"The Course of French History" by Pierre Goubert

Retail therapy + impending return trip to Paris = reading material.

Last week it was "The Course of French History," by Pierre Goubert. I practically stole this hardback version from Half.com for less than ten bucks, shipped (whilst even the electronic edition was over thirty bucks at Amazon (and everywhere else)!). I have read all of three pages of it, and am already in relieved love with the writing style.

I own several books on (among other things) French history, and so far they've all been written so cryptically that there is no such thing as a casual read. Sentences so thick and tangled, they are a Gordian Knot of dates and activities. I had to do push ups and cardio just to pick the things up and read them.

Then, along comes Monsieur Goubert's book (and Monsieur Ultee's translation), with simple, direct sentences that say who did what, when, and why. Oh, what an enjoyable three pages! Swimming against the current with these other heavy tomes, I feel like a bird in flight, I read with such minimal effort. It shouldn't be that hard.

I might just get some reading done.

Things I don't understand #3

Why is it that the local grocery mart hasn't carried a single French wine in the entirety of the handful of years we've lived here? Amazing! They carry mostly Californian wines, which is understandable, but also some Australian wines and other importeds.

But not to carry even one French product? That's like carrying fine watches, but nothing from Switzerland. Like stocking Tequila, but nothing from Mexico. Like copping meth, but nothing from the Central Valley.

I finally got off my ass and out of my car, and approached one of the muckety-mucks at the store. I recommended a lower-cost vin francais that I had enjoyed in my most-recent burg. Weeks later, I got the call, and my favorite wine of old was on the shelf. Hurray! They managed to bump up the price a few bucks, but it's still cheaper than shipping from BevMo.

France 24 goes all-French

Forbes.com reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy will put the kibosh on French News channel France24's English version, whose website I have visited intermittently since it launched in December of 2006. I'll miss it all the more since we've been too poor to enjoy the TV5 channel from our satellite provider.

Good news, though - according to the report:

Sarkozy said a new channel, France Monde (France World), would be created 'as fast as possible, at any rate this year', grouping the resources of the existing networks Radio France Internationale, TV5 television, and France 24."

Et plus encore...!

Hey, I'm really getting carried away with this merde...

But it is good to see that France24.com, the French version of CNN, is still plugging away. What I like best is that you can get French news in English, because although I read better than I speak or listen, I still don't read as well as I'd like to.

Allons-y!

Plus de francais

More French stuff:

TV5monde.org (TV 5 World) has long offered online media to help us learn French. I see that they now offer a very dedicated-looking product called apprendre.tv. I haven't browsed it much yet, but it looks nifty.

Inspiration

I like to watch survival shows - shows like "Survivorman" with Les Stroud, and "Man vs. Wild" with Bear Grylls. They are enjoyable to watch, as they mix education, adventure and often beautiful scenery. Bear Grylls did a show from the Sierra Nevada that I could watch over and over, even with the sound off. The place is just that gorgeous.

In that vein, a news story out tells of two Frenchmen surviving a terrible ordeal in the wilds of French Guiana.

"He was infested with worm parasites that had burrowed into his flesh and had trouble speaking and moving after swallowing venom from a poorly cooked giant spider. He was covered with bites. His brother, Gilles, said he looked like "he'd just come out of a concentration camp". His blood pressure had plummeted and doctors said that without proper nutrition he would have died within three days."

Wow. Seven weeks in the jungle - refutes the slanderous myth that the French are all a bunch of wimps.