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Reposted by RedScharlach

Hannah Cooper @hannahcooper.bsky.social · 6h

Unexpected rabbit hole today is discovering that "Phwoar!" was first recorded by the dictionary in 1976, and 1972's Carry On Matron may be its first film appearance.

I thought I'd found an earlier 60s TV use, but it seems "Phwoar!" is firmly a 70s phenomenon.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 8h

Plus, if the subatomic jigglings come up trumps, we might get a cat as Prime Minister of France, while Sebastien Lecornu curls up for a nap in a sock drawer.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 8h

Brb, nailing Sebastien Lecornu into a box with a cat and a radioactive isotope so he can be both French Prime Minster and French Not Prime Minister at the same time. (The cat is mainly for tradition's sake.)

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 9h

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu appointed by Macron for the second time yesterday is already threatening to resign if “conditions are no longer met”. (France Elects)

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 11h

I didn't realize the Jerry Mouse lifestyle was so aspirational.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

I didn’t, alas – I did briefly see the cathedral from outside but I was on a brisk schedule trying to fit in everything I wanted to see!

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

Back in Walthamstow, got the heating on. This was the sunset over Kent from the train.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

Shoutout to the small boy on this train who is performing an acapella song of his own composition, entitled “I Love My Little Feet”. In these trying times, may we all love our little feet.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

And finally: me going back to work this week like

A mug with the words “bonjour bitches” printed on it. I was slightly tempted to buy it, but resisted. May regret later.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

The baguettes have returned to the streets and Vanessa Paradis has a new album out. Paris is healing.

An advertisement for Vanessa Paradis’s new album

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

A Paris love affair in two pictures

A Yorkshire terrier on a street in Paris in the sunshine, coming towards the camera

The same Yorkshire terrier looking up at me with big eyes and a quizzical head-tilt, as if to say “Are you going to pet me, or just fiddle with your phone?” Spoiler: I petted him.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

Here are two tiled buildings I spotted in the 9th arrondissement: the first one’s the former HQ of a mineral water company (note the columns of bubbles that run up the sides), and the second one’s a former Turkish bathhouse. Both appear to be disused currently.

The blue and green tiled exterior of a building that once belonged to the French Society of Mineral Water

The blue tiled exterior of a former bathhouse called the Bains de Chateaudun

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 1d

It’s my last day in Paris (sniffle) so while I wait for the Eurostar home, here’s a thread of today’s photos. This is the view from my hotel room this morning – it’s been a sunny day ☀️

A view of Paris rooftops and an autumnal tree through a hotel window

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

An added bit of hilarity is that every French news report I’ve seen this week has featured the exact same clip of Lecornu walking up to a press conference lectern and then cutting away before he speaks. Then the next bulletin, here he comes again, like he’s in Groundhog Day. Now he really is!

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

And with a few more pics of the interior of the Villa Demoiselle, this thread comes to an end. Au revoir, Reims 🥂

More stained glass in the Villa Demoiselle in Reims

An Art nouveau fireplace surround in the Villa Demoiselle in Reims

A fancy Art Nouveau cabinet with a built-in seat

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

The interior of the Villa Demoiselle is full of stained glass and decorative woodwork, with a lot of Art Nouveau furnishings and also some contemporary art fron the current owner’s collection.

The bottom of the main staircase in the Villa Demoiselle in Reims

A dark wood-panelled room in the Villa Demoiselle in Reims

Top of the main stairs in the Villa Demoiselle in Reims, with a view of the stained glass windows and extremely long chandelier that goes all the way down the stairwell

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

Champagne tourism is big in Reims. I don’t like fizz much myself, but the Pommery champagne house does have one thing I wanted to see: an Art Nouveau house called Villa Demoiselle. Built in 1904-08 for the Pommery boss, it fell into disrepair in the 70s but was fully restored in the mid-2000s.

The exterior of the Villa Demoiselle in Reims

Detail of the exterior of the Villa Demoiselle in Reims. You can see the band of grapevine-motif tiles that runs around the building.

Front door of the Villa Demoiselle in Reims, with a fancy iron and glass canopy.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah, I suppose those have earned their keep linguistically.

RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

I also had an Art Deco cake break at the patisserie Waïda, with its stained glass and wood panelling. Oh, and a delicious Opera cake too.

Me visible in a mirror with a stained glass surround in the Waïda patisserie, Reims

The tearoom in the Waïda patisserie, Reims

Wooden panel decoration in the Waïda patisserie, Reims

An Opera cake (made of layers of chocolate and coffee mousse and sponge) in the Waïda patisserie, Reims

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

The former Cinéma Odéon is now a branch of Mango, but it’s still got its 1923 facade and wavy-gravy stained glass canopy across the front.

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

After going to the library, I went to the post office! Designed by François Le Coeur in 1926-27, it looks plain from the outside, but inside it’s a modernist wonder. It’s also a working post office and they don’t like you taking photos, but I snapped a couple before the nice lady told me not to.

Inside La Poste Cérès, a modernist post office in Reims

The rounded exterior of La Poste Cérès, a modernist post office in Reims

Detail of the ceiling inside La Poste Cérès, a modernist post office in Reims

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

I’d seen pictures of the Bibliotheque Carnegie chandelier before, but had no idea how big it really is – maybe seven feet long? And the building has lots of other lovely decorative details too.

Magnificent Art Deco chandelier in the entrance hall of the Carnegie Library in Reims

Coloured stone mosaic panel of a muscular farmer sowing seed, from the entrance hall of the Carnegie Library in Reims

Decorative stair-rail from the Carnegie Library in Reims

Mosaic decoration from the porch of the Carnegie Library in Reims

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

The Bibliotheque Carnegie is one of the thousands of libraries worldwide funded by Andrew Carnegie, but the only one in France. Designed by architect Max Sainsaulieu, it opened in 1928 and is still a working municipal library, so the public areas can be visited for free.

The Art Deco frontage of the Carnegie Library in Reims

The entrance hall of the Carnegie Library in Reims

A doorway and corridor in the Carnegie Library in Reims

The reading room of the Carnegie Library in Reims

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

Ha! I suspected every Sewer Museum exhibition involves rata in some capacity, whether they intend it to or not…

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

Today I’ve been visiting Reims (pronounced Rrrrass), a city in the Champagne region, about 45 mins from Paris on the train. Because it was hit hard by World War I, a lot of Reims was rebuilt in the Art Deco era, which means pleasing buildings galore. So here’s a thread 🧵

Cast iron window grating in the Art Deco style, from the Carnegie Library in Reims

Frontage of a random Art Deco building called the Hôtel de la Mutualité in Reims, built in 1927

Stained glass from the Villa Demoiselle, Reims

Stained glass from the porch of the former Cinéma Opéra in Reims

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RedScharlach @redscharlach.bsky.social · 2d

I see the latest glossy issue of Philosophie magazine is a Hannah Arendt special, ideal for the kids who want a bit of anti-totalitarian glamour on the bedroom walls. #OnlyInFrance

Magazines in a French shop window, including Philosophie magazine’s Hannah Arendt special

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