Counterlight reminds me:
Happy Bastille Day ma cher Grandmere!
Will you be joining President Sarkozy and me for champagne and cigars again this year?
Why, of course, Counterlight! I wouldn't miss it for anything. May we invite Jane R.? She grew up in Paris.
Did the video give you your fill of French triumphalism?
In New Orleans, the celebration seems to have gone to the dogs.
Monday is Bastille Day, the celebration of the day in 1789 when a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille. It is France's national holiday, and a day to celebrate all things French, especially here in a former French colony.
One of the best characteristics of the French is how much they love their dogs. France has been the birthplace of some wonderful dog breeds.
The Bassett hound is is a French breed. My son has three, a mother, a father, and a son, and they are all getting old and having a series of medical problems. Poor babies. My son's wallet is taking a hit, too.
UPDATE: My son just called and told me that Babs, their Bassett who is 11 years old, has cancer of the spleen. The cancer is too far gone for treatment. She will have about three months or until she becomes uncomfortable. She is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known. She had 10 puppies when she was a young lady, and took beautiful care of them. Trigger is the daddy, and Junior is their son.
Ooh la la!
Of course Jane R can join us!
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as "too much" when it comes to French, or American, triumphalism.
You've got to admit, the French have the world's coolest national anthem.
ReplyDeleteHere in New York, young men celebrate Bastille Day by going to Greenwich Village dressed up a Marie Antoinette (alive and dead).
I had no idea Bassett hounds were a French breed. They're charming dogs, but sometimes I think they're born old.
I'm in for the champagne. :-)
ReplyDeleteHaven't posted yet but may just post a flashback to last year, which included the famed "Casablanca" Marseillaise scene AND a photo of hunky French fire fighters. All in the cause of the public good.
Ditto on the Bassett hounds, Counterlight.
Vive la France!
I live next-door to France. Is that any good?
ReplyDeleteDP, what does it matter? You English are all Spanish anyway.
ReplyDeleteOoh, Mimi! And you a proper church-going Grandmère.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I should add "except for those who are Normans."
But back to the champagne. DP, I think if you can lift a glass of champagne, you're in.
Happy Bastille Day. (It's also my husband's birthday.)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about the ailing dog.
Grandmere --my French chin salutes you and yours on this day!
ReplyDeleteand, Oh --my parents raised bassetts --our male dog, Zeus, was a national champion and sired 100 or so puppies in his lifetime.
They are the best dogs. I am sorry for your grand-dog....
Oh, Mimi, I'm so sorry about the dog. They are such lovely things, those Bassetts. Peace be with her.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm very sorry about the sick dog...
ReplyDeleteJane, I'm not joking. DNA tests show that the Celts, the indigenous people of Britain, are descended from Iberian fisherman.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to Michael! Pass it on, Ruth.
Margaret, anyone with a French chin who can raise a glass is most certainly welcome.
Yes, poor Babs and poor family. they adore their Bassetts. I pray she goes gently and without discomfort. They won't let her suffer.
The son, Junior, to paraphrase Gen. Tommy Franks on Douglas Feith, is the fecking stupidest dog on the face of the earth. His head rings hollow when you knock on it. He's still a mama's boy and cries whenever she is not around. He's going to miss her, if he remembers her for very long. I hope he doesn't.
Wow, fascinating. And here I thought you were reminding us of the Spanish Armada.
ReplyDeleteI knew some of the Spanish and Portuguese were Celts (before admixture of Moors, Jews, visiting French, et al.) but not this fisherfolk research. Really interesting.
DP love, get over it. Sometimes the truth hurts.
ReplyDeleteI love France!
ReplyDeleteGrandmere - Diane (faith in community) just found out she is going to Paris... this weekend!
I am very sorry about the dog. Je suis desolee.
And Jane's repreive from last year was brilliant, go see that.
Fran, thanks for letting me know about Diane. Now I'll go see what Jane offers.
ReplyDeleteCher Grandmere and Dear Doorman Priest, if I may intervene before.. what might it be? Purifictators at dawn! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe Celtic race (and the word race was to become plural after many generations) has its origins in the steppes of Eastern Europe, and even the lowlands of the Russian Ural Mountains.
By the iron age a small branch (P) of these peoples had settled in Iberia and through inter-marriage developed the darker, "Spanish", and eventually arrived as traders on the shores of the south of what is now Wales, Britanny in France, and Cornwall. The much larger group (Q) moved across Europe and eventually settled most of mainland Britain. Roman invasion drove them west and north to northern and western Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
By DP's description, he is of Q stock - which means that he is a Russkie!
Dear Mimi, I'm a Bassett hound person and have owned 4. They are such happy, loyal babies and very funny, but you are right, they can be dumb as dirt. My current hound is soon to be six and is so handsome and is a love.
ReplyDeleteI too am sorry about your granddog.
So how did you Russian and Spanish Englishmen end up with Elizabeth von Saxe-Coburg und Gotha as your Queen?
ReplyDeleteRR, indeed! You've given us a learned disquisition on the origins of the Celtic people, and I thank you for that, but I like the idea of the Iberian fisherman populating England. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.
ReplyDeleteIt's like the Bible. Sometimes what the story is trying to tell us is more important than mere facts.
Suzanne, they are happy and loyal pets. Poor Junior is lame with a hip problem that is inoperable. He still gets up and down and walks, but oh so slowly. He's 9, and Trigger is 10. He's only a little over a year younger than his daddy.
Okay, I admit I'm overly sensitive on this point having been teased mercilessly as a child, BUT, the dog is a Basset hound (just one t). They are nice dogs, and really I wouldn't mind be related to one.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Brits and Iberia are concerned, I think that only some distant connection can explain the attraction that the Costa del Sol has for the English. They're going home....
I am sorry about the good dog Grandmère. That is sad. But, I am happy to hear with my big ears that the French love their dogs so well.
ReplyDeleteLiberty
Caninity
Equality
That IS how the French dogs say it, isn't it?
Love,
Rowan
John, that makes absolute sense, since they are a French breed. The French language does not often have a double "t" at the end of a word. I'll try to remember.
ReplyDeleteMea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Rowan, you are absolutely right. When were you ever wrong? Love, Mimi.