Winter and France

Brr. Winter is officially here. It is fucking freezing. London's temperature will finally touch the big 'O' this Thursday night. It will slowly improve from there on but the doom prediction of this year's coldest winter in a decade will probably come true this January. I marvel at the way my flatmate, who works for CNN as a reporter, dresses up non-chalantly in his pressed suit and cycles to work.

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We cancelled our December trip to Paris. All those riot really exposed how corrupt the French elites really are. I am far from anti-frogs - I have loads of mates from France - but politically I am torn. France is half a model socialist democratic country governed by an elite group of people with fascist ideals (much like in the early 1920s). Flame me if you will but I am deeply cynical - you can't be liberal and right wing at the same time.

As far as boycott goes I expect loads of people to be cancelling/postponing their trips across the channel. They, the French that is, had it coming. Jennifer had to apply for a Visa to enter the country and twice the French consulate in South Kensington, were rude to her, and in my opinion exhibited racist tendencies. An Iranian colleague of hers who also applied for a Visa some months ago, was told in the face that "you, definitely won't be able to enter" without so much of a glance of his passport.

A shame really because I have always wanted to visit the Sewers at place de la Resistance and the Pere-Lachaise cemetery. Maybe next year to the South of France. Jennifer has a mate there who could probably put us up.

After all that, truthfully, I am actually rather glad. I rather spend Christmas in cold Britannia watching crap reruns (maybe auntie Beeb could rerun Jerry Springer: The Opera) on the telly - than running round Paris trying to figure the Metro (whose maps are baffling compared to Harry Beck's LU diagram) and then having to spent the night in the hotel due to half measure curfews.