Thursday, May 31, 2007

Birthday weekend

Forgive me blog for I have neglected you but I’ve been busy celebrating my Mum’s birthday-with-a-zero-in-it. She arrived last week with my brother et al when the temperatures were just hitting 30°C. They left on Sunday in torrential rain and chilly winds. Weekend highlights included: a couple of nights in La Grange aux Amis; a memorable meal in Domme at a restaurant called Cabanoix et Chataîgnes (if you go you must try the foie gras and cocoa); multiple glasses of champagne; lavender kir; and a visit to Sarlat market on Saturday morning where we loaded up with cherries and chanterelle mushrooms, roast chicken and dried magret stuffed with foie gras. Now it's my own foie that is gras.

One of the things my brother and I reminisced about was a series we used to watch on TV after school. It was called Yao and told the black-and-white story of a little boy in Africa. It had strange haunting music, but google as I might, I can't find the music or a video excerpt although I have discovered that it was actually a French series and took place in the Côte d'Ivoire. Has anyone else ever seen Yao ?

9 comments:

Gordon said...

Yao? never heard of it

Lavender Kir sounds delish though!

Anonymous said...

The video seems to have disappeared. Stuff that old takes longer to reach digital format. Same with music that was only ever released on vinyl. But amazon does have the book Yao, written by Claude Vermorel, who was the maker of the TV series.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/286647015X/

Lesley said...

Gordon: that's because you're so much younger than me.

BK: Yes, the book seems to be available on Ebay too. Maybe I will invest.

Anonymous said...

I thought lavender kir sounded dire! Like drinking moth balls.

Lesley said...

Debz: Ooops, I've just realised that it was violet kir, not lavender (same colour n'est ce pas?). It tasted a little like those sweets we used to call parma violets but was actually very subtle. I suppose they only add a couple of drops to the white wine.

Anonymous said...

Actually, there are quite a few cocktails which call for lavender in one form or another.

http://www.cocktailtimes.com/original/level_lavender.shtml

I'll try this one in the next few days and report back.

Neil said...

Never seen it. Must've been too busy watching Belle & Sebastian, White Horses, The Flashing Blade, Robinson Crusoe and The Banana Splits.

Anonymous said...

I remember "Yao, An African Prince"
very well... when I say "very well" I dont actually remember the story at all as I thought at the time it was absolutely interminable and dreadful and the dullest and most incomprehensible program ever made.. but we had to watch it or turn the TV off as when we were kids we werent allowed to watch the commercial tv station.. so that, and "Seven Little Australians" used to **** us off big time.
I was doing a search for the programme for reminiscence' sake and could find absolutely nothing about it except your reference on this blog.
I also used to love Belle & Sebastian, White Horses, The Flashing Blade, Robinson Crusoe and The Banana Splits... and can I add "Casey Jones" to that list?

Yao was much more recent than all those as I recall though?

Anonymous said...

Coincidentally, when we were kids we used to go on holiday every year to a campsite called La Butte (iirc) near La Roque-Gageac and spent many happy days in Domme, Sarlat and surrounds...

Confinement

Being confined indoors most of the day, just the four of us, is reminding me of the days when my children were wee and most of our weekends ...