After an intense week between Lyon, Paris and Fleury-Mérogis, where winter has gone and spring has arrived, today, TheGrandma says goodbye to her friends and takes a flight to Barcelona wheretomorrow a new training begins that will keep her busy for almost three months.
One of the advantages of online training is that it allows you to do your work from anywhere and gives you great freedom of movement, but this new training is face-to-face, so, during the working days, TheGrandma will have to be present in Sant Boi de Llobregat, where from Monday she will share her ideas with some new colleagues with the ultimate goal of improving their knowledge and skills to be able to find a job.
It is for this reason that this blog will now become the communication tool for the Morgans, this new family with whom The Grandma will share fictional stories with the aim not only of them learning but also of them disconnecting from reality to be able to first recover as a person, before preparing themselves formatively to return to the world of work as soon as possible with confidence and real possibilities of stabilization.
Occupational training has as its first objective to recover the person and then to offer them a personal training itinerary that helps them in the search for a new job, which is why it is so linked to mental health, because in many cases the loss of a job is such a great emotional shock that it affects the deepest part of the person.
So, starting next Monday, The Grandma's blog will go from being personal and telling her real adventures to being professional and telling the fictional adventures with the Morgans, and for this, it will be necessary to use a lot of digital tools, to create a parallel and imaginary world that helps the Morgans escape their real problems and let themselves be carried away by the world of training from imagination, creativity, solidarity, empathy and daily work.
So, this early morning, The Grandma will fly back to Barcelona while Joseph de Ca'th Lon and Claire Fontaine will fly to Hannover from where they will drive to Wolfsburg where on Tuesday the Northern Star has a very special match that the two friends do not want to miss.
They have had an intense few days
where they have been able to attend in Lyon and Paris one of the best musical shows of the
moment (Lux); they have visited Paris, a beautiful city that they know
well, but where they always do the same rituals (visiting the Louvre,
the Eiffel Tower, sailing the Seine and getting lost in the city while
savouring the local cuisine); they have seen the Northern Star shine
again in Fleury-Mérogis, and they have met up with friends
they haven't seen in a while, because this is always the most
fascinating thing about travelling:meeting up with the people you
love.
Before taking the plane, The Grandma has made an interesting cheese supply, because being in Gaul means being able to enjoy the pleasure of eating great cheeses (with permission from the Swiss and Norwegians). If there are no delays, she will arrive in enough time to go to the Camp Nou, where there is an interesting match against Rayo Vallecano.
No one sings Paris better than Edith Piaf, and although times change and we have new sounds and rhythms, the essence, the word, the message, the spirit,thesoul... remains the same.
Sous le ciel de Paris S'envole une chanson Elle est née d'aujourd'hui Dans le coeur d'un garçon Sous le ciel de Paris Marchent des amoureux Leur bonheur se construit Sur une air fait pour eux
Sous le pont de Bercy Un philosophe assis Deux musiciens, quelques badauds Puis des gens par milliers
Sous le ciel de Paris Jusqu'au soir vont chanter L'hymne d'un peuple épris De sa vieille cité Prés de Notre-Dame Parfois couve un drame Oui, mais à Paname Tout peut s'arranger Quelques rayons du ciel d'été L'accordéon d'un marinier L'espoir fleurit Au ciel de Paris
Sous le ciel de Paris Coule un fleuve joyeux Il endort dans la nuit Les clochards et les gueux Sous le ciel de Paris Les oiseaux du bon Dieu Viennent du monde entier Pour bavarder entre eux Et le ciel de Paris A son secret pour lui Depuis vingt siècles il est épris De notre île Saint Louis
Quand elle lui sourit Il met son habit bleu Quand il pleut sur Paris C'est qu'il est malheureux Quand il est trop jaloux De ses millions d'amants Il fait gronder sur eux Son tonnerre éclatant Mais le ciel de Paris n'est pas longtemps cruel Pour se faire pardonner, il offre un arc-en-ciel
Under the Paris sky A song takes flight It was born today In the heart of a boy
Under the Paris sky Lovers walk Their happiness is built On a tune made for them
Under Bercy bridge A philosopher sits Two musicians, some onlookers Then thousands of people
Under the Paris sky They'll sing until dusk The hymn of people in love With this old city
Near Notre Dame Sometimes drama broods But at Paname Everything comes together
Rays from the summer sky A sailor's accordion Hope blooms In Paris' sky
And the Paris sky Has a secret of its own For twenty year's he's been in love With our Saint Louis island When she smiles at him He dresses in blue
When it rains on Paris It's because he's unhappy When he grows jealous Of her millions of lovers
He comes down on us With his flashing thunder But the Paris sky Isn't cruel for long
The Grandma is still in Brussels. She is enjoying the city, its people and its amazing culture. Today, she has decided to know more things about Jacques Brel,one of the most popular Belgian singers of all times and one of The Grandma's favouriteone, too.
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (8 April 1929-9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer, songwriter, poet, actor and director who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following -initially in Belgium and France- later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson.
Although he recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, he became an influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers, such as Scott Walker, David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Marc Almond and Rod McKuen. English translations of his songs were recorded by many performers, including: Bowie; Walker, Ray Charles; Judy Collins; John Denver; The Kingston Trio; Nina Simone; Shirley Bassey; Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams.
Brel was a successful actor, appearing in 10 films. He directed two films, one of which, Le Far West, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. Having sold over 25 million records worldwide, Brel is the third best-selling Belgian recording artist of all time.
Brel married Thérèse "Miche" Michielsen in 1950, and the couple had three children. He also had a romantic relationship with actress and dancer Maddly Bamy from 1972 until his death in 1978.
Jacques Romain Georges
Brel was born on 8 April 1929 in Schaerbeek, Brussels, to Élisabeth
"Lisette" and Romain Brel. He came from a family of Flemish descent, who
had adopted the French language; part of his family originated in
Zandvoorde, near Ypres.
Jacques Brel
His father worked for Cominex, an import–export firm, and later became co-director of a company that manufactured cardboard. Jacques and his older brother Pierre grew up in an austere household, and attended a Catholic primary school, École Saint-Viateur, run by the order of Saint Viator.
Remembered as a courteous and manageable pupil, Brel did well in reading and writing, but struggled through arithmetic and Dutch. The boys were also members of the local Boy Scouts troop, enjoyed their time at summer camp and on family outings to the North Sea coast.
In Brussels, the family lived at 138 Avenue du Diamant in Schaerbeek, then moved to 26 Boulevard Belgica in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, and finally settled at 7 Rue Jacques-Manne in Anderlecht. Brel was close to his mother, fascinated by her generosity and sense of humour, which he inherited.
In September 1941, his
parents enrolled Brel at the Institut Saint-Louis at rue du Marais near
the Botanical Garden of Brussels. Although he did poorly in many
subjects, he did well in history and French, and showed a talent for
writing. He helped set up the school's drama club, taking on his first
stage roles with great enthusiasm. He wrote short stories, poems, and
essays.
In 1944, at the age of 15, Brel began playing the guitar. The following year he formed his own theatre group with friends and began writing plays. In the spring of 1947, during his final year at Saint-Louis, Brel wrote a short story titled Frédéric for a school magazine Le Grand Feu. Published pseudonymously, the story is about a man on his death bed who encourages his grandson to run away while the rest of the family makes arrangements for his funeral. Despite his growing talent for writing, Brel was not a good student, and failed many of his exams.
With an academic career not in his future, the 18-year-old Brel went to work at his father's cardboard factory in August 1947. His job at Vanneste and Brel was predictable and uninspiring -a routine that involved fixing prices and meeting customers. Apart from joining the
company football team, he showed little interest in the company's social
activities and events. Perhaps to offset the boredom of his daily
office routine, he joined a local Catholic youth organisation La Franche
Cordée (FC), which had as its motto, More is within you.
Dedicated to philanthropic work,
the group organised religious retreats, fundraising events, and food
and clothing deliveries to orphanages and old people's homes.
Jacques Brel
Brel supported these activities with great enthusiasm and believed strongly in FC's mission. His parents were pleased with their son's dedication, and provided him with the company van and family car to support his FC activities.
In June 1948, Brel enlisted for military service, did his basic training in Limbourg, and served as a corporal in the Belgian air force stationed at Groenveld barracks in Zellik near Brussels. Throughout his military service, Brel was still able to attend FC meetings. While working at FC, Brel met his future wife, Thérèse Michielsen, known to her friends as "Miche".
On 1 June 1950, Jacques and Miche were married at Laeken, a suburb of the City of Brussels. On 6 December 1951, Miche gave birth to their first daughter, Chantal.
In 1952 Brel began
writing songs and performing them at family gatherings and on Brussels'
cabaret circuit. His family and friends were not supportive of his stark
lyrics and violent, emotional performances. That year he performed on a
local radio station for the first time.
In January 1953, Brel performed at the cabaret La Rose Noire in Brussels. In February he signed a contract with Philips Records and recorded his first 78 rpm record, Il Y A, which was released in March. The talent scout and artistic director at the record company, Jacques Canetti, invited him to move to Paris.
Despite his family's objections and the added pressure of raising a second daughter, France, born on 12 July, he left Brussels for Paris in the autumn of 1953. In Paris Brel worked hard to get his career off the ground. He stayed at the Hotel Stevens and gave guitar lessons to artist-dancer Francesco Frediani to pay his rent. He found work on the cabaret circuit at venues such as L'Écluse, L'Échelle de Jacob, and in Jacques Canetti's cabaret Les Trois Baudets.
In 1954 Brel competed in
the music contest Grand Prix de la Chanson in Knokke-le-Zoute,
finishing a disappointing 27th out of 28 participants. One positive
result of the experience was that the French star Juliette Gréco
requested to sing one of Brel's songs, Le diable (Ça va), at her
up-and-coming concert at the prestigious Olympia music-hall. She went on
to record the song that spring.
Jacques Brel
In July 1954, Brel made his first appearance at the prestigious Olympia Theatre in Paris.
Later that summer, he embarked on his first French tour, appearing on the bill with French singers Dario Moreno, Philippe Clay, and Catherine Sauvage. By the end of the year, Philips released his debut album, a nine-song, 10-inch LP called Jacques Brel et ses Chansons. In February 1955, Brel met Georges "Jojo" Pasquier, who would become the singer's closest friend, manager, and personal chauffeur. He began singing with a number of Christian associations, which later led to his nickname of Abbé "Abbot" Brel. In March Brel's wife and children joined him in France and the family settled in the Paris suburb of Montreuil-sous-Bois at the rue du Moulin à vent. In June he toured France again with Canetti's show Les Filles de Papa, which included Françoise Dorin, Perrette Souplex, and Suzanne Gabriello.
In March 1956, Brel
performed in North Africa, Amsterdam, Lausanne, and throughout Belgium.
In July, while visiting Grenoble, he met François Rauber, a classical
pianist who would become his accompanist on future recordings. Rauber
played a major role in providing Brel with the formal musical training
he was lacking and was responsible for Brel's musical arrangements.
The year 1964 brought a
mix of personal tragedies and professional triumphs. On 8 January,
Brel's father, Romain, died of bronchial pneumonia. Only two months
later, on 7 March, his mother Élisabeth, nicknamed Mouky, also died. At
the same time, he was given the Gold Medal of Brussels from the Tourist
Information Bureau and won a prize from the Société d’Auteurs
Belge/Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij (SABAM). He was also awarded the
French Academy's Grand Prix du Disque. He continued his ambitious
touring schedule.
By the end of the year, he released a new live album, Enregistrement Public à l'Olympia 1964. That year, he discovered a new passion, aviation. After taking flying lessons with Paul Lepanse, he purchased a small plane.
In the United States,
his audience was growing. American poet and singer Rod McKuen began
translating Brel's songs into English, and the Kingston Trio recorded
one of his English versions on their Time to Think album, Seasons in
the Sun, based on Brel's Le Moribond.
In January 1967, Brel
finished recording songs for a new studio album, Jacques Brel 67, which
was released later in the year. The album included Mon Enfance, Fils
de..., Les bonbons 67, and La Chanson des vieux amants. In late
January, he returned to Carnegie Hall and gave one final performance.
Jacques Brel
By early 1973, Brel knew that he was ill. He prepared his will, leaving everything to his wife Miche. In the spring he recorded a new single, L'Enfance, the proceeds of which he donated to La Fondation Perce Neige, an association set up to help disabled children.
After completing his last film L'emmerdeur, he took his daughters on a cruise. In November, he embarked on a two-month cruise across the Atlantic with five of his closest friends on the training ship Le Korrig. Brel devoted the final years of his life to his passion for sailing.
In 1977, Brel decided to record one final album. Despite his recent years away from the continent, his legend lived on in Europe and his records still sold millions of copies each year. In August, Brel returned to Paris and moved into a small hotel. He had quit smoking and, despite his poor health, was enthusiastic about working again with his faithful collaborators François Rauber and Gérard Jouannest.
In September and October, Brel recorded 12 of the 17 new songs he had written in the Marquesas. The result was his final album, Les Marquises, which included Jaures, Vieillir, Le Bon Dieu, Orly, Voir un Ami pleurer, Jojo, and Les Marquises. The new album was released on 17 November and was received as an historic national event in France.
At Brel's request,
Barclay did not run a huge promotional campaign for the album, and
still, by word of mouth alone, over a million fans placed advance
orders. The day the album was released, Jacques and Maddly returned to
their home in the Marquesas Islands.
From January to June 1978, Jacques and Maddly lived quietly at their home on Atuona Bay on Hiva-Oa island. In July, after his health began to fail, Brel was flown back to France and rushed to a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, where doctors discovered a cancerous tumour. He remained in the hospital for six weeks and then spent the rest of the summer in Southern France.
On 7 October, he was rushed to hospital Avicenne in Bobigny near Paris. He died of a pulmonary embolism at 4.10 am on 9 October 1978 at the age of 49. On 12 October, his body was flown back to the Marquesas Islands, where he was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Atuona on the southern side of Hiva Oa island in the Marquesas, French Polynesia -a few yards away from the grave of artist Paul Gauguin.
Brel himself occasionally included parts of his songs in Dutch, one of the three official languages of Belgium, as in Mariek. He also recorded eight other Dutch versions of songs, such as Mijn vlakke land, Laat me niet alleen, Rosa, De Burgerij, and De Nuttelozen van de Nacht. Brel also recorded two obscure singles in Dutch, De apen and Men vergeet niets, which were included in the 16-CD box set Boîte à Bonbons by Barclay. So far unreleased is the song Als men niets dan liefde heeft.
Marieke was translated by Brel himself. Since his own command of Dutch was poor, most of Brel's later Dutch interpretations were translated by Ernst van Altena, with Brel's cooperation, and are generally considered to be relatively true to the original French and poetic. De Apen was translated by Eric Franssen. Men vergeet niets was translated by well known Flemish artist Will Ferdy. Popular singers from the Netherlands singing Brel's songs in Dutch have been Liesbeth List, Jan Mesdag and Jeroen Willems.
Ne me quitte pas Il faut oublier Tout peut s'oublier Qui s'enfuit déjà Oublier le temps Des malentendus Et le temps perdu À savoir comment Oublier ces heures Qui tuaient parfois à coups de pourquoi Le cœur du bonheur
Today, The Jones have revised some English Grammar like Future Simple, Present Simple vs. Continuous, Relative Pronouns, the Comparative and the Superlative. The family has talked about some women who were the best in their professions: Édith Piaf, the best French singer; AudreyHepburn, the best Belgian actress and Mercè Rodoreda, the best Catalan writer.
Merche Jones has talked about Ponferrada and its wonderful Templar castle and The Grandma has taken profit to talk about the Templar Order and its influence in all the Mediterranean, from Malta to Aragon, from Rhodes to Jerusalem, from Catalonia to Syria, from Campania to Sicily firstly and other lands in the Atlantic like France, England or Scotland later.
Templar Knights helped all the pilgrims who need protection to escape or to exile until Friday, October 13, 1307 when French Templars were simultaneously arrested by agents of King Philip, following the order of the Pope Clement,later to be tortured into admitting heresy and other sacrilegious offenses in the Order and killed. It has been a terrific story that has explained the origins of the legend of Friday, 13 as a day plenty of misfortune.
This afternoon, The Jones are going shopping in the best and the most luxurious Parisian shops in Avenue Montaigne before travelling to Euro Disney to spend this next weekend.
In tough times, we all hope for knights in shining armor,
or the cavalry, to show up and effect change.
Dean Devlin
Édith Piaf (1915-1963), nee Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer, songwriter, cabaret performer and film actress noted as France's national chanteuse and one of the country's widely known international stars.
Piaf's music was often autobiographical and she specialized in chanson and torch ballads about love, loss and sorrow. Her most widely known songs include La Vie en rose, Non, je ne regrette rien, Hymne à l'amour, Milord, La Foule,L'Accordéoniste and Padam, padam.
Édith Piaf
Much of Piaf's life is unknown. She was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris. Legend has it that she was born on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72, but her birth certificate cites that she was born on 19 December 1915 at the Hôpital Tenon, a hospital located at the 20th arrondissement.
She was named Édith after the World War I British nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed for helping French soldiers escape from German captivity. Piaf –slang for sparrow– was a nickname she received 20 years later.
In 1935, Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club Le Gerny's off the Champs-Élysées was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike.
Piaf's career and fame gained momentum during the German occupation of France. She performed in various nightclubs and brothels, which flourished during the 1940–1945 Années Erotiques. She lived above the L'Étoile de Kléber, a famous nightclub and bordello close to the Paris Gestapo headquarters.
Piaf was deemed to have been a traitor and collaboratrice. She had to testify before a purge panel, as there were plans to ban her from appearing on radio transmissions. However, her secretary Andrée Bigard, a member of the Résistance, spoke in her favour after the Liberation. Piaf was quickly back in the singing business and then, in December 1944, she went on stage for the Allied forces together with Montand in Marseille.
Edith Piaf's Homebirth
Although she was denied a funeral Mass by Cardinal Maurice Feltin because of her lifestyle, her funeral procession drew tens of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris and the ceremony at the cemetery was attended by more than 100,000 fans.
Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time since the end of World War II that he saw Parisian traffic come to a complete stop.
In 1973 the Association of the Friends of Édith Piaf was formed followed by the inauguration of the Place Édith Piaf in Belleville in 1981. Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina named a small planet, 3772 Piaf, in her honor.
In Paris, a two-room museum is dedicated to her, the Musée Édith Piaf. On 10 October 2013, fifty years after her death, the Roman Catholic Church gave her a memorial Mass in the St. Jean-Baptiste Church in Belleville the parish into which she was born.
Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí (1908-1983) was a Catalan novelist, who wrote in Catalan. She is considered by many to be the most important Catalan novelist of the postwar period. Her novel La plaça del diamant, translated as The Time of the Doves (1962) has become the most acclaimed Catalan novel of all time and has been translated into over 30 languages.
She was born at 340 carrer de Balmes, Barcelona, in 1908. In 1928, just 20 years old, she married her uncle Joan Gurguí, 14 years her senior, and in 1929 she had her only child, Jordi.
Grandma's memories with Mercè Rodoreda
She began her writing career with short stories in magazines, as an escape from her unhappy marriage.
She then wrote psychological novels, including Aloma which won the Crexells Prize, but even with the success this novel enjoyed, Rodoreda decided to remake and republish it some years later since she was not fully satisfied with this period of her life and her works at that time.
At the start of the Spanish Civil War, she worked for the Generalitat de Catalunya, the autonomous Government of Catalonia. She was exiled in Franceand later Switzerland, where in 1957 she broke her silence with the publication of her book Twenty-Two short stories, which earned her the Víctor Català Prize.
With El Carrer de les Camèlies (1966) she won several prizes. In the 1970s, she returned to Romanyà de la Selva in Catalonia and finished the novel Mirall trencat in 1974.
Amongst other works came Viatges i flors and Quanta, quanta guerra in 1980, which was also the year in which she won the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes. During the last period of her lifetime, her works developed from her usual psychologic style to become more akin to symbolism in its more cryptic form.
In 1998 a literature prize was instituted in her name: the Mercè Rodoreda prize for short stories and narratives. She was made a Member of Honour of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana, the Association of Writers in Catalan Language.
She died in Girona and interred in the cemetery of Romanyà de la Selva.
Today, The Bonds have visited the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, Champs Elysées and Jardin du Luxembourg to homage Mariona Bond.
They have continued practising Telephoning English, although today The Grandma was a little crossed with comas and she wasn't very fortunate with it. Later, they have revised Present Perfect with Since and For and they have created some sentences about Second Conditional.
The family has done another exam. They have been talking about songs and their meanings, but, as we know, songs are poetry and poetry has a free interpretation.
The Grandma has remembered some old friends who sing in French like Charles Aznavour, Édith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Jacques Brel and Céline Dion.They have also readMary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Finally, the family has played with the works of a genius, Antoni Gaudí, who created an incredible architecture which can be understood from different points of view and this diversity of opinions and points of view makes us stronger and better.
