Author: sheona

Bearsy’s photo  of the English lock with pub reminded me how well the English make use of their river and canal banks. After Dinant on the Meuse, we expected Heidelberg on the Neckar to have the same attractive restaurants and cafes along the water front. We were disappointed.

Heidelberg is the oldest German university town and was the setting for the play “Alt Heidelberg” which later became the operetta and film “The Student Prince”. Our journey into the town centre was slightly disrupted by the fact that the heat had softened the tarmac bedding in the tramrails with the result that the tarmac had started to wind itself round the tram wheels and everything had come to a standstill.  We never had this trouble with the tramrails in Aberdeen!  The Old Town is basically a long street, now full of cafes, restaurants and tourist shops. The Old Bridge is very attractive, but difficult to reach because of the traffic racing along between the old town and the river.

The old bridge over the Neckar

  Continue reading “Heidelberg and its river”

The little town of Dinant in the Belgian Ardennes on the river Meuse just south of  Namur is a delightful  place.  It is well protected by high cliffs and has an old fortress  on top, rather like the one in Namur.  Dinant has had a rather chequered history, suffering particularly during the war between France and the Spanish Netherlands.   During the First World War the Germans massacred several hundred of its inhabitants, but surprisingly,  given its proximity to  towns such as Bastogne and Malmedy, it emerged relatively unscathed from the Battle of the Bulge.  There are still old buildings to be seen in the Grande Rue as well as the church and old stone bridge.

Now Dinant is a holiday centre with cruises on the Meuse as well as boat hire.  The town has made the most of its riverside setting with cafes and restaurants along  one bank.  The railway runs to along the other bank with regular services to Namur and Brussels.  A very pleasant place to visit.

The inventor of the saxophone,  a Monsieur Sax, was born here – another famous Belgian to add to the collection!

Some years ago I went to a talk given by Wolf Bierman, the former East German dissident poet whose citizenship was rescinded while he was on tour abroad.  Bierman actually chose to move to East Germany, aka the German Democratic Republic, from the West in the belief that he would be living the true Communist life in that people’s paradise. Needless to say he quickly became disillusioned and his work started to reflect his true feelings about life in East Germany.  This of course brought him to the attention of the Stasi and he was spied upon and his flat was bugged.  After the fall of the Wall he requested access to the Stasi files on him and he read out various bits to the audience.   It was so mind-bogglingly detailed. Someone was sitting transcribing the tape of what was happening in Bierman’s flat. It was like this:

“Door opens. WB enters with female companion.  He asks if she would like a drink.  She asks for coffee. WB makes coffee.  Both move to bedroom. They indulge in sexual intercourse. (At this point Bierman giggled and assured us it was true!)   WB asks his companion if she would like another drink.  She refuses.  They decide to go out to eat. Door closes.”

Of course the sad thing is that some people  Bierman considered as friends were also passing information on him to the Stasi.  But it was the utterly trivial details that were so painstakingly recorded that amazed us.

I have always hoped that if anyone hacked into my phone calls or e-mails I would hear the crash as the hacker hit the floor, dead of boredom!  The scumbag would deserve it.

 

As usual the children have turned up at our local school, delivered by mums and dads.  There seems to be no strike action there – but I won’t mention where in case we get a bunch of pickets infesting the neighbourhood.  It will be interesting to see a map showing the areas most and least affected in Britain.  I would have volunteered to man a Border Agency post at a nearby airport, though my method of letting everyone leave the UK and saying No to anyone I didn’t like the look of trying to enter might not have been acceptable.  It would probably have kept that border secure though.

Having been told the other day by the usual idiot on MyT  that we were “living the high life in Antibes”, we thought we ought to do something to deserve this description.  So, having finished the ironing – and how high life is that? – we went out to look at the yachts taking part in the annual  Voiles d’Antibes regatta. Continue reading “The Sails of Antibes”

I’m sitting watching the Trooping of the Colour ceremony. This year the colour being trooped is that of the Scots Guards, complete with their pipes and drums in Royal Stewart tartan.  We’ve already had arrangements of two poems by Robert Burns: ” My love is like a red, red rose “and then “Ye banks and braes o’ bonnie Doon”.    As one of the pipers commented, when a Scot hears the pipes he/she always thinks of “home”.  The quick march was a composition entitled “The Glaswegians”  incorporating that well known song  “I belong to Glasgow”. Yes, I did sing along.

It was interesting to watch Clare Balding “interviewing” the drum horses, who had had a bath and shampoo first thing this morning.   The third drum horse, who is apparently the biggest horse in Britain at 20 hands, is still too young for such ceremonial occasions as he has not completed his training.

It really is a magnificent spectacle, even though of relatively recent origin, having been started by Edward VII.  We’ve just had “Men of Harlech” for the Welsh Guards and there are four Irish pipers in with the Scots, so it is a spectacular celebration of the whole UK.

There is a very interesting article on the BBC magazine about some  World War I tunnels and the miners who dug them.  Apparently the owners of the land in the north of  France have now given permission for research work to be carried out.  I have seen the Lochnagar crater and knew that some British soldiers had been buried there when the explosion was set off.  I didn’t know all of the other details, such as the fact that British miners were brought from their collieries to do the work and to live in the tunnels while they did so.  Having been through the tunnels at Vimy and knowing that the troops had to spend time in them before the assault, I cannot imagine having to spend days and days in them. It will be very interesting to see what the historians find near La Boisselle.  Bodies will be removed for reburial in one of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s cemeteries.  There is no shortage of them nearby.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13630203

We’re just back from a visit to the new extension of the coastal path round the Cap d’Antibes.  It was opened today, all 500 metres of it, and opens up some more of the grounds of the Villa Eilenroc.  The camera came with us but unfortunately it forgot to bring any of its memory cards with it!

The Eilenroc has beautiful gardens, originally created by a Scot, James Wyllie. In the 1930s the villa was owned by an American millionaire, Victor Beaumont, who furnished it with antiques.   His wife attracted a large number of  famous guests and European royalty to her house parties.  The new stretch of footpath now allows visitors to use the bathing areas that were  originally created for Mrs Beaumont’s guests with a little bar area where the servants would bring food and drink down from the house.  The little bay is now known as  Billionaires  Bay (la Baie des Milliardaires).  After the war Mrs Beaumont reclaimed her property, but of  course the great days of European royalty and extravagant house parties were over and in the 1960s she left the house and grounds to the town of Antibes.  Its is now used for “distinguished guests” and special events.

We visited the olive grove and the rose garden as well.  I love the rose garden but the roses were all looking a bit battered today.  We have had several torrential downpours in the past few days, but the scent of the roses was still around.  It’s always a  pleasure to visit, even though  Roman Abramovitch is still adding more security fences and all sorts of electronic devices to his property next door.  How many nights is he actually going to spend there?

http://www.antibes.co.uk/eilen.roc/

I have just been watching the Monaco Grand Prix. Once again we are told how very glitzy and blingy and expensive it all is.  Is this just to boost the ego of the commentators?

Having been to Monaco and the Grand Prix, I know that eating there can be very reasonable.  Taxes in Monaco are lower than in France and, although you can presumably go as wild as you want,  ordinary visitors do not need to bankrupt themselves.  I am sure that hotels put their prices up in Monaco and France, but Italy is only a few stops along the railway line with reasonably priced accommodation.  The only drawback there is the mass of Ferrari fans.

My son was amazed at being able to find lunch near the race track so affordable.  The other great benefit of Monaco is that everything is so crammed together that it is easier to spot drivers and other “celebs” moving around.  Tickets for the race itself are priced to suit all pockets.

So why this unnecessary emphasis on the luxury and glamour?  It must put ordinary F1 fans off going, which is a pity since it’s a great event and you’re not stuck at a circuit miles from the nearest town.

No, I’m not being insulting. This is apparently a new and dangerous game, a bit like “planking” but faster. According to this report in Nice Matin today, four crew members, described as Australians  and New Zealanders,  from a boat in Antibes decided after a night on the town to try this game demonstrated on TV by a couple of Americans.  It involves riding a dustbin down a flight of steps.  In this case a short, but steep, flight of stone steps with a nice solid stone wall on one side. I know these steps well.  Unfortunately the emergency services had to be called when one lad ended up unconscious at the foot of the steps. He is very seriously ill.  Let’s hope this puts other boys off this game.

Here is the link to the article.