Monthly Archives: May 2022

French lessons with Laurelle and Jean

Travelling from Lyon to Marseille on a Saturday afternoon had been a delightful experience. I had never travelled on a TGV before and sat in the top deck of a carriage watching the Provençal countryside pass by. The end of … Continue reading

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A tradition of quackery

Do you get those emails offering you patent medicines at knockdown prices? The ones that offer you a cure to conditions you never had? And even conditions you could not possibly have? Quackery is nothing new. The 19th Century was … Continue reading

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The dangerous lives of thirteen year olds

The first year students are no longer new, but nor are they worldly-wise. They are reckless about their own safety and I have realised that my warnings fall on deaf ears. They give me a fist pump and a smile … Continue reading

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Clocks work

Last week, I found a photograph of an old friend in his room in the student hall of residence in which he lived forty years ago. On the shelf above his head was his alarm clock. It had an alarm … Continue reading

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Footballers are dishonest

Not all of them, not most of them, but certainly some of those who play football are dishonest and cannot but be aware that their intention is to deceive. They will endeavour to ensure a game goes their way, whatever … Continue reading

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