Day 1142 (Saturday) 25^th July 2020

As always we went to Le Phare last night and Kevin and Angie were there, Aussie John and Chadwick was talking to a man we didn’t know. After about 10 minutes this man turned to me and said ‘all right Trace?’ I didn’t have a clue who he was and at first he wouldn’t tell me as he expected me to recognise him. He looked vaguely familiar but, after e few awkward moments he told me his name, Adrian. Him and Andy were big buddies back in the day and I hadn’t seen him since 1996 and he was annoyed that I didn’t recognise him!

It was great to talk about all the people we used to know back then, I’m sure the rest, including poor Huw were bored senseless as they didn’t know any of the people we were talking about but it was good to take a trip down memory lane.  I was amazed by how much he remembered about me because I remember very little about him. He is staying in Andy’s place with his wife and three daughters because Andy is still in Brittany with his part time girlfriend.

We had planned on going bacon and sausage shopping in Geoffrey’s in Antibes but I slept in – it must be all those 7am alarms! Huw very kindly went up to the villa to check in the two guests while I did a bit of cleaning before relaxing on the balcony with my book. I think today was the hottest day of the summer so far. We went down to La Darse and met Dee in the Happy Whale bar for a beer – it’s one of our favourite spots in Villefranche.

Some more interesting facts about France (the following photos are not mine)

·      The longest river in France is the Loire River. It is 634 miles in length. Since it is subject to heavy flooding on a regular basis, there are numerous dikes which line its banks.

·      One of the oldest universities in Paris, the Sorbonne, was founded in 1257. It has become so well-known around the world that it has had to expand from its original location on the Left Bank to over 13 different campuses.

·      Roosters rule in France. The Gallic rooster has been the country’s symbol since the days of the French Revolution. It is seen on stamps, coins, and even the official seal of the French Republic.

·      Early humans in what is now Carnac, France rearranged thousands of large boulders to resemble a forest of stones. The reason for this amazing feat of labour is unknown.

·      For four hundred years, beginning in 58 BCE, the Romans ruled France, although they referred to it as Gaul. Their influence is still seen in the roads, towns, and aqueducts they built.

·      One of the most recognisable homes in the world is located in the suburbs of Paris. The Palace of Versailles was built in the 17th century for King Louis XIV to show off his wealth and power.

·      Following the French Revolution and the subsequent Reign of Terror, General Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the French government in 1799. Five years later he declared himself Emperor of France.

·      During the First World War, one-fourth of all French males between 18 and 27 were killed.

·      A large number of immigrants have come to France, primarily from their former colonies. This has enriched France’s cultural diversity and given it the third largest percentage of immigrants in the world, following the United States and Canada.

·      The Provence region of France is known for their fields of lavender. During the spring, this makes the area a haven for tourists wishing to see the beautiful purple fields and enjoy the wonderful scent.

I found another interesting article in the Local, what would I do without the Local?

Why French women are abandoning their bras

French women are abandoning their bras in record numbers, according to researching carried out by polling organisation Ifop for Xcams.

The trend is particularly pronounced in younger women, with one in six women under the age of 25 telling pollsters that they never wear a bra.

And it seems this is an indirect consequence of the pandemic - with many women getting used to the comfort of not wearing a bra when they were confined to their homes during lockdown and now deciding to ditch the trend for good.

A similar study done pre-lockdown showed that just four percent of French women under 25 regularly went bra-less.

Across all age groups surveyed in the poll of 3,108 people for Ifop's Gender, Sexualities and Sexual Health study, seven percent of French women say they never wear a bra, compared to three percent before lockdown.

One of the main reasons given for continuing to wear a bra was a fear of street harassment or attack, although among younger respondents many felt that their rejection of the bra was itself a feminist act, with 32 percent agreeing that their choice was motivated in part by "the desire to fight against the sexualisation of the female breast, which requires hiding them from others".

Françoise Krause from the Ifop institute said that the trend - known as 'no bra' (in English) in France - had been "boosted by the isolation imposed by the lockdown".

"An exceptional situation has caused women to go from 'what's the point of wearing a bra during lockdown' to 'what's the point of continuing to wear one'.

Sorry no jokes today