Another Crappy Home-Video Director is Born

Thanks to a very fortuitous windfall, we were able to do something yesterday which I had not dreamed would be possible, and get ourselves a tiny (and rather simple) digital video recorder. These have long been on my want-list, but practicality and survival kept us from getting one even though the basic ones today are fairly inexpensive. The reason I wanted one now was to make a video of my parents' trip here next month, but I also hope to start adding more video to the website in the form of Brittany travel vids and pipemaking videos. The real question will be how to host them, since my server (and wallet) will balk at the bandwidth issues.

Yesterday was another all-day trip into Nantes, to get our new year's residency visas - a fairly painless process these days, and more of an occasion for a good wander around downtown Nantes than for the sort of panicking deep-jungle-expedition mentality we used to have. Our friend Camille took us to "the best shop selling pain au chocolat in Nantes" - a little corner breadshop that looked much like every other corner breadshop in any French city.
But...
Wow. Yes, very good. I've had pain au chocolat before from plenty of different places, and it is usually really uninspiring, but yesterday's was orgasmic. For those unfamiliar, pain au chocolat is a very buttery, flaky croissant served light and hot, so fluffy it melts in your mouth, and it is shot through with heated and melted chocolate chips. Argh, says the diet. Yum, says my tongue. I'll have another dozen...

Despite news media reports of riots in Nantes, we saw no evidence of any troubles and everything was as bustling and busy as usual. The only unusual event occurred while we were relaxing at an outdoor café in the city center - there was some yelling across the broad square, and police officers seemed to materialize out of every alley and side street and converge. After a few moments, we saw them leading away some very grungy-looking drunk, not a band of rioters. I suspect that, like flying in the aftermath of 9-11, we're probably safer on the city streets now than we were before, given the increased policing!

Here are a few more comments I've received from locals about the riots:

This first post is in reply to some questions I directed to the Herbignac community forum.
"To your question "Have there been riots close to here?", here is my answer: in Herbignac and in the area, there was no problem. With your second question: "Does the town hall have plans.?". Answer = No, the town hall does not have any plan of repression for hypothetical problems of this kind. On the other hand, the answer that I posted you on the forum explains the means which proved reliable in the past and which are to be developed for the future. These means are simple and are not reserved to the only elected officials (mayor and advisers) but they are to be put into practice by each inhabitant of the commune; to maintain and create relations of mutual aid, solidarity, good closeness between the inhabitants. How? it is to each person to find the ways of acting with others to take part in the work of collective interest, in a spirit of community."
(A votre première question "y a-t-il eu des émeutes près d'ici?",un internaute vous dit que si vous êtes de la région, vous devez sûrement le savoir.Voici ma réponse : à Herbignac et dans la région, il n'y a eu aucun problème.Quant à votre deuxième question : "la mairie a-t-elle des plans ..?". réponse = non la mairie n'a aucun plan de répression pour d'hypothétiques problèmes de ce genre. En revanche, la réponse que je vous ai postée sur le forum indique les moyens passés qui ont fait leurs preuves et qui sont à développer pour l'avenir. Ces moyens sont simples et ne sont pas réservés aux seuls élus (maire et conseillers) mais ils sont à mettre en pratique par chaque habitant de la commune; cela consiste à maintenir et à créer des relations d'entraide, de solidarité, de bon voisinage entre les habitants. Comment ? c'est à chaque personne de trouver les façons d'agir avec d'autres pour participer à l'oeuvre d'intérêt collectif, dans un esprit de convivialité.)
Yes, I live in Mayberry RFD, French-style...

And here are some comments from a German friend:

"When the riots started in Paris suburbs, I did not understand what it was all about, the connection to the death of those two kids seemed too far-fetched. Some few days later a third kid - survivor of the same hideout, as far as I understood the news intro - stated that they had fled without being pursued. So that cause for anger against the police was gone. Also I did not understand why they burnt pre-schools and lots of cars."
(I will interject here to voice my annoyance at government plans to spend MY tax money rebuilding where the rioters burned down their own schools and neighborhood services.  While it may sound a bit harsh, my reaction is very much, "You burned down your own grade school?  Well, gee, that sucks for you...")
" Maybe I see a pattern now: they have been unhappy a long time, and like with Rosa Parks in the US in 55 (or the police-killed Student Benno Ohnesorg in Germany in 68) it just needed a spark to explode... Also, the spreading looks like some organizing guys just looked for angry=unthinking followers...
Concerning methods to subdue those riots, I think our European ones differ from US ones: Sarkozy sure would have liked to go in with force, I guess, but that would only have roused the silent crowd that was not yet ready to use violent words or deeds. The French society of today was built upon a (The) Revolution, and the Marseillaise still asks every Child of the Land to fight for what is Right! And as recently as WW2 the French resistance fought powerfully and relentlessly against the oppressors. So I think the calmer way they choose to go works out slowly, but securely, and the split method of on one hand looking what can be done to relieve the living circumstances of the angered depraved, and on the other hand to separate the really bad eggs from the rest, and to cast out the bad ones fast, will help to calm the rage and the fires. "