Rochambeau
One of the first delights that I savored in the Blogosphere was a reminiscence, by JR, author of Douze Lunes (then) and L'homme qui marche (now), of the American air base outside of his home town. JR is a serious Yankophile - I will claim him for my part of the country, although he is partial to the open expanses of the West and Southwest - and although he does not post as often or as plentifully as I would like, his is one of the most distinctive personas on the Web. I urge everyone with even a smidgeon of French to have a go at this very affectionate picture of two cultures, living side by side. The punchline is knowing that, although the base was demolished, the officers' housing was not, so that there is an American suburb of the Fifties sitting somewhere in L'Hexagone. Happily, a TV show reminded JR of his reminiscence, and he published its permalink, saving me no end of searching.
Comments
Thanks for the note. I don't post as often and plentiful as I would be satisfied either! :o) I used to have a lot more this enthusiasm for blogging back in the days... say 2001, 2002 and 2003 with Douze Lunes. The excitement is not gone but a bit abated these days. I intend, and I feel that I will recover this enthusiasm soon in L'homme qui marche and in Douze Lunes.
Glad you liked the post about the American presence in France in the fifties, sixties, in my hometown. I was young, but I have vivid memories of these times. And I think that my "yankophily" (as you wrote rightly) comes from this era.
Posted by: JR | December 24, 2004 08:44 AM