Snow in London

On our way to school...

Sur le chemin de l'école...

We went sledging in the park yesterday. The famous hill looked like a picture from the nineteenth century, you know, the black and white ones, that are sometimes turned into jigsaw puzzles. And it says underneath 'sledging in Parliament Hill'.

Luge dans le parc hier. Le spectacle rappelait les gravures/photos noir et blanc du siècle dernier, dont on fait parfois des puzzles ou des cartes de voeux, avec l'intitulé 'La neige à Parliament Hill'.


It seemed like the whole of London was gathered there yesterday, sledging away on all sorts of devices. Estate agents signs were a big hit. There was a plastic dog basket. Tiny plastic containers on which grown-ups somehow managed to fit  half of their bottom, if they were able to keep the rest up in the air, it worked amazingly well. Speed, laughter, carelessness, excitement, all ingredients were there to spend a joyful Sunday afternoon, and we did.
The careful mother part of me was a bit worried that something bad might happen (the old fashioned wooden sledges were the devices that frightened me most, funnily enough) but it didn't and I had a few good rides down the hill too.
Have a good week all !

On aurait dit que tout Londres s'était donné rendez-vous sur la célèbre colline. En plus des luges, les pancartes de publicité immobilière avaient un franc succès pour les lugeurs fous. Un panier à chien en plastique, de minuscules Tupperware sur lesquels certains adultes réussissaient à caser la moitié de leur arrière-train, tout était bon pourvu que ça glisse, et le spectacle était désopilant.
Nous avons fait quelques bonnes descentes, bien rigolé, ce fut une vraie après-midi de neige en famille.
Bonne semaine à tous !

Neige à Camden

Je ne sais pas bien pourquoi je ne me suis pas déplacée de 3m vers la gauche pour prendre cette photo, mais voilà. Presque la même que dans l'article précédent, un peu plus grise, un peu plus blanche...

Why did I stay behind the tree to take this picture?

Anayway, nearly same view as in the post before, just greyer and whiter !

Broken Peace

I started this post just to show this panoramic picture above I took of Camden Lock Market the other day.

 Then I fished around for these two pictures I took a while back when I was enjoying a peaceful moment in my favourite TeaShop up there (Yumchaa). Sometimes, around 10 in the morning, you might find me here, enjoying a peaceful moment, a cup of tea and a scone or two.

  

Certains matins, vous me trouverez là

And then it brought up the memory of the last time I was there, a month ago, when a couple  next to me  (there is a maximum of 8 tables for 2 inside this teashop) was having a huge row. There was just them and me, so difficult to ignore. They started in whispers, then it got louder and louder, until the woman finally left, I could hear her howling inside her head.

à savourer paisiblement un thé, un ou deux scones.

Sometimes rows are necessary, sometimes when you love each other deeply, and you can't get your point across, then some anger, shouts, though very disturbing, are helping to crack the silence, the 'non-communication'. I know it works for us, because we both know that we are working things out together. Not sure I make sense here.
However this couple was not getting anywhere. She wanted something that he did not want to give her. I am not sure, was it a child or a commitment, there was no love, there was just want on both sides, and their wants were not matching. However they were together, no so young anymore, and she sounded so desperate and he so angry.
It's exhausting just to think about this scene ...

Mais il y un mois environ, la scène n'était pas si paisible que ça : les seuls autres clients étaient un couple en proie à une violente dispute sous forme de chuchotements en crescendo, et cela s'est terminée avec la femme quittant le salon de thé brusquement. Ca hurlait dans sa tête, la communication n'éait pas passée. Pas de conclusion, juste un souvenir perturbant...

Somewhere in the South

Voici le cottage du message précédent, quelque part entre Tunbridge Wells et Battle. Nous avons la chance d'y être invités quelques week-ends par an, en excellente compagnie. Il est enfoui au fond d'un vallon, il y fait souvent froid, toujours humide, mais, photos à l'appui, nous y trouvons presque immanquablement le soleil.

This is the beautiful cottage in which we are lucky to be invited several week-ends a year. Big and comfortable enough to have 10 or 12 or 14 of us all at the same time, in joyous company. Often cold and always humid, it welcomes us nearly every time with a beautiful sky and sun (those pictures were taken in November.) 

 Stiles for hikers to climb between two fields. An interesting concept for rebellious French people, for whom private property is.. private but who don't necessarily respect it.

 Passage obligé d'un champ à l'autre: des barreaux permettent d'escalader la barrière. Fortement encouragé chez les propriétaires fermiers afin de permettre l'accès aux promeneurs. Lesquels en profitent bien, à condition de bien respecter les chemins et de ne pas s'en écarter afin de ne pas effrayer la faune.

New Year 2013

New year's Eve in a cosy and warm cottage somewhere between Tunbridge Wells and Battle...

Réveillon dans un merveilleux cottage anglais quelque part dans le Sud de l'Angleterre...


First of January 2013 Hastings under the sun, some got very wet feet and trousers, joy was had by all !

Fancy finding Tintin here !

Le lendemain, à Hastings (Guillaume le Conquérant, toussa toussa...), on a même croisé Tintin et ses copains, une belle vitrine...

Quelques pieds et jambes de pantalons mouillés plus tard, le Premier Janvier 2013 fut une belle et bonne journée!