La Tarte Tropezienne

Original from the city of Saint-Tropez, in France, Tarte Tropezienne is a network of bakeries with stores in more than 10 cities over France. But before describing how amazing is it, let's have a look on its history.
The man who created the bakery was a Polish immigrant, who came to France near a century ago. He lived in Saint Tropez and went to every market day in the city. The cake, that was an invention of his grandmother, became very famous in the market, and many people, including French celebrities of those times, suggested to "professionalize" the sweet (believe or not, it was called by the Polish as a simple brioche!).
The idea was approved by the inventor, and the bakery became very famous. The actual owner of it is the nephew of the creator, as his son died last year. La Tarte Tropezziene has even a store in Paris, where their cake, which is a lightly salted batter with a kind of creme brulée on it, is sold!
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Frankenstein - Quiz - Chapters 13, 14 & 15

Who arrives at the cottage in the spring? What is Safie's background? How does her language problem help the creature? Which of them learns faster?

How does the creature learn about reading? What book does Felix use to teach Safie?
 
What does the creature learn from this book? How much of a monster can someone be who can say "but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing”?
   
What happens when the creature begins to think about himself? How does he compare with the humans described in the book? What questions does he ask himself? How does his knowledge make him feel?

What does he learn about human relationships, and how does this make him feel?

How did the De Lacey family come to be living in the cottage?
 
How did Safie come to find and join them?
 
What does the creature find in the woods?
   
What are the three books that the creature reads, and what does he learn from each?

What else does the creature read and what does he learn from it?
 
How long has it been since the creature came to life? What is Victor doing at this point? (See chapter 6.)
   
What does the creature hope will happen when he talks to De Lacey? What actually happens?

Stade Vélodrome

Located in Marseille, France, Stade Vélodrome is the Olympique de Marseille, one of the most traditional teams in France, stadium.
The stadium was built in 1937, but suffered many reforms . The most recent one, in 2014, made the stadium an "elite" one. That means that Stade Vélodrome can host World Cup, Champions League and many other important tournaments finals.
A peculiar characteristic of the "home" of Olympique de Marseille (also known as just OM) is that the club isn't the owner of the stadium. It is located by the OM, but the truly owner is not the French government or Marseille's local authorities, but a man! As many people have a holiday houses, or a farm houses, this man has a stadium. Why not?
With the upcoming Eurocup, which will take place in France in 2016, Stade Vélodrome will probably host great matches. It's the opportunity for Marseille to show that the city has (in my opinion) one of the greatest and more modern stadiums in the world!

LIVING IN: PROVENCE

From http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20110707-living-in-provence

Tourists flood the region in summer, looking for their place in the sun, but those who own a little piece of this paradise enjoy every season.

Imagine chucking it all in, Peter Mayle-style, for a mas (farmhouse) on a vine-covered hillside where you will make your own wine while sipping pastis and making friends with your crusty winemaking vigneron neighbours. You are picturing Provence. Tourists flood the region in summer, looking for their place in the sun, but those who own a little piece of this paradise enjoy every season.

What is it known for?
The good life, one saturated with Provençal colours and flavours, with endless fields of lavender and white-washed stone farmhouses that epitomize the French country chic ideal, immortalized by artists old and new. And do not forget the cuisine and the chefs who are drawn to use what the land produces, from humble bar-restaurants to the Michelin-starredrestaurants gastronomique. Perhaps most enticingly, more than half of France’s rosé comes from the region.

Provence is a large region that includes many areas, from the inland mountains of the Alpes de Haute Provence to the golden beaches of the Cote d’Azur. The natural beauty and the tidy, picturesque villages, weekly markets, and range of activities — from horseback riding to skiing — make it a sought-after region for holiday-makers and second-home buyers alike.

This has also made house prices somewhat impervious to the vicissitudes of the global economy. “The Provence market has survived the economic crisis and our colleagues in France are optimistic for the future,” said Anne Mizrachi of French property agents Latitudes.

Where do you want to live?
“There are many reasons why people want to purchase a house in Provence,” said Mizrachi. “Some are looking for a bolthole in the sun — a lock and leave type property, others for a more substantial holiday home with a swimming pool.” And then there are those looking for an investment who want to rent out their properties. They tend to look in places that are magnets for holiday renters, particularly city properties like those in Cannes, Nice, Marseille, Avignon and so on.

Vauclause is a popular area, made so by Peter Mayle and hisA Year in Provence books; the medieval villages of Gordes, Lourmarin and Roussillon in particular. In the Bouches de Rhone, Aix-en-Provence is a perennial favourite, and people also search down near Marseilles and the coastal resorts.

St Tropez in Var, along with Les Issambres and Le Lavandou attract buyers who want a coastal property, but prices have pushed land hunters inland to Fayence, Lorgues, Grimaud and Cogolin. Houses with sea views along the Cote d’Azur such as Cannes, Antibes, Juan les Pins, Beaulieu and Nice command the highest prices. “Coastal properties within easy reach of an airport are usually more expensive than inland properties,” said Mizrachi. “You’ll pay a premium for a sea view. A one-bedroom apartment on the Cote d’Azur would start around 250,000 euros.” A two-bedroom penthouse with a terrace and panoramic views of Nice just steps from the seafront costs around 1.3 million euros.

The least expensive area is the Alpes de Haut Provence, in hilltop villages like Valbonne, Mougins and St Paul de Vence. You may get a lot more for your money, but even there, a three-bedroom house with mountain views and a swimming pool costs can cost almost 1.3 million euros as well.

Side trips
Just travelling from one part of Provence to another can make for a wonderful day or weekend trip. There are train connections to all other parts of France and the TGV from Marseilles makes the trip to Paris in just three hours. There are intercity connections to Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

Provence is mainly served by the Nice airport, and Air France has non-stop flights to New York and other international cities. The Marseilles and Nimes airports are served by regional European airlines with flights to the UK and the rest of Europe.

Practical info
In Provence, every hillside and town has its own personality and ambience, so to merely like a property is not enough, you must also like the location and the local village. If you are attracted by a house and are considering putting in an offer, let the agent know straight away. “You need to register your interest,” explained Mizrachi. “In France, a house can be sold and off the market within a day.”

When it comes to putting money down, check with a currency broker and your bank to find out the best and cheapest way of transferring funds. You will also want to know what is included in the price, like fees for the agent and notary. There are other rates to check on like the taxe fonciere and the taxe d’habitation, along with maintenance charges.

“Provence has what everyone wants: Mediterranean climate, varied architecture, the prestige and the lifestyle,” said Mizrachi.

Further information
Provence Post: English-language blog on festivals, food and wine, tours and travel
Anglo-American Group of Provence: network of English-speaking expatriates that provide support and activities
The Riviera Times: English-language newspaper for the French and Italian Riviera

Frankenstein: Chapters 13 & 14

Summary: Chapter 13

As winter thaws into spring, the monster notices that the cottagers, particularly Felix, seem unhappy. A beautiful woman in a dark dress and veil arrives at the cottage on horseback and asks to see Felix. Felix becomes ecstatic the moment he sees her. The woman, who does not speak the language of the cottagers, is named Safie. She moves into the cottage, and the mood of the household immediately brightens. As Safie learns the language of the cottagers, so does the monster. He also learns to read, and, since Felix uses Constantin-François de Volney’s Ruins of Empires to instruct Safie, he learns a bit of world history in the process. Now able to speak and understand the language perfectly, the monster learns about human society by listening to the cottagers’ conversations. Reflecting on his own situation, he realizes that he is deformed and alone. “Was I then a monster,” he asks, “a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned?” He also learns about the pleasures and obligations of the family and of human relations in general, which deepens the agony of his own isolation.

Summary: Chapter 14

After some time, the monster’s constant eavesdropping allows him to reconstruct the history of the cottagers. The old man, De Lacey, was once an affluent and successful citizen in Paris; his children, Agatha and Felix, were well-respected members of the community. Safie’s father, a Turk, was falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to death. Felix visited the Turk in prison and met his daughter, with whom he immediately fell in love. Safie sent Felix letters thanking him for his intention to help her father and recounting the circumstances of her plight (the monster tells Victor that he copied some of these letters and offers them as proof that his tale is true). The letters relate that Safie’s mother was a Christian Arab who had been enslaved by the Turks before marrying her father. She inculcated in Safie an independence and intelligence that Islam prevented Turkish women from cultivating. Safie was eager to marry a European man and thereby escape the near-slavery that awaited her in Turkey. Felix successfully coordinated her father’s escape from prison, but when the plot was discovered, Felix, Agatha, and De Lacey were exiled from France and stripped of their wealth. They then moved into the cottage in Germany upon which the monster has stumbled. Meanwhile, the Turk tried to force Safie to return to Constantinople with him, but she managed to escape with some money and the knowledge of Felix’s whereabouts.

Analysis: Chapters 13–14

The subplot of Safie and the cottagers adds yet another set of voices to the novel. Their story is transmitted from the cottagers to the monster, from the monster to Victor, from Victor to Walton, and from Walton to his sister, at which point the reader finally gains access to it. This layering of stories within stories enables the reworking of familiar ideas in new contexts. One such idea is the sense of “otherness” that many characters in Frankenstein feel. The monster, whose solitude stems from being the only creature of his kind in existence and from being shunned by humanity, senses this quality of being different most powerfully. His deformity, his ability to survive extreme conditions, and the grotesque circumstances of his creation all serve to mark him as the ultimate outsider. Victor, too, is an outsider, as his awful secret separates him from friends, family, and the rest of society. In the subplot of the cottagers, this idea recurs in the figures of both Safie and her father. His otherness as a Muslim Turk in Paris results in a threat to his life from the prejudiced and figures in power. Her feelings of being oppressed by Islam’s confining gender roles compel her to seek escape to the more egalitarian ideas of Christianity.

The monster’s fascination with the relationship between Felix and Safie lies in his desperate desire for Victor to accept him. Felix’s willingness to risk everything for the sake of someone who has been unjustly punished gives the monster hope that Victor will recognize the hurtful injustice of abandoning him. However, just as Felix’s bravery in helping Safie’s father escape stands in stark contrast to Victor’s shameful unwillingness to save Justine, so does Felix’s compassion for Safie underscore Victor’s cold hatred for the monster.

Language and communication take center stage in these chapters, as the monster emerges from his infantile state and begins to understand and produce written and spoken language. His alienation from society, however, provides him no opportunity to communicate with others; rather, he is a one-way conduit, a voyeur, absorbing information from the cottagers without giving anything in return. The importance of language as a means of self-expression manifests itself in the monster’s encounter with Victor on the glacier. Just as each distinct narrative voice contributes to the novel’s richly woven web of allusions and biases, the monster’s romanticization of the cottagers as kind and friendly reflects his desperate desire for companionship and affection.

Texts play an important role throughout the novel, especially in shaping the monster’s conception of his identity and place in the world. As his language skills increase, the monster gains a sense of the world through Felix’s reading of Ruins of Empires. In these chapters, he acquires the ability to understand the crucial texts that he soon discovers, including Paradise Lost. This text introduces him to Adam and Satan, to both of whom he eventually compares himself. In addition to shaping his identity, the written word provides the monster with a means of legitimizing his past. In offering to show Victor copies of Safie’s letters, he hopes to validate his perspective on the tragedy that has befallen them and thus gain Victor’s sympathy. His belief in the truth of the written word, however, seems particularly naïve in a novel with a narrative structure as complex as that of Frankenstein; just as he falsely assumes that Paradise Lost is historically accurate, he hopes groundlessly that his narrative can win Victor over.

One of the novel’s persistent motifs is that of the passive woman, a gentle creature who submits to the demands of the active, powerful men around her. Safie turns this stereotype on its head when she boldly rejects her father’s attempt to return her to the constraints and limitations of life in Constantinople. Her willingness to take the initiative, to strike out on her own in the face of adversity and uncertainty, makes her one of the strongest characters in the novel, despite her minor role. Like her father and the monster, Safie is an outsider; unlike them, she manages to gain acceptance. Additionally, Shelley’s depiction of her character contains a strong cross-cultural value judgment. It esteems European culture, with its flexibility, openness, and opportunities for women, over Arab or Muslim culture, with its rigidity, self-enclosed quality, and strict gender prescriptions.

Frankenstein - Chapters 6 to 8

1. What is waiting for Victor when he finally recovers? Who has nursed him during his illness?
2. Who is Justine Moritz and what is her story? What comments does Elizabeth make about her position in Swiss society? What religion is Justine?
3. Who is William and how old is he?
4. What does Victor do after his recovery? What is Clerval's "plan of life"?
5. When does Victor finally plan to return home? What do he and Clerval do while waiting for his father's directions?
6. What is waiting for Victor when he returns to his apartment? What news does his father have for him? And what is his father's name? How does Victor respond?
7. How long has Victor been away from home? What happens the night he returns to Geneva? How does he respond?
8. Whom does Victor see that night? When was the last time they saw each other? How long ago was that?
9. What does Victor now believe happened to William? What does Victor assume about the nature of the creature?
10. Who has been identified as the murder, and on what evidence? How does Victor respond to this news? Why doesn't he say anything about the real murderer?
11. What happens at Justine's trial? How does Victor respond?
12. The next day, why does Justine say she has confessed to the murder of William? How does Victor respond to Justine's situation and to Elizabeth's anguish?

The Dream School

For me, the perfect school would be like this:
You arrive at school and meet your friends. You have 40 minutes to talk with them, and then, the class starts. When you get tired, you can ask for a break of 10 minutes. You can have 2 breaks per day.
The subjects in the dream school are Portuguese, English, Arts, Physical Education, Maths, Geography, History, Sciences and Languages. In this last subject, you would be able to choose a language of your preference to learn. You don't need to use uniform at the school.
If you get very good grades at the trimester, you get rewards, for example: 1 extra break during the whole next trimester, 1-2 days of break for the rest of the year, gift cards for the school restaurant, etc.
During the longest break which the duration is 40 minutes, you could dispute sports competitions with your class team, or you could just talk with your friends.
Every trimester, there would be 2 weeks of tests. During these weeks, you could go to school, make the test, and come back home or stay at the school to play sports or chat with friends. You would have also the option of going to your teacher's office and ask questions about the upcoming tests. The professor would give you as many pages of exercises as you need, to practise at home.
In the end of the year, there would be a ceremony to award the best students of the year. The awards would be: extended holidays (one extra week), 5 books of your choice or 7 days of free meals at the school restaurant.