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
The past, as they say, is a different world.
14 comments:
You wouldn't find it at the train station here either. You'd be lucky to find a working chip machine.
Yes, but can you get deep fried macaroni pie in your corner of France…?
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 !!
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.
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.
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 .
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
Thank you for this - I'll enjoy learning how it all started !!
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 !
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!
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...
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/
Sophie you're a true diva !
Sophie you are working it to the last drop...what a Diva you are!
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