If only...

Today I would like to write about something that’s been in the news for days and hitting the headlines all around Europe. I’m sure you’ve all read about the four-year-old British girl, Madeleine McCann, who was apparently abducted during a vacation in southern Portugal. Madeleine disappeared on Thursday, May 3, from a hotel in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve while her parents were having dinner in a nearby restaurant, regularly checking on her and their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie. Robert Murat, a 33-year-old Briton (who describes himself as half-Portuguese) has been suspected of abducting Madeleine. He was questioned by the police and his villa, which is close to the hotel resort from which the girl has been taken, was searched, but no evidence could be found. Mr Murat has become well known to journalists during the search for Madeleine since he had been helping police with translation work during the investigation. Murat’s behaviour has been described as very strange and suspicious.

The reason why I’m writing about this, is that there is something that I just can’t understand and that really annoys me. For me it is unbelievable what a big deal they make out of this story. I mean yes, of course it is shocking that things like that happen and of course I do feel sorry for Madeleine’s family! But why do they draw so much attention to that particular case? The family’s lawyers have set up a “fighting fund” to which members of the public can donate to help in the search for Madeleine. Contributions to the fund total some 3.7 million Euros, including donations from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and other celebrities such as David Beckham. What a good deed, but to my mind this money could be used for much more important things. Thousands of African children could be helped with this vast amount of money, not only one single child whose parents are wealthy doctors anyway. I’m sure they wouldn’t have made such a fuss about the abduction if it had been a local child. In the UK, they are even passing text messages that urge mothers to pray (!) for Madeleine’s safe return to her family. Posters have been distributed and many have joined an e-mail campaign. It’s amazing what our (or rather the British) society is capable of achieving if they are moved by such a tragic incidence. If only they would act the same way when it comes to child poverty, famine or even environmental pollution…

A Good Year

Last night I felt like watching a movie, so I went to the video store to check out what’s new. I found a movie which I remembered was the film version of Peter Mayle’s bestseller ‘A Good Year’. So I thought I might as well watch it:

‘A Good Year’, directed by Ridley Scott, stares Russell Crowe in the role of Max Skinner, a British investment broker who is very successful in his job and believes he has all the things one needs to have a good life. He doesn’t do weekends and he doesn’t take holidays: Max Skinner makes money. His motto is: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing!”
Everything begins to change though, when Max learns that his beloved Uncle Henry (Albert Finney) has died without a last will and testament. Being his closest blood relative, Max inherits his uncle’s chateau and vineyard in Provence, where he used to spend his summers as a child. Initially, Max is only interested in making money with it, but after some time he begins to recall the wonderful summers he spent with his eccentric Uncle Henry in Provence. There was a great bond between Max and his uncle, who shared all his wisdom and knowledge with him and taught him a lot about life.
Max is busy renovating the chateau and slowly becoming friends with Francis Duflot, who is still tending the vines after three decades, when California girl Christie turns up claiming to be an illegitimate daughter of the deceased uncle and therefore rightful owner of the chateau and vineyard. Max, suspecting her to be a fraud, invites her to stay in order to find out more about her.
There’s another woman though, Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard), to whom Max has become totally smitten. Reluctant at first, Fanny soon gives in and goes on a date with Max and surprise, surprise…they fall in love with each other. The end is quite obvious: Max turns into a warm-hearted man able to appreciate life in Provence and after having lost his job he decides to go back to France and reunite with Funny Chenal. He makes Christie the rightful owner of the vineyard and they all live happily together until the end of times…

I thought the ending of the film was obvious right from the beginning and the storyline was rather unrealistic. I just can’t imagine that someone like Max Skinner, who is so terribly in love with his job and only thinks about making money, would change his lifestyle completely and decide to move to Provence after having lived there for one (!) week. Then he has only one single date with this woman, Funny Chenal, and immediately realizes that she is his great love and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with that woman. I mean come on, it doesn’t work like that!!! But despite all these unrealistic facts, I still liked the movie. It makes you aware of the things that really matter in life and it also gives you a very good idea of what it’s like to live in Provence. I loved the whole setting of film and the scenery was just stunning. So especially for those reading ‘A year in Provence’ I would recommend this film - you’ve got to be into romantic movies though :-)

A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle

Reading 'A Year in Provence' is a real pleasure after struggling through Jaywalking and mind you, I'm not even done with that book... 'A Year in Provence' is actually a book you can read comfortably lying in your bed or on the couch, without having a dictionary near by and without having to read certain paragraphs over again because you hadn't understood what was going on. I also like the way it is written, it's quite amusing to read and Mayle's descriptions make you almost feel as if you were in Provence yourself. The only thing that annoys me a little is how Peter Mayle is constantly referring to the beautiful country, the delicious food and how lovely and sweet eveything is. I just can't imagine that he and his wife haven't come across any major difficulties and that they have no big troubles adapting to a new country. Maybe that's because they had already been there several times before and they knew what to expect. But still I think that there is a huge difference between being on holiday and actually living in a foreign country. I also noticed that he doesn't write much about his wife. We don't really know how she feels about everything and how she's getting on. But then he doesn't write much about feelings in general but more about the food, the country and its people.

I wanted to know more about the author, so I did some research:

Peter Mayle (born June 14, 1939 in Brighton) spent 15 years in the advertising business, first as a copywriter and then as a reluctant executive, before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people. In 1987 he decided to quit his job and move to Provence where he started writing about his experiences as an expatriate and also about the country, its culture, cuisine and mentality. Mayle was very successfull with his books, which were tranlsated in over 20 languages. 'A Year in Provence' was published in 1989 and became an international bestseller. In 1997 he escaped to Long Island, USA, because in his books he had described the location of his French home so accurately that very soon he was invaded by intrusive tourists. A few years later though, he ruefully returned to his beloved France where he lives to this day.

His bestseller 'A Good Year' was filmed in 2006, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe.