Just to slightly derail, but it does relate to a running topic within the CD threads so.may I beg your collective indulgence for a moment. Not all of those who remain unvaccinated are in any way anti-vax. It might only be a tiny percentage but there are those - me included - who have health "issues" which might be exacerbated by the vaccine, and it's too much of a risk to take the chance. Whether anything untoward would happen is impossible to predict and is like asking how long is a piece of string. There's no definitive answer. But after weighing up the pros and cons of my ongoing situation vs an unknown quantity, and based on conversations with my GP, a consultant and a friend who's a retired consultant physician, I remain jobless. It means that life, or my little world at home, for the time being continues to be within closed borders, as it has been since last year. Which isn't a whole heap of fun. I'm not looking for sympathy or playing the martyrdom card...to use a Davyism, "it is what it is".
Anyways (!), back on track...
I've been mulling over Friar Ivo. I get the distinct whiff of eau de poisson. I need to watch/listen to Sunday's vlog again, although I'm not sure I've got the necessary calm karma to suffer SJ in her Pucci frock and toile de Jouy kitten heels all over again! I also want to try to persuade Gargle/Gargoyle Translate to cooperate and turn some obscure discussion forum I found from Catalan into English. It's probably red herring sleuthing and completely irrelevant to CD. But I'm both fascinated and bewildered by the - apparent - enormous wealth swirling around Ivo. And the vast and eclectic collection of antiquities and artefacts in the chateau makes me wonder about their provenance, and how he came to acquire them. A profiteer? A privateer?
One thing is clear: he's NOT a knight in the sense of being a baronet (UK hereditary title). The Forensa family is well-known and well-connected but, as far as I can make out, he's not a Spanish/Catalan/Andorran nobleman. The knight/baronet reference in the auction details of items from his private collection - as cited in the last thread - is sloppy (but eye-catching) copywriting by the Singapore auction house. It relates to Knights Templar...the conversation in the "Christian Salon" is what sent me headlong down a rabbit hole.
That's enough about that. Moving on to FRK and her relentless quest to get everything for nothing and have the world handed to her on a plate. Her guest appearance on the Fleurie's Sunday vlog surely to goodness will have posed questions with all but the most stalwart/blind/dim of her supporters about what exactly they are supporting? It was an avalanche in slow motion. She really does not have a clue. She knows nothing about - and cares even less - flowers, except for a few names which she drops into conversation. Hydrangeagate was unintentionally hilarious. She's a one trick pony with the "florals" she produces. I hope that's the end of the vlogging BFF she has engineered and wheedled her way into with Anna. The change of title and thumbnail was telling. Perhaps they suddenly saw the light? No doubt the "interview" with Anna will be every bit as painful and unsuccessful as the ones before. There are many reasons why Marie's foray into interviewing is so excruciating, not least that she lacks the skills required (doing her homework, asking pertinent questions and listening to the answers would be a start).
And then Marie embarking on the next phase of global domination with her return to England. With nowhere to live. To do what exactly, other than peddle some half-baked credo that relies heavily on emotional blackmail? No firm plans beyond returning to France for her first (and only?) wedding flowers' commission plus the Team Lalande outing to Versailles for Phlip-Phlop's birthday. Which is a joke in itself, as she patently loathes BJJ.
At best, Marie is certainly not short of self belief. At worst, she takes delusion to a level beyond the intergalactic. All while manipulating suckers to cough up,and fuel her Walter Mitty manifesto (and her car!).
Just one more thing. Stephane: my gut instinct is that she has been rattled by patrons suddenly becoming more assertive, more questioning, more demanding in terms of asking probing questions about work in progress, a schedule or works, time frames, future projects, project management, costings. Being held to account is not in her psyche. She needs to keep the patrons sweet. Transparency. Organised. Efficient. Focus. The scattergun approach towards her grandiose schemes and her not inconsiderable charm is not enough if she doesn't want patrons to vote with their feet.
Incidentally, i was chatting to a friend who drives to and from the South of France quite frequently, breaking the journey each way with an over-nighter at a chateau/manoir type B&B (not hellholes in the middle of nowhere). They quite often chose to have the table d'hote supper en famille with the B&B host. She said that €35 p.h. Is the absolute maximum she and her husband would pay: drink & amuse bouche pre supper, starter, main course, cheese, pudding - wine with the meal, perhaps a digestif offered with coffee afterwards. Delicious food - simple, locally sourced if not homegrown, beautifully cooked, elegantly presented in lovely surroundings, interesting and convivial conversation. She couldn't speak for laughing when I told her what one got for the Lalande Experience at €50 p.h.
Way, way too long a post. If you've read to the end, I can say only that I'm very greatful
