Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai

In the wonderfully beautiful month of May, as all the buds were leaping out [my translation of Heinrich Heine] I went for a holiday in Germany. My original plan was a road trip in a German car through Germany to visit friends there when the temperature is much cooler than in Morocco. The road trip part of the plan was only partly successful because of repeated problems with the car rental company; I prefer not to elaborate on that here. There was a heat wave on the Northern Atlantic so it was also over 30°C in Germany that week, though still 10°C cooler than in Meknès.

On the other hand, I did get to visit a total of 11 friends in 7 different places. They were friends I had made from different periods of my life, from my Masters in public rural administration in Paris in 1999, working together at ILRI in 2014, to trekking through China, studying Chinese agriculture or singing together in Beijing during the past five years.

My first stop was the old city of Aachen from which I crossed the border into the Netherlands to the equally historical city of Maastricht. During the next three days at the historical centre of the European Union project, my mobile phone and I were baffled by my crossing borders incessantly and having to change language between Dutch, French and German to speak with the locals. English was the easy default language to fall back to if I could not understand them or make myself understood.

And then I started my German road trip. From Aachen, I drove to Berlin, Postdam, then back Southwest to Ingelheim on the Rhine and finally South to the Swabian Alb region and Stuttgart. All this over seven days. My highlights from this trip were:

• Catching up with old friends, some of whom I had not seen in more than 14 years;
• Driving on the German Autobahn at more than 160 km/h with an odd sensation of both levitation and a constant state of intense awareness to slower cars in front and even faster cars zooming in from behind;
• Eating seasonal white asparagus cooked in various forms;
• The sunny outdoors trekking and biking;
• The typical architecture of these old Northern European cities in the sunset.

Also memorable was the Music Night festival in the small Swabian village of Kirchheim under Teck. The contrast between thumping rock bands, clapping and headbanging audience, cobblestoned streets and half-timbered houses was striking. Among the many rock acts on show, I particularly enjoyed the country music sounds of Johnny Trouble and his band, the easy tunes and harmonies by looping one-man-band artist Ricky Vicente, the mindboggling energy and eclectic repertoire of Orangefuel, and the electrifying unstoppable rock’n roll by The BangBags.

Dichterliebe, Robert Schumann
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Christoph Eschenbach

Je suis seulement de passage

I have spent the last two months in Paris in a transitory state. I had two months and one week before starting my new job next January. I had been assigned to a temporary position at the French Ministry of agriculture with some minor tasks to undertake, which kept me occupied during the daytime; I had many days of annual leave to claim before the end of the year; and I had a lot of time available over lunch breaks and in the evenings.

My priority has been to see friends and former colleagues again, some of whom I had not met since I had last left Paris more than eight years ago. It was important for me to reconnect with these old friends and colleagues; covid and my posting in far-away China had prevented me from seeing them all these years. Having a lot of free time available outside of my working hours, I spent a good four weeks with all the slots for lunches, evening drinks and dinners spent seeing old acquaintances. In total, I organised 38 get-togethers around food or drinks, taking the time to catch up and spend some quality time with individual friends or couples. Three exceptions: one large Chinese hot pot with former colleagues from my previous job in Beijing; one Chinese-style meal I cooked for six other former members from the Choeur Varenne I used to sing in when in Paris; and one invitation to share an enormous poached salmon with six other members of the Choeur Varenne. 

I was lucky to find a choir that accepted me as a temporary singer for just two months. The group was just forming and happy to get as many singers as possible to bring in new members by word of mouth and to get a choral momentum started. I have been keeping my voice trained and learning new repertoire by Vivaldi at Choeur Altā Voce. I also took the opportunity of my two months in Paris to go see various live shows: three plays, two recitals, two operas and one musical. I got to admire the interior decorations of our historic theatres and the outdoor festive lights in the streets.

I also travelled out of town for long week-ends. I went twice to see my parents in their country house in Southwest France. I went to Montpellier to meet many partners for my future posting, while also seeing more old friends and colleagues. I crossed the Channel for a day in busy London and two restful days in the Kent countryside. I also flew to Barcelona where I discovered a city with a stunning view on the Mediterranean Sea, a love of good food (this grill-restaurant I went to did not advertise its menu but had a glass view from the street showing the interior of its fridge), and more outstanding music inside the magnificent concert hall of the city's Palace of Music.

I have managed to fit in many activities in these past two transitory months. I am now with my parents eating a lot of delicious and very rich food for the end-of-year holidays. 'Tis the season to bake all kinds of Christmas log cakes.

De passage
Graeme Allwright, Leonard Cohen

Nun lässest du deinen Diener in Frieden fahren

My last month in China has been a period of many transitions. While dealing with all the uncertainties of this stressful relocation period, I was trying to keep inner peace and focus on one aim: I would leave China on 19 October.

On Sunday 21 September I produced my last musical service for the Evangelical German-speaking church in Beijing. Having spent close to four years organising the music for these church mini-projects of the Deutsche Kantorei Peking, the pastor and I were both very satisfied by our collaboration to prepare meaningful music for one service every month. In particular, I found it really interesting to look for choral or solo vocal pieces, which would provide a musical illustration of the day's theme or reading, all along the Christian calendar year. Rather self-satisfied by this part of my life in Beijing, I ended this last service with a song aimed at myself: the comforting motet by Mendelssohn on the words "LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace". Some members of the congregation later said they had cried when hearing us sing. For me, that was a sign of success: we had touched our audience with our musical spirituality.

I woke up on my birthday on Tuesday 23 September with sad news: my cousin in France had left me a message overnight announcing the passing of my grand-aunt Odette Laulom at the age of 97. Aunty Odette was the last person still alive from the generation of my grand-parents. Her last two years were painful for her family because she had dementia. On my last visit to see her at the old person's house in the Summer of 2024, she did not recognise me. Upon reflexion, I thought the motet I had just sung two days before on "LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace" was also a fitting musical send off for Aunty Odette. She had spent a lot of time of her married life in the kitchen preparing delicious traditional French food; my grand-uncle insisted on eating a full meal of 10 courses at every lunch and dinner. He would only eat a bite here and there but there had to be soup, fish entrée, meat entrée, fish main course, meat main course, a dish of vegetables, tossed green salad, cheese, cake and fruit at each meal! When I was younger and went to my grand-uncle and grand-aunt's house for lunch, I did not yet realise the amount of work needed to prepare all those dishes and be able to serve a variety of dishes at each meal. We would just stuff ourselves with the delicious food. My brother would take two helpings of soup and already be full. I woud start feeling uncomfortable at the meat main but still insisted on trying out all the cheeses served on the platter, and the cake too! I now realise my grand-uncle's passing in 1998 was actually a liberation for his wife. She could at last have the time to do what she wanted and would only serve the full course of 10 dishes on large family celebrations. Dear Aunty Odette now eventually rests in peace.

During the Chinese national day holiday from 30 September to 4 October I joined a group from Hikers Family to trek in the Tibetan mountains in Danba district of Sichuan province. This being a national holiday in China, there were tourists everywhere. We encountered mass tourism at 4200m altitude and did not like it. A good half of the tourists we encountered on our 2nd day's hike would pay for a motorbike service to take them up the mountain to the photogenic viewpoint and back down again. The problem was that the motorbikes were using the same path as all the hikers, and honking all along so hikers would make way for the speeding and smoke-belching machines. All we wanted was some peace and quiet while walking in nature but that day's trek was ruined by those motorbikes. On the next day, we persuaded the guides to take us on a path that did not lead to a photogenic viewpoint but that was free of motorbikes. We were delighted to walk in peace to our heart's content.

On Thursday 16 October I gave my farewell party with colleagues and friends joining me at Fugue bar in the Zhongguancun university-and-hightech district of Beijing to celebrate five years of work as an agricultural counsellor at the French embassy in Beijing. I served canapés of duck pâtés and foie gras from my home region of Southwest France; we drank 24 bottles of champagne I had slowly stocked over the preceding year for this occasion. I sang a programme of songs on the themes of food and longing due to parting. I started singing a solo and invited other singing friends to join me one by one for a duet, trio, quartet, etc. up to an octet with eight different voices. I was glad so many of my friends from my time in Beijing could come to party with me before I left with the sensation of a job well done to keep French-Chinese cooperation on agriculture going despite the current difficult geopolitical and trade context. 

As planned, I left Beijing on 19 October with a one-way ticket to Paris on the Air France flight. I have started a new temporary job at the French ministry of agriculture's Directorate-General for education and research before heading off to another more permanent and exciting posting in January 2026.

Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Frieden fahren
Felix Mendelssohn, Three motets op. 69 no. 1

On England's pleasant pastures seen

I used to take regular trips to the UK at least once a year. I enjoy its green countryside and usually cheerful folk in small cities and rural areas. Going through my previous articles in this blog, I realise my last trip to the UK was in April 2019. Covid put a stop to my international travelling for several years.

Now that it is again possible to travel easily in and out of China, I took a summer holiday to Europe and went for a nine-day, three-Nations tour of England, Wales and Scotland. I had announced my trip to all the friends whose email address I had and who were based or had a connection with the UK, giving them the choice of meeting place in either London, Monmouth (Wales), Manchester or Edinburgh when I was passing by. Unfortunately, the dates of my trip also coincided with summer holidays in the UK so many of my friends were away too. I only got to meet two of my friends and their spouse. I thus spent the rest of my time visiting new places, trekking or running along well-signed footpaths, enjoying the new British gastro-scene and shopping for new clothes and textile items.

In the past I had always driven around the UK as a car is the easiest way to reach out-of-the-way rural areas of outstanding beauty. This time I chose to take trains throughout my trip despite the threat of widespread industrial action. There was no disruption in the end. I only had a tight change of platform in Birmingham on my way to Manchester because of the late arrival of my first train from Gloucester. For once, all the photos in the article are selfies in different places along my tour.

I started off with a night and half-day in London where it was as busy as ever although I tried to stay away from the major tourist attractions. By 2pm it was really starting to get unpleasantly busy with tourists, so I took a train down to Kent. As none of my friends had expressed interest to meet me in London, I accepted the invitation of my friends Hannah and Tim to stay a few days with them in the smaller town of Otford. We enjoyed delicious food together. I went on a long and sunny five-hour walk along the North Downs Way and had to take two trains to find my way back to Otford.

I moved across the country from Kent to Wales for a few days with my former food marketing Professor David Hughes and his wife Susan. The weather started deteriorating but we still enjoyed delicious local meats and the vegetables Susan produced herself in her allotment. I got very cosy with their old cat Spartacus. I got baffled trying to read signs in Welsh.

From Wales, I made a stopover in Manchester, where I had never been before. The architecture of the city is very surprising: there is no consistent heighbourhood housing style. Each individual house has a style spanning from the 15th to the 21st century, whatever the style of its neighbouring houses. This creates a disconcerting kaleidoscope of a city. I took a long walk along a canal heading North of town; with all the locks they had to pass, I was walking faster than the long boats. 

I was thrilled to take a Trans-Pennine Express service North from Manchester to Edinburgh. We passed through beautiful countryside. The Scottish weather was unwelcoming for tourists: showers and sunny spells throughout my day in Edinburgh. I shopped my way along the Royal Mile for woolen textiles and souvenirs. I went to listen to evensong at Saint Mary's Cathedral. The choristers were sadly on summer holiday too; the music was artfully sung by a visiting choir from Texas. I got to taste Scottish tapas. It seems to be the latest food trend in fashionable urban centres: sharing several small portions of food set on the table for all. Rather than ordering a main dish each, the diners order several small dishes to share. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip back in the UK and hope to go back more regularly, choosing a base point to enjoy more of the local scene and greenery.

Jerusalem
Hubert Parry, Royal Choral Society

Summer days drifting away to those summer nights

My last week of June has been very busy getting all my work done before my summer vacation. I've also been very busy outside of work.

For the dragon boat festival long week-end, I travelled to Lanzhou for a few days of hiking along the Yellow River with Beijing Hikers. My highlight from this trip was the many colours and forms that the river took depending on the topography it flowed through. Despite its name, the Yellow River turned to blue in a lake created by a dam along its course. I was accompanied on this trip by the smiling handicapped mascot of the 2024 Paris Olympic games, a phryge. It looks like a red smurf hat and is a symbol of liberty. We shot lots of photos together as part of a promotional campaign to introduce the values of next year's Paris Olympic games to the Chinese netizens through a series of short stories on the Chinese Twitter-like Weibo platform of the mascots visiting various emblematic Chinese sites.

On Thursday 29 June I gave a solo recital of French Romantic melodies together with pianist Cheng Tong. After a trial recital last year which only attracted 8 people because of covid-phobia, this time I sang a full-length programme of 12 pieces in front of 44 people. For the first time, I realised the difficulty of singing live, solo and for a long time: one needs to deal with voice quality but also interact with the audience, say a few words of introduction before singing, keep going although the pianist and I realise to our horror we are no longer in synch... It was an exhausting learning experience. The audience nonetheless seemed to enjoy the show. I was fortunate to have lots of singing friends come to listen to me: I already have a group of fans in Beijing.

Finally, just before leaving China for France, I travelled to Taiyuan in Shanxi province to take part in the wedding ceremony of my French cousin Henri who had met and got married to a Chinese lady in France. This was the Chinese side of the wedding and I was the only representative from the French side. The ceremony was very colourful and well choreographed to maximise photo opportunities. The music was loud; the lights multicoloured and very bright; but the banquet was a delicious assortment of local Chinese delicacies.

It has been a tiring week, made all the more exhausting by the scorching temperatures reaching 40°C during the day over the last month. I am now glad to have left the heat of Northern China for the more temperate European weather for my three weeks of summer vacation. 

Summer nights
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, original soundtrack from the motion picture Grease, 

Recital photos: Autumn and Katia Wistoff

We'll find such lovely things to share again

It has been three years since covid had prevented me from seeing friends in France freely, especially those with children. End 2020 I thought best not to visit friends so as not to spread the virus. End 2021 I chose not to see anybody indoors and unmasked for fear of catching the virus and not being able to go back to China. Now that I have been fully vaccinated, and having caught covid just before leaving for my holiday one month ago, I felt free this year to go on a big tour of France to visit my friends who were available to see me!

My tour of France was principally centred on the sea, friends and food. I left my parents' country house in Southwest France on 3 January for Bayonne, still on the Atlantic coast and close to the Spanish border. I finally took the time to visit the historical centre of Bayonne which I had not managed to stroll through during the three years that I was stationed in that region from 2017 to 2020. I did go back to the beach in Anglet where I would sometimes go for a lunchtime swim break when visiting my colleagues who were posted there. I also went back to the local restaurant serving delicious and simple local food for a bargain, targeting the armies of builders, painters and carpenters who are constantly erecting new houses on this highly sought-out coastal area.

I rented a car in Bayonne and drove all the way to Nice on the other side of France by the Italian border. There was unfortunately no snow for skiing in the mountains this early winter so I spent all my time seeing friends and former colleagues. My first stop was in Pau from 4 to 7 January. I had seen most of my friends and former colleagues already last winter or when I had left town two years ago. I enjoyed deliciously crafted food at L'esberit and Maynats restaurants. The foody scene in Pau is becoming increasingly elaborate and it is more and more difficult to find an empty table in a good restaurant by chance. Bookings are highly recommended even for the simplest bistro. I managed to be there to see the new year's concert of the Pau orchestra and choir, which I was part of when I used to live there: a great show with lots of jokes between pieces and the usual festive Blue Danube, polkas and other classical hits. This being the 20th anniversary of the new year's concert in Pau, the producer had interwoven the Happy birthday theme into several of the orchestral pieces as a clever leitmotiv emerging from the music all along the concert.

I drove along the Pyrenees mountains to the Mediterranean Sea for my next stop in Agde where I was hosted by Brittany S. with whom I had sung in small ensembles when we both lived in Bangkok in 2009. However, we had met again since then and our latest reunion was in Nairobi eight years ago when Brittany and her husband Bruno C. were driving through Eastern Africa with all their possessions and themselves tightly fitting inside a van. Their small house just by the beach had a marvelous view on the sea and they prepared delicious vegetarian food during my stay there, sharing viewpoints about life with their volubile son Phoenix.

I continued hopping along the Mediterranean to visit my current Beijing colleague Julien B. who was also on holiday at his parents' house in the oyster-producing village of Bouzigues, close to Sète. Unfortunately, there was an administrative order preventing all the seashells to be consumed because of a temporary food safety problem. However, they had prepared and frozen lots of stuffed mussels, a local specialty, before Christmas and I got treated to a delicious home-cooked meal of Mediterranean seafood in Languedoc style.

From Bouzigues, I drove on to Montpellier where I stayed with my postgraduate school batchmate Vianney H. I had last seen him in the Summer of 2020 when I had come to Montpellier for a job interview. I also took the opportunity to meet some of my former colleagues from Cirad, some of whom were on the opposite side of the job interview table last time I had seen them, or with whom I had worked in Vietnam when I was based at ILRI in Nairobi eight years ago. This was an opportunity to share insights on covid management in France, Vietnam, Western Africa and China. To take a break from the feasting of the past two weeks, I had very simple fare of butternut soup and pasta with grated cheese at home with Vianney, who was ridden with flu and had no appetite himself.

I then moved on to Marseille where I met up with Thibault V. whom I had last seen in 2017 just as he had come back to Paris from Cameroun and I was moving out of Paris for Pau. He took me to the Miramar to sample an enormous serving of traditional bouillabaisse fish soup. I had more local seafood with deep-fried squid rings and baitfish, along with lots of olive-based veggie dips the next day in a small provençal restaurant on the old port of Marseille after visiting the exhibition dedicated to Mediterranean food cultural heritage at the new Mucem museum of Mediterranean civilisations.

My last Mediterranean destination was Nice from 12 to 14 January where I jogged along the famous Promenade des anglais, went to visit the sites where Henri Matisse had painted colourful art, went to the opera house for a staged show of Schubert Lieder, and ate more seafood in Mediterranean style. Overall, my trip along the Mediterranean allowed me to taste many facets of the Mediterranean diet. However, having eaten in rather large quantities, it would be difficult to still call it a diet in these circumstances.

After four days' of shopping and seeing other friends in Paris, I took a train to the Western-most part of France in Finistère (meaning, the end of the Earth!) in Brittany. I had more seafood and lots of the local crepes specialty while also meeting with very old friends. I met Thomas V. and his family in Brest. Thomas was a high school student with me in the Netherlands from 1988 to 1991. However, we had seen each other again afterwards, most recently when we were both Parisian in 2016. 

 

 

I then went South along the Brittany coast to Penmarc'h in French Cornwall from 19 to 22 January spent with Cyril A. Cyril and I were boarding together during graduate school in Paris. Although we were not from the same batch year, we kept close contact after graduating to different postgraduate schools. I had visited him in Montpellier and he came to visit me in Bangkok in 2009 but we had not actually seen each other in 14 years. The big surprise was that Cyril happened to live just 50 km away from his graduate school boarding mate Michel D., whom I had probably last seen in 2002, more than twenty years ago!

 

I found it very satisfying to interact freely again with old friends after three years of covid wariness about in-person meetings. I am now back in Paris with my parents but I will still be meeting with many of my Parisian friends in the coming days. This tour of France reinforced my strategy to keep regular contact by email, Whatsapp and post cards with my good friends. Although we do not see each other often, when we do meet, it seems like just yesterday and there is little catching up to do. We just need to exchange the latest news and enjoy our mutual company, until the next time comes to meet again. 

We'll gather lilacs
Ivor Novello, Julie Andrews

While thus we agree, our toast let it be

One of the activities I have taken most pleasure in during my time in Beijing has been singing with a group of men in an octet. I created the octet with seven other singers from the Deutsche Kantorei Peking: four tenors and four basses. We call ourselves "The deep side" of the Kantorei.

We have been rehearsing regularly for small projects linked to the German evangelical church, or to produce our own concerts in bars around town. We sing an eclectic repertoire of music going from Renaissance to modern arrangements of popular music; we explore the German-, French-, English-language repertoires, with some attempts at traditional songs in exotic languages such as Basque. 

Most important for me, this group is also a source of companionship and good fun. Apart from the singing, we also take the opportunity to share a meal and drinks at each rehearsal and after our concerts. 

Not only do we enjoy singing, eating and drinking together, but our audiences also enjoy our performances. We still have to work on knowing our parts better so as to lift our heads out of the scores and interact with our audience; we are told this eye contact is still missing. We will be working on it for our future gigs. We already have two producers who want us to sing again in their venue. 

Despite covid sometimes preventing all eight singers to take part in an event, those who are left still keep singing with glee!

The Anacreontick Song
J.S. Smith, The Hilliard ensemble, The singing club, Harmonia mundi

I want to break free

After five weeks of home leave in France, I have managed to fly back to China. I had chosen Shanghai as my port of entry because the municipality had until very recently the friendliest quarantine rules for newcomers into China: 14 days of strict quarantine with medical observation in a hotel room followed by 7 days of self monitoring and free to roam within Shanghai.

I have just completed my 14 days of quarantine. The hotel dedicated to the quarantine of diplomats in Shanghai has the advantage of its majestic views overlooking the Huangpu river. I was not fortunate to get a CBD Pudong view, but the northern side view was still interesting with cargo ships cruising by and the regular crossing of ferry boats. The lounging armchair in the bedroom was particularly welcome to sit by the window and enjoy the view.

My daily meals were delivered to my bedoom door three times a day. The fare was of good quality, varied and nutritious with lots of vegetable dishes. It was all Chinese food, including breakfast with its steamed buns and salted vegetables. I did not get as large a variety of steamed buns in the morning as during my previous quarantine in Tianjin, so the morning breakfast was the least interesting meal of the day. However, I was treated to a custom-addressed gift basket from the municipal foreign affairs office containing fresh fruit, chocolate and biscuits. It was a welcome addition to the ordinary quarantine fare.

My quarantine coincided with the lunar new year festival this year. When I asked whether we would get some sort of culinary treat for the new year, I was told that it was likely though I should not be expecting anything extraordinary. On new year's eve, I got an extra box of Chinese dumplings for lunch and for dinner. Dumplings are a traditional family meal for Chinese new year symbolising all the good wishes you pack into them with the mince. I was thrilled to get another extra box on the 1st-day-of-the-year lunch and on the 2nd-day-of-the-year lunch containing balls of glutinous rice filled with sweet sesame paste. Glutinous treats are another staple dish for the lunar new year because their gooiness is a symbol of all the good wishes sticking to you for a long time.

Despite the culinary extravaganza and the stunning room view, I must admit the 14 days stuck inside my bedroom did become a bit boring. There is a limit to listening to music, reading e-books and surfing the Internet. I did do some physical and vocal exercises every evening, but these are no substitute for a jog out in the park or the community of choral practice. Working days were easier to pass as I could telework with my colleagues sending me tasks to do remotely. This time, I was undergoing quarantine with six other colleagues from the French embassy. We had created an online chat group to share impressions, news and jokes. It made this quarantine a bit easier than last time when I was really alone.

The bad news came in early during the quarantine: because of the Omicron covid variant taking over the rest of the world, and in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic games, Shanghai municipality had decided to reinforce the health safety conditions of its quarantine to avoid covid cases appearing. The first 14 days of quarantine with medical observation are now followed by 7 more days of quarantine with self observation. I have changed hotel last evening. The hotel room is smaller; the view from the window on a carpark with palm trees bundled up for the winter is underwhelming; I am served my food three times daily at my bedroom door; I will still undergo two PCR tests this week. The only difference with my first 14 days of quarantine is that I now take my own temperature and report it to the hotel management twice a day.

I made the most of the long evenings alone to send out emails with my new year greetings. It is still time to wish all my readers a roaring lunar year of the tiger.

My wishes are in the bubbles: Break free of outdated ways of thinking; Safety; Tranquility; Friendship; Powerful; Delicious food; Music.

I want to break free

Queen, The works, EMI

Comic strip: Hergé, Titin Cigars of pharaoh, Casterman

The autumn leaves

It had stayed relatively warm and summery in Beijing until only this week. To get some fresh air and some sense of autumn, I had two solutions: go up in latitude or go up in altitude.

I did both!

First in mid-September, I went with my friend Josh to Jilin in the Northeast of China, just by the North Korean border. I climbed up Changbaishan again. However, we were puzzled by the impossibility to walk up the volcano. A bus took us along with other visitors into the national park, up the mountain and dropped us 500m below the crater. We only had 1 500 steps up a concrete staircase to walk before reaching the top. In this northern province, the leaves on the trees were bearing beautiful autumnal colours.

 

And again last week, I travelled with my colleague Julien (with whom I had visited Xinjiang and Qinghai this Summer) high up above 4 000m on the Tibetan plateau in Sichuan province to the Yading valley national park. Just like in the national parks of Jilin and Xinjiang, we were bused along with other tourists from the main entrance at the bottom of the valley up to the main visitor centre inside the park. From there, we shunned the crowded minibuses that ferried visitors into the upper part of the valley and found a pathway where we were allowed to walk through the autumnal landscape unhindered by the crowds. 

In both Jilin and Sichuan, I ate very tasty fresh wild mushrooms at nearly every meal: stir-fried with other vegetables and meat, stewed in a pot with country chicken, boiled in a hot pot to give a strong umami flavour to the broth. In Jilin, I saw many locals picking mushrooms from the forests we visited, filling up several bags with them at each picking session. Collecting and eating wild mushroom are indeed an essential part of autumn for me having passed many autumn holidays in my parents' forest country house in Southwest France.

Autumn leaves
Jazz Music Korea

The sleepless nights I've had about the boy

In my second year in Pau, I met Guillaume. He had joined the symphonic choir of the local Pau and Bearn Country Orchestra (OPPB) where I already sang. A barytone, Guillaume was of my age group. Within the large symphonic choir, I only had few interactions with him during rehearsals and concerts.

Then in the summer of last year, Guillaume and I were both invited to join the smaller Ensemble vocal émergence (Evé), which needed experienced singers to beef up the chamber choir for Brahms' German Requiem. With the intensive programme of rehearsals for this project, I got to know Guillaume better. Not only did he have a beautiful barytone voice, but he was also particularly friendly and easygoing, eager to give his time and energy to the musical projects of the symphonic and chamber choirs we were both in.

I happened to queue up for a jazz concert organised by a local association one night. Guillaume was there again, selling tickets and drinks during the interval for Tonnerre de Jazz. He was all smiles, still full of energy and mingling freely among the audience and the artists. At another memorable concert this past March, Guillaume had driven his SUV to fetch a Spanish jazz group who had been stranded by a rare snow blizzard while attempting to cross the Pyrenees for their gig. The audience waited patiently while Guillaume sped down from the mountain with the players. That concert was all the more emotional afterwards.

Getting to know Guillaume better, we discovered we both practiced long-distance running and started running together. It helped that we lived close by in town so it was easy to meet up in the evening to run around and out of town. Guillaume showed me all the small alleys snaking up and down the plateau at the edge of the city. This knowledge of the city centre's pedestrian shortcuts and staircases he generously transferred came in particularly handy during the covid-19 lockdown when I could run up to the regulatory 1 hour within a distance of 4 km from my house but still avoid running around in circles. While running together, we would always cross people that seem to know Guillaume and who would greet him warmly. This guy had a large network.

Recently I discovered Guillaume was also very active within Pau à vélo, another local association promoting the use of bicyles within town. Indeed, I had seen him drive two bicycles: a cross-country bike when we met one morning to run together in the city's woods; and one of the dashing yellow electrified bicycles on rental by the city council on which he elegantly cruised through the city from work to various social events.

During the covid-19 lockdown we only glimpsed each other once or twice along the streets and only greeted each other from afar: me on my bike or on a solo run; Guillaume walking his terrier dog. When the lockdown was lifted we had agreed to start running together again and had made plans to meet the last week of May.

On 27 May, Guillaume and his bicycle were run over by a car at a city intersection. Broken spine. Unconscious for one month and a half. He did not wake up and died on 13 July. All his energy, generosity and warmth lost. What a waste!

Mad about the boy
Dinah Washington, Queen of the blues, Mis

A small house and an olive tree

I have spent my last two holidays in Mediterranean countries. I opted for short stints to get a quick feel of these places and their cuisine: just enough to want to return in future.

In September I visited my friend Simon Bordenave in Rome and we both went for a few days in Tuscany. We drove through the hilly landscape between the vine and olive groves and sampled delicious local food. I carried on with a few days to visit Florence and its cultural highlights. I was overwhelmed by the crowds in the city, preferring the quiet country lanes at sunrise for a morning jog.

In October I flew further South to Crete. My goal was to wander through the mountains on this long narrow island although I stopped at Knossos to visit the remains and frescoes of this Minoan palace. The food was simple but delicious. The vistas in the Amari valley were stunning. The warm Mediterranean sea being only one hour's drive away from the island's central mountain range, I managed to take a dip every day.

Green fields, golden sands
An other cup, Yusuf, Cat-O-Log Records