With out rice and Chapati

 Ha, I have been calculating . In France, this is my tenth day with out any chapati or rice and I have been eating only French salads and French food which is light. At this rate I am sure going to give a Bollywood heroine a run for her money. I already feel so nice and slim.

The Grande Place

 In Arras, the centre of the town is marked by two large squares, the Grande Place and the Place des Héros, also called the Petite Place, with the Musee des beaux arts d Arras occupying a pride of place. This area is surrounded by buildings largely restored to their pre-war World War I conditions. Most  important among these is the Cathedral. The original cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 and 1396, was one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in northern France. It was destroyed  during the French Revolution. The abbey's church was demolished and rebuilt in fashionable classical style in 1833, and now serves as the town's cathedral. The design was chosen by the one-time Abbot of St Vaast. It has a huge underground structure, cellar, which is nearly 12 feet deep at some places and used as a storage for grains and wine in medieval period by the merchants. During World war one the British troops also stayed in these underground passages and had constructed a hospital and infirmary.

Visit to Lille, Flanders

Yesterday, we traveled to another old town Lille, Flanders. We had to first take a bus and then take a train and could see the lovely country side of France.The town was alive and we could see that it was getting ready for Christmas. For those of you who remember any thing from my course on Medieval societies will recollect that ,  Flanders was once a part of ancient  Frankia since the inception of the Frankish kingdom under the  Merovingian monarchs, especially  Clovis.  Flanders gradually fell under the control of the English and then Spanish. During World War II, French Flanders referred to all of  Nord- Pas de Calais  which was first attached to military administration of  German occupied Belgium, Flemish was a very prosperous medieval town but its  prosperity waned, owing to widespread European population decline following the  Black death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years war (1338–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to  Worstead  and Norfolk  and established the woollen industry. During the late  Middle Ages Flanders' trading towns (notably Ghent, Bruges and Ypres) once again made it one of the richest and most urbanized parts of Europe, weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. It became a very importnt cultural central of medieval Europe.

 

All about French cuisine

While we are in France we are trying all kinds of french cuisine. French cuisine is known all over the world. The typical meal includes three courses—a simple starter (soup  or a salad, which is mostly cold), a main dish (lots of cheese, vegetables or chicken but we prefer vegetarian), and then cheese and fruit for dessert , followed by coffee to end the meal. Until the day the Bastille was stormed in 1789, the majority of French citizens were poor farmers whose diets were based mainly on grains. In the decades that followed, an upper class emerged – one that upheld good food as a mark of social standing. World War I heralded the beginning of modern French cuisine. Fresh apples, berries, haricot verts, leeks, mushrooms, and various squash and stone fruits are among the most commonly used produce. France has an abundance of artisan cheese and wine and French people consume the maximum of cheese in the world.  We prefer vegetarian and get lots of potatoes in different forms, baked, boiled, fried , mashed and dipped in abundant cheese. In the monastry where we are housed we get different kinds of cuisine though our choice is very limited due to Vegetarianism. Wine both red and whi

te seems to flow freely.

 

Beginnings - The women's World Conference

  We initiated the process  of the Women's worlds Congress through a  press Conference. Prof. Ramakrishna our Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sita the Dean Faculty of Management and a Vice chair of the Conference and I were present and addressed the press.

Before the Conference Planning began we invited all the scholars , different NGo's at Golden Threshold, our city office to talk about this Conference.

https://fb.watch/g5bNrTtODI/

The town of Arras, France

 Arras in France  is a quiet town with a lot of medieval history. We went around the market square and saw an old church. The streets look so empty that it is difficult to believe. St. Vedast (also known as St. Vaast) established an episcopal seat in the town and a monastic community, which developed during the Carolingian period into the immensely wealthy Benedictine Abbey of St. Vaast. The modern town of Arras initially grew up around the abbey as a grain market. Both town and abbey suffered during the 9th century from the attacks of the Vikings, who later settled to the west in Normandy. that such calm and quiet can exist any where. In the first world war also this town was bombed and converted into ruins and was later on rebuild but in the shape of a medieval town.

First lecture in the University of Arras

 Today was my first lecture in the University of Arras on 19th Novemeber, 2013 . Here the classes are for three hours duration and I have to take classes on Monday,9 to 12.00,  Tuesday 9.00 to 12.00 and Wednesday 2.00 to 5.00. It was lot of fun for two students are appointed to translate every thing into French and French sounds very sweet to the ears and is like music. I had to stop every ten minutes and the students would translate into French and there were a series of questions  following this and then I had to resume once again. It was very difficult to get used to this kind of teaching for I am used to speaking in a flow and here my chain of thoughts was interuppted every time. However, I flt happy that I was addressing students of a different language and they were able to understand what I was speaking and trying to communicate. So the three hours actually works to one and a half hour. The students look more mature and grown up than our students back home. There were many questions that I had to answer and the  students were very curious. It was interesting to see that students kept sipping Coffee through out the class. It is so cold here at this time of the year and may be this is allowed. I can never imagine my students sipping tea or Coffee while I am giving a lecture in India.

In Paris

We reached Paris on 16th evening Novemebr 2013, to a 4 degree centigrade temperature.

Prof. Michele Chelini who is a Professor in the Department of History in Arras and University of Paris and

the Deputy Chair of the History department came to receive me along with his wife . We drove to Arras

which is about 170 km from Paris. This is a beautiful town with a lot of Gothic architectural buildings.

We are put up in a beuatiful place called Maison and have been getting very good French food . We have

asked for vegetarian and they are able to get this for us. We also saw the University of Artois and

I have to take a bus to reach here. I start teaching from tomorrow

and I am looking forward to meeting the students.