Viva la France

I am a day late doing this but as yesterday was Bastille Day - France's celebration of independence - I thought it was worthy of a post. I checked with a native of those northern shores yesterday and apparently you do not wish someone "Happy Bastille Day", but you get the idea.

My personal (and brief) Bastille Day celebration address to my lunchtime Toastmasters meeting consisted of "Viva la France - Do You Hear the People Sing - Go the Men in Lycra". The first is of course self explanatory. The second is a reference to my favourite musical Les Miserables (I get chills when I hear a chorus belting out that anthem and there is still time for you to do the same as it is being performed at Centrestage, Orewa until the 18th July).

The third threw some of them and I got some very puzzled looks, until I pointed out that the Tour de France is currently winding it's way through the stunning French countryside. If you can tear yourself away from admiring the cyclists and their battle against both the mountains and each other, it is worth watching the coverage for some of the most brilliant camera work and commentary of, not just the event, but also the country of any I have seen. If you want to follow the Tour, click on this website link.

To catch up with things French at your local Rodney Library, do a subject catalogue search for France, which will give you 22 pages of subject headings to choose from. A subject heading helps us to catalogue books and other items in the library so that they are easier to find.

QUICK HINT - if you know the title of (or have found) one book on a subject that you are interested in, to find others that might also be helpful, look for the subject heading on the book's record and click on that. It will then take you to other titles that Rodney Libraries hold.

photo credit Cyril Plapied from Flickr Creative Commons photostream