Update July 19th: Apparently I was mistaken in calling this a sea lion napping on the rocks in New Zealand. A reader says it's a "New Zealand fur seal." Photo by Marie-Claire Holmes.
Bicycling around Paris
If you're visiting Paris you can rent bicycles at many stations around Paris. Some 10,600 bicycles are available as part of a program known as Velib, (a combination of the French words vélo -bicycle - and liberté -freedom). An annual pass for the bike service is €29; a one-day pass is €1, with the first half-hour free. Paris currently boasts 230 miles of bike paths.
And of course professional cyclists are currently participating in the Tour de France, which concludes at the end of July on the Champs Elysee.
Victoria Beckham and British humour
Much has been made in the American press about David and Victoria Beckham. But Victoria, the former Spice Girl can make a legitimate claim of being misunderstood. She is a master of British irony, a form of self-deprecating humour. I'm married to a Brit, so I have become accustomed to such humour.
When Victoria says she can't hire a nanny that is too good-looking and "it's all about me," she's making fun of herself. When she said she was pulled over by police and didn't want to get out of the car because she was wearing flat shoes, she was joking. I've seen her on a few British talk shows and she's really very funny; she has a great ability to laugh at herself and her image in the media. She's had lots of practice, having been hounded by the media for years.
Both in Britain and in Spain, when her husband played football for Real Madrid, Victoria, David and their three children have been the subject of intense media focus and speculation. As for Victoria's preoccupation with clothes and image, she's right, "It's exhausting being fabulous." She should fit right into appearance-conscious Los Angeles!
Sanctions affect restoration on Hemingway home
As Conor Clarke in Havana and Ewen MacAskill in Washington report in The Independent, London, sanctions against Cuba are affecting restoration work on the late writer Ernest Hemingway's home:
"The bullfighting posters are just as he left them and so are the 9,000 books that line even the bathroom walls. The den, cluttered with mounted heads from hunting trips around the world, still has a well-stocked bar, with bottles of Old Forester bourbon and Gordon's gin an arm's length from his favourite sitting chair.
Finca Vigia, or Lookout Farm, 10 miles east of Havana, is the place Ernest Hemingway called home from 1939 to 1960 and it is there that the author's abundant tastes, in literature and in life, are on display. Visitors can see where Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea, where he dined with Errol Flynn and where Ava Gardner was reported to have skinny-dipped.
"Hemingway liked trouble and the chances are he would have enjoyed the fact that he is still creating it almost 50 years after his death. Finca Vigia has become a symbol of the struggle between the US and Cuba.
For the past two years, a group of American organisations has been working to restore the battered house and save the manuscripts and books. But US sanctions against Cuba have hindered the group's attempts to collaborate with the Cuban government. The Bush administration's response has been mixed, flitting between acquiescence and obstruction."
"Congressman Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts who is one of the leading campaigners for preserving the house and lifting the sanctions, said: "It's astonishing to me that there are some people dragging their feet on this project. It's silly."
"The house made the US National Trust for Historic Preservation list of 11 most endangered historic places in 2005, the first time a site outside the country has done so. The roof was sagging and there was mould on the walls. Parts of the ceiling were so close to collapse that furniture was put in storage. That alerted Hemingway fans in the US - businessmen, actors and even congressmen - who offered to help. But the sanctions prevent Americans financing projects that might help the Cuban government. In this case, Cubans stand to gain from tourism revenue as Hemingway's house would be a big draw.
"The Bush administration blocked direct financial aid, but issued a licence that allowed a visit to the island by US architects and construction specialists paid for by Hemingway devotees. With their help, the Cuban government went ahead with the project and renovation of most of the house was completed in February.
"But much of the rest of the estate remains in disrepair. An impressive tower next to the house is closed, Hemingway's fishing boat is shrouded in scaffolding and red tiles are sliding off the roof of the termite-infested guesthouse. More importantly, the original manuscripts and books, which contain thousands of Hemingway's notes, are still at risk. The US government has blocked not only the money needed but specialist equipment such as dehumidifiers and scanning equipment.
"Molly Millerwise, public affairs director at the US Treasury said: "We do not issue licences that facilitate activity promoting Cuba's tourism. The sanctions against Cuba are in place to help restrict hard currency from flowing to the Castro regime, which lines its pockets with money while forcing the Cuban people to live in fear and oppression."
"Uva de Aragon, associate director of the Cuban Research Institute at the Florida International University, said sanctions have not had the impact the US wanted. "Cuba has been lucky. Before, it had the support of the Soviet Union and now Venezuela. The sanctions are not damaging right now and give Castro a good excuse to play the victim." She said the struggle over the Hemingway house showed the "absurdity of US policy towards Cuba."
"The struggle started when Jenny Phillips, the granddaughter of Hemingway's editor, Max Perkins, visited Cuba in 2001 and was stunned by the importance of the collection and the dire state of the house. "This is the house that contains the most important legacy of Ernest Hemingway, and it really was falling apart." When she returned to the US, Phillips founded the Hemingway Preservation Fund and began raising money and interest in repairing the house and saving the documents. She and others helped broker a deal between the US and Cuba in 2002 that allowed copies of the author's papers to be made and returned to the US, but the Treasury rejected an initial request for more direct collaboration.
"After a stand-off between Hemingway devotees in the US and the Bush administration, the treasury allowed the team of technical experts to travel to the island, but refused to approve any direct US participation. In early 2007, the licence that allowed the experts exemption from the travel ban expired and the collaboration stopped. The Hemingway Preservation Foundation and the National Trust are preparing a new, expanded request.
"Sarah Stephens, executive director of the US-based Centre for Democracy in the Americas, which is working to change US policy, said: "The Hemingway house is a classic example of how sanctions hurt Cubans and Americans. This is our great writer whose material is being destroyed by weather and time. It is shocking. They are just out in the open air."
"Sympathisers include academics, writers and actors. The novelist Russell Banks started a literary campaign that gained the public support of John Irving, Norman Mailer and Salman Rushdie. The Sopranos star James Gandolfini turned up at one fund-raising event, according to Ms Stephens. Among politicians, Senator John McCain, a long-time Hemingway fan, has also helped.
"Phillips and McGovern have met Castro. He said he was a Hemingway fan and had read For Whom the Bell Tolls while hiding in the Sierra Maestra mountains. He had met Hemingway once, at a fishing competition. Speaking from his office on Capitol Hill, McGovern said: "The embargo is an embarrassment. It hasn't worked. We've been doing it for 50 years and I'd like to think that if something hasn't worked after 50 years, we'd be mature enough to let it go."
"Hemingway began renting Finca Vigia in 1939 and purchased it the next year, when passion for deep-sea fishing and a rocky divorce left him looking for a new home in the tropics. The white one-story house was built in 1886 by a Spanish architect. The author stayed until illness and Castro's revolution forced him to move to Ketchum, Idaho, where he took his own life in July 1961.
"It was Cuba that Hemingway always considered home and it was there he wrote some of his most important novels, including For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, a work based on the fishermen of the island that won him the Pulitzer prize in 1953 and Nobel Prize in 1954. Today the house, along with the guest quarters and his fishing boat, the Pilar, is a public museum. Finca Vigia contains one of the most important collections of Hemingway paraphernalia in the world, including letters from Ingrid Bergman and editor Max Perkins, most of Hemingway's book collection and a rejected epilogue for For Whom The Bell Tolls. The walls and shelves are filled with curios."
Hmmm, that fur seal looks familiar. Maybe he is one of the regular visitors at Red Rocks in Wellington where I used to walk in the weekend to say hello to the colony of seals.
Thanks for the little shout out to Victoria Beckham's sense of humour, I often forget how badly the British sense of humour translates sometimes (we have been well-schooled in it in the colonies so it comes naturally to us). I was stunned when people took Ms Beckham seriously when she made her quip about never reading books. She obviously struggles with her body-image, but yes I agree, she is pretty funny.
Posted by: Frida | 21 July 2007 at 07:13
Go to the restaurant on rue Mouffetard in the French Quarter where Hemingway lived on the 3rd floor. It is close to another place he lived on rue Descartes. In my opinion this neighborhood is more representative of the bohemian environs where he and many American writers got their start in the '20s. More fun than the fancy places. Go a little further down on Sunday morning and dance with locals. This would be a great place to take the bicycle ride although Paris is made for walking. The watering holes around the Pantheon are always lively.
Posted by: Alan Bender | 20 July 2007 at 04:34
hey, i have a question. who is Marie-Claire Holmes? i have seen you post a few pics by this person and i'm curious...
Posted by: leonie (chocolate covered musings) | 20 July 2007 at 01:59
Tara,
Victoria's show is premiering tonight in the US. It is another reality show...just what we need here. Maybe she is funny, but anyone who has there initials engraved on their car hubcaps is a little too pretentious for me to watch. Her reality and mine are 2 very different things! ;)
Posted by: My Melange | 19 July 2007 at 18:48
Here's an easy way to remember the difference between seals and sea lions. Seals have smooth heads with little holes for ears. Sea lions have little flaps over their ears. Just a small 'factoid' that I learned last year while teaching a Grade One science unit on marine mammals.
See you in August, Tara! I leave for France in just a few hours!
Posted by: Nancy Sotham | 19 July 2007 at 15:29
The photo's a NZ fur seal, not a sea lion!
Posted by: AJ | 19 July 2007 at 09:12
I am an avid Earnest Hemingway fan & it is tragically sad that his collection and mementos are not adequately being cared for. I blame both governments.
I must confess that I watched the Victoria Beckham "Welcome to America" special .... her sense of humour is rather dry but quite wicked and charming .... definitely more to her than meets the eye.
Wonderful post, Tara. xx, Deb
Posted by: JanePoe (aka Deborah) | 19 July 2007 at 04:48
Ahh, too bad, I hope they will be able to restore Hemingway's home. My parent's lived in Cuba in the early 60's, thought it was great in a lot of ways then.
Another great read today, thanks. I love the great pics too.
Cheers.
Posted by: robyn | 19 July 2007 at 04:22
I love bike paths and Burlington and the surrounding countryside have plenty - and at one point you hop on a ferry to cross the Winooski (Abenaki for garlic) River - likewise you can hop off the bike path and ferry over to Essex N.Y. and continue... and this I can see from the home studio window - now WHY haven't I availed myself of these delights in recent years!?! - Note to Self...
now would that I could bike over to Hemmingway's... a gin and tonic and a good book... a warm and balmy breeze...
... on another be dream play note - will be featuring the holy stone necklace on some gorgeous French script - thanks to the lovely Tara...
xox - eb.
Posted by: eb | 19 July 2007 at 03:18
I read about the bikes the other day and was SOOO impressed. Great idea!
Your comments about British humour? Canadian humour is most definately tied in to that dryness and that ability to poke fun of oneself....I think that's why British comedies (especially the dark ones) play well over here.
Tara.....I just posted a piece I would love to have your feedback on. As I was writing it (and can actually see how I can expand on the theme.....) I kept your post on "the mundane" in mind. I wanted to capture my observations a little bit more descriptively.
Posted by: awareness | 19 July 2007 at 02:53
I love your journal and all that you share.
Thanks for your visits and kind words.
Much love and many blessings!
Love Jeanne
Posted by: Jeanne | 18 July 2007 at 23:28
I think the bike idea is brilliant but I wouldn't dare ride one in Paris with all those mad motorists. I've driven in New York even but I would never drive in the centre of Paris.
On Victoria Beckham - yes she can be funny and laugh at herself but she is like a stick insect and not a great role model for young girls in that respect. My grand daughter is 14 and keeps trying to look like a stick insect and as her grandmother I dutifully throw food down her mouth at every opportunity.
Posted by: Di Overton | 18 July 2007 at 22:25
I love British humor - I don't know how people can take it so differently than it's intended, but apparently some do. It must be very frustrating for her. I hope people here can find their sense of humor and be more welcoming.
Even more frustrating is the situation with Hemingway's home - how could our country be so callous about one of our greatest writers? Even if he did choose to live in Cuba - for most of the time that he lived there, we had friendly relations with that country. What a sad situation. I hope someone in the Treasury and/or State Dept. 'gets a clue' soon, before this treasure trove is turned to rubble. What a loss that would be!
Thank you for shining a light on the situation, Tara. xox
Posted by: tinker | 18 July 2007 at 22:06