So here we are commenting randomly

The posts are more and more infrequent, even though so much is happening, all day every day and all around the world. So much to say and so little time to say it in ; here is a random selection of all that I think is worth mentioning.

Schengen has grown !! At 00.01 on the 21st of decembre nine new countries joined, eight of Eastern Europe. Schengen is now a vast zone where 404 million people can travel freely without having to cross borders as they ain't any. Now we, in Paris, have a border with Russia and the Ukraine and it is possible to go from Lisbonne to Talinn without a passport. Incredible or what ? Britain, of course stays out of Schengen, undoubtedly fearing the hordes of AIDS ridden commies who would come over to eat their kids (on holiday). Still, 24 countries are now part of the Schengen area so see you all, passportless, in Gdansk !

Gordon, Gordon! what the hell do you think you are doing ? Talk about complete lack of diplomatic skills, lack of credibility skills, lack of popularity skills, lack of skill full stop in fact.
On December 13th 26 EU countries' leaders met in Lisbon to sign the Lisbon treaty (see previous posts). The LT will clean up the way the EU is run, making it more efficient both internally and on the world scene. Love it or hate it, one has to admit that getting the 27 to agree on it has been an incredible feat, and credit goes to the Portuguese and German presidencies of the EU, and to a certain extent Tsarkozy. So when the time comes to sign it, there is of course a certain amount of ceremony and pomp and champagne in Lisbon. Even the ghastly polish president, anti - Europe and mad, was there to sign and sip the Champers. France was represented by no less than four people : Tsarkozy, PM Fillon, Foreign Affairs Kouchner, and EU secretary of state In fact everyone was there, except for, yup, Gordon Brown who thought it a better idea to go to some dire meeting of a commitee in the House of Commons rather than turn up for the greatest European event of the century. As a result, he has lost all credibility with everyone. The EUphiles wept from frustration as Miliband signed in his place and the EUphobes guffawed with disgust as Gordon crept into the empty hall hours after the party was over to sign the treaty anyway. What the hell was he thinking ?

A glass of Chablis, at the sumptuous Parisian Hotel Meurice, costs 16 euros. The nibbles are terrific though.

Wednesday night, a small & cosy bar/restaurant/theater in the 20th called the Ogresse. The play : Tiffany Memory, starring Chucky Nylon. The food : Confit de canard with apples and potatoes, with pollen and honey. The red wine : not very nice. We troop downstairs in to the basement, where the lights and speakers are hanging from the plumbing and what seems to be the building's central heating. Very dark and small, the stage is an open space in front of us. Tiffany Memory, aka Alexandra, is wearing a low cut dress in black and looking like a 1950s cabaret hooker. Chucky, aka the other one, is wearing skinny black jean, a knitted black t-shirt and killer red high heels. He sings depressed glam rock, she talks in a sulfurous low voice. They ask us to miaow, and to cum loudly and we do. And we have no idea what they are on about but the music is cool - Chucky is like a young David Bowie; has peacock feathers in his hair - and Alex is scorching hot. Check it out here.