Few nations have warred for so long, a thousand years, give or take. And yet, are England and France so different? More like fighting brothers, rivaling for supremacy within the family. I’ve mentioned it before, the English have no real language of their own: a simplified German grammar over 70% french vocabulary. But that language – with a little help from their American nephews – is now the lingua franca of the world. As my back-up is still in Intensive Care, I have gathered a few readily available photos of London and Paris. No need to fasten seat belts, we’ll be hopping from barge to péniches at a leisurely river pace. Above: Tower Bridge. Theirs.
Pont Alexandre III. Paris. Ours. 🙂
Theirs. Certainly has some style. (Near the London bridge. See the bus)
Ours. What can I say? An air of defiance?
Theirs. Beyond the shadow of a doubt. The French ate their last horses during the 1870 war against Germany. (Is the horse guard actually sleeping?)
Ours. Do I need to say more. 😉
Westminster. Theirs, of course. I don’t know why the Brits managed to locate their cathedral and Parliament on the same grounds. Ours are safely separated. I owe you a photograph of the Palais-Bourbon, the French Parliament, as soon as the proper files are recovered.
La Conciergerie, Ile de la Cité. (The water is as murky as its english counterpart)
Theirs. Circle and District lines.
Ours. On line 10, Boulogne-Gare d’Austerlitz. Close to Saint-Michel.
“Theirs”. The original Mini-Cooper. With Paris plates. 🙂 See the “75” at the bottom right corner? 75 is for Paris.
“Ours”. Citroën DS. With Brit plates, near Notting Hill.
Seine or Thames? Which is which?
“Je suis bleu.” I am blue. Paris, bien sûr.
Theirs. This was actually Cameron’s anti-Brexit programme. Failed miserably. I strongly urge (non-elected) Premier(e) Theresa May(be) to seriously reconsider her options. She seems to think she can negotiate a deal with the new tenant on Pennsylvania Avenue in DC. After not even a week in office, it seems clear he takes no prisoners. 😦
Thank you for sailing with Equinoxio Cruising Lines. This post is likely to be continued. Don’t quite know when. Still working on the blasted photo files. 🙂
PS. I thought I’d use the horse as a “featured image”. The horse guard is clearly asleep, and the horse is quite handsome. What think you?
Equinoxio 
A very handsome horse indeed! I would have to say that france is winning my vote in these pictures… The suns out! It makes all the difference.
Anyway… How rude of me. Bonjour my froggy friend Brian. I’m sorry I haven’t been around recently – I needed to take some time out and just… breatheeeeee.
I’m aware that I am yet to reply to your email too (I haven’t forgotten you, panic not!) just very slow at writing emails.
I hope all is well your neck of the woods…and Bonne année!
Hi Amanda. Just had to un-spam you. Darn WP. But I’m glad to have found your comment.
No worry about not being around, breathing IS important. And don’t worry too much about the mail, it was for support, so I’m pleased that you sound well. 🙂 Cheers.
I love the pictures and thanks for the captions. I think the horse is beautifully trained to stay so calm and still when the rider is asleep. The horse I knew growing up would have just meandered around doing their own thing. I can’t imagine the time it took to hand paint all the stars on the English posts. Nowhere in the US would you see time taken for such detail. Hugs
Agreed on all counts. I also knew a horse as a teen who would have kicked me off… Cheers.
I love the comparisons. I wont take sides.
Haha! never take sides in a thousand year war. 🙂 I actually don’t. I’m on both sides, after all my grandmother was english, and a good part of the family is… 🙂
It seems like you have a little bit of every country in you!
True. I even have American “bits”. 🙂
Smooth sailing this time. 🙂
That warning about growing up is so true. If only I knew it fourty years ago… 🙂
I don’t think the guard was sleeping, his right hand (with the sword) would’ve slipped down. Maybe he just blinked or voluntairly closed his eyes saying to himself: “I’ll just close my eyes and this annoying guy with the camera will dissapear”. 😛 XD
You’re probably right about the guard. Now the warning? It does come a bit late. Bon week-end mon ami.
Haha, quite late alright. 🙂
Bon weekend a toi aussi! 😉
I do now smell the fog of the 100-Years-War or was it just the damned Thames again?
Quelle Guerre de Cent ans? 😉
ca. 1337 – 1453 … England against France …
Well, well, a fellow “Historian”. Well done.
Wonderful, the other part of “Je suis bleu.” Beautiful photos, and yes I think you should use the horse as a “featured image”. Is this what’s known as sleeping on the job? Please take care Brian. ~ Mia 🙂
The horse says thank you. And I wondered how I would have fared if I’d slept while watching guard in the Army. Probably a few days of military prison. Ye be good too Mia.
The horse is most welcome. Fared not well, I’m quite sure. I hope all is going well with the retrieval of your photos, wishing you all the best with that process. Please enjoy the rest of your Monday. ~ Mia 🙂
Merci Mia. Likewise.
Thank you! 🙂
Are you always so nice and polite? 🙂
“Polite” yes, “nice” I hope so. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother growing up, and it was a must! 🙂 I don’t know if it was because she was not an American (she did become a citizen of the US). Manners were a very important attribute in her world. 🙂
Nice and polite, definitely. 🙂 And your grandmother was right: manners cost nothing. And make things so much more pleasant. The key words to learn in any language are few: hello, comment ça va? por favor, Danke, Astublift, etc.
A dozen words will get you around in just about any language. Bonne journée. 😉
Спасибо. 😉
The horse indeed caught my eye. What a beauty. I have practically lived on the Thames a great deal of my life and I shamefully couldn’t tell – I’ll go for the top one?
I have evidence that the growing up thing is a trap – I would advise most people to avoid it.
The guard is not asleep – he is reading something on his eyelids.
I enjoyed the cruise although I thought it was a little on the windy side – some sort of warning about river cruises being cold should have been issued.
We excelled Le Froglets in all the images except maybe the bridge – don’t like the blue.
Thank you for your thoroughness. The wind is inevitable, but the bulky mandatory life-saving jackets will cut the wind out. Eyelid reading? I should have known about that when standing guard in the Army. 🙂 (ZZZZZ) Which blue? On Tower bridge? I found it odd myself. Didn’t quite fit with my recollections. That a new thing? Be good my friend. Have a lovely week. Yours ever, Reginald.
I don’t know (re the blue) – think it’s been there a while but it seems so out of place like suddenly painting the palace purple or pink.
Agree totally. Maybe they will repaint the palace orange when Mr. T. comes for the visit Mrs Perhaps has neglected to warn the Queen in advance?
It wouldn’t be any worse though would it than the odd choice of national health blue on an iconic structure?
It does look odd. Is that particular blue, the colour of the NHS?
Lol, yes. They always seem to paint hospital, doctor, dentist waiting rooms that kind of pallid blue.
How dreadful. Patients must be blue in the face then…
Badoosh! 🙂
Have a great week-end my friend. Take a break- 😉
NEVER! Breaks are for wimps…and people who need…erm…well, you know…breaks. 🙂
On the contrary, Rebecca, the English have taken breaks to a form of art. Tea break in the morning. Scones break. High tea break… Tennis break… and so forth…
Rubbish Cecil! For many, all of those have now been neatly joined together into a life of one looooong break paid for by the tax payer.
They would be insulted to hear your suggestion of the need for multiple breaks with the ludicrous insinuation that something is achieved in between to warrant those breaks!
Understandably that would be the programme of the newly appointed french socialist candidate for the next election: Universal income allocated to all, whether working or not. (Question, who are the last remaining tax-payers? Only a handful has not emigrated, right?) 🙂
Not at all dear Arthur, many remain. Someone has to keep the rich rich via tax and credit.
A common tale but true.
(Why does ‘rue’ rhyme with ‘true’?)