On Wednesday, we drove CHM up to Blois so he could catch his train back to Paris. We had lunch at a restaurant near the Château de Chambord — Le Relais d'Artémis is the name of the restaurant — and arrived at the train station in Blois at about three o'clock.
We parked the car and as we walked over to the main entrance of the station we saw a man with a microphone and a woman with a video camera approach us. They were doing a report for the local France 3 television channel on the new pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the train tracks, which was to be opened to the public on Friday. What did we think of it?
I answered their question on camera, and the report appeared on the France 3 local news that evening. I found it on line and managed to post it to Youtube yesterday. I couldn't find any way to download the video, so I just played it on my computer and "filmed" it with my new Panasonic Lumix camera. It's not the best quality, but it's watchable. I'm the second person interviewed, toward the end of the report. It's all in French, and it might be a challenge to figure out what's being said, but here it is anyway.
The pedestrian bridge or passerelle is an ultra-modern metal structure that stands in stark contrast to the old 19th century train station in Blois. Some question the architecture. The stated purpose of the bridge is to form a new, shorter link between the town's historic center and the neighborhoods to the south and west, where thousands of low- to medium-income people, including many immigrants, live in post-war apartment complexes. When the rail line and station were built, they must have been on the edge of the town, but now they effectively divide Blois in two. The new bridge is a solution to that problem, say the people responsible for getting it built.
Et ... sans accent !! J'attendais un léger accent Nord-américain : même pas ! Je me sers de moins en moins de mon dictionnaire pour lire vos articles , Grâce à vous. Par contre , n'ayant jamais l'occasion de renconrtrer des anglophones j'ai de gros problèmes pour parler ou comprendre à l'oral. Amicalement.
ReplyDeleteJe me tue à répéter à mon ami Ken qu'il n'a pas d'accent, mais il ne veut pas me croire! Et son français est à l'avenant!
DeleteBonjour cousin,
Deleteidem.
Si la France a besoin d'un Ambassadeur non-Franco-Français , c'est bien Ken. La langue, l'écriture et tout ce qui est la France : bouffe, le quotidien et les incontournables à ne pas manquer.
Fame at last!
ReplyDeleteahhhhhh so cooooool! Great to hear your voice again, Ken--- decades later!
ReplyDeleteYou sounded and looked so French, with only a gauloise and beret required to complete the image. The structure around the spiralling ramp looks like the skeleton of a gasometer.
ReplyDeleteAnd how look a French ?
DeleteJe me suis posé la même question, Jean Laine.
DeleteJean, I meant the stereotypical older French man, perhaps from the countryside.
Deleteyay!! you're famous!!! great work :-) and ha... i missed being on the news last nite by a few minutes. i think they have gotten my car. hee hee hee
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice surprise for your readers! I got a kick seeing you on the news. Your camera does very good video and the sound was good also. I'm in favor of ramps of all kinds, especially those that bring people together.
ReplyDeleteIn the report they put on the news, they said that some people who live on the "right side of the tracks" (historic Blois) complain that the pedestrian/bike bridge will only serve those who live on the "wrong" side (the apartment complexes). Why would anybody want to go from central Blois out to the edge of town — especially on that side. Some things never change.
DeleteI like it - le classique avec le moderne.
ReplyDeleteYour video from the camera looks good Ken
Looking good Ken!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching this - and it was fun to see you in the interview. I found the reporters at the beginning more difficult to understand than the interview subjects.
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting was the fact that they listed the construction cost and the source of funds.
I like the design of the bridge itself, but the ramp looks very cage-like with the heavy peripheral supports. Too bad they couldn't float the ramp and have it be supported by the central core, so you just see the spiral shape at the exterior.
You're The Man On the Street! Incidentally, Joelle thinks you look French too.
ReplyDeleteCan I take that as a compliment?
DeleteMost definitely!
Delete