You Can’t Get The Staff

The explorer, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, was on the front page of The Times yesterday. He caught Covid-19 on a skiing holiday and nearly lost his life. Thanks be to God, he is at home with his wife in Devon and will celebrate his 84th birthday tomorrow.

Vandalism

This graffiti appeared overnight. The tag “Koze” originated more than ten years ago in Denver but is also used by a London graffiti artist.

Monsieur Klein

As a tourist you may have had brekker at the Café de Flore. The service was abominable, l’addition astronomic but on holiday it’s worth it to sit in the sun, read a newspaper and watch people. Inevitably, then you will walk down the Rue du Bac towards the Seine.

Drive & Live

To understand, “get”, the title you must pronounce “live” to rhyme with “jive” not “sieve”.  It’s the silliest idea since that opera performed in four helicopters that cropped up three years ago in A Flying Soloist. 

Trieste

The very name, Trieste, is redolent of sadness: I’m thinking of Françoise Sagan’s novel. I went for a Ryanair weekend in 2008 and, to avoid repetition, you can read about it in a post misleadingly titled Tahiti .

What Now? What Next?

Now the birds are loving lockdown. An uxorious  pair of Great Tits eat peanuts from a feeder in the garden unfazed by us. The falcons nesting aloft Charing Cross Hospital laid three eggs. One has hatched and it seems probable that the others will not. 

Firebrand at Sea

Yesterday’s comment made me turn to Uncle Herbrand’s memoir, Firebrand, The Life and Times of Herbrand Alexander. The final pages are worth quoting; redolent of Patrick O’Brian, Paul Scott and The Navy Lark.

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A Russian Ramble

Let’s go for a virtual walk round St Petersburg.  Jean-François Thomas de Thomon is a French neo-classical architect who designed the Stock Exchange in St Petersburg. Come over to Alexander Park and look at this fine bronze group, The Architects, installed in 2011. Do you recognise Thomas de Thomon? No you don’t because the sculptor… Continue reading A Russian Ramble

Coronavirus Chronicle VI

A friend tells me her mother is finding lock-down frustrating. She rails against her enforced seclusion; “but she’s nearly ninety and hasn’t been out of the house for years”.

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Categorised as Local

Stretchers

James Agate tells the story of a generous but punctilious host, one of whose guests arrived thirty minutes late for a luncheon party. Full of contrition she (of course) explained that she had stopped to buy a chandelier.