We're off to see the cheese-eating surrender monkeys in ...

[BoSoxGal]

Great post, Gob - thanks! My French Huegenot roots just swelled a bit with pride.

[rubato]

Ok so plans are narrowing down a bit.

Sun night to -Sat morning in Paris, Rouen, Bayeux, St Malo 2 days, Mont-St Michel, --> Paris (not booked yet) and then home.

There is a chance of taking a day-ferry trip to Jersey or Guernsey from St. Malo but things are pretty open right now.



yrs,
rubato

[Timster]

Well bullet for you robot, all in all seems like a good surrender monkey ocheesin mother f****** trip. When you get off your condescending high horse let the rest of those little ball people know how you really feel. But thanks for sharing. Seriously... What?...

[Econoline]

I've been working on my French:

qui a coupe le fromage?

ou est mon tarantula? Je l'ai perdu.

Puis-je avoir une araingnee sur mon visage?

Vous sans Parasites?

pour une francaise vous n'etes pas tres poilu

While in Italy and speaking almost no Italian, my go-to phrase was always "C'è qualcuno qui che parla inglese?"



ETA: for those with less knowledge of Italian than me, and no translation program, that's "Is there anyone here who speaks English?" (I once said it so perfectly that the person to whom I was speaking replied--in Italian--"Why? You're speaking Italian!")

[rubato]

We're working out the rental car. What would you recommend? If you weren't Timster and hated your miserable life and wanted to die that is?

I'm guessing that Timster would like something from Chrysler, or even GM. Something that said 'the bullet that was supposed to go through my brain and destroy conscious thought, missed'.

I'm thinking "fun"?? What would be the fun vehicle to rent?

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Citreon C-4

[rubato]

Ok, so we have a car but don't know what it is, France being like the US in the car rental business you just get to say what category you want.

1 night left to book a room for. I think its just pure dithering that I haven't got it done yet.

Any recommendations for sightseeing? They have a STUNNING natural history museum in Paris, btw, Clever Frenchies, they call it "Muséum national d'histoire naturelle" to hide it from foreigners. If collecting skeletons of past and present animals got you into heaven these people are SAVED! If there is an animal with a skeleton they have four of them on display ...





And they actually have a place called the "Jardin des plantes" which means "garden of plants" as far as I can tell. I'm not sure what other sorts of gardens this is supposed to differentiate it from ...

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Eifel Tower?

[MajGenl.Meade]

If collecting skeletons of past and present animals got you into heaven these people are SAVED! If there is an animal with a skeleton they have four of them on display ...
And they actually have a place called the "Jardin des plantes" which means "garden of plants" as far as I can tell. I'm not sure what other sorts of gardens this is supposed to differentiate it from ...
yrs,
rubato

(a) well that explains all the extinctions then. Ancient French started a zoo and the animals committed suicide

(2) this kind of garden......



Hope you enjoy the trip very much - can't believe you're not spending all of it in Burgundy but I guess some people enjoy seeing the sights rather than drinking them!

Meade

[rubato]

To arms, brothers!

Front de libération des nains de jardin


The Garden Gnome Liberation Front was introduced to the French public in 1997. Over the course of a year, the Front stole over 150 garden gnomes, contending that garden gnomes deserved the same freedoms with which they were blessed. The leader of that group was charged in absentia with stealing over 150 garden gnomes over a period of several years.[13][14] The Front's leader was given a suspended prison sentence and fined for the 150 stolen gnomes.[13]

In 1998, there was another strike that has been attributed to the Garden Gnome Liberation Front. This strike was known as the "mass suicide". In Briey, a small city in eastern France, citizens woke up to find 11 garden gnomes hanging from a bridge with nooses around their necks. A nearby note stated, "When you read these few words we will no longer be part of your selfish world, where we serve merely as pretty decorations."[13]

For two years following the "mass suicide", the Garden Gnome Liberation Front was relatively silent. No major noteworthy acts were recorded until 2000, when a garden show in Paris displayed 2,000 garden gnomes. In a nighttime raid, the Front "liberated" 20 gnomes from the garden show. The Garden Gnome Liberation Front claimed responsibility, demanding that the Garden Gnomes be released into their natural habitat and not be ridiculed as cheap garden decorations.[13]

The Front gained media attention again in 2006, when 80 gnomes were stolen in the central Limousin region of France.[15]
[edit] MALAG and the European Gnome Sanctuary
Garden gnomes gathered in Floriade, Canberra

In Italy, a group has formed, calling themselves Malag (Movimento Autonomo per la Liberazione delle Anime da Giardino). This group is an Italian branch of the Garden Gnome Liberation Front. They have stated as their goal the establishment of a European Gnome Sanctuary in Barga, Italy. The Barga News published an article about Malag's efforts, noting the following:

"For a number of months gnomes have been moving into a small valley in the Province of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy. ... Most have decided to settle in the town of BARGA, where they have found a sympathetic population known as BARGHIGIANI who are not only prepared to tolerate the gnome way of life but are even prepared to protect it! ... We are proud to announce the first European Gnome Sanctuary here in Barga. ... Life here is protected, no more small garden prisons, no more torture (the strimmer [i.e., motorized weedeater] is a thing of the past here in Barga)."[16]

The Barga News has also published photographs of garden gnomes "now living inside the European Gnome Sanctuary", including hundreds found in the city's parks and at the Castle of Barga, as well as others at the town's main council offices and the Teatro di Differenti. [17]

[Scooter]

Some people have way too much time on their hands.

[Sue U]

Any recommendations for sightseeing?

Catch the show at the Opera National de Paris. They're doing a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci (you'll laugh, you'll cry) through May 11.

If dance and/or a glorious historic setting is more to your tatse, the Ballet is doing Manon at Palais Garnier through May 13.

God, how I'd love to go back to Paris; it's been 35 years and I remember it like it was yesterday. One of the truly great cities of the world. I'm jealous.

[dales]

Try out one of those outdoor pissueurs.

[Gob]

They're doing a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana

Basil Fawlty: "Do you like Cavalleria Rusticana Terry"?
Terry (the alleged chef): "Never had it Mr Fawlty."

[rubato]

Any recommendations for sightseeing?

Catch the show at the Opera National de Paris. They're doing a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci (you'll laugh, you'll cry) through May 11.

If dance and/or a glorious historic setting is more to your tatse, the Ballet is doing Manon at Palais Garnier through May 13.

God, how I'd love to go back to Paris; it's been 35 years and I remember it like it was yesterday. One of the truly great cities of the world. I'm jealous.

If my sweetie hears about it we might end up at the Ballet. She gets season tickets to the SF Ballet every year. Of course if I don't tell her she won't hear about it so; we'll substitute the personal tragedy of missing the ballet for the tragedy of Pagliacci. Just as good that way. And more restful than trying to sleep with an orchestra playing in the room. "Oh damn, look at that, they're performing Manon! Pity we didn't know."



yrs,
rubato