Mandag den 6. februar 2017 kl 16:30 til tirsdag den 7. februar 2017 kl 16:29

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad, og derefter bruger vi aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, et interessant dokumentarfilm (anden del af 3), der handler om historien af fransk kunst. Programmets vært er den charmerende Andrew Graham-Dixon. Denne anden del af serien handler om perioden fra lige før revolutionen op til enden af første halvdel af 1800-tallet.

Det er meget interessant at se Panthéon i Paris, hvor Rousseau, den politiske filosof, blev begravet. Vi ser en uhyggelig hånd titte frem fra træsarkofagens lille dør. Efter Lois’s mening skildrer sarkofagen bare, at Rousseau måske ikke endnu var virkelig død ved begravelsen, og prøvede at undslippe. Men Andrew, programmets vært, kommenterer, at Rousseau faktisk kun videregiver sandheds fakkel til den næste generation, hvilket beviser, at man virkelig må studere kunst meget alvorligt, for at undgå, at tage så ganske grundlæggende fejl – ingen tvivl om det!

Lois mistolker Rousseaus sarkofag – hun mener,

at Rousseau ikke endnu var virkelig død ved begravelsen

og prøvede at undslippe!

Du godeste, sikke en grundlæggende fejl  - hun har

fuldstændigt mistet pointen !!!

Under revolutionen og efter måtte franske kunstnere undgå at forarge myndighederne, hvis de ikke ville ende i guillotinen.

Da Napoleons karriere som militær leder begyndte at gå ned ad bakke, fortsatte Antoine Gros, den berømte maler, med at skildre Napoleons triumfer, men han havde en lille løbende intern joke til sig selv, i at han med hver efterfølgende maleri, gjorde Napoleon lidt mindre, end før. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Med hver efterfølgende maleri blev Napoleon lidt mindre!

Antoine Gros havde en vidunderlig sans for humor – ingen tvivl om det!!!

Jeg holder meget af dette maleri på grund af dets vidunderlige ”bekymrede hest”. Jeg har i årevis bemærket, at heste ofte ser lidt urolige ud i malerier. Jeg synes, de ikke holder af at stille sig op og stå ubevægelige i nogle minutter, mens maleren tegner en hurtig skitse. Og det giver jeg dem ret i – det er meget farligt, især hvis slaget stadig er i gang og især hvis man har en kejser på ryggen – ingen tvivl om det!! ”Stop ikke med at bevæge dig” er det bedste råd, når man er ved til et slag – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!

Ingen kan skildre ”den bekymrede hest”

så godt som Antoine Gros – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng og putter os ind til hinanden, vi er meget trætte  – zzzzzzz!!!!!

04:00 Jeg står tidlig op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og lytter til radio. Jeg hører et interessant program (første del af 5), der handler om ”Fremmede senge”.

Lois har for vane at sige, at hun altid har svært ved at falde i søvn i fremmede senge. Hendes far havde samme problem, mindes jeg. Men i dette afsnit hører vi stemmen af den berømte forfatter, Colin Thubron, der for 30 år siden måtte overnatte i Mao Tse Tungs gamle seng i et lille gæstehus i Shaoshan, en lille landsby i det sydlige Kina (Maos fødested).

Jeg forestiller mig, at Maos seng må tage prisen for at være verdens værste seng at ligge i. Mao var en inkarneret bonde, og sov altid på sengens base, der selvfølgeligt var lavet af træ. Og du godeste, gæsthusets ledelse havde tilsyneladende ikke haft tid til at installere en madras, lader det til, selvom den store mand var død  41 år tidligere !!! Jeg formoder, at mange gæster vil have den fulde ”Mao-oplevelse” – men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

Det er interessant, at Mao og Madame Mao (Jiang Quing) ikke delte seng, måske fordi hun var kendt for at være god til at bide. Hun sov i et værelse ved siden af – måske på en bekvem madras og under en hyggelig dyne – Colin fortæller os ikke. Han siger bare, at han sov ikke ret godt i Maos seng. Ingen overraskelse der !!!! Sikke et mareridt!!! Jeg ville have bedt om, at se et andet værelse – ingen tvivl om det!!!!

Mao og Madame Mao delte ikke sengen – måske fordi

hun var kendt for at være god til at bide

Jeg er helt sikker på, at Lois vil ånde lettet op, når hun hører, at der er mange værre senge i verden, end hun hidtil har oplevet. Hun har aldrig ligget i nogle af Maos senge, så vidt jeg ved.

07:45 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og kryber under dynen til Lois. Vi drikker teen og går i bad. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

08:30 Bob, vores nabo, ringer på døren. Han giver mig en æggebakke med 6 æg. Han holder høns, og vi bytter ofte en krukke vores hjemmelavet appelsinmarmelade for Bobs æg - nam nam!

Senere snakker Bob med Lois over havehækken. Han siger, at nogen i nat prøvede at bryde ind i sin haveskur, der ligger i bunden af sin have, men forsøget er heldigvis mislykkedes. Lois og jeg diskuterer om, om vi må hellere låse vores haveskur – vi har ikke låst den før gennem de 31 år vi har boet her, men det er sandt at vores elektriske plæneklipper og hækkeklipper findes derinde, så måske skal vi overveje at låse den. Bobs have er mere i risiko end vores, fordi der er en smal gyde ved siden af hans hus.

10:00 Min ven, “Magyar” Mike, kommer og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Vi bruger i år en anderledes lærebog, ”Lær ungarsk”, der blev skrevet i 1960’erne, med andre ord i den kommunistiske æra, hvilket betyder, at den er ganske morsom at læse i dag. Vi kigger på den 4. lektion, hvor teksten handler om ”arbejdere” (jernarbejdere, tekstilarbejdere, minearbejdere, fabriksarbejdere, endda vævere – du godeste!) sammen med fagforeningsmænd, alle fra forskellige lande, der ankommer til byen Budapests østra-station (Keleti pályaudvar) for at deltage i én eller anden uspecificeret begivenhed -  sandsynligvis en solidaritetskonference ha ha ha! Lykkelige dage (ikke!) ha ha ha (igen).

11:00 Mike skal af sted. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen. Bagefter går vi en kort tur i nabolaget. Vores rute: Dybegade, Højegade, Bankgade, Møllegade og tilbage igen via Borgergade. Der er som regel stærk trafik i Dybegade og Højegade, men i dag er de to gader lukkede for trafik, på grund af vejarbejde: gaderne skal genasfalteres. Alt er stille og rolig, som tilbage i middelalderlige tider – du godeste!

Lois på Højgade, der er stille og rolig, ligesom

i middelalderlige tider – du godeste!

Vi kommer hjem.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og derefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!

15:00 Jeg står op. Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Vi blader gennem de næste 3 sider af vores nuværende danske kriminovelle "Forbandet" by Gittemie Eriksen, fordi vores U3A danske gruppe holder dens næste møde i morgen kl 14:30 hos os. Efter 6 sider er ligtallet stadig tre – hurra!

English translation

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner, and then we spend the evening watching TV, an interesting documentary (second part of 3), dealing with the history of French art. The program's host is the charming Andrew Graham-Dixon. This second part of the series deals with the period just before the revolution up to the end of the first half of the 1800s.

It is very interesting to see the Panthéon in Paris, where Rousseau, the political philosopher, was buried. We see a sinister hand peeping out from the wooden sarcophagus's little door. In Lois's opinion the sarcophagus is just depicting the fact that Rousseau was perhaps not really dead at the time of the funeral and was trying to escape. But Andrew, the program's host, comments that Rousseau is in fact just handing on the torch of truth to the next generation, which proves that you really have to study art seriously, to avoid making such quite basic errors - no doubt about it!

Lois misinterprets Rousseau's sarcophagus –

she believes Rousseau was not yet really dead at time of funeral

and was trying to escape! My god, such a basic error –

she has completely missed the point !!!

During the revolution and afterwards, French artists had to avoid giving offense to the authorities if they did not want to end up in the guillotine.

When Napoleon's career as a military leader began to go downhill, Antoine Gros, the famous painter, continued to portray Napoleon's triumphs, but he had a little running joke to himself, in that with each successive painting, he made Napoleon look a bit smaller than before. My god, what madness !!!

With each subsequent painting Napoleon became a bit smaller!

Antoine Gros had a wonderful sense of humor - no doubt about that !!!

I love this painting because of its wonderful "anxious horse." I have for years noticed that horses often look a little troubled in paintings. I think they do not like to come to a halt and stand motionless for several minutes while the painter draws a quick sketch. And I give them that - it is very dangerous, especially if the battle is still ongoing, and especially if you have an emperor on your back - no doubt about it !! "Don't stop moving" is the best advice when you're at a battle - I know that for sure !!!!

Nobody can portray "the anxious horse"

as well as Antoine Gros – I know that for sure !!!!

22:00 We go to bed and snuggle up, we are very tired – zzzzzz!!!

04:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

I take a little look at the web and listen to the radio. I hear an interesting program (part 1 of 5) about "Strange Beds".

Lois has a habit of saying that she always has trouble falling asleep in a strange bed. Her father had the same problem, I remember. But in this episode we hear the voice of the famous writer Colin Thubron, who 30 years ago had to stay overnight in Mao Zedong's old bed in a little guesthouse in Shaoshan, a small village in southern China (Mao's birthplace).

I imagine that Mao's bed must take the prize for being the world's worst bed to be lying in. Mao was an inveterate peasant and always slept on the bed base, which of course was made of wood. And my god, the guest-house management had apparently not had time to install a mattress, it seems, even though the great man had died 41 years earlier !!! I suspect that many guests want to have the full "Mao experience" - but I'm not quite sure.

It is interesting that Mao and Madame Mao (Jiang Quing) did not share a bed, perhaps because she was known for being a biter. She slept in an adjoining room - perhaps on a comfy mattress under a cozy duvet - Colin does not tell us. He says only that he did not sleep that well in Mao’s bed. No surprise there - what a nightmare !!! I would have asked to see another room - no doubt about that !!!!

Mao and Madame Mao didn’t share a bed –

perhaps because she was known for being a biter

I am quite sure that Lois will breathe a sigh of relief when she hears that there are many worse beds in the world than she has experienced up till now. She has never been in any of Mao's beds, so far as I know.

08:30 Bob, our neighbor, rings the doorbell. He gives me a box with 6 eggs. He keeps chickens, and we often exchange a jar of our homemade orange marmalade for Bob's eggs - yum yum!

Later Bob chats with Lois over the garden hedge. He says that in the night somebody tried to break into his garden shed, located at the bottom of his garden, but the attempt fortunately failed. Lois and I discuss whether we'd better lock our garden shed - we have not locked it before during the 31 years we've lived here, but it's true that our electric mower and hedge trimmer are in there, so maybe we should consider locking it . Bob's garden is more at risk than ours, because there is a narrow alleyway next to his house.

10:00 My friend, "Magyar" Mike, comes and we learn Hungarian for an hour. This year we're using a different textbook, "Learn Hungarian", which was written in the 1960s, in other words in the communist era, which means that it is quite amusing to read today. We look at the fourth lesson, where the text is about "workers" (iron workers, textile workers, miners, factory workers, even weavers - my god!), along with union delegates, all from different countries, arriving in the city of Budapest's East Station (Keleti pályaudvar) to take part in some unspecified event - probably a solidarity conference ha ha ha! Happy days (not!) Ha ha ha (again).

11:00 Mike has to go. Lois and I relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa. Afterwards we go for a short walk in the neighborhood. Our itinerary: Dybegade, Højgade, Bankgade, Møllegade and back again via Borgergade. There is usually heavy traffic in Deep Street and High Street, but today the two streets are closed to traffic because of roadworks: the streets have to be resurfaced. Everything is quiet and still, like back in medieval times - my god!

Lois on Højgade, which is quiet and still, like

in medieval times - my god!

We get home.

13:00 We eat lunch and then I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzz !!!

15:00 I get up. We relax with a cup of tea on the sofa. We flip through the next 3 pages of our current Danish crime novel "Cursed" by Gittemie Eriksen, because our U3A Danish group is holding its next meeting here tomorrow at 2.30pm. After 6 pages the body count still stands at 3 – hurrah!