Accent... grave

Brève du Figaro:

Distribution gratuite de gilets fluos

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Cette opération de distribution est menée par les assurances MMA et Zérotracas.com, un site internet dédié à la prévention des risques routiers.

Vous avez essayé de taper l'adresse donnée dans l'article... ah bah oui, avec l'accent ça fonctionne pas... combien d'internautes peu au fait de cette limite ne pourront aller se renseigner?

Le Figaro ou comment donner une information sans informer!

Pics of New Lanark, Lanarkshire

After the horrendous summer we had up here in Scotland, it was with great relief that we saw the sun hanging around for a few hours yesterday! UgzY just took the time to charge the batteries of the camera and was on his way to New Lanark, south of Glasgow.
This wee village is so full of history, both sad and hopeful that it was almost overwhelming.
Cottonmills were the only source of revenue and all families living in this village were working in poor conditions in the late 18th century.
That is, until Robert Owen, which sort of reminds me of Oscar Schindler, took over the cottonmills in the early 19th century. This philantropist decided to improve the working conditions of the families living in New Lanark and working for him. A school was created and all children received an eduction, be it full time or after work. Hygiene was a priority and doctors, called 'bug hunters' made sure clothes and beddings were washed. Even more impressive for this period in History, free health care was offered to workers and their families.
While the village doesn't look like a place you would want to live, considering it all happened over a century ago, it was a major social breakthrough that is very much worth visiting for anyone interested in History and/or Economics.
You will find more about this place on Wikipedia or the Offical Website of the site.

Before you see the pics, here is something to think about...
'There shall be no human slavery, servitude, or inequality of condition, except for the natural inequality of age and experience, which will for ever preserve order and harmony in society' - R. Owen

UgzY is back on the road!

UgzY was desperate to get back on his feet and start travelling again, problem was that the good ol' UgzYmobile was letting our penguin down more often than not.
We couldn't take it anymore, so off we went and found a new ride!
This almost (not even close but still! ;-) ) brand new Ford Ka means that UgzY will be hitting the road pretty soon and will bring more photos of this wee and yet great country!

UgzY's pics are back!

For some reason, UgzY's pics never made their way back on this new blog!
This is now done and hopefully new ones will arrive soon as the new soon-to-be UgzY mobile takes the wee penguin to undiscovered places (by penguins that is!).

Urban Legend: French food get exported everywhere in the world

This is the biggest lie ever!
Being French and all, I ought to love French food and try to eat it wherever I go.
Guess what... wrong!
I love French food, true, but I'm very open to all kind of food and love haggis as much as I love 'mousson de canard' (not sure actually!).
Anyway... my point is, after having lived abroad for over 3 years, I sort of miss some of the stuff I was raised with, I'm not talking about snails or frogs guys, let's face it, French food is not all about these tasty for pretty weird delicatessen (don't get me wrong, I love 'em!).
So, I am currently trying to find these products I miss, but to no avail!
There are about a billion websites selling French products but all are dedicated to fancy food! I don't want to buy foie gras for cryin' out loud, I want French dry sausage Justin Bridou, I want French apple sauce Andros, I want Pepito, Mikado and other Prince sandwich cookies(all French biscuits)!
So far, no luck at all, I can't find a single website that exports all the good ol' French products.
You can find the most refined cheese but no fromage a raclette or reblochon.
No chance with Creme de Marron or Cruly, Peppi's...

I want my French junk food!!!

No USA in 2008...

I know I said I would be moving to the USA in 2008 but even I quite didn't believe it!
I haven't dropped the idea of going and live there one day, but it's not meant to be at this moment in my life.
Mainly because it's so hard to get these working papers!
But also because I need to work on my career so that I can go there and get a good job and get to enjoy the American dream not starting from the bottom (as in waiting in a country bar in redneck city).

Lastly, well... let's say that there's one big obstacle to me going there, which will fortunately get kicked out of the White House in a couple of months, and will hopefully not be replaced by a man who means well but cannot personify change while being 72 and quite obviously admiring Bush.

So I'll take a rain check on this dream but in the meantime I'll spend a few days in NYC next year, to get to see another part of this huge country and see where exactly Ugzy wants to land when the time is right.

UgzY has been AWOL!

Hi all... if any is left!

I just realised I hadn't posted anything in close to 6 months!
Real Life has been quite hectic as usual and I sort of lost the desire to write.
I went through some tough times this year and actually resigned and packed my stuff to go back to France!

Well... technically I did resign but I never made it to the packing part! I realised it would have been a knee-jerk reaction and that I wasn't done with the company I work for nor with this beautiful and real wet country.

So I 'unresigned' and I'm happier than ever!
Meaning I will start posting again, more will be in French though, need to keep in touch with my friends that I don't want to leave behind anymore.

See, when you leave outside your country, I think there's a point in your experience when you start thinking about what the heck you think you're doing!
This happened to me a few months ago, I failed to see the point of carrying on the adventure when I had a life in France, but you know what... lately I've discovered that I only had vacation in France, my life was in Scotland!

So I see lots more vacation in France in my future but I'll stay in Scotland for the time being!

First thing I need to do now... buy a better car because Ugzy hasn't been on a trip in a looong time because the Ugzymobile had a mind of her own, which is very frustrating!

Stay tuned for more adventure!