Et pourquoi ne pas investir dans un projet de méthanisation en Normandie ? Avec ses terres agricoles et ses vaches, il y a de la matière biologique en abondance à transformer en biogaz et par la suite en méthane. Ajouter à ces déchets agricoles les …
I’m All Right Jack. What the French say about Brexit.
Ahoy there over the Channel. Let’s face it: this is no ‘no fault’ divorce: the UK’s legendary lukewarm reluctance to embrace Europe, and Brussels’ tortuous bureaucracy. Emotional opinions are flying. I’ve been asking around in Paris and Normandy. In Paris At our building’s yearly AGM on Friday, where co-proprietors discuss, decide and vote […]
Tall Ship
Parade down the Seine estuary
She slides over still-water, sails spread like a swan
ribbons flickering, kites in the wind;
proud her prow, stroked by today’s summer breeze.
Sailors waver like swifts in the masts
as she parades down the Seine’s widening estuary
her memories locked in serene ballast.
For these aren’t the waters she once knew
when she rocked in battle against high seas
all the way from Valparaiso
belly brimming with black coals shifting
belly on fire with coals caught alight,
sailors shouting, pouring sea into her,
shadow-waves leaning in, tall over her
ripping her sails – wings in the wind,
shaking her entrails.
She, the tall ship, heaving, groaning
rounding Cape Horn.
The captain insisted his wife sail with them
she brings the storm with her
yet sews new sails as the rigging collapses,
nurses the sailors who keel sick on deck,
swears at the canons fired through the mist
from Spanish galleons shining with gold.
Wife and ship working together
sailing through centuries
maturing here into full rigged perfection:
La Dame Blanche in full wedding dress.
The next Armada of over 50 tall ships, warships and other special sailing crafts from around the wall, will sail the 120 kilometres of the River Seine through the spectacular landscapes of Normandy in June 2019. You’ll be able to visit the ships on the quaysides in Rouen from 6-16 June 2019 where concerts, fireworks and festivals will take place.
Leprosy and La Chapelle Saint Thomas
The small Leper colony in the woods down the hill with its Saint Thomas Chapel dates back to the 12th Century. We have been coming here on our walks for the last 15 years. It is surrounded by a high flint wall now taken over by the rampant vegetation. The leper’s pool, once known for […]