A Dane in France

On Friday night I was mugged when leaving the Paris metro. A young guy was rubbing himself against me whilst we were standing on the escalators, and though I tried to ignore him, I eventually turned around and looked angrily at him. A few metres down...

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You know this TV show where candidates have to show their talent in front of three judges and an audience? Well, in the last couple of days I have realised that France's got talent. I am not talking about singers and dancers and magicians, but about normal...

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Two years ago my life in the south of France changed when iDTGV released an offer called iDTGVMAX. For the modest sum of EUR59.99 per month, equipped with a blue card with my photo and with the installation of an application on my phone a world beyond...

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Recently I became the owner of my first cocotte. A cocotte is something that one will find in every traditional French home. I am not thinking of a cocotte as they called a prostitute during the Second Empire nor am I thinking of the nickname that children...

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This week saw Joe Cocker pass to another world following his fight with lung cancer. It felt as if a life long friend had left me, though I have never seen Joe Cocker in concert or even followed his carreer. He has just always been there. It was on a...

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The four letter word is not LOVE but FRAC. I don't know how I have been able to ignore those letters for so long but until recently I had no idea what they meant: Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporains (Regional Modern Art Foundations). Jacques Lang, the...

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After a day out cycling and hiking in the Sainte Baume near Aubagne with my bike buddies we arrived after darkness at the small priory St Jean du Garguier. Evening mass was about to begin, so we quickly locked our bicycles together and entered the priory...

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Yesterday when I was racing through Marseille with my bike boys I got glimpses of places that I would love to explore further. One of these places was Le Canet, a former industrial area where oïl and soap manufacturers had their production. After some...

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With the association Collectif Vélo en Ville I have since 6 months been exploring parts of Marseille that I had only heard of. Today we went to Saint Just, Merlan and Chutes-Lavie where a surprise waited for us at the end of a narrow street behind a gate....

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Water castle is the literal translation from the French château d'eau and is much more poetic than water reservoir. There is a poetic water castle in Toulouse on the shore of the river Garonne. It is simply called Château d'Eau, and it is a centre for...

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