last week, the tram service had to be put on hold temporarily because the weather had got so hot. The air temperature had soared to 38 degrees Centigrade, which meant that the temperature of the rails on which the tram system runs had heated up to between 60 and 70 degrees Centigrade.
We know all too well what Strasbourg is like in the middle of a very hot summer, darned uncomfortable. Trudging round this city, a strange mix of medieval quarters, a wonderful cathedral, lots of rundown areas reminiscent of Ireland in the 1950s, and the ultra-modern facilities of the European Parliament, in temperatures nudging towards 40 degrees
Centigrade is a decidedly unpleasant experience. Mind you, it’s almost worth putting up with the heat there in August, because all the Eurocrats have disappeared on holiday and it’s easy to get into otherwise unobtainable luxury hotels. At all other times of the year, these are packed out with MEPs and other Euro fat cats enjoying their hefty expenses.
Elsewhere in France, the weather has been dreadful, again. In the Cote d’Or region in central
France, a mini-tornado struck last week and destroyed about 60 houses. Going over towards the north-west, in the Indre-et-Loire department, this year’s crop of grapes in the Vouvray wine region was practically wiped out by hailstones. Vouvray may not be to everyone’s taste, because it’s on the sweet side, but still, it’s one of the iconic fine wines of France. It’s described by veteran wine writer Hugh Johnson as being sometimes so intensely sweet that it’s almost immortal. Two of the ancient vintages he recommends are 1921 and 1924; if one ever got the chance of tasting wine that old, it would certainly be a memorable experience.
Down in the south-west of France last week, torrential floods wrought enormous damage, including to the town and grotto at Lourdes. The underground part of the basilica was flooded, yet despite the
scale of the disaster, and thanks to an enormous voluntary effort, the facilities at Lourdes partially reopened after a few days. And talking of storms, the darkened skies over Paris last week produced some spectacular photos of black rain-laden skies in the middle of the day.
In Geneva and the Suisse Romande, in Switzerland, the weather situation was even more dire and
dramatic. Last Thursday afternoon in Geneva, the Calvinist city was battered by a violent hailstorm and winds of up to 130 kph. In this delightful French part of Switzerland, much of this year’s crop of grapes was wiped out by hailstones the size of eggs. A national gymnastic event was being held in the city of Bienne, not far away, and it too was wiped out by a storm that injured close to 100 people
and blitzed tents and other equipment. Altogether, between the floods in central Europe and all the storms in France, it’s been a pretty dramatic summer weatherwise in Europe - who knows what is still in store?
At least, France, as always, has loads of events on that will surely appeal to tourists. In Nice, not my favourite among French cities by a long way, despite the Promenade des Anglais, the original seaside walkway, plenty of events are taking place to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Matisse museum in the city. Beyond a doubt, Matisse was one of the great 20th century painters in
France. He died in 1954, aged 85; in the early 1900s, when he was a young, vibrant painter, he created the Fauvism movement, with its bold patterns and vibrant colours. Matisse used this new style to great effect in his still lifes, portraits and nudes, most especially with his controversial Woman with the Hat work in 1905. Interestingly, one of the big influences on his work was Islamic art, so he was way ahead of his time in this respect too. One of his last works is the truly inspired stained glass in the Dominican chapel at Vence, that idyllic hillside town not far from Nice. In Nice itself, all through the summer, until September, you can see special exhibitions at the Matisse museum and in a total of eight other locations throughout the city.
In Brittany this week, from this Thursday up until Sunday, you can enjoy the Entre Terre et Mer festival beside the Baie de Morlaix. Much emphasis will be placed on local produce, from the land
and from the sea and you can find more details at http://www.entre-terre-et-mer-baie-de-morlaix.fr/fr/
Also in the west of France this coming Sunday, there’s an interesting event as some of the top athletes from France and elsewhere will race to beat the incoming tide as they attempt to cross the four km long causeway between Beauvoir-sur-mer and the Ile de Noirmoutier, in an event called Les Foulées du Gois. You can see more details at http://www.lesfouleesdugois.com/
Meanwhile, a trend that’s long been popular in Japan seems set to come to Paris. In Tokyo, the small size of apartments makes it impossible for people to keep cats or other pets. So the idea of Neko cat cafés has taken root; people can go in for a coffee or other non-alcoholic refreshments and make
temporary friends of the cats there. Space problems also mean that lots of people in Paris who would like to own a cat can’t. In France as a whole, close on three-quarters of the population are favourably inclined towards having a cat as a pet, but in the Ile de France region, only a mere 11 per cent of the population actually has a cat. An enterpreneur called Margaux Gandelon is planning to open
the first Japanese style cat café, in the Marais district of the third arrondissement, in August. That month is of course the time the normally logical French all decide to go on holiday at the same time, causing enormous bottlenecks on the autoroutes, all very illogical of course. But don’t be deterred from going to Paris in August - you’ll still find lots of places open and a certain spaciousness to the city that you won’t find at all other times of the year.
Of course, if you prefer a seaside holiday, then France is richly endowed, not just on the south and west coasts, but along the north coast, too, Brittany through Normandy. Coastal towns in northern France, such as Calais, Le Touquet, St Malo and Granville, all have lots to offer. Down south, in the
Cote d’Azur, you don’t have to go to the big name places, like St Tropez, which are bedlam in high summer. Other coastal places like Cavalaire and the town with the delightful name of Six-Fours-la-Plage, are a little bit off the beaten track and therefore more enjoyable. Two inland towns that I can strongly recommend are Annecy beside the lake of the same name and Aix les Bains, close to Lac le
Bourget. On the French side of Lac Léman, usually known to Anglophiles as Lake Geneva, has such delightful places as Evian, yes Evian of spring water fame and still with a touch of the Marcel Proust era about it.
But back to sordid reality. The ratings of the French president fall month-by-month. In May, M.Hollande’s approval ratings were a miserly 30 per cent, but this month, they have fallen to 26 per cent. How low can they go? In a small example of how out of touch he is, there were photos last week of him visiting flood-stricken areas of south-west France. He was wearing elegant shiny shoes, all covered in mud; surely,the sensible thing to have done would have been to wear wellies, which
is what other leaders like David Cameron or Angela Merkel would have done in similar circumstances.
A priest in Madrid has found himself on the receiving end of much abusive tweeting, because he bears such a strong resemblance to Francois Hollande. Javier Alonso Sandoica is the priest in question and a few days ago, he appeared on a Catholic TV channel in Spain, 13TV. Apart from the fact that he has an enormous mop of black hair - the sheer quantity of his hair reminds people of Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London - but otherwise, he’s a spitting image of M.Hollande and it hasn’t done the
popularity of the priest any good.
The other day, I got a glimpse of the future, when I saw for the first time a 3D printer, which can make all manner of objects by building up layers of plastic. In America recently, there was
great rumpus when someone started using the technology to make guns-all the bad
consumer and social trends seem to start in the US, so this will probably be the latest. But anyway, one of the big technology forecasting groups said recently that of the 12 new technologies, mostly derived from the Internet, that will change the future and in the process, wipe out work, one was 3D printing. In time to come, there will probably be no limit to the size of objects that can be printed off-print your own car, at home, in your own time. Seeing this 3D printer in Dublin gave a strange sort of feeling, what someone might have felt when they saw a steam locomotive for the first time, or got their first glimpse of television.
The truth is that much of current technology will soon be irrelevant, as technological change is happening so quickly. Old role models public service radio and television broadcasting could quite quickly find themselves on the wrong side of history. When I was going past the Dublin
headquarters of RTÉ, the Irish public service broadcaster, the other day, I thought, not for the first time, what a splendid array of facilities they have for radio and television. Yet before too long, these could become as outdated and irrelevant as the pyramids. If the fine facilities could be matched by
incandescent creativity, they might survive for longer, but creative input comes way down the list, behind caution and bureaucracy.
And to finish, I can’t resist a joke I read the other day: "Dear me, I’m late again for my cocaine awareness course.Talk about cutting it fine!”