Pas-de-Cash
The tectonic plates of Europe are definitely shifting. Further to my earlier piece, where Tunisia had mysteriously slid north to become part of Europe, the Normans have rekindled their old belief that England belongs to them, albeit they are more tactful these days and just describe themselves as part of England!
The Agincourt ‘games’ are consigned to history, now they have their eyes on the lucrative London Olympics in 2012. Dominique Depilet, Conseil général for Pas-de-Calais in Normandy, has announced that since Calais is ‘only 18 miles from England’ he is happy to be considered part of ‘Southern England’ in an effort to persuade foreign Olympic teams that they would be better off spending their euro millions on training camps and accommodation in Calais than in ultra-expensive London. A proud Frenchman passing himself off as English? Pas-de-Cash, M. Depilet is happy to be duplicit.
Not surprisingly, the Chad and Senegal teams have already signed up with M. Depilet, they are both French speaking countries, and will feel at home with both the food and the language. Rather more surprising is the decision of Uzbekistan to base their canoe and kayak team in Calais, not an area noted for its kayaking facilities, but perhaps they prefer the food too.
The French have backed M Depilet’s ’succession’ with hard cash, €100 million euro of it – and they do have a point, Calais to central or East London is a scant two hours in the comfort of Eurostar, as opposed to several hours stuck on the M25 with only a Turkey Twizzler or Burger King to look forward to when you return to camp. It will be a strange turnaround of fortunes if the French, having lost out on their bid to stage the games in Paris, end up making more money out of the games than the British.
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January 25, 2010 at 19:04 -
Purely by coincidence I contacted my local archery club last week to enquire about training later this year.
I guess I felt it in my waters. -
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January 25, 2010 at 19:17 -
You wrote: It will be a strange turnaround of fortunes if the French, having lost out on their bid to stage the games in Paris, end up making more money out of the games than the British.
You are, of course, quite right, but you seem to have missed the fact that the whole fiasco is so typically Brownian – he has something a little like the Midas touch, in which everything he is involved with turns to – well, something unpleasant, but usually the same colour as his name.
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January 25, 2010 at 19:29 -
…Dominique Depilet, Conseil général for Pas-de-Calais in Normandy…
1 Dupilet with a “u”
2) The Conseil générale is the body of which M Dupilet is président
3) Pas de Calais is not in NormandyOtherwise excellent
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January 25, 2010 at 19:31 -
But Calais has been host to African “teams for years. They are experts in fencing – cutting through it: jumping- into the back of lorries: running – away from the authorities:. Surely the Sangatte Olympic village is an ideal location.
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January 25, 2010 at 19:32 -
Not quite sure the French really wanted to host these Games, bearing in mind it is a huge investment. France is terribly indebted and I think the average Frenchie is happy not to have to contribute with even more taxes if it is going to be fruitless in economical terms.
Nevertheless, Pas-de-Calais is one of the most deprived area of France with a high percentage of unemployment so if this region can take advantage of “the big circus”, why would not they ?
If it also gives an opportunity to improve Eur0st@r services, which we saw recently, are cr@p and especially give a purpose to maintain the trains, it will also be good for the general public and encourage me to use it again after my pathetic experience in June 2002 (I got stuck for hours in the middle of the French Countryside because it was too hot for the train to function !!!).
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January 25, 2010 at 19:39 -
Laurence January 25, 2010 at 19:29
2) The Conseil générale is the body of which M Dupilet is président
Conseil General should be written as Ms Raccoon wrote it (no “e” at the end as it is masculine !)
I have not the use of accents on my British machine !
cynicus January 25, 2010 at 19:31
Very funny indeed and … thanks to the French for zat !
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January 25, 2010 at 19:54 -
Perhaps if there was pas de Calais, we wouldn’t have this problem.
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January 25, 2010 at 20:02 -
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January 25, 2010 at 20:58 -
Zis French accent is , ow you say, working !
Merci bucket.
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January 25, 2010 at 21:08 -
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January 25, 2010 at 22:12 -
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January 25, 2010 at 23:07 -
Purée plutôt …
Evening all
and good night. -
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January 25, 2010 at 23:17 -
Valérie: Conseil General should be written as Ms Raccoon wrote it (no “e” at the end as it is masculine !)
Mes excuses, Laurence
ps You can get accented characters quite easily: Windows has a character map located at C:\WINDOWS\system32\charmap.exe for which I have a shortcut on my desktop.
Once you get the hang of it, it’s quite easy to remember the ones you use frequently like
à = [alt] and 0224 (on the numeric keypad)
è = [alt] 0232
é = [alt] 0233
ê = [alt] 0234or get a 2nd Fr usb keyboard from eBay!
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January 26, 2010 at 00:33 -
“… or get a 2nd French usb keyboard from eBay!”
Over my dead body.
What’s wrong with the French learning some English? Although I do congratulate them on their entrepreneurial spirit.
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January 26, 2010 at 08:20 -
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January 26, 2010 at 14:49 -
Nice to see you again Valerie, and thanks for that! Oh, and Valerie, I have e-mailed you a way of getting French accents on an english keyboard, should work for you too.
Moi Aussi ! SVP
By the way ‘my’ Normands consider it to be a gross insult to be called French, France according to my neighbour is a twenty mile ring round Paris, and according to him should be surrounded by a largish wall.
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January 26, 2010 at 19:15 -
Laurence January 25, 2010 at 23:17
Many thanks for your advice.
I shall make an effort to remember these codes…and use them when writing in French.
Good evening to all of the bloggers, especially Ms Raccoon, not forgetting the readers obviously.
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