art history: the Italian Renaissance
les femmes peintres de la renaissance italienne
some creatuive writing tips in French and English.
écriture créative en français et en anglais.
#blog #langues #écriturecréative #Français #françaislangueétrangère #English #englishasasecondlanguage #creativewriting
art history: the Italian Renaissance
les femmes peintres de la renaissance italienne
chroniques de lectures: Tuez moi (Yolande Egyed), Une Promesse (Sorj Chalandon) , Le dieu des petits riens (Arundhati Roy) - book review: The god of small things (Arundhati Roy)
mes portraits d'animaux au crayon et en aquarelle réalisés depuis 2016
my animal portraits in pencil or watercolour created since 2016
In May 1987, when I was still working with a anglo-German truck company, a driver took me to London and there I found myself exploring, testing my knowledge of English. Shortly afterwards, I jotted some notes about my trip and used them later for my novel : Souvenir of Germany. My protagonist Tatiana Arnold takes exactly the same trip, albeit in December 1986 and this is what she sees in London:
Friday the 19th, while Tatiana was having breakfast the next morning, - toast, orange marmalade and black tea, it was very cold outside. Despite the winter showers, she had planned to explore the Sherlock Holmes Museum after visiting HMV on Oxford Street, the world’s largest record store. All her favourites were there: Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, America, Ralph McTell, Gerry Rafferty. She bought a CD with Gerry Rafferty’s singles "Baker Street" and Ralph McTell’s "Streets of London" as well as a CD of Christmas carols. She told herself that she had made a very good choice and was eager to listen to her music on her CD player at home. For lunch she went to the Selfridges Café and ordered a quiche and a melon and sweet-corn salad. ...
Then she explored Baker Street - that’s where the legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes lived. She was a fan and never missed any episode of the TV show with Jeremy Brett. To her great disappointment, only an oval sign paid tribute to Sherlock Holmes because in 221b there was an administrative building. The staff of the eponymous hotel informed him that in the past there had been a museum but that it had closed due to bankruptcy two years earlier.
a new privately run Sherlock Holmes museum opened in 1990 and is situated in Baker Street and bears the number 221B by permission of the City of Westminister although it lies between numbers 237 and 241, near the north end of Baker Street in central London close to Regent Park. Of course I visited that one as well, but that's another story.
Souvenir of Germany - Chapter 11
Friday the 19th, while Tatiana was having breakfast the next morning, - toast, orange marmalade and black tea, it was very cold outside. Despite the winter showers, she had planned to explore the Sherlock Holmes Museum after visiting HMV on Oxford Street, the world’s largest record store. All her favourites were there: Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, America, Ralph McTell, Gerry Rafferty. She bought a CD with Gerry Rafferty’s singles "Baker Street" and Ralph McTell’s "Streets of London" as well as a CD of Christmas carols. She told herself that she had made a very good choice and was eager to listen to her music on her CD player at home. For lunch she went to the Selfridges Café and ordered a quiche and a melon and sweet-corn salad. ...
Then she explored Baker Street - that’s where the legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes lived. She was a fan and never missed any episode of the TV show with Jeremy Brett. To her great disappointment, only an oval sign paid tribute to Sherlock Holmes because in 221b there was an administrative building. The staff of the eponymous hotel informed him that in the past there had been a museum but that it had closed due to bankruptcy two years earlier.
a new privately run Sherlock Holmes museum opened in 1990 and is situated in Baker Street and bears the number 221B by permission of the City of Westminister although it lies between numbers 237 and 241, near the north end of Baker Street in central London close to Regent Park. Of course I visited that one as well, but that's another story.
Souvenir of Germany - Chapter 11
The Tower of London
, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames of central London. Built between 1078 and 1399 by the Normans in Britain. It is a World Unesco Heritage Site since 1988.
A year before, in May 1987, I visited the Tower of London. I used my memories to write a scene in my novel Souvenir :
Tatiana walked to the Tower of London. Built by the Normans during their conquest of England, this castle and former prison were also used as an observatory by King John Flamsteed’s royal astronomer and now housed the crown jewels and other valuables. Swords of gold so pure as if they had never witnessed any tragedy. The ruby on the crown was actually a bloody gift from Pedro the Cruel of Seville. The humanist Sir Thomas More was also imprisoned in the Tower and beheaded because he had not consented to the marriage of his king Henry VIII Tudor to Lady Ann Boleyn. Later, Lady Ann Boleyn suffered the same fate.
"Tower of London" thought Tatiana, "Treasures and cruelty!"
When she saw the great crows in the gardens, she remembered a legend:
“It is said that the kingdom and tower of London will fall if the six resident crows leave the fortress.”
A year before, in May 1987, I visited the Tower of London. I used my memories to write a scene in my novel Souvenir :
Tatiana walked to the Tower of London. Built by the Normans during their conquest of England, this castle and former prison were also used as an observatory by King John Flamsteed’s royal astronomer and now housed the crown jewels and other valuables. Swords of gold so pure as if they had never witnessed any tragedy. The ruby on the crown was actually a bloody gift from Pedro the Cruel of Seville. The humanist Sir Thomas More was also imprisoned in the Tower and beheaded because he had not consented to the marriage of his king Henry VIII Tudor to Lady Ann Boleyn. Later, Lady Ann Boleyn suffered the same fate.
"Tower of London" thought Tatiana, "Treasures and cruelty!"
When she saw the great crows in the gardens, she remembered a legend:
“It is said that the kingdom and tower of London will fall if the six resident crows leave the fortress.”
