France last night showed again its mastery of the public theatre of national tribute. This time, the Résistant and historian Marc Bloch entered the Panthéon. The “sprit of defeat” that he fought, said Macron, remains “the slow poison of our public life”
My favourite untranslatable French words are flâneur, esprit de l'escalier, and l'appel du vide - three little gems that first befuddled me and later always made me smile.
A true flâneur is that delightful soul who strolls through the city with no destination in mind, happily drinking in the streets, the faces, and the atmosphere as if the whole world were a private gallery.
Esprit de l'escalier is that annoying moment when the perfect witty reply arrives fashionably late - precisely as you're descending the stairs, long after the conversation has ended. Happens to me all the time.
And l'appel du vide is that mischievous little whisper at the edge of a balcony or cliff, tempting you to leap for a thrilling second, even though you'd never dream of actually doing it.
Together, I think they capture life's playful, poignant, and slightly absurd nuances with an elegance English can only envy.
@RoryStewartUK No longer listening to you after watching your awful behaviour in the podcast with regard to Gary Stevenson. Self-interested elitism and intellectualism at its worst. Very disappointed in you. Unfollowed.
@HannahIamthest1 I have wondered two of them myself…
Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
French center-right senator denounces the U.S. president:
"A Turkish proverb says, 'When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become king; it’s the palace that becomes a circus. ' This fine team has decided to create a rival to the UN. Since his Peace Council was established, Trump has launched more military strikes than Biden did during his entire term. Every time the Epstein affair resurfaces, bombs explode somewhere in the world to create a diversion. Bomb more to make more money."
"Trump, the only elephant in the world who walks around with his own china shop, now has only two options, both equally bad. To withdraw pitifully, claiming—without convincing anyone — that he has achieved his objectives, or to trigger an escalation with outcomes already known from Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan: a quagmire and, in the end, a shameful departure."
Australians can now live & work freely in the EU for 4 years and vice versa
That means they now have 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 EU rights than British people. Free movement offered millions of us fantastic opportunities but Brexiteers slammed that door shut, most shamefully on their own children
Remember that post-Brexit deal Johnson rushed to sign with Australia and which even the guy who signed it, Eustice, admitted was "not actually a very good deal" selling out UK farmers ?
After 8yrs the EU just signed its own much bigger deal. Only people unhappy ? Australian farmers who don't get nearly as much access to EU markets as they wanted, contrary to the above. UK farmers would have had the same protection in the EU
Brexit, never knowingly in the UK's interests
@Adrian_Simpson@AlexTaylorNews@SkyNews Of course it is.
The EU's mutual defence clause, Article 42(7) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), stipulates that if an EU member state faces armed aggression on its territory, other member states are obligated to aid it by all means in their power. Complementary to NATO.
In 1976, the mummy of Ramesses II was flown to Paris for conservation after fungal damage was discovered. Egypt issued official travel documents for the journey, reportedly listing his occupation as “King (deceased),” and he was received in France with military honours normally given to visiting heads of state.