By guest blogger, photographer Macondo (Andrew McRae)

The shadows lengthen in rue des Barres, looking away from the Seine River on the corner of rue de l’Hotel de Ville. A young man makes his way between the outdoor cafe tables, a student heading home perhaps. I’ve always liked the view up this lane which leads to rue Francois Miron, the Paris Mairie and the small Place Baudoyer where the Farmer’s Market is still open on this Wednesday afternoon. Just out of sight to the right of the bicycle is the Chez Julien restaurant, which features in one of my earlier photos. Part of the church of St-Gervais can be seen on the left; the shadow in the foreground has been cast by this impressive church.

The city of Toulouse itself has been in existence for around 24 centuries, and now with around a million inhabitants is the fourth-largest, but fastest growing city in France. It is  home to Airbus, houses the European aerospace industry, the Toulouse Space Centre, the manufacture of satellites and various other technological endeavours.

From 118BC for around 500 years, Toulouse was part of a large area of southern France colonised by the Romans, and called Provincia Romana (the modern Provence is said to have come from this name) or Transalpine Gaul. From around 43BC to 33BC it seems that Mark Antony was the person responsible for this province, Rome’s largest.
A bust of Mark Antony’s head, along with those of many other important Romans, is in the collection of antiquities in the Musée Saint-Raymond. His face is so finely detailed that when I stand in front of him, I imagine him sitting for the artist, or walking the streets of Toulouse, and feel myself plunged down the vortex of 2000 years, a hiss of vertigo in my ears, as I escape the 21st century.

When some people hear that I try to go to Paris for two to three months each year, rent a flat and stay put, they often express surprise. ‘But what do you do?’ they ask. I was reminded of this question the other day when I saw Karen Fawcett’s interesting article, ‘Reflections on Paris’, on her Bonjour Paris site.

Like Karen, I always take my laptop when I go away, and almost always have some work to do. I don’t run an online magazine, as she does, but as a lecturer and researcher, I never really ‘switch off’. There are usually students’ essays to mark, or a draft of a thesis to look at and comment on, or some research to write up into an article. I often continue my thesis supervisions while away, using Skype. There are very few parts of my work now, except actual lecturing—and that only happens for two twelve-week semesters each year—that cannot be done on the move. I love my work, but I also love staying in Paris, and the new (well, they’re not really so new anymore) technologies enable me to do both. I actually prefer having work to do. I hate the idea of being a tourist, and for that reason I can’t bear to be part of a tour (although, paradoxically, I have led tours!). I like to move into a neighbourhood, settle down, pick a favourite café, get to know the waiters, the local baker, pharmacist, greengrocer, fishmonger.

Once in France, I also get into my ‘student of French’ persona, and try to do something each day that will improve my French. Everyday conversations are best, and not hard to come by, now that I have a lot of good friends there. But even on a day when I don’t see any friends, there are still numerous opportunities for conversations. For example, I never seem to be able to go into a Franprix supermarket without an elderly person coming up to me and asking me to read the label on the food—how much sugar is there in it? Or some similar query. There is always a need to buy everyday things, like supplies from the chemist, or a stamp or pre-paid parcel from the post office. Before I could speak French properly, I would look up all the vocabulary I thought I’d need for each particular shopping trip beforehand. A great deal of my French vocabulary was learned—and then used—in this way.

My absolute favourite activity is going to French theatre. My French is not usually good enough to go to a play ‘cold’, so I pick a play for which I can buy the text and read it first. That way, my vocabulary is enlarged, and I can enjoy the play so much more. I also go to French films, but it’s harder to understand those if there is loud music in the background, or if the characters speak quickly, shout, or speak ‘argot’. So I pick films very carefully. Speaking of films, the French Film Festival opens in Melbourne soon, for which I’ve booked half a dozen films already. I’ll be back soon to blog about that.

Nicole Kidman in The Age, 4 Dec 2008

Australia, the movie, in Paris! Nicole Kidman is in Paris with husband Keith Urban and their baby Sunday Rose to promote her latest film; while here, they have also managed to visit the Picasso exhibition at the Grand Palais. You can read all about it in my hometown newspaper the Melbourne Age. The film premiered in Sydney in November. Meanwhile, in Australia (the country) Australia the film is not getting very good reviews. But I think I should see it, as this will likely be the prevalent view of Australia internationally for a while—or at least among those who see the film—and I may need to dispute that!

Opus 31 no.2, also known as ‘THE TEMPEST’, is BEETHOVEN’S musical response to Shakespeare’s play, while Opus 57 also known as the ‘APPASSIONATA’ was considered by Beethoven to be his greatest piano sonata. I remember taking the kids to see ‘The Tempest’ performed by the Australian Bell Shakespeare Company in Melbourne many years ago, but will be re-reading it before January 25!

Pierre BOULEZ’S 2nd SONATA is often considered one of the greatest works of the 20th century. In common with other contemporary music, Boulez’s work has been championed by POLLINI throughout his career, as have the cornerstones of the piano repertoire, such as the Beethoven sonatas.

As a little foretaste, here is a 2004 clip of Maurizio Pollini and the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA playing an excerpt of the first movement of BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4, with conductor Claudio ABBADO.

As with most events these days, Pollini’s concert at the Salle Pleyel can be booked online. As I was doing so, I noticed there was an option for printing the tickets chez vous. So, voilà, now I have my tickets all printed and ready to go in two months time. For extra security I was able to save the tickets as a pdf file and send them to my son in England. I’ve found this printing-at-home option is available for many bookings now—not just for concerts and theatre, but also some train tickets. It sure beats queuing. Mind you, I’ve had some interesting conversations in Paris queues over the years, and considerably honed my French speaking skills at the same time. Maybe I’ll forego the printing chez vous option once in a while…

In Australia, 75% of people polled in the last few weeks ‘wanted to see the 47 year-old African American become 44th president of the United States,’ according to an article in Melbourne’s Age, written by Michael Gawenda, who was that newspaper’s Washington correspondent from 2005-2007.

Back in Paris, left-wing newspaper Liberation has brought out a special Obama edition with 40 of its 48 pages ‘devoted to the first black president of the United States’. For readers who can’t get to the newspaper kiosks themselves, this and other special editions can be purchased in PDF form over the internet.

As many will recall, Liberation was founded in 1973 by a small group comprising Jean-Paul Sartre, and far-left journalist Serge July, who had been a prominent activist in the May 1968 events which began with student riots.

In May 1968 I was preparing for my first trip to France, organised by my school, to stay with my French penfriend Brigitte. When the riots started, my mother tore up my passport application. I went to the post office and got another one. By July, when my French teacher took the group of us over to France, everything had quietened down. In any case, we were going to Annecy, in Haute Savoie, a long way from Paris. In 1968 the trip from England to Annecy by train and ferry took 24 hours, longer than it takes me to fly from Melbourne to Paris these days!