Haven't posted anything for weeks, in fact haven't put hand to mouse since January. This is mainly because Tash and I have been staying with the d'Ascoynes at Aigues-Mortes, and lovely as their château is it has a mediaeval kind of electricity supply and Hugues doesn't have a computer. I never take my laptop to France - there are so many better things to do there than play with a keyboard.
Our friends, like many non-Parisian French and some Parisians, are not at all sorry about the 2012 Olympics going to London. If boar-hunting were in the program Hugues might be interested but I can't imagine Aglaonice wanting to watch any kind of sport. But we did all agree that the IOC was right to throw out baseball, which no-one cares about except Americans (though not us) and the ridiculous softball. Pity they didn't put squash in - even Tasha thinks this is a great game. Happily, that splendid sport ping-pong is still in - my English friend Tony has a great piece about it in his blog, here. He also gives a link to a post explaining its political significance.
Since we came back I have been looking at a few weblogs to see if I can find any interesting ones but had little luck; most are illiterate, self-obsessed or obscene, and just about the only one I found to admire is by a Palestinian boy who writes with remarkable restraint about his family's sufferings. His sister had her legs blown off by an Israeli shell and his father was shot, but he expresses no malice or self-pity, only a great and weary sadness and a determination to survive. He is 15.
Home again
We got home on 9th and it's nice to be back, though we had a good time in spite of the poor snow. In Klosters the social life is always more important than the slopes and this year it was livelier than ever.
We saw many of our French and English friends and made some new friends among the well-heeled crowd at the Alpina. Happily, there were fewer Arabs than usual but we got very tired of the flashy Russians and worst of all there was a bunch of loud-mouthed Texans who were telling everyone that the way to solve the world's problems was to nuke Iran, and give the Marines a free hand throughout the Middle East to shoot all the Moslems they could find! Tash asked one of them if that included all their women and children, and he said "Sure, if they help their men kill ours!". After that we kept well away from the idiots.
It's good to be get back and realise that only a small minority of our countrymen are as stupid and ignorant as that.
We saw many of our French and English friends and made some new friends among the well-heeled crowd at the Alpina. Happily, there were fewer Arabs than usual but we got very tired of the flashy Russians and worst of all there was a bunch of loud-mouthed Texans who were telling everyone that the way to solve the world's problems was to nuke Iran, and give the Marines a free hand throughout the Middle East to shoot all the Moslems they could find! Tash asked one of them if that included all their women and children, and he said "Sure, if they help their men kill ours!". After that we kept well away from the idiots.
It's good to be get back and realise that only a small minority of our countrymen are as stupid and ignorant as that.
Now for winter
It's been a gorgeous summer but Tash and I are not sorry that the outdoor life is over for a bit (until we go to Klosters in January).
The sailing was grand but exhausting, particularly as we had committed ourselves to a month in the Caribbean AND three weeks in the Med. It was quite a relief to go down to the Fourgiers in Sisteron and just lie about with them and their idle friends for a while.
We made some new friends among them, particularly a half-Russian, half-French art collector called Julius DeBasil. He was very proud because with help from his girl friend Annette he had just succeeded in putting illustrations into a journal which he keeps on the web. We have promised to go and see him after we leave Switzerland as he wants to show us his collection, but it's a funny sort of invitation - he says we will have to stay at a nearby hotel because he hasn't got any spare beds in his castle!
The sailing was grand but exhausting, particularly as we had committed ourselves to a month in the Caribbean AND three weeks in the Med. It was quite a relief to go down to the Fourgiers in Sisteron and just lie about with them and their idle friends for a while.We made some new friends among them, particularly a half-Russian, half-French art collector called Julius DeBasil. He was very proud because with help from his girl friend Annette he had just succeeded in putting illustrations into a journal which he keeps on the web. We have promised to go and see him after we leave Switzerland as he wants to show us his collection, but it's a funny sort of invitation - he says we will have to stay at a nearby hotel because he hasn't got any spare beds in his castle!
Foulmouthed Northerners
Just a reminder that this is an excellent analysis of the North/South divide in the USA.
Gimme a braht wit kraut
Just back from an exhausting week in Chicago, where we went for the wedding of my cousin William Cabot (they’ve probably lost count, but I guess he would be around number VII of that name).
Even by Cabot standards, it was a lavish affair, with a reception for over four hundred guests, and the associated celebrations seemed to go on for days. Chicagoans were greatly outnumbered by Bostonians (I haven’t seen so many Brahmins together since Elden’s 21st) but I did meet two gentlemen – sorry, a coupla guys – who gave me a helpful introduction to Chicago-ese.
His bride was an Italian girl, Domenica Mazzini-Bourbon, and about thirty of her family flew in, mostly from around Verona . They are an aristocratic bunch and I doubt if any of them have ever worked. Domenica’s grandfather has a title of some kind and is lending his palazzo (which I gather is a huge decaying dump but has a nice view) for the honeymoon.
My present to the couple was an oak chiffonier which used to belong to Louisa Lodge Cabot, who was William's great-grandmother as well as mine. It was probably the only gift which was not new and cost the donor nothing. I have no idea how it came down on my side of the family.
Even by Cabot standards, it was a lavish affair, with a reception for over four hundred guests, and the associated celebrations seemed to go on for days. Chicagoans were greatly outnumbered by Bostonians (I haven’t seen so many Brahmins together since Elden’s 21st) but I did meet two gentlemen – sorry, a coupla guys – who gave me a helpful introduction to Chicago-ese.
His bride was an Italian girl, Domenica Mazzini-Bourbon, and about thirty of her family flew in, mostly from around Verona . They are an aristocratic bunch and I doubt if any of them have ever worked. Domenica’s grandfather has a title of some kind and is lending his palazzo (which I gather is a huge decaying dump but has a nice view) for the honeymoon.
My present to the couple was an oak chiffonier which used to belong to Louisa Lodge Cabot, who was William's great-grandmother as well as mine. It was probably the only gift which was not new and cost the donor nothing. I have no idea how it came down on my side of the family.
Farewell Lutchee
Sad news from Hyannisport today. Our old friend Lutchee died in a car crash last Tuesday. We were always so excited to see him whenever we went down there as children. He loved us and remembered all our likes and dislikes and he was so proud of his job at - well, you know where - and of the fact that his father and his grandfather had worked for our family before he was born.
Here's a picture of him with Sarah which Elden took, probably around thirty-five years ago. I remember him almost like this so he didn't change much while we grew up. He must have been well over seventy by now.
We shall all miss him.
Here's a picture of him with Sarah which Elden took, probably around thirty-five years ago. I remember him almost like this so he didn't change much while we grew up. He must have been well over seventy by now.We shall all miss him.
Olympics 2012
One month from today we shall know where the next-but-one summer Olympic Games will be held. My English friends who live in London hate the thought that they might be held there except those who can go away and let out their houses or apartments for some exorbitant fee.
Anyway, a sizeable minority (about a third) of Londoners and almost the same proportion in the UK as a whole are hoping, with good reason, that London won't win. The Athens Games eventually cost the Greek population between $10 and $12 billion and the Chinese have budgeted $23 billion for the 2008 Olympic games – seven times more than the Sydney games. What chance is there of London sticking to its present guess of $4.33 billion?
For me, the English venue for the sailing - the only sport that interests me - sounds pretty dreary (Weymouth) and I'd be happier if the games went to Paris - the French will have the sailing events in La Rochelle which would be much nicer.
Anyway, a sizeable minority (about a third) of Londoners and almost the same proportion in the UK as a whole are hoping, with good reason, that London won't win. The Athens Games eventually cost the Greek population between $10 and $12 billion and the Chinese have budgeted $23 billion for the 2008 Olympic games – seven times more than the Sydney games. What chance is there of London sticking to its present guess of $4.33 billion?
For me, the English venue for the sailing - the only sport that interests me - sounds pretty dreary (Weymouth) and I'd be happier if the games went to Paris - the French will have the sailing events in La Rochelle which would be much nicer.
Back at the tiller
Nice to get back on the boat again after all that fooling around in the snow though the first day out was a disaster as we had to run before a storm, shelter in Fundy and ride it out at anchor off St John.
Actually it wasn't as bad as all that because Jean Delaunnay was with us and although he's a rotten sailor he is of course the best chef in Massachusetts (he says in North America) and with Tasha's help cooked some superb meals for the three of us. They laughed at me when I had a huge freezer put in the boat when we ordered it but now they have to admit it was a good idea because Jean had plenty of supplies to work with though in his restaurant he never uses any frozen stuff.
And we had five bottles left of the case of 1997 Gruaud Larose St. Julien that Jean's father gave me for my birthday. Jean says it's a crime to keep it on the boat being shaken around so we decided we had to polish it off. It took us two very enjoyable days about which I don't remember very much.
Actually it wasn't as bad as all that because Jean Delaunnay was with us and although he's a rotten sailor he is of course the best chef in Massachusetts (he says in North America) and with Tasha's help cooked some superb meals for the three of us. They laughed at me when I had a huge freezer put in the boat when we ordered it but now they have to admit it was a good idea because Jean had plenty of supplies to work with though in his restaurant he never uses any frozen stuff.
And we had five bottles left of the case of 1997 Gruaud Larose St. Julien that Jean's father gave me for my birthday. Jean says it's a crime to keep it on the boat being shaken around so we decided we had to polish it off. It took us two very enjoyable days about which I don't remember very much.
Dopes on the slopes
Haven't done any blogging lately as we've been in Europe, including three weeks in Klosters. Tasha's got a new camera and was very proud of this one of me.While we were there a mob of British royals turned up: Prince Charles, his two sons and a great retinue of servants, bodyguards and hangers-on. Fortunately we weren't staying at the Walserhof where they were, but an English friend of ours was, and said it was a nightmare: they are an arrogant, stupid, selfish bunch, he told us, and the thought of Charles becoming King appals him. In fact, he said, the sooner we (the British) get rid of all the Windsors the better. Not by firing squad, he hastened to add; he is a kind and gentle man, though like most English aristocrats he loves killing animals.
Anyway, as an American it was not for me to agree or disagree, but I did point out that if they went he would lose his hereditary title. Not really, he replied, other European monarchies were disposed of years ago but there are still plenty of Counts, Princes, Grand Dukes and so on swanning around Europe, so he wouldn't have to start calling himself "Mr". But he agreed that it wouldn't be quite the same.
