'OH TO BE IN ENGLAND!'

[Pqtrick]

In April, Willy fired our imagination by his craving for ‘Oh to be in England’ by painting a picture of hosts of golden daffodils and the like.

This bought nostalgic memories flooding back for us ex-pats and for Willy, that English country scene.

Just this weekend, I saw field upon field of golden buttercups, hazy afternoon sunshine and winding narrow lanes with unkempt hedgerows. The silence could be heard with just the sounds of the wildlife and the chirrup of birds.

I have not witnessed a scene like this since my boyhood days. Perhaps I am not looking seriously. I felt that this is England again, with winding lanes where you could ride a bike for miles without seeing no other than the odd farm cart.

Where was I? Well, not in England alas, the weather was too good for the run up to a bank holiday. I was in Vienne which is a French department just outside La Charente near to Confolens, Where? You’ll need a map to find it!

It had that uncanny resemblance to an English rural scene of times passed by. Indeed a haven for a film maker with that golden silence for sound recording. If you want a rural scene it may be worth heading there!

There is an annual international festival of folk music during August in Confolens. What has this do with film making, not a lot other than igniting the spark of inspiration that makes you want to go back with your camera for a longer linger – Thanks Willy!

[Willy]

In April, Willy fired our imagination by his craving for ‘Oh to be in England’ by painting a picture of hosts of golden daffodils and the like.
This bought nostalgic memories flooding back for us ex-pats and for Willy, that English country scene.
!

Maybe it would be interesting for British friends to make films about the beautiful parts in France. Sometimes the British don't feel or appreciate the beauty of their own country anymore. In April I was in the Peak District for a few hours instead of watching fillms at BIAFF. Very bad of me, isn't it ? But I don't regret. Thanks to this short trip to Peveril Castle in the little town of Castleton I have decided to postpone the making of my Ardennes film and to give priority to the film about the Yorkshire Dales. My wife Vera agrees with this. I love her. But I also think it is the same with us, foreigners. The Ardennes are an area of outstanding beauty in Belgium and France, but we don't feel it anymore.

As you already know I was in Luxemburg for the Benelux-festival. There are many fairy-tale villages and towns in Luxemburg. Clervaux is one of them. After having drunk some glasses of Mosel-wine (see other thread) I felt tipsy and I was driving on the left side of the road for a while ! I had the feeling I was driving my car on one of the narrow roads somewhere in Kent or Devon. That's why I asked my friend Werner to drive behind the wheel.