Flying deer and cultural dynamite

A momentous week in France. And that's ignoring the fact the world's financial system in on the brink of total collapse. I'm talking about something far more important - culture, namely popular music and high literature. There were three big events in France: the announcement of Johnny Hallyday's imminent retirement from live performances; the 30th anniversary of Jacques Brel's death; and the awarding of the Nobel prize for literature to another Frenchman, JMG Le Clezio.

On the domestic front it's been a quiet week. We took advantage of the mini-Indian summer yesterday to have a stroll round town, where there was a bit of a party in Place Bellecour, laid on to celebrate the 40th edition of Le Petit Paumé, a free guide to Lyon produced each year by a team of students. Bands, jugglers, acrobats, tigers in cages, a hot air balloon, and a kite-flying demonstration were all squeezed into the second largest square in France.

Still nice today, but la bienheureuse has just left for the airport to spend 3 days in Brussels, learning how the European Union functions. Guess someone has to...