On the campsite in Bretagne (sorry if you're getting bored of 'what I did on my holidays') I saw two bands play. Just before they stuck the Olympics closing ceremony up on a big screen in the sportsbarn a Breton band played on the basketball court. Breton culture is very celtic so this threepiece had mandolins, tin whistles and a one horned bagpipe thing as well as guitars. Second song in I started singing along to something I recognised (they sang in French, or Breton more likely). After the first chorus I realised it was a cover of The Pogues' Streams Of Whiskey, which they followed with Sally MacLennan (sung in English, with a French accent). Later on they did A Pair Of Brown Eyes and a rather affecting version of Thousands Are Sailing. Then we all decamped to the sportsbarn for the closing ceremony. As the Kronenbourg kicked in and the scooters charged across the Olympic stadium to the sound of Pinball Wizzard, and people cheered images of Jessica Ennis and Mo Farrah, it all felt very peculiar and for the first time, almost ever, I felt a pang of being patriotic (and not in a following the England football team way but a newer, modern British, multicultural, left-of-centre kind of way. Let's see how long this lasts).
Thousands Are Sailing
3 comments:
Given all these French holiday postings ( we visited the Alps, Haut-Loire and Alsace, by the way) what about a track from "What we all did on our holidays" by Fairport Convention? Although 50% of the household we're expecting some Rockabilly today....
I was very nearly lulled into the patriotic fervour until I saw Boris and Cameron at the closing ceremony and also the comments by more than one, British commentator pointing out that Olympic Tennis wasn't the pinnacle of the sport.
I hate to sound like a moaning Scot but it does seem as if multiculturalism stops with some at moody tennis players from the north of Britain
Missed seeing Boris and cameron at the closing ceremony. Thankfully. Arseholes both.
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