h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We're back from a quick visit to old friends of O/H's in their week-end retreat in the Yonne. It is both refreshing and in some ways an ordeal to stay with friends.
Nothing to say on the trip, except that laburnums are already in bloom in the east and that we won't go short of rape-seed oil (I hate this plastic yellow color)
He is retired but she has a high-powered job as a Civil Servant (one of Sir Humphrey's minions) in a Ministry and she has to work with all ministries on behalf of her minister and she regaled us with tales of the cleverness or otherwise of various government figures. Very entertaining to learn about the ins and outs of how the laws get passed. La petite cuisine as we say in French. Also the backstabbing (again James Hacker springs to mind) and how our députés are all keen to put their name on any little amendment to get promotion... Again, that's democracy and there is no better system yet. But it is nice to bash one's own politicians, especially as we all will vote the same way on the European Constitution (more anon).
This friend and I sat around while she gave orders to her husband and B did his best to help. It was comforting to be reassured that there are other women for whom the humdrum housekeeping has no appeal and whose fridges in Paris are equally bare of food.
She showed me all the antiques she's picked up broken for a song and restored herself as a hobby. She was a statistician to begin with and likes to add value. Not a panier percé (spendthrift)like me. We girls had a nice time comparing notes on eBay buying and I was able to identify a pice of art déco glasss that came from her grandmother and to introduce her to Robj.
Lovely small but very long garden where a riot of flowers grow higgledy-piggledy (cliché alert). And a nice house that her grandmother had had built in the 1920s.
But they are the sort of married people who don't mind having arguments in front of others and there were some moments... I flatter myself that B. saw how much better behaved I was as a partner. And is it me or is it getting harder and harder not to sleep in one's own bed? Mine was as cosy as a mangle.

Must do some major trawling on the boards to keep up.

Tomorrow is chainsaw day. Tabula rasa.

Singularly your most French posting to date, and I enjoyed it, many thanks.

Prego

LP

Thanks dear Fantôme. You musthave missed all those on French slang that were modded...

A propos de French slang, martine, perhaps you could re-introduce that here, if we were discreet about it?

I think I kept one or two of the FWOTD postings and could probably find them somewhere in the system.

It has crossed my mind Annie. If you have kept some, I wouldn't mind having a look at them... Thanks for the thought.

It's funny I was going to suggest that, as censorship seems more, shall we say, "intelligent" over here and wondered if some non-English might be allowed!

Whatever, your journal is most informative and interesting, makes a good start to my day.

Le Fantôme