Je fais mes adieux

My final week at Collège Souhait...

Above: With the 4th grade bilingual students (equivalent Year 9 or 10 in Oz). A wonderful group.

Above: Drawing from the source, delivering the stump speech. "Australia has 6 states and two territories...It's cold in the south and hot in the north...it takes twenty hours to get there...yes, I've seen a kangaroo..."

Above: The Grade 6 students (Year 7/8 in Aus) after the force-fed vegemite-tasting session. Don't tell me they didn't love it!

Above: The English team @ my farewell: Christelle, Anne-Sophie, Claire, Cécile & Ann-Cécile (front).

Dix jours en Haute-Savoie et en Irlande

I’m back from my final fortnight of holidays before heading back home. When will I next get two weeks of (paid) holidays every six weeks? Not for a while methinks.

Annecy, Passy and Les Frasserands, Haute-Savoie

I spent the first five days with the family and managed to see pretty much the lot of ‘em to say au revoir, on se renverra en australie.

My super teammate Théo starting off another round of pétanque. The gravel driveway at Chantal’s place provided the perfect pitch for the late arvo showdown. Apparently the French are the world champs…funny, that.

Another fondue. Slightly out of season but I didn’t complain. I lost my bread mid-swirl yet managed to avoid its punishment – a round the house nudie run.

Théo and Enzo at Le Lac de Passy. It was refreshing to see the valley toute-verte this time round, as the last few times had been during the blanket white heights of winter.

With Enzo at his football training. He’s as passionate about football as I was about league when I was his age. He’s a Lyon man and knows the measurements, weights and scoring history of everyone in the French national team. Including the manager!

Valérie and I having a chat while watching Enzo.

The last night in Haute-Savoie, in Annecy. Left to right: Cousins Valérie, Enzo, Babou, Bruno, Théo, le cousin australien.


Ireland with Jayse

Started in Belfast, given EasyJet only flew there. We managed to get around a bit but an extra couple of days would have been ideal. Failed in my mission to find someone who could say 'three' without thinking they were talking about horticulture.

We headed north on the coast road, which provided us with a nice scenic drive.

Here’s one of the few shots I managed to get of J-Mar both facing me and without his camera glued to his face.



The next stop for our first pints and lunch was The Anzac Bar in Ballycastle.

Giant’s Causeway. A section of the northern coastline comprised of heaps of mostly hexagonal basalt columns of differing heights that serve as stepping stones for heaps of tourists.

The causeway is most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland, apparently. We spent the night in Londonderry - had its fair quota of Vicki Pollards stalking the streets.

Monday was Donegal County day. This is the remote, wild, north-western part of Ireland proper. We eventually reached the cliffs around Slieve League - massive sheer cliffs leading to deep blue bays and secluded caves and inlets below. Was well worth the windy, sheep obstructing, car journey.

A big thing smack bang in the middle of Trinity College, Dublin. We caught a movie, In Bruges, in the cinema on O'Connell Street and hit Temple Bar for a few beers that night.

Final day before the bum rush back to Belfast International – the Silent Valley Reservoir back in the North.

Lunch pit-stop in Annalong. The fish was so good that Jayse went for the chicken burger.

Best meal: La Pierrade @ Collette’s place. In which you cook your own strips of duck, beef and chicken on a table top hot stone contraption.

The weather: Gradually warming up – kinda the same conditions as a typical Brisbane/Coast winter’s day.

On the Pod:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Hold On To Yourself. Jayse’s pick of the litter.

Elliott Smith – Division Day. A piece of the puzzle – maybe.

Custard – Kinder Whore. So they could throw a punch at the heart after all.

Weezer – December. Thanks for your suffering, Rivers - it’s a sweet melody.

Jens Lekman – Shirin. Personally, I prefer ABBA.

Jarvis Cocker – Disney Time. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

à tout de suite!

Mars à St-Dié-Des-Vosges

Here's a bit of an update on the past month in St Die, in images.

Above: These few shots are taken from a Celtic Soirée that took place in St Dié a few weekends ago. It involved three groups from the French province of Bretagne, situated in the far north-west of the country. There a huge celtic influence on the region's culture and the music was a stange melange of traditional Irish-sounding tunes and French or Breton langauge.




Above: Winter gave us an unexpected return visit at Easter. It snowed on and off from Friday to Tuesday. The sound of the students' snowfights in the playground provided me with a less-than welcome wake-up call on the Saturday morning, however.

Above: Last Saturday arvo was spent doing a bit of hiking in the hills above St Dié with Sarah, the German assistant based in town.

Above: Return to Colmar and the city's little district of Le Petit Venise.

Above: Dinner @ César's place in honour of Jérome's birthday. All the good stuff of la France profonde in one place.

Best meal: Blanquette de veau and tagiatelle pasta at the school canteen today. A common question I get is So what sort of cuisine do you have in Australia Sam? Well, I answer, its really a mix of a whole lot of stuff - lots of meat, seafood, and the food our immigrants have brought with them. Then I mention the role of traditional English 'cuisine'. That's when their jokes start. Hur hur hur...Ça n'existe pas!...Ils ne savent pas manger! Always makes me laugh!

In the news: Possible Olympics boycott; strong support towards the Left in the municipal elections; Carla 'Jackie Kennedy' Bruni in London. Gimme a break.

The weather: Finally some sun today after a pretty dreary last 10 days. 4-16 degrees when its nice.

On my iPod:

The Stones - Exile On Main Street. All of it, on repeat.

Custard - Ladies And Gentlemen. Thankfully sometimes they knew how to turn down the quirk.

Neal Casal - Too Far To Fall. Strangely neglected for a long time.

The Bee Gees - Too Much Heaven. The Barry Gibb falsetto: The eighth wonder of the world. Discuss.

Sam Cooke - The Riddle Song. What a gun.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Man Out Of Time. Cryptic, magnificent.

Les treize moments les plus spectaculaires des vacances de février

This posting does what is says on the label - the best of the holidays just…sigh…gone.

13. The gardens of Marqueyssac

A beautifully restored private estate garden perched upon a spur overlooking the whole Dordogne valley with its chalky cliffs, villages, chateaux and of course the river snaking its way through.

Leigh leading the way

Part of the Dordogne and a village built into the cliff face.

12. Trastevere

This busy and lively neighbourhood in Rome has the look and feel of a traditional small Italian town, with people shopping, chatting, drinking espresso and going about their daily business.






11. Chateaux of the Dordogne

Or more specifically, those of the Périgord, located in the heart of the département. The region is littered with castles, a legacy of it being part of England during the Middle Ages. The home of fois gras and duck confit, too.

Leigh en montant.

Leigh en descendant.

Nothing's wrong - just practicing my archery 'skills' .

10. Rome. In general.

Those who have visited Rome are quickly accustomed to the sound of police sirens constantly ringing out over the chemical ant swarm that is the city’s traffic. Seems the Italians like a bit of the armed forces in their daily life - check out the wingman who presents the weather on the tele:

Eh I think itsa gonna rain todaay .

9. St Emilion wine in St Emilion and Cognac in…erm, Cognac

Around 45 minutes drive east of Bordeaux, St Emilion is in the centre of the most significant wine producing region in France. Managed to take a peek at the Museum in Cognac. Every part of the production process, from the soil, to the wood used for the barrels, to the distillation is nothing less than an ART.

Le Vin.

St Emilion.

Un cognac .

8. Oradour-sur-Glane – the liquidated village

In an afternoon in summer 1944, the SS rounded up all 600 inhabitants of this village south of Limoges, shot all the men, locked the kids and the women in the church, set fire to it, then torched the entire town.

The main street.

7. Rome – The Greatest Hits

The Colosseum. More colossal than I expected.

Leigh was keen to find Rusty “Unleash Hell” Crowe but he was still hanging out with the Bra Boys and generally being a dickhead.

The Forum. Staggering to imagine how much this place changed the world.

Trevi Fountain. They say if you chuck a coin into its stream, you’re destined to return to Rome. The hawkers thrusting 5 euro roses into your face throw that promise into doubt.

Piazza Cavour. Perhaps only relevant to the Morrissey fans among my “readership” (too many of you to mention by name), but standing in this place I did indeed ask myself what my life is for.

6. Basque country/Pyrenees/Pamplona

This region in the far, far south-west nook of France is hilly, popular with religious pilgrims following the trails of ancient saints, loves rugby and still uses a language that lives at the end of alphabet street. Could you dream up such a mix? We decided to scoot over the Pyrenees to check out Pamplona. A bit of a grim city but we managed to locate the famous bull fighting ring.

Leigh above the small Basque town of St-Jean-Pied-De-Port.

In the Pyrenees, France in the background.

No rampaging bulls that day. Shame.

5. BD in Angouleme

This city, known for bande-dessinée (BD) comic strip art (taken pretty seriously in France) has a museum dedicated to the artform and a bunch of some magnificent, some average, murals on the city’s walls. The city is also renowned for closing launderettes early and then making boxer shorts disappear while leaving CK jeans untouched. Hmm.

4. B&B in La Coquille

Remarkable only in that this B&B, the very first one we pulled into on the trip, was run by an English couple from Kent. In every restaurant or café in the Dordogne we encountered graying poms; many have bought houses in the region – the second invasion perhaps.

3. St Peters & The Sistine Chapel

Magnificent. Waiting at the end of the line, we were approached by a young American chick with shiny teeth and hair offering us entrance for the two sites for a bargain 40 euros. Casse-toi! We get to the front of the line…entrance is free.

In front of St Peters, keeping an eye out for Benny.

Part of the ceiling in the Vatican Museum.

2. Rabbit defenestration in Perigueux

Leigh and I stopped in the principal city of the Périgord for lunch. We were walking down the street when suddenly a rabbit landed on a gentleman coming out of a wine shop. He was wearing a hat. The rabbit lived on the third floor. No-one knows if the rabbit jumped or was pushed. We couldn’t get a photo in time, but here’s what it looked like.

The bunny survived.


1. Dune de Pyla

The largest sand dune in Europe, at Arcachon, west of Bordeaux, at sunset.

Best meal: Veal escalope with Rochefort (a strong cheese) sauce on our last night, in Cognac. Typically simple but awesome.

In the news: Generalissimo Sarko captured on video saying to a member of the public at the Agricultural Show: “Touche pas moi, casse-toi alors pauvre con”, loosely translated as “Don’t touch me, fuck off you poor bastard”. Nice.

The weather: Unseasonably warm, similar temperatures in Rome and the South-West, about 5 – 15 degrees.

On the car stereo

Oasis – Fade Away. I remember how exciting it was discovering this band.

Bic Runga – Get Some Sleep. Elevating the mundane.

Dexy’s Midnight Runners – My National Pride. By a dress-wearing, Irish Brummie. Underrated!

Lazy Susan – Bobby Fischer. These guys should have been bigger.

Al Green – Here I Am (Come And Take Me). The perfect voice, the perfect moves, the perfect songs, the perfect white suits. Bastard.

No dancing down the stairs now!

Have you heard the news? No shit!