A video word from The Times in Paris

This is one of the big weekend for leaving town, so I'm joining the southward exodus. July14 is past and Paris Plage is opening along the Seine at the start of the week. The Tour de France is winding into its final week, blighted by the traditional doping scandal but still loved nevertheless (my story in today's paper). President Sarkozy is working for a few days more. He's off on Monday to twist the arms of the Irish over the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. On that subject, I just had a fascinating hour with Bernard Kouchner, Sarko's flamboyant foreign minister. I'll post on him in a day or two.

I've said the rest in this short video (click here if it's not working). It was done with my pocket camera, an extraordinarily simple thing called a Flip. That explains the grainy image. I'll upgrade the technology soon. Posting will be intermittent over the next couple of weeks, especially since we still do not have broadband internet in the Cévennes hills -- or mobile phone cover. That's a help and a hindrance. It means that you cut off more from the outside world since it takes about a minute to load every web page via the phone modem. But it's a drag when you do want to search for something or read mail. But I shall be putting through comments a couple of times a day, so please keep them coming.

Comments

[dot king]

Right, well, that settles that - Charles can't be taking orders from anyone, because no overlord born would let him go off on holiday in this shameless way with recalcitrant Irish, doped-to-the-gills cyclists, and a sidelined Siné on the topical loose! ;D

BTW, I've noticed it before, but not mentioned it, Charles you're a dead-ringer for Jean Durry (or he for you) the sport historian, as seen on "C dans l'Air" yesterday evening, discussing Le Tour de France and dopey cyclists.

Don't investigate the jellyfish too closely, we don't want "expenses" to have to cover medical bills - from what I can gather we've noshed all their natural predators and now they're out to get us. Slippery, viscous little creatures.

Have a restful holiday - your devotion to blog duty is commendable, appreciated, and proof that you're nearly as addicted as the rest of us! What a relief! :)

[Thanks Dot. I'm still bashing away at the keyboard for the newspaper today, but off tomorrow. Don't know about Jean Durry, though. CB]

[Fabienne]

Bonnes vacances Charles et faites gaffe aux méduses!

[Gill]

Happy holiday, Charles. Hope you have a very relaxing break.

Dot, could you help me out here please? Who or what is Siné? This is the second reference I have read on the blog this week but I am afraid I am totally ignorant about him/her/it.

[Thanks, Gill. This will explain about Sine. My colleague from The Independent did the story today.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/satire-and-antisemitism-like-sarko-like-son-871827.html

CB]

[Joan Arles]

Glad you put yourself in the picture this time, Charles. Good to see you, the elegant gent from The Times. It'll be good when they get you a better camera!

[dot king]

Don't know about Jean Durry, though. CB]

I think he's rather dishy (in an older-man sort of way), you know, tall, distinguished, authoritative on his subject. If this helps you make up your mind - one way or the other :)

GILL, Siné, long-time journalist, caricaturist at Charlie Hebdo, just been fired by Philippe Val, the boss of the paper, for so-called anti-semitism.
He had written a text about Jean Sarkozy in which he says that the young man will be converting to Judaisme in order to marry his bride, daughter of the Darty Family business. Here's the text in question:

«Jean Sarkozy, digne fils de son paternel et déjà conseiller général de l'UMP, est sorti presque sous les applaudissements de son procès en correctionnelle pour délit de fuite en scooter. Le Parquet a même demandé sa relaxe ! Il faut dire que le plaignant est arabe ! Ce n'est pas tout : il vient de déclarer vouloir se convertir au judaïsme avant d'épouser sa fiancée, juive, et héritière des fondateurs de Darty. Il fera du chemin dans la vie, ce petit !»

Val considers that the text is anti-semitic because it "suggests" (sous-entend) that in order to get on in life you're better off being a Jew. (IMO, and that of many others, the text is ironic and the sous-entendre is there if you put it there. Substitute (say) Christianism for Judaism and see if the same condemnation applies.)

It seems that Siné and Val do not get on, to put it mildly, and there is rumour afoot (nay, accusation) that Val is using this as an opportunity to get rid of Siné (in fact has done so).
There's a very good open letter by Gisèle Halimi, former colleague at Charlie Hebdo and a lawyer specialising in journalism on the net:

http://www.rue89.com/2008/07/18/gisele-halimi-le-proces-en- sorcellerie-fait-a-sine-par-val

I hope this is correct link.
There's also a response from Guy Bedos the humorist.

I've never cared for Ph Val, I've always suspected him of hypocrisy, now this would seem to confirm what I thought.

[dot king]

"There is Brutus in him. Or Caligula. He has his father's mannerisms and his father's voice but he is taller, better-built and he looks like an angel."
(from The Independent article)

Charles your colleague forgot to mention the angel's zits!

[dot king]

Sorry Gill, the link I gave hasn't gone entirely blue, so it doesn't work. but you should still be able to find it by just googling Gisèle Halimi. I came across it quite accidentally, and Guy Bedos.

[Francois D]

Thank you Charles B, enjoy well deserved holidays.
Dn't too much think Carla nor Sarko (it seems they are in Marrakech this WE, having traveled on a Royal Air Maroc commercial flight).
Thank you for this wonderful blog, which has the only wrong for us to become addict.
Vos paroles à l'intention de vos lecteurs français sont, par ailleurs, d'une grande délicatesse.

[Maggie]

Hi Charles,

I've heard reports that the pompiers have treated over 500 people for medusa stings on the beaches of Cannes, Antibes, Villeneuve Loubet and Cagnes-sur-Mer, but I've been swimming every morning for over a month now and haven't seen a trace of medusa yet. We keep wondering when they're going to show up.

In the meantime, the sea is wonderful -- warm and clean and clear, and usually calm if you get there early in the morning. I do the crawl, so I like those early mornings without waves.

Might see you around when you come down to check out the medusa!

[Doremi ( still not Dot)]

Dear Charles,

Bonne vacances dans les Cévennes.

Mind les méduses, and les notes de bar des cafés de la Côte d'Azur that also sting.

[John Gregory Flinn]

We've the genuine 'Paris Plage' here at Le Touquet. You can spend a very civilized Saturday, through to Sunday, there. And the weather is often better than that further in land.
Talking of dialup internet connections, I've just played your video and it took me an hour to download just over 4 minutes of it. Then it was cut off - 'no longer available'. So, Charles, you can perhaps expect that in the Cévennes hills.

Anyway your 'behind the scenes' tour was interesting, maybe a bit more about your predecessor 'Henri-somebody' might be worth a paragraph or two.
I note that the TV media go in for 'behind the scenes' explanations and comments. Sometimes they seem to be merely a schedule filler, but no doubt have human interest.
Although for me they do not always work because, for example, I prefer to keep the unpretentious image of Martin Clunes as 'Doc Martin' than find out that he is actually kind to dogs, polite to other people etc....!

I hear the Irish would vote a bigger NO if they have to vote again.....!
I wonder what the sage of Eire, Frank S., has to say?

[RG, Taos, NM]

CB,

Have a great vacation. You've earned it. Best wishes

RG

[Azo]

Have a nice holiday Charles!

[Daniel Strohl]

"especially since we still do not have broadband internet in the Cévennes hills -- or mobile phone cover" (Charles)

Charles, there are now broadband internet solutions through satellite communication (download and upload) at an affordable price for private persons.

The latter was not the case may be 5 years ago when I looked at the matter - we lived at the time in SE France in the "outback", i.e close to a (sympathetic) small village called Allemagne en Provence... Mais maintenant, ils sont branchés eux aussi :))

Let me know if you are interested - if yes, I will e-mail you more detailed information.

PS : it was a nice idea to show your professional environment in Paris. The Café de la Paix and the close-to Maison du Café remind me of (good) memories dating almost 50 years back ...

[Romain]

Have a nice holyday in the 7's, Charles.
I asked my Kerry blue terrier what he thought of Sarkozy's visit to Ireland : he answered Whouf !

[dot king]

http://www.agencebretagnepresse.com/photos/060910sport04.jpg

Jean Durry, curator of National Sports Museum and Charles' close lookalike.

[Elizabeth J22]

Dot King, CB is about 20 years younger than Jean Durry... well at least 15 years. More like André Dussollier to me, though Dussollier is a few years older too.

http://www.premiere.fr/premiere/cinema/films-et-seances/fiches-personnalite/andre-dussollier

[Juliette]

Vous rêvez ! Charles ne ressemble aucunement à Jean Durry. Je connais bien Charles Bremner pour l'avoir vu régulièrement sur Canal plus animer l'émission de Pascale Clark "Un café, l'addition". Il a beaucoup plus de panache, plus d'élégance et a 10 ans de moins .......

[dot king]

Je savais que la photo de Jean Durry causerait un petit débat houleux!

I think he and Charles mustn't be too far from around the same age - Mr Durry is still working as the curator of a national museum and is a regular on "C dans l'Air" - the first time I saw him there a few months ago, I thought it was Charles Bremner and had to listen for a trace of accent until his name appeared. I too have seen CB on Pascale Clark's programme.
Don't be so agist anyway!

It was the only photo I could find of JD (discretion being the better etc) and it probably doesn't show at best what I noticed, but it doesn't matter.
I find they are both "of a similar physical type" - nothing offensive to either - quite the opposite - they shoud be grateful I've even noticed!! ;)
PS JD is an ancien coureur cycliste, so not decrepit or anything.
And it makes a change from Nico and Carla . . .

[ferdinand]

hi charles

good idea to put a video from yourself there, you should do that more often, in my opinion. it's good to see you in person (brit style, chic et décontracté, tout en élégance) and to hear you speaking in french (too little words however...). i enjoy reading you blog, since it's always interesting and fruitful to receive a vision of your country seen by an foreigner.

bonnes vacances!

ferdinand

[jorg andersen]

As an Austrian who works a lot of his time in France, I'm grateful to Charles for opening French actualité to a wider audience. Everybody brings a point of view. Only American journalism schools believe there is such a thing as the objective view.

[Françoise12]

Merci Charles for your blog. You have a very wide following even before we see you in person. Et alors, when we see you, it's even better.

[Ellenwest]

This blog is a great way of keeping up with France for people like us who feel a kindred spirit. A bit of British humor with an understanding of the Gallic soul. reading from here on the west coast, Charles B has a way of making us feel we are there.

[Judith]

Charles
I loved your video blog which was doubly enjoyable because, when in Paris recently, I stayed close by.

I wish to applaud your coverage of Nicolas, Carla and, even, Jean. I think they are endlessly fascinating. It was my impression from family and friends in France that they also find Nicolas, particularly, enormously interesting, although they are a bit worried by this, because of their concerns about the rise of a celebrity culture in France.
BTW 'meduse' is a wonderful name for a jellyfish.
Bonnes vacances.

[christopher muir]

Charles demonstrates a very interesting trend in e-journalism. We are certainly moving into a new era of reporting. Hard to imagine back in the early nineties that newspaper correspondents would bolster copy with their own video footage. Now the material is sent instantly and universally to home computer screens. I like the new mix, but hope that over time the written word isn’t superseded totally by pocket-cam images. Reading between the lines is half the fun.

[Deborah]

Very enjoyable to see you speaking and to see the rather soulless office (but the view from the window must be wonderful).

My favourite posts are when you write about flying so hope you give us an update when you get back.

Have a good holiday!
[Thank you Deborah... It's not really soulless. There is not much on the walls, so it gives that impression. I love writing about flying but I notice that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Those posts don't get read as much as the more general ones about France. BTW, I'm sitting at the roadside in the Massif Central. Wonders of technology. CB]

[Gill]

Dot,
Many thanks for the info on Siné and pointing the way on Google. I had previously googled Siné and found myself led into the world of trigonometry!

[Gill]

Charles, I have just read your article in yesterday's paper on the Tour de France.
It would be sad to write it off just because of a few cheats. Cycling is not alone in having this problem and as with other sports has to concentrate on catching the culprits.

I enjoy watching the Tour on television but mostly because I like the glimpses of French villages and countryside. It's a good PR exercise for French tourism.

[peter kinsley www.peterkinsley.com]

The French have managed to cook and eat practically everything that grows, grazes, flies and swims on the planet, (stuffed coxcomb, stuffed doormice, bears' paws, fried courgette petals etc) so why not a Medusa meuniere avec pommes frites? Go for it, Charles. If French scientists, as I commented recently, can cook and eat a frozen dinosaur, ("It tasted of eternity" one of them said) a fresh jellyfish and chips could be wowing them on the Cote this summer.

[Daniel Strohl]

Judith,

"I think they are endlessly fascinating"

I am afraid this is not the opinion of a few fellow bloggers :))

"because of their concerns about the rise of a celebrity culture in France" (Judith)

No danger whatsoever; at least 70 % of the French media are against Sarkozy - of course, most of their readers or watchers as well ...

[Gilles]

Bonnes vacances Charles !
Hope to see you soon on the blog... Même si vous n'êtes pas toujours gentil avec les Français (mais cela fait du bien : un autre regard...)
Cordialement.

[terry]

Nice video blog. I was expecting a scottish australian accent for some reason. It was decidedly british.

I was rather appalled by the lack of decoration in your office. How about some paintings on the wall? Perhaps, some pictures of the family, the pooch or your airplane? Maybe something green that doesnt require much care. Ive got spider plants that I somehow have managed not to kill yet.

On the Tour de France, it has seemed to be less popular in the states this year. I think the lack of an American challenger has more to do with it than drugs. Baseball has become tainted with doping but fans havent really lost the passion for it yet.

We do need an update on the Cevennes vacation home. Werent you having trouble with the neighbors last ete?

Bonne vacances, mon ami!
[Thank you Terry. You're right about the walls. I'm lazy. I have three or four pictures that have been sitting propped against the wall waiting to be hung. I'll do it and show them on another video. There are some plants you didn't see, but they are always wilting. CB]

[Joan]

It was lovely "meeting" you virtually, anyway! Are you in the samebuilding as the Chambre de Commerce Franco Britannique ? I got a job there once (ages ago) but never went, preferring to stay in Italy....
Bonnes vacances!
Joan (Milan)
[Thanks Joan. No the Chamber of Commerce is up the street, but quite close, as everything is in Paris. No-one would blame you for staying in Italy. It's the rival in l'art de vivre. CB]

[colin grayson]

daniel , I don't know what you regard as an affordable price for satellite broadband [ up and down ]at a maison secondaire

am sure that even a times correspondent would be shocked at the cost and length of contract required , as would his employers when they saw it on his expense account

[azloon]

CB

you are quite good in front of the camera (who was you camera person?).

your gentle wit, and subtle sarcasm work well in a visual medium. i suspect television will clamor for your services after the last daily newspaper has been shuttered (which hopefully won't happen in your lifetime).

you obviously don't have the over-sized ego of most television journalists (or their toupes/hairpieces either). and this is good thing. (in the u.s., you probably would come across as a sort of alistair cooke minus the hot air and the haughty chin).

but, you may want to practice bracketing your reports with something like "en paris, je suis Charles Bremmer' in a basso profundo which establishes your presence and authority. :)

i think you've picked a good cahier de vacances, a translated review of which, from amazon.fr, is below:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.amazon.fr/review/R21HM6740P4Y4E&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dle%2Bcahier%2Bde%2Bjeux%2Bd%2527esprit%2Bpour%2Bles%2Bnulls%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DX

the covers of these books look a little like the english-language manuals called "(Enter the subject) for Dummies."

btw, feel free to take time off to act as 'secret agent' for anyone you wish (sarko? murdoch?), and don't let the blog get in your way.

you are 'right on' about sarko and carlita. do you ever pinch yourself and ask how could be so lucky to have been in france for the sarko era?

i am sure you won't forget to give us an up-close report on sarko's likely fawning reception for barack obama, the next u.s. president.

does sarko play basketball?
[Thanks Azloon... so many questions. Sarko doesn't play basketball. He's far too short. You're right, I'm grateful to him -- as we all are -- for giving us so much material.
The "pour les nuls" is just the French version of the Dummies series. Same franchise. The camera was done by a friend who made the effort to meet me at 8am when the traffic noise wasn't too great. We'll get a better camera soon, I hope. CB]

[Mads]

Charles, how interesting to be able to put a voice and a persona to your name. Is that a trace of a Devonian accent or just the mangling of the grainy video?

The Tour de France came through the Auvergne the other day and some friends rushed to see it. They thoroughly enjoyed the carnival atmosphere and street entertainment that preceded the riders. However, after about 20 minutes it was drowned out by the sound of approaching helicopters and police before the riders appeared. The noise, the confusion, the nearness of the cars and media to the riders was incredible. My friends commented that they could quite understand how you would need to be drugged up in order to keep going and keep concentrated with all that chaos going on around you!

Have a great holiday. I hope that you have some of this great sunshine that we are having in the Auvergne.

[Gill]

Terry, I was also a bit surprised by Charles' accent - I had expected it to be more middle class* southern English but he seems to me to have a touch of a mild well-educated Scottish accent. Very pleasing and distinguished.

I don't mean to use class in a snobbish way but merely to differentiate between the many types of English spoken.

[Daniel Strohl]

Colin,

It depends what you want to do with your "high speed" connection. If the main purpose is to read media at a reasonable speed (i.e much faster than a 56 k modem), and if you are not interested in downloading films, which really requires a very fast connection (this is true of course also for Internet TV), then you should be able to choose between several satellite Internet offers ranging from 50 € per month to 20 € per month plus a starting fee (including the antenna and the decoder) of 600 to 350 €.

There is an interesting article in the magazine MICRO ACTUEL (edition Eté 2008 N°1 H) on the matter - I picked up the above figures in this article.

The magazine itself is at an affordable price (2.99 € :)) - if you are not able to find it in a shop, let me know - I can e-mail you a copy of the relevant page. But this would mean a file of at least 300 kB, which takes some time with a 56 k modem. And most of the time, 56 kB is a theoretical value which may in practive go down to 30 kB if you are far away from the exchange.

PS : of course, if the investment is intented for a "maison secondaire" used only for a few weeks a year, then it is still very expensive.

However, if your home is covered by GSM / 3G, this technology would be an alternative - it works with an USB key. This possibility is also discussed in the article.

[dot king]

Daniel, I see you've now mastered Serbo-Croat - I'm very impressed : )

[Daisy]

Bonnes Vacances, CB! Be sure to catch the new Batman flick when it opens. It's brilliant.

For those of you in North America who haven't seen it yet, get thee to a cineplex! It's superb and worth every dime of the $155 million it earned at the box office this weekend. Guys, it's a great guy movie and ladies, I just have two words for you: Christian Bale. When the almighty made Mr. Bale, he more than redeemed himself for creating the lesser, um, varieties (sarko, anyone?).

[colin grayson]

thanks for that daniel , unlike charles I sort of have adsl ...at 512 on a good day , being at 7Km ; no thanks to france telecom , the monopoly supplier here ,who couldn't make it work

fortunately , having an interest in such matters , I was able to install some equipment in such a way as it works ....costs me as much as a triple play elsewhere ; however , it does have the advantage of a monthly contract.... which suits my life style ; being a FON member internet whilst travelling is pretty easy now

no hope for charles though , but he now keeps his beady eye on us by using the usb/3G system you mention ;expensive but better speed than dial up !

[Carole]

Dear Mr. Bremner,

I hope you have a fantastic holiday! I'm reading your blog from my cramped office in eastern Canada, and I sincerly appreciate your wit, humour, and insight. The spoken blog post was a treat!

Sincerely,

Carole MacLeod

[Daniel Strohl]

Azloon,

"do you ever pinch yourself and ask how could be so lucky to have been in france for the sarko era?"

Fortunately for Charles and for us, we are not in the Ségolène era. To say it gently, the lady is not overburdened with humour !

Even Sarkozy's contradictors should admit that Sarko has some form of humour - for instance, he is quoted to have said : "Je suis enfin riche - depuis que j'ai épousé Carla !".

Hollande also has much humour - but unlike some diseases (MST in French :)), humour is not readily transmissible within a couple ...

Colin,

Sorry, Colin, I was not aware that you are familiar with the matter - it is one of my specialities to break in open doors ("enfoncer les portes ouvertes") !

FON was up to now Serbo-Croat for me, as Dot would say. But Google helped me in this occurence. BTW, I will probably buy a Netbook (Aspire One ?) which of course is fitted with WiFi. My France Telecom Triple Play works perfectly - there is provision to include a Wi Fi set in the network.

DOT,

I am no good at Serbo-Croat (apart from drinking occasionally a shot of slivo :))

However, notre PPDA national holds "une licence de serbo-croate", as far as I know. May be could get a new job in Belgrad or Zagreb ...

[Mary Fernandez]

"Sarko doesn't play basketball. He's far too short."

But he's the perfect size for Bull Riding. Just a thought... :-)

Have a great vacation, Charles. (And, do write about what I predict will be a Sarko/Obama lovefest even more over-done than the Sarko/Ingrid encounters. I just pray Carla doesn't break out into a Motown medley while Nico claims credit for ending slavery.)

[dot king]

But he's the perfect size for Bull Riding. Just a thought... :-)
Mary Fernandez

and a very kind thought it is - greatly appreciated! ;D

[dot king]

"I just pray Carla doesn't break out into a Motown medley while Nico claims credit for ending slavery."

No chance, she couldn't even make it as a boop-de-doop-backing-girl - here's some real Motown elegance for you.
Against this kind of class, Nico's nowhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7eTOnNBwYU

[mary]

Bonnes vacances Charles! Over the past few months your blog has given me great clarification on French news items that I've been attempting to understand in the media here.
Many thanks!

[dot king]

OMG!! prepare for MELTDOWN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDZcqBgCS74

ooooooooooohh . . .

[azloon]

Daniel --

you, drinking slivovitz? i'm shocked!

many years ago, a friend of mine, who is now in prison after receiving his third drunk driving conviction, drank a full bottle of slivo (a round, cut glass sort of container as i recall) and collapsed in my serbian-american wife's and my bed. when later i tried to go to bed, my friend had the appearance of a corpse, with scant evidence of breath. we managed to drag his limp body out to the floor of our living room so we could sleep. it had been his first exposure to slivo, and he has mentioned it only once of twice since, asking me, 'what was that stuff again?'

so the operative words in your admission is 'occasional' and 'a shot.'

re sarko's sense of humor

i suppose the comment about finally being rich is an attempt at humor. but the possibility exists that he is being entirely honest. with that sneaky smile of his, it's hard to know what he is really thinking. :)

his facial expressions certainly are amusing, almost as funny as dubya's.

[dot king]

perhaps someone could let Carlita know that this is how it's done - this singing and songwriting business - the lyrics make sense, the voice is perfect, not a squeak or a missed note anywhere
and it's live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6jnvu1gLwA

(I just get carried away finding these old clips sometimes :))