Poetry Exercise No. 13: Heroic Verse

Heroic verse is pretty straightforward. Rhyming couplets aabbccdd in good old iambic pentameter. I'd skipped this particular exercise earlier as I wasn't particularly inspired. We were supposed to write about a chap trying to explain away possession of cannabis but it didn't interest me. But now the alternative is to write a sestina, which is a pretty formidable prospect. And so, back to the heroic verse. The inspiration, however, comes from the story of St Benezet, the guy who built a bridge in a little town called Avignon...

Pleased to meet you. They call me Benezet.
Just a shepherd, no one special you’d say.
I was watching my sheep by Avignon
(the town to be made famous through a song)
When I heard God’s voice speak to me, “Go down”,
He said, “And tell the people of that town
Build a bridge across that river, so a
Traveller can safely cross that river
To rest his head within the town”, and then
He added, “I’m right behind you, dear Ben.”
So I picked up my crook, and found someone
To care for my sheep till my task was done.
Then down I walked to Avignon to see
How I could complete my task. Just to be
In this great town was indeed a delight
A change from looking after sheep all night
But I knew I could not forget my task
So I went down to the bishop to ask
If he could build a bridge 'cross the river
For God wanted it done, that much was clear
But he and the townspeople laughed at me
(They all thought that I was being funny)
But I was determined, and persisted
"Build God that bridge!" I firmly insisted.
They didn't believe me (which was quite rude)
And so they asked me, "Young man, if you could
Carry that little stone just a short way
We'll build that bridge for you, starting today!"
So I looked at the stone and had a shock
Their little stone was a mighty great rock!
So I called on God, and asked for his aid
"You said you'd help me out, dear Lord" I prayed
Then I gave that big rock a shove and heave
Those townpeople didn't know what to believe
For God heard my prayer and lent me a hand
With his help I carried that rock to the
River and threw it in. I said, "Look here"
To the townspeople, "Fulfil your promise."
They looked at each other and mumbled "Yes".
So a bridge now spans that river, and hey!
Guess what - they now call me, "St Benezet".

By Train and by Plane

Our last day in Provence and in France!

Our train was at 12noon so we just wandered around a bit around the area. We went to the cathedral, Notre Dame-des-Doms, which is next to the Pope's Palace. Architecturally, the main features of the church are the crucifix right in front, and the statue of Mary right on the top of the church, covered in gold. Set on top of a hill, the cathedral provides a good view of the square below, the rooftops of Avignon and of Villeneuf le Avignon across the river. Behind the church, the gardens. We did not explore there, however, but went inside the church itself.

In a little side chapel on the left of the church entrance, there was a mini-exhibition on the shroud of Turin - what must have been a life-size picture of the original, stretched across the altar. The "face" could be seen quite distinctly, as can be seen in this photo.

The church itself was a little sombre, but what I found interesting was the little "in memorium" plaques which were put up around the statues in the various side chapels of the church, of different dates, in different eras.

We left the church, did a spot of shopping and then went back to our B&B to pay the bill. Indeed, I was a little sad to leave this charming and restful little hotel, with the beams across its ceilings, its narrow staircases with the worn steps and the internal courtyards. I will miss the breakfasts too - the morning coffee and chocolate, the fluffy croissants and the cup of fruit.

It was going to be a long journey back to Singapore from Avignon. Because of the crowded trains, we left Avignon on an early train to connect to another train in Lyon. This resulted in us getting to the airport 7 hours before our flight (which was delayed another half an hour). But the train journey was fairly well used - we sorted out most of the accounts. At the airport itself, I did a little surfing, reading, and a fair amount of shopping. What we did not have very much of, was FOOD. The French pride in and passion for food stops at the airport. The main food court closes by 8pm (8PM!!!!) and there are only two small kiosks left, both pretty crowded. However they were at both ends of the terminal and I did not find them when I did my initial round. So, after a light baguette lunch, we had a light dinner. Sigh.

The flight home was not too bad. Because we checked in 7 hours early, we got our seats changed to the front row just next to the exit. That makes such a difference! Wonderful to stretch your legs! The other thing about Air France as opposed to SQ (and believe me, SQ is ahead in most other areas) is that there are more French movies. I'd watched "The Choir" on the way out, so this time round I watched "Two Days in Paris". This was written, directed, and starred Julie Delpy. It charted the deterioration of the relationship, between Delpy's character and her American boyfriend, on their way back to New York from Venice, via Paris. The plot is limited, and the emphasis clearly on the dialogue and the interaction between the characters. This is rather like "Before Sunset" and "Before Sunrise" which starred Delpy and Ethan Hawke, but whilst Sunset/Sunrise encapsulate the perfect brief encounter, "Two Days" in some way is its dark reflection. Some reviews here and here.

At last, our plane touched down. It was 6pm Singapore time, exactly 24 hours after we had left Avignon.

And so ends my visit to France, my first for many years. In particular, I enjoyed my visit to Provence, even though its legendary sunshine had temporarily deserted it. The charming little villages, the old towns and Roman ruins, the beautiful countryside make it a place I would definitely want to visit again.

Au Revoir!

Provence Pooch of the Day (3)

Dog walking his owner
Originally uploaded by Taking5

Dog walking his owner in the Place de Palais des Papes, Avignon.

He's got the slim head of a hunting dog. Somehow, Avignon has fewer dogs than Paris.

Sur la Pont, d'Avignon

Today, we set off at last to view the sights of Avignon. Although we had been here since Monday (three days ago now) we had been occupied elsewhere, visiting Orange, Chateauneuf-de-Pape and the pretty little Provencal villages on Tuesday, then Arles yesterday.

So it was only today that we had the opportunity to take in the sights of Avignon. We went first to the biggie, the Palais des Papes in Avignon. The Palace of the Popes has indeed a special place in Catholic history. The uncertainties of the times in the 1300's drove the papacy out of Rome. The popes Clement V and John XXII then decided to settle in Avignon, creating the Avignon Papacy. Altogether, 7 Popes and 2 Antipopes resided in Avignon. The building is stark and severe, a fortress rather than a palace. Again, I suppose this reflects the uncertain times.


Whilst the Papacy returned to Rome in 1378, the Vatican retained Avignon in its possession as a Papal State, until the French Revolution. The Palace was then turned into a barracks for many years. As such, today, the Palace retains very little of the former grandeur it must have had in the days of the Popes. No furniture or hangings, or paintings. What does remain are some frescoes in some chapels and also in the Pope's bedroom. Well, the Pope may have stayed there over 600 years ago but that is still the nearest I will ever get to his bedroom. We were not allowed to take any photos, though.



We went then to the nice little church near our B&B, Eglise St Pierre. It is apparently one of the older churches in Avignon, after the cathdral Notre Dame-des-Doms. It has beautiful wooden doors, and is really ornately decorated inside.


We had lunch thereafter, at one of those little restaurants on the Place d'Horloge - definitely a tourist trap. It was a set meal with soup, a main course and dessert and I really would not recommend it to anyone. It was quite pleasant, however, watching the people in the square - particularly a little boy who was running around the place, shadowed by his anxious mother.

After lunch, we headed back to St Benezet's bridge. The bridge is only a half-bridge, with half of it destroyed by floods many years ago. Yet its fame has spread far and wide thanks to a simple little song:

"Sur le Pont d'Avignon,
on y danse,on y danse,
sur le pont d'Avignon,
on y danse tous en rond..."

St Benezet was a shepherd boy who heard voices telling him to build a bridge - he managed to convince people that he was divinely inspired when he was able to lift a huge stone that no one else could move. However, no one ever danced on the bridge because it was deemed too narrow. Rather, the people danced on the river islands on which the bridge had been built. Such is the power of song....




We wandered around the shops to buy some souvenirs after our visit to the bridge. Unfortunately, it had started to rain - an unpleasant, incessant drizzle which made it very irritating to shop. Avignon has a high street with many shops, no shopping centres per se. So in the end we made our way back to our B&B where I had some time to clear emails before going out for dinner. Dinner was at the Hotel de Palais - we ate at the restaurant hotel. It was a pleasant enough meal, but what I really liked was the fireplace in the middle of the room. It was one of those which looks like a log fire, until you notice that the logs aren't being consumed by the flames...

Looking back, it is indeed a pity that we did not have more time in Avignon. I'd have liked to have the opportunity to cross the river to visit Villeneuf le Avignon. Well, we had wanted to get to Avignon much earlier on the Monday but the trains did not allow. Likewise, we would be taking an extremely early train back to Paris the next day. So, our time in Avignon was curtailed a little more than we had initially hoped.


Here's photo link.

A Michelin Meal

Some people come to France just to collect Michelin stars, i.e. eat at Michelin-starred restaurants. I had only one such meal - at Christian Etienne in Avignon, a one-star Michelin restaurant. Probably that makes the meal all the more memorable for me.

By now, of course, we had eaten a number of good dinners in nice restaurants. But dining in a Michelin-starred restaurant is different. It is not just about the food - it is definitely about the service, too. The receptionist took my coat at the door, and we were given little stands to put our handbags on (we took some time to figure out why they had put these little iron things next to our chairs) and so on. And yes, they do take the time to explain the menu in English, and when dishes are brought to you they 'introduce' them to you. There were quite a number of service staff too - the maitre'd, his frenzied waiters and waitresses, all rushing around. The chef himself makes the rounds of the tables, greeting his guests. He definitely is not in the kitchen preparing your meal. But guess that is what being an executive chef is all about.

We started off with our aperitifs, bite-sized, tasty morsels. I had ordered tuna ceviche as a starter (essentially sashimi), lamb and asparagus as my main course and an orange and carrot macaron for dessert. I enjoyed the tuna sashimi - quite a substantial portion - but was less keen on the dried avocado which accompanied the dish as the rich, creamy texture of the avocado was completely lost. The lamb, on the other hand, was perfectly cooked, as were the asparagus accompanying the dish.


We had a little pineapple sorbet next, to cleanse the palate before dessert. I had a really interesting orange and carrot macaron with some almond sorbet. The carrot was raw, grated carrot sticking out of the middle of the macaron. Interesting, but somehow it worked. Our meal ended with coffee and a row of petit fours - we could not finish ours. It was definitely a very memorable meal. If you want to see all the food photos (not just the dishes) click here.


I've basically come to the conclusion that French food in general can be divided into a few categories:

a) traditional basic: your baguettes and pastries and the like, which are typically very good and tasty, likewise the patiesseries
b) fine dining: obviously very fine indeed (anything from 70Euros per person and up)
c) tourist food: generally not very good though quite cheap.
d) mid-price, good value meals: hard for tourists to find. (20-30Euros per person)

My sense is that unlike Italy, which does pretty good deals with their mid-range menus even in tourist joints (at least the tourist joints I haunted), the French tourist menu is just not that great. I recall having this lovely salad with beautiful fresh ingredients in Florence. But here in France, somehow if you go to a cafe by the Seine, for example, you know the quiche will be a little eggy and wet, the crepes will be covered with nutella and the salad will consist of a few soggy leaves and maybe a slice of tomato or two. But buy a baguette with some ham, or chicken, and you eat a good meal for about 4 Euros or so.

Sadly, I only discovered the website "Chocolate and Zucchini" nearer the end of my stay in Paris. The blogger, Clotilde Dusoulier, is a young Frenchwoman who went to the US to work and started cooking there. She came back to France, continued to cook and started a blog about her cooking, eating etc. She wrote in English, so as to keep on using the language and it became a big hit. One book deal followed, and then another. Clotilde is now a full time writer. Her latest book is "Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris" and it gives little tips on her favourite eateries in Paris. I managed to spot this on the shelves of "Shakespeare & Company", our last full day in Paris.

So for those intending to go to France in the near future, check out her site. And also, print out her French-English food glossary. I found that my little phrase book was most put to use in restaurants. Whilst I soon memorised "agneau" for lamb and "canard" for duck, there're a lot of of little phrases which I just can't remember.

Bon Appetit!

From Paris to Avignon

Today, we left Paris for Avignon. We had spent much of the previous night packing up. So, we spent the morning taking our last look at Paris.

First, coffee in a small specialist coffee shop and then we walked to the Pompidou area and then to Les Halles. It was all very ordinary and then I had two firsts! First, I saw my first McDonald’s in France. It was near Les Halles and aside from a small unobtrusive sign above the entrance, the Golden Arches were not in sight. Guess McDonald’s has finally learnt about French subtlety. Then, I walked a little further and spotted my first cat! However, it swiftly dashed away from me into a fenced area where I could not follow. We wandered around till it was time to go to the train station.

We were taking the TGV from Gare de Lyon to Avignon Central. It was a fairly smooth journey and I was able to update my journal, look at my photos and do the accounts along the way. We picked up a taxi at Avignon Central and he took us to our B&B, La Banesterie. The taxi driver drove rather rapidly around the walls of Avignon till he reached the entrance gate nearest our B&B (near the Palais des Papes, or Palace of the Popes). Then he made his way through a maze of little streets before stopping in front of an ancient building with a statue of Mary above the door. I was delighted.

We were holding up traffic (this was a narrow, cobblestoned street which allows only one car through at a time) so we quickly disembarked and entered the house. The first thing which I noticed was the smell of chocolate, lingering in the air. Our host was a tall Frenchman with a curly mop of hair. He took us to our room and then sat down with us and a map of Avignon to mark his recommended restaurants on our map.

Wandering around the B&B only confirmed our impressions. It is a really charming old place with low timbered ceilings, uneven floors, small narrow staircases (of course our room is on the third floor, thank goodness the ceilings are low), lovely old furniture etc etc. There are also signature chains of “glowing roses” in each room. Our room also had a little plate of chocolates and a lavendar pouch on the bed. Details, details.

We took a walk out to see the sights that evening and wandered around Avignon. The Palais des Papes, the Place de l’Horloge, the Rue de la Republique where the high street shops were and the small little boutiques in the pedestrianised area and along Rue Joseph Vernet. We found many closed (many shops close on Mondays and typically close on weekdays at 7pm) so there was a certain amount of window shopping. Finally, however, it was 8pm when restaurants started to open (here they keep Paris time!) and we went to La Compagnie des Comptoirs for dinner. It was a new trendy restaurant in an old convent with the swankiest toilet I saw in France. (I did not realize until I checked out the weblink that it was originally opened by a pair of celebrated Michelin-starred chefs who were identical twins - Jacques and Laurent Pourcel). It was serving fusion-ish food. I had sashimi with a sort of cream cheese layer on it for starters. Then, a huge serving of this pork dish which was like kong bak with lots of honey involved – yummy, but I had a problem here because I don’t really want to eat all the fat but of course that is the nice part of the dish, so ended up removing the fat on two out of the three huge pieces of kong bak and eating only the last one in its entirety. That piece was truly delectable. The dessert was a spiced poached pear with chocolate and ice cream. It was nice but the table next to us was celebrating a birthday and the birthday cake featured not a candle but a sparkler! I just hoped that the rest of our stay in Avignon would sparkle too. The weather report is not good.

Photos here.