Tag Archives: French

Work as a guerrilla gardener and clandestine cleaner (Rousse)

Posted on October 4, 2026 by Dreamaticus

I sneaked up to the University of Edinburgh’s New College tugging my small trolley of gardening tools. There, out of sight of the few people who were around so early in the day, I tidied up a couple of shrubs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged antler, Birmingham, clandestine, cleaner, dahlia, deer, Edinburgh, French, gardener, gardening, guerilla, Muirhead Tower, New College, North Bridge, seminar, shrub, sofa, statue, tool, trolley, university, vacuum, vase | Leave a comment

Japanese beauties held captive in the White House (Rousse)

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Dreamaticus

The White House, Hartburn, had been returned to residential use. I owned the upstairs flat, and someone else the ground floor. From their online descriptions, each property looked just like an ordinary Airbnb rental: people came and went, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged AirBnB, battle, beauties, bedroom, captive, eyes, French, girls, grounds, hair, Hartburn, hostage, illegal, immigrants, Japan, Japanese, loafers, neighbours, nephew, Paris, reporter, shoebox, skin, sports, sunshine, teenage, White House, woman | Leave a comment

Dumbing down language degrees (Rousse)

Posted on March 10, 2026 by Dreamaticus

My former university tutor Mr H sat across the table from me, marking the papers of final year undergraduate French students. I questioned why they were all in English. ‘Today’s students are incapable of writing in a foreign language’, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged down, dumbing, English, French, graduates, papers, referencing, speak, tutor, university | Leave a comment

Big changes at the University of Birmingham (Rousse)

Posted on October 4, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Childhood friends SB and KH met me in Birmingham to scope out venues for next year’s university reunion. We were in for a shock when we reached the University of Birmingham campus. The French department was completely unrecognisable. The corridors … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged banner, Birmingham, Chinese, corridor, French, hall, lecture, navigation, reception, reunion, student, university, venue | Leave a comment

Aristotle, Shakespeare, Pirandello, Henry IV – and a shop for sale in Stirchley (Rousse)

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Dreamaticus

The university reunion in Birmingham was a very dull affair, attracting only the quietest of my former classmates. I eventually managed to persuade JG into a conversation. She spoke of her preference for the study of Latin and Greek over … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aristotle, Birmingham, French, Greek, Henry IV, Latin, Pirandello, Shakespeare, shop, university | Leave a comment

Lost in the Paris RER (Rousse)

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Dreamaticus

I lost TPR and LF in the maze of a Paris RER station on our way back to the main venue of the incentive holiday. When they boarded the train heading in the right direction, I went the opposite way. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged TPR, holiday, hotel, French, station, Hilton, Paris, Friends, incentive, offend, RER | Leave a comment

A diet that really works (Rousse)

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Dreamaticus

My sister J had joked that she had been eating cardboard in an attempt to lose weight. Now that I saw her again in the flesh, she admitted that her new slim form was thanks to a recipe for offal … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cardboard, diet, filling, flesh, food processor, French, kidneys, liver, machine, meat, offal, pounds, sister, works | Leave a comment

Fear of the French past historic tense (Rousse)

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Dreamaticus

This was a University reunion with a difference: as part of the ‘celebrations’, we were all to sit the final year French essay exam. How could I possibly do this? The only graduates capable of such a feat would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged essay, French, graduate, historic, lecturer, past, reunion, tense, university, write | Leave a comment

New miniature railway attraction in formal French garden at Uig Sands (Rousse)

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Dreamaticus

The proprietor of the bed and breakfast was just as surprised as we were to find a formal French garden, complete with a miniature railway, laid out between his guest house and the vast beach of Uig Sands.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged B&B, beach, bed and breakfast, formal, French, garden, guest, house, Isle of Lewis, miniature, railway, sands, train, Uig | Leave a comment

Dressing secrets of the French royal family (Rousse)

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Dreamaticus

The curator passed me the tiny fitted eighteenth century jacket. The solid gold buttons, along with the hand-stitched trimmings in precious threads, stood out against the beautiful dark blue velvet. ‘Check the silver embroidery on the seam of the sleeve’, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged family, France, French, gold, jacket, prince, Queen, royal, sleeve, stitches, velvet | Leave a comment