bastille day

Today is the Fête Nationale (National Holiday) in France, widely referred to as Bastille day in the English-speaking community. Like every year, there're fireworks held all over France to commemorate this day and last night was the first time we witnessed a live firework here. It went off at quarter to midnight and lasted for half an hour.. it was a stunning display of multi-coloured sparks that rained over the Yonne river. After that, the DJ spin the music all night (or rather morning) long.

Some history:
This day marks the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789. The date has great importance as the symbolic starting point of the French Revolution and the end of the Monarchy. The Bastille (pronounced Bas-tiy) was a fortress prison in Paris, which was regarded as a place of horror and opression - a symbol of autocratic cruelty.. and the storming of the Bastille marked the beginning of open rebellion against the king and it came to symbolize liberty and democracy in the struggle against oppression, a symbol of revolt against injustice.

Today, Bastille Day is celebrated with parades, fireworks and lots of dance parties which usually begin on the 13th and last until the day after. C'est la fête!

zidane speaks out

The football world is abuzz with Zidane's infamous headbutt and everybody especially the people of France, wants an explanation behind that fury on the football pitch. I've included some extracts of the interview with Zidane done by Canal+:


On his headbutt on Materazzi
"There was no dispute with the Italian players before the match. As in any matches, there can be friction, tension.. like the one in the World Cup final with the pulling of shirt with Materazzi. He grabbed me, I told him to stop and that if he wanted my shirt, I would exchange it with him after the match. And there, he uttered some very harsh words, worst than a physical gesture, which he repeated several times. Everything happened so quickly. He said very insulting and personal things, about my mom, my sister, that really offended me. I listened to him once, I tried to walk away, then he said it the second, third time. I am a man above everything. I would have preferred to receive a punch in the face rather than to hear that".

His excuse
"Of course, it was an act that should have never been done and I want to apologize to the millions of children who could have seen that, to the teachers who have taught the right from wrong. But I do not regret doing what I did. That would mean that he (Materazzi) was right to say all that and he cannot be right. What I deplore is that the one who reacts is always penalized. But if there is no provocation, there is no reaction. You think that I would throw the last ten minutes of my career with pleasure? Sure, what I did is unforgivable but the true culprit should also be punished. And the true culprit is the one who provokes".

The conclusion
"I would like to say a big thank you to football, to all the people who supported the French team and who supported me. I say it aloud, I would like to apologize to all the children. It was an intolerable act".

Well even before Zidane gave this interview, most of the French citizen has already forgiven him for what he did. He is after all, the favourite golden boy in French football. As Jacques Chirac said during the reception, "You are a virtuoso, a genius of world football.. you are also a man of heart, commitment, conviction. That's why France admires and loves you."

At least one recording company here has profited from the drama surrounding Zidane's headbutt. Inspired by that turn of event, they've produced a song aptly named "Coup de Boule" a.k.a "Headbutt" (literally means 'blow of ball'). It is, as one of the members said, our way of downplaying the big hoo-ha. Recorded in half a day, it is rapidly gaining success across the internet and is already programmed by several radio stations. Click here to listen to an extract of the song.

Loosely translated, this is what the song is about:
"Headbutt left, headbutt right
Zidane he has hit
Zidane he has beat"

merci les bleus!

So millions of the French team supporters were greatly disappointed by last night's loss. But that's how it works in every competition.. there's the winner and the loser.. and the better team won. It must be an especially sad depart for Zidane to have his career ended on a sour note. That furious head-butt of his will be forever remembered. Even though the French team didn't make it to the top of the podium and bring the world cup home, the whole of France give them a huge pat on the back and thank them for bringing France to the final and for a month of intense emotion. Despite the loss, cars took to the street for one last honk to give homage to Les Bleus and a shout of support for their favourite player, Zizou.

The team received a very warm reception by Jacques Chirac this afternoon in Paris and a very moving welcome cheer by tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered in the heart of Paris's Place de la Concorde under the hot blazing sun. The players were visibly moved by the sight of fans cheering and chanting for them, particularly David Trézéguet who was in plain tears in front of thousands of supporters.. it was an emotional moment for most. To the fans, the team IS the champion.

And so it would be another 4 years before the country sees the people of France come as one to support a cause on an immense scale such as this. Once again, merci Les Bleus..

les vacances

It's the end of the school year here in France and the summer vacation has just begun. Students who took their baccalauréat (also known as bac and is equivalent to the A-levels) have recently gotten their results and can now enjoy (or not) their year-end vacation to the fullest. French students are on vacation 5 times per year - 2 months break in summer, 2 weeks on the three other seasons and a week during Christmas/New Year. For the winter and spring breaks, the country is divided into three zones (A, B, and C) and each zone's vacation dates are shifted by one or two weeks to prevent families from crowding up in popular destinations such as ski and seashore resorts.. and also to help reduce highway congestion.

Summer is the period when most French take their long vacation.. anything from a week to a month at a stretch. Most major businesses are closed during this period.. otherwise, it's slow moving at the office.

Well we've already made some plans on the places to go this summer.. it's time to chill out!

hail the stones.. not!

Last night, we had a storm spell that lasted well into the wee hour of the morning. Thunder roared in the far sky, bolts of lightning flashed at random, then followed by furious downpour soon after.. and then it started to rain lumps of ice (it didn't rain ice the whole night though). It was quite an experience to have that happening right under your roof. The sound of those hailstones hitting the roof was really deafening.. it felt like it's going to break right through the windows.. pretty unnerving. We were fortunate though not to have larger hailstones pelting down on us.. that would probably cause some serious damage to the roof and windows and not to mention the car too (but that would also depend on the hardness of the stones and the angle of the impact). Well that's what happened in other parts of France last night.. poor folks who have to deal with the aftermath of hail. The one we had last night produced ice pellets the size of cherry seeds to that of marbles.

Well last night wasn't my first experience with hail storms. We experienced one while on the road to my in-laws.. it was pretty scary driving in the middle of nowhere while hail was in progress and the thought of the possibility of facing golf-size hailstones (or bigger) really made me cringed.. and to think that driving on hard lumpy ice is like trying to drive on ball bearings. But so far, the storms I've experienced here were not that severe.. not that I'm wishing otherwise.

Well as the Malay proverb goes, "Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik negeri sendiri".. meaning "Anywhere is always lesser than one's homeland, no matter how lacking it can be" (not that it has anything to do with the content of this entry).

everlasting love

It was on this day 35 years ago when two souls took that eternal step that sealed their hearts as one. They are the two people I admire the most.. my role model.. my mentor.. the perfect exemplar of a life fulfilled.

I am forever grateful to you both.

Happy Anniversary, Mak & Abah!

a good hose down

So we went to the car wash and our car is now rid of 2 weeks worth of grime and dirt. It's amazing how much grit it collected in a space of just 2 weeks.. we had a hard time looking out the windows. Well it's not so much of grime and dirt that coated the car but more of a peppering of sticky substance from tree saps and excrement from insects. That's what you get when you leave your car under a tree but we always look out for shady spots to park our car at, especially now that the temperature is mounting. Given that our car doesn't come equipped with air-con system, it's absolutely necessary to park it under shades. Over here, you either wash your car in the "conveyorized" car wash or a do-it-yourself coin-operated touchless car wash that uses high pressure jet that effectively removes the dirt (and probably the wax too!). Apparently, it's prohibited to wash your car on the streets or parking lots or any public areas here, unless maybe it's in your own backyard. So it'd be another 2 weeks before we drop by the car wash again.. well it's an old beaten up car anyway.. we'd probably wash it more often if it was a new car.

I took a snap of the area where we usually do our grocery shopping at. The impression I had the first time I saw these buildings was that these were temporary buildings as they look like (large scale) containers.. the kind you'd find on construction sites or by the shipping docks. I discovered later on that these steel buildings are a common fixture in the cities especially in the commercial areas. It was strange in the beginning to see these type of constructions instead of the usual brick and block structures.

Last night, the streets once again blared with honks from cars after France secured a place in the semi-finals.. we were unwilling audience of an hour of honking and this time it was accompanied by screams and shouts of triumph and they lasted well after midnight.. I can just imagine what it'd be like if France clinches the trophy...