Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...

French music for 'Paris in July'

One of the aims for this month's Paris in July, hosted by Tamara at Thyme for Tea, was to listen to some French music. I love French music, but listen to it far too seldom. I remember loving this song by Gilbert Becaud when I was younger, Natalie.

La Place Rouge etait vide
Devant moi marchait Nathalie
Elle avait un joli nom, mon guide
Nathalie

La Place Rouge etait blanche
La neige faisait un tapis
Et je suivait par ce froid dimanche
Nathalie

Elle parlait en phrases sobres
De la Revolution d'Octobre
Je pensais deja
Qu'apres le tombeau de Lenine
On irait au Cafe Pouchkine
Boire un chocolat

La Place Rouge etait vide
Je lui pris son bras, elle a souri
Il avait des cheveux blonds, mon guide
Nathalie, Nathalie

Dans sa chambre, a l'universite
Une bande d'etudiants
L'attendait impatiemment
On a ri, on a beaucoup parle
Ils voulaient tout savoir
Nathalie traduisait

Moscou, les plaines d'Ukraine
Et les Champs-Elysees
On a tout melange et on a chante
Et puis, ils ont debouche
En riant a l'avance
Du champagne de France
Et on a danse

Et quand la chambre fut vide
Tous les amis etaient partis
Je suis reste seul avec mon guide
Nathalie

Plus question de phrases sobres
Ni de Revolution d'Octobre
On n'en etait plus la
Fini le tombeau de Lenine
Le chocolat de chez Pouchkine
C'est, c'etait loin deja

Que ma vie me semble vide
Mais je sais qu'un jour a Paris
C'est moi qui lui servirai de guide
Nathalie
Nathalie



In the end of the song the tune goes over into wonderful Russian tunes with Kalinka. It is interesting to compare the videos of today with the videos of yesterday!

Comments

  1. A great way I found to add to my Paris in July experience was to listen to classical and opera radio stations from Paris via the Tunein application on my IPAd while reading

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