Monday, July 20, 2015

Sprinting


We go to the local train station to collect a visiting Texan. In the forecourt by the ticket counter a group of people standing around a piano, singing. The piano has been installed by SNCF, the railway company, to help waiting travellers pass the time. In Scotland a station piano would last all of ten minutes before it was vandalized. When the train arrives the revellers abruptly stop, gather their bags and rush laughing onto the platform. Some turn right to First Class, others left. They're not, as we thought, a group travelling together. Just strangers united by song.

The daily 'special' in the station buffet is Cotes de Veau a la Sauge et aux Petits Pois. Something you'd be unlikely to find on the menu at the station in Dundee.


Sophie continues her course of antibiotics. She still limps. She does so with studied theatrically when she sees us looking at her. Less so, if at all, when she thinks she's not being observed. At dinner time she sprints to her kibbles.


This story appeared in the weekend newspaper http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/uk-tourists-say-they-were-deported-from-china-after-watching-genghis-khan-film

I Googled Genghis Kahn and came across this wonderful 1979 German Eurovision classic . Presumably the retired tourists weren't arrested for watching it - 

The past, as they say, is a different world.

14 comments:

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

You wouldn't find it at the train station here either. You'd be lucky to find a working chip machine.

WFT Nobby said...

Yes, but can you get deep fried macaroni pie in your corner of France…?

Coppa's girl said...

Deep fried macaroni pie - that's only one step above deep fried Mars bars !!! What is the world coming to ??? Quelle horreur y zut alors !!

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

Bailey Bob and I were wondering...... do you collect visitors from the other forty nine states, or just Texas? We were in Texas in May, just one day ahead of the awful flooding that took place there.

Angus said...

We connect visitors from all states who are looking for somewhere to do their washing, phone their parents, access WiFi and replace their missing Eurail passes.

Angus said...

I should also add that American sophomores are only welcomed/accepted if they engage in long and spirited games of throw the furry fox ( preferably late at night and early in the morning before the heat builds up ) and drop bacon sandwiches on the floor .

WFT Nobby said...

Bertie says: my predecessor Hamish once visited the town where the Deep Fried Mars Bar was 'invented', as reported here:
http://hamishthewestie.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/harbour-memorial-castle-and-scottish.html

Coppa's girl said...

Thank you for this - I'll enjoy learning how it all started !!

Coppa's girl said...

That seems to us like a very good exchange for a home from home, and learning to throw the furry fox is always another line on the CV !

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

I believe we meet all the above criteria, with the exception of being sophomores - however, we will be more than willing, and consider it an honour to throw the furry fox, night or day, and drop as much bacon as required on the floor!

rottrover said...

Sophie, I believe you...

-Otto, who will NOT eat his breakfast if it's served after 7:30 in the morning because his stomach is in too much pain from having to wait so long...

Emm said...

I've seen news stories recently about pianos in the parks in both Seattle and New York. It seems like a wonderfully calming and civilizing gesture. http://pianosintheparks.com/

Coppa's girl said...

Sophie you're a true diva !

VirginiaC said...

Sophie you are working it to the last drop...what a Diva you are!