Our France team - Yvonne and Sabrina
have completed their stint. Their final piece - looking at how global warming is affecting the Alps will be broadcast on the programme sometime this week.
Among the snaps they've sent, there's this: "Look Hugh, there's even smog in Chamonix"
There's this one of Yvonne "recording a standup at almost 2000 metres overlooking the Mer de Glace glacier."
And finally this shot - "the moment after finishing our final interview before our journey back to London. Au Revoir La France. A Bientot."
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Yvonne, Sabrina, thanks for taking the photos (& taking the time to send them as well). It's always nice to put faces to names:-)
Chamonix Mont-Blanc. My favourite place in all the world.
It has been hit terribly hard by warming. I have photos taken on a mountaineering holiday in summer 1981 which show the extent of glaciation then. The retreat of the Mer de Glace, the Trient glacier and the increasing exposure of rock where there used to be ice and snow, are alarming in their rapidity.
I take it that Yvonne's vantage point over the Mer is from the Montenvers hotel? Magnificent view (when not snowing) with the Drus and the Verte soaring up 1000's of feet in front of you on the other side of the glacier.
Once helped to stage a barbie around the back of 'Les Grands Charmoz' in early February. Snow was falling, it was 15 degrees C below zero at 16:00 and your burger chilled in moments. You had to eat quickly! Then went to the ice rink to watch the semi-finals of the French Ice Hockey cup. Cham lost to Rouen but we all had a great time with the assistance of well-chilled lager.
Next time she goes will the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ fund me to carry her bags?
Si.
So Yvonne was "recording a standup at almost 2000 metres overlooking the Mer de Glace glacier." Whom, pray tell? Ross Noble? He doesn't seem to have been going down too well in the 630 slot according to Feedback -- perhaps a short stint during PM will be a boost?
Nice pics, btw.
Aperitif (3)
Perhaps Yevonde was recording Ben Elton
If Yvonne is commenting about Hugh's pics, surely that means they're reading the Blog. So why don't they join in the frog?
Re: Deepthought! Errrr ! They probably tried to :-)
Re: Deepthought! Errrr ! They probably tried to :-)
A stand-up what?
(Now that is maliciously fast)
Jonnie (6, 7),
Ah...um....good point...wonder why I did not think of that....
Deep (4), Perish the Thought! (Not you, though, if you see what I mean.)
Deeptought (6) They wouldn't use their real names now would they :-).
Oh dear, Aperitif (10),
You missed the pun; so many mountains in Scotland are "Ben ......". I did fear that might have made people think I was totally mad, as opposed to only certifiable. I hoped Fifi or Fiona might have spotted it before the full extent...but Bloggage struck again.
Stewart (11),
Lissa, our former blog supremo, does - as Lissa-with-an-A!
DeepThought - Other Scotswomen are also available :o) Chortle!
Valery(13),
Of course, but I was trying to continue on the first name theme as per the (obviously very poor) pun made at (4).
Wish I hadn't bothered now, you all think I'm completely round the bend.
Hum, I'm "not allowed to post"!!
Oh. I posted a response about puns to Deep-Perish-the-Thought last night but it has failed to materialise, despite appearing to go through OK.
Wearing, this blog, innit?
Deepthought
Taking the theme a little bit further, what about the tautologous Benny Hill. A mountain-like hill?
Personally I always thought he was a bit of a hillock.
Hello Froggers,
Eddie's drawn it to my attention that at least one of you wonders why I haven't joined in the frogging. Well, I'm back from France now so I have no excuse.
To answer some of your questions:
What is the extraordinary item around my neck (transferred to Sabrina's in the last photo)? It's an enormous neck-warming device, suitable for the French winter. It doubles as a handy draft excluder for any modern home.
Why did we travel from Bergerac to Strasbourg? We actually went up to Limousin (to speak to farmers,) then to Paris (on the Train of Great Speed ,) to transfer to Strasbourg (to speak to the NF) and then to the Alps (to observe the melting glaciers.) We were going to include a map of our travels but that was a technological feat beyond us.
Glad you like the pictures - all Sabrina's handiwork.
Welcome Yvonne,
I'm waiting for the melting glacier report (hope I've not missed it, sometimes work intrudes on my listening to PM, and I have to turn the radio down).
There's coffee and crossants (etc) down at the beach, should take you back across the channel.
Hi Yvonne, thanks for the message. I have really enjoyed your reports but I have to admit that one of the greatest joys to me was the very faint whistling of the French National Anthem that hid behind one of them. Did you know? Or was that Naughty Eddie being quietly ironic again? No...it couldn't have been the Lovely Hugh sabotaging your recordings to make his own seem more worthy?!
Yvonne, nice picture of you, and comprehensive review of you and your companion's wardrobe on the back page of Ariel. Is this as good as it gets in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ fame game? Or will you get your own show on telly next?
Hope you brought back lots of cheap wine for Eddie. Might be better for him than all that coffee?
Thanks for joining in the blog with us.
Hello Gillian, yes I did indeed know. That was courtesy of a patriotic farmer at the market I visited. I'm glad you picked up on it. It did make me smile when I was putting the piece together. I will quiz Hugh when he gets back to see if he can whistle the Chinese national anthem for us.
Train of Great Speed, Yvonne - I love it.
I thought your pashmina looked just the ticket, and whomsoever it was did the criticising obviously hasn't been tuned in to London Fashion Week?
.....oh and I forgot to say that you haven't missed the melting glacier report...It hasn't been given a transmission date yet but it will be over the next week or two, I think.
Good to see you here, Yvonne!
Out of interest, is the glacier report part of a series, or a stand-alone? Was it added in as a "You're there anyway" or was it planned as part of the trip? (I'm just curious about whe organisation of sending reporters out!)
Hello Fearless Fred,
well, we had always planned to do the melting glacier piece on the trip but it was to be broadcast after we came back. So we didn't have a fixed deadline for it like we did for the others.
Yvonne, I think we all hope you won't lose touch with the Frog. You don't need any excuse to join in.
Yvonne,
Thanks for the explanation. As I said, I'm just intruiged by all the "behind the scenes" stuff that has to happen before reports hit the air . (I guess it's because I'm a techie, so I'm always trying to peek "behind the curtain", so to speak). Anyway, thanks again, and I hope you won't be a stranger to the Frog :-)
FFred