Val

I just tried that on my French version of Word, and it came up with 'Servez ce monsieur une bire et des kiwis.' Which translates as 'Serve this gentleman a beer and some kiwi fruits.' Which is slightly random.

The students put dye in the water of the fountain outside Jussieu and then put a skeleton up; I just thought it was quite artistic! Chirac has just said he'll support the law with the period of trial reduced to 1 year; skirmishes have already broken out, I don't think this is anything like the end, although, I heard that it is possible the universities will be possibly cleared of all strikers next week, and if that happens, there will be big trouble. Good luck for the marathon:up:

Nowadays, the only way to get a 2nd degree without paying tution fees is to do a degree in something like social work, where you get paid to do it. If not, the only other option really is the Open University, because you could theoretically work at the same time, or else you will have to choose to change your degree. The system is very unfair. The SAAS will not give me a penny for my studies in Europe; in fact, no British 'institution' will give me a centime. However, if I were French, coming to study in Britain, I would be eligible for support. But that's just the way it is, sadly.

If that was a sarcastic "brilliant", don't worry about it too much. Its not exactly riots everywhere. There will be a general strike on the 28th March, next Tuesday, which will probably be utter chaos. However, if you fancy doing something touristy a bit different, go and see the fountain of blood which is outisde the university building at Jussieu, in the 5th, quite an odd sight!

Well, today I went to the protest, and it was a great experience! It all moved a bit slowly, but there was a fantastic atmosphere; music, dancing, chanting, more like a party you could say! No wonder the French protest so much! There were people there of all ages and all generations. I even so this one refined woman, in her late 60s, dressed head to toe in Chanel or the like, with anti-CPE stickers attached to each side of her sunglasses, makes a change from the students! Thousands upon thousands of people there, but very well organised, and definetly worth going to, I saw no trouble at all. On the other hand, at half 7, I needed to pass by Place de la Nation, and when I came out of the metro, it was madness. There were the "casseurs" jumping off statues running about, the police were out in force and it was a bit nasty. However, when I decided to go back into the metro, there was some kind of gas let off in the corridor, and I could barely breathe. People had to hold scarves over their mouths, not pleasant at all, and the situation got worse afterwards. But all in all I'm glad I went...altogether now: C comme chomage P comme prcaire E comme exploit

Nearly; they're basically professional breaker-uppers, a ned is "un racaille", just in case you ever needed to know! Its not quite at full-on riot stage yet, but the government keeps saying nothing, and just ignoring the students, so the situation will degrade fairly quickly I imagine. And today, there will probably be between 500 000 and 1 million protestersin France, depending on the source, and the police can't keep demonstrations contained and then despersed of at the end, which is why it always turns nasty. The proposed route in Paris is also meant to avoid the Quartier Latin, but if break-away groups end up there, it will be complete chaos. What's particuarly interesting is that its the students protesting, and the international media seem ro be perceiving it as if they are fighting for their interests, when in fact, they are not at all. Its rare that a student will be out of Further Education in France before the age of 26. Who this law is actually targeting is the habitants of the suburbs, where unemployment among young people is around 40%; yet the suburbs haven't reacted, which is a bit strange. The students protest because they see themselves as a bit of the "voice of the youth". The main problem with the law is that the 'trial period' is going to be 2 years, which means 2 years to get highered and fired freely. Villepin also had it voted in by pretty undemocratic methods, and the law has not yet been fully passed. Its true that this kind of protest would probably not happen anywhere else, but the French are very attached to their working rights, and job security is a very big issue. Anyway, I shall got to the protest and report back later. Fingers crossed its peaceful! And Steph, I wish I had something to say to your comment but I don't!!

Yeah, its pretty bad now, the whole of the Place de la Sorbonne has been destroyed. There's another big demonstration tomorrow afternoon, which will turn nasty in the evening. I'm going to try and make it to the protest, because I support the students. That's three weeks now that my university has been on strike. The problem is that you have to differentiate between the "students", who generally protest peacefully, and the "casseurs" who basically join in to destroy and steal everything they can. Its generally not the students who are breaking windows, setting fire to everything in sight etc. Beautiful is something it most definitely is not.

I think its sad that people can be doing a course at university and have no idea what they want to do afterwards. Do they just sit with the UCAS codes in front of them and pick a random one? In my opinion, there is no point in going to uni unless: 1) You have a rough plan of what you want to do in life and you are not just going to uni for the sake of it. 2) You want to learn. 3) You are prepared to make sacrifices so that you can study. In this country, an awful lot of people get herded off to uni, into a course that they are not necessarily enthusiastic about nor know the slightest thing about before they go. There is also an awful assumption that a degree is a golden ticket into the professional world, whatever the degree happens to be in, and once they posses this golden ticket they can immediatly get a job. Schools need to stop pushing kids into going to university, when its really not going to do them any good at the end of the day. Some people are suited to further education, some people are not, but students need to be self-motivated for learning, not so they can get a big pay cheque in 10 years' time. Personally I prefer the French model. None of this pfaffing around with UCAS, selling yourself to universities, trying to fit a particular mould. Everyone who meets the grades gets offered a first-year entry, and then the exams at the end of first-year detirmines who will carry on. Those who are motivated study and pass. Those who are not, drop out. I'm fed up with British universities and their awful selection process and degrees which, at the end of the day, will just make me an 'average' candidate for a job I want to do; so I've decided to study in Paris, where I will get no financial help (compared to top-rate bursaries if I studied in Scotland), but its academically the better option. I admire anyone who is motivated and works hard, whether they are at university or have taken the first step on the career ladder at 17/18. Do what you want to do and what's right for you; but don't just go to uni as a way of 'buying time', good things don't come to those who sit around and wait for them...

My university in Paris has been on strike since last Monday, resulting in missing classes on Monday and Saturday, going through picket lines to get to class last Tuesday, and all classes cancelled today. The students are striking against the CPE which basically takes away all under 26's rights in their first job. Today its meant to be a big strike, with trade unions involved, but it seems to have fallen a bit flatter than hoped. Whats mad though is that in France, there is a whole lot of legal protection for those on strike and none for those who want to work; only foreign students who pay more than the usual costs have had classes for the past week, so even though the lecturers want to teach and the students want to learn, the strikers win. Its a bit mad really! I sympathise with the cause, but striking really isn't the way forward, especially because the law's pretty much been passed:rolleyes: Still, strikes in Aberdeen...you don't see that every day...even if they are a little short of protestors.

Me too:O For ages and ages I wanted to be a meteologist and then I discovered how much I hated physics, which was a bit of a shame...I did meet Heather the Weather though!

You must be getting a good deal for that Hotel California then, go for it! The bus 47, Gare de l'Est - Kremlin-Bicetre stops at Maubert and is rather handy for cutting across Paris where the metro is a pain, especially for going to the Grand Rex. Get off the bus at Strasbourg Saint-Denis and walk. I haven't been to the Grand Rex before, however, if you're in the area, you have to go to Chartier for your tea or lunch. Its at metro Grands Boulevards, which is one station awat (5 minutes walk) from Bonne Nouvelle. You get out of the metro station, Boulevard Montmatre exit, and you end up outside an O'Sullivans Irish pub (awful things!) Anyway, that's a crossroads and there is a shoe shop Millieni (or something) on the other side of the road. Cross the road and walk down the hill, and on the left there is a lane with Chartier at the end of it. An essential Parisian experience! Then to get to the Grand Rex just walk along the main Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle. I'm going to see Snow Patrol on the 10th:love:

What's your budget? If you can afford it, try to stay in the Latin Quarter. A 2 star hotel there should be about 70 euros for a single. In terms of getting around, that's by far the best option. If not, try to get a hotel near a RER station. The best line is the A because it cuts right across Paris. A chain hotel, like Etap or Campanille is usually fairly good value; and are always close to a station. For example the Etap at Vincennes will cost you 48 euros a night, or at Val de Fontenay its 45 euros. But do your research, shop around, and you'll usually find something at an ok price. French hotels, as a rule, are much less expensive than British ones, and so you might find a better deal in a hotel than a hostel, if you're lucky. If its a small independant hotel, then its worth trying to haggle a bit too. Just don't have breakfast in the hotel, the boulangeries are always better! The RER from Vincennes/Val de Fontenay to Chatelet normally takes 15 minutes max, but often more than double that in the rush hour. Another consideration to make is that transport to zone three will be slightly more expensive, it's around 1 euro 50 for a single journey into Paris, and once you're in zones one and two use t tickets or walk, which is perfectly possible! If you need any more info, I'll dig out my Paris Pas Cher and have a look in there.

The lying toe-rags! Air France told me on Sunday that there were technical problems in Paris and so I couldn't fly on the direct flight home; ended up having to go through Heathrow, arriving too late to take the RER home and losing my bags until today! Glad you had a great time though! I've never been in the Pantheon which is incredibly shameful as my uni is 5 minutes away, and I walk past it 3 times a week. The huge Christmas trees outside the mairie de Ve were ace though! By the way, did you find most things open out of interest?

The Independant quoted a ridiculous figure something like, it is thought around a quarter of 16-18 year-olds smoke. In any case, cigarettes are hardly going to become completely unavailable. The only people who will benefit from this mesure are older school kids who can sell fags to younger ones, and make a tidy profit, Grange Hill style.

I managed to procure myself an Independant yesterday, with this as the front-page headline. It appears that in a bid to 'cover-up' the half-hearted smoking in public places 'ban', the government want to raise the legal age to buy cigarettes to 18. Opinions on this one?

From the SQA AH English marking instructions:

AH English dissertation, what a hellish experience. What I understood from the SQA guidelines is that they want two or three books which follow the same theme, preferably by the same author, because people end up linking up books which apparantly don't go too well together. So, in principal, the usual Tolkein or Austen, who do the whole trilogie thing (or almost). My personal impression of this is that creativiity is generaly not wanted, and regurgetated (sp? )stuff is the norm. But my advice is do what interests you because 4000 words on something you can't get into or don't fully understand is not good, read around the subject etc. If you know a bit of French then please try and read The Outsider as L'Etranger, it should add something to the whole project. Even if you don't understand every single word, you may well appreciate the idea of style better. I may end up being on of the very few people who retake AH English. Hooray

Arrgghh driving; I hated it! I failed my test before I left. Now, I'm in a car about once every two months; and it'll be a long time before I want to go home for a sufficient amount of time to take lessons and pass my test. And by the time I decided I do want to learn to drive, then I won't have the money to do it, vicious circle. But yeah, insurance is a nightmare, shop around I say!

There are a few good expos on in Paris at the moment. There's the big Star Wars one at la Villette, which is apparantly very good. I think the Dada expo is still on at the Pompodou, idem. At the moment, Paris is very pretty, and the weather's been ok. Paris is also not burning, despite what the BBC may be telling you. Sitting on the Champs Elyses all day would be great, if you had 4 euros for every coffee you bought, and didn't mind the tourists and phoney beggars.

I have a question for those who agree whole-heartedly with the ban: what do you do or say when you are invited to a smoking friends' house? Ask them to smoke outside, refuse to go, or put up with it. I'm just curious.

What I meant was that if we do not have the right to do something then it is illegal, either by the justice system or by a set or moral or religious codes. Therefore if you say that we do not have the right to smoke in our society is implying that it is illegal. Which it is not. And for your information, the point I made at Durham was not as you stated. I was pointing out that in Britain, wa have a very narrow-minded view of history lessons, in which we learn, at numerous stages, about the Second World War or the Suffragettes. Now, I would happily enter into a debate on role of the Suffragettes in women gaining the right to vote in 1918, and I do believe that they played an essential part in the early emancipation of women, however, if children are leaving school with a basic knowledge of the Suffragettes and the Second World War, is there something wrong with the history curriculum? But that debate has absolutely nothing to do with smoking, I just wanted to make my position clear. I'm impressed you remembered though.

If that were the case, then smoking would be illegal, yet it is not.