See:
   http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbaye_Saint-Pierre_de_Moissac

4) Also, being near the Angouleme region, there are monasteries and wineries (sometimes both at once) to be visited on easy day-trips as well.

I have a connection to a monastery site further up to the northwest that takes guests on a limited, advance-notice basis; PM me if you're interested in that (but be aware they are not always open; the advance work would be necessaire).

5) And, if you are interested in the wine culture, there is a center for that in Bordeaux, and several online sources offer tours and tour information on that as well. See:
   http://cugnac.perso.cegetel.net/index2.html  (the site's sound is a bit goofy, the wax museum is for real)

I did a lot of prep for a planned tour in the area last summer that had to be aborted, very regretfully, because of the theft of my main small side bag (passport, bank card, etc.) the second day I was in Barcelona. So if you want to take advantage of all I couldn't do and tell me about it later, I'd be glad for someone to benefit! 

I was working on a particular individual with a Catholic background and ties both to the area in southern France and to the US, glad to share that as well if it's of interest: some of the stops I was going to make were more specific to their history and a potential tour series.

But it's a lovely area (hilly, and now chilly) in any case; enjoy!

[dellaroux]

It seems I've nothing else than bad news to say.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2010/01/13/01016-20100113ARTFIG00574-universite-de-perpignan-un-etudiant-tue-une-secretaire-.php

An administrative assistant was murdered by a student this morning at the university of Perpignan. Three other persons were injured. The student assaulted them with a 10 inches butcher knife.

And guess what : the student was already diagnosed with severe mental disorders, like in Aix a few monthes ago. How come that people suffering severe mental disorders are welcomed as students at university ? Shouldn't such a dangerous mental disease be incompatible with the intellectual work students are supposed to do ? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question). Why does nobody care about teachers and other students who have to work near such psychos ?

This damn list is getting too long. I'm sick to see university teachers and employees turned into targets.

There's also the issue of the three motorcycle joyriders, one of whom died after a police chase, yesterday, I believe. They're talking about a potential riot, along the lines of last year's response to the boy's death outside the Peripherique, last year.

Whatever other issues are involved, I'm very sorry to know of the high-speed chase. Police should know better than to engage in that way, it never ends well.

I must disagree with you, Dellaroux. French police already work under fairly strict rules of engagement (though it's not yet clear if they operated by the book here). And the abdication of responsibility you are advocating seems to me of a piece with the "tolerance" that enables a clearly unhinged and incompetent student to enroll in university five years in a row.

Your views are also out of step (not necessarily a bad thing, I grant) with those of broad swathes (swaths?) of the French population, if the readers' comments on even a purportedly left-leaning paper like Libération are anything to go by. And imagine the comments on articles in Le Figaro or the provincial rags!

I'm pretty sure I myself would never leave a comment saying that the three "joyriders" got exactly what they deserved, as many hundreds of French readers have, but, in a way, I do understand the impulse that moves them to do so.

I'm usually dancing to a different drummer, anyway, so that's OK.

I've seen the French police at work. They tasered a kid who'd been sleeping quietly in the back of the rest area of the gare at the SNCF a couple of weeks ago.

Several of us stood around, just to be witnesses, since we knew we couldn't stop it from happening but didn't want to contribute to the "no, I don't see this, so it's not happening" thing that gives inappropriate law enforcement personnel the idea that they're invisibly omnipotent.

He kept yelling "aieh, aieh," and I'm not likely to forget that cry anytime soon.