WAGS 2025 05 07: What Will The Neighbours Say?

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                                        "To begin at the beginning."

These are the opening words of "Under Milk Wood," a radio play by Dylan Thomas which was commissioned in the early 1950s by the BBC. I was put in mind of this play last Tuesday when it appeared that the only person who was interested in going on the Wednesday WAGS  walk was Myriam and I remembered the phrase "What will the neighbours say?" What indeed would they say if I was to walk off into the boondocks alone with Myriam? So I was contemplating cancelling the walk altogether.

"What will the neighbours say?" is a phrase repeated through the play by a Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard who lives in a little Welsh fishing village with all the other characters, most of whom gossip about the others. The name of the village is Llareggub which looks authentically Welsh but which the BBC (which in those days did not allow swearing or rude words to be heard on air) did not realise early enough is a crude remark spelled backwards.

Anyway, in the end, Christl, Lesley and Maria came to the rescue, and the walk could go ahead, with Myriam´s reputation unsullied and my conscience clear.

The Starter photo was taken.


and re-taken, and the 9 o´clock walk started promptly at 09.19.
 


The walk followed much the usual pattern. Maria met her friend Luisa on her motorbike.

We saw some wildlife



and some strawberries.




There´s nothing the matter with Christl; she just likes squatting as taught by her childhood amah in Bihar.

There were nasturtiums and other flowers.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."  (Robert Herrick)

Yes, it will be summer soon.

The Track






The Lunch

The five walkers were joined by Antje, Hans, Hazel and Paul for lunch. Café Martins had its usual menu choices, still very good value at €10 all-in.


Arroz de Pato, of course

The bitoque looked good

the Bifes de Peru a Casa did not get raving reviews from Lesley

but I found the Entrecosto Frito excellent

Bacalhau no Forno (?)

Some serious eating took place


Among lunch topics were the rules of English pronunciation ( I didn´t know that there were any)i.e. nArrative and narrAtor.  Then came the puds and some fruit.




The satisfied Dining Club.

Going back to "Under Milk Wood" you can get it on YouTube, by way of a film starring Richard Burton, Peter O´Toole and Elizabeth Taylor among many others. But better is listening to the original radio play, also on YouTube and narrAted by Richard Burton, better because the words themselves are sufficiently descriptive - adding pictures to them doesn´t bring much.  

The Final Twist  
Towards the end of the walk, we had passed by a small house undergoing reconstruction. 


 The name on the wall was La Chaumiere which, when I looked it up later on, means "thatched cottage" - not that there was much sign of a thatched roof to it. And my French dictionary had added to the basic meaning the following French saying: 
"on en parlera longtemps dans les chaumière" meaning "tongues will be wagging about this for a long time." 

Are French neighbours as gossipy as Welsh ones?

Comments

  1. Myriam12 May 2025 at 18:28

    It would have been a brand new experience if only the Blogger and I walked! Who could tell what might have happened!! He might have wanted to jump off the cliff out of.........!!
    Could anyone fill in the gap with a proper word (presumably an abstract noun)?
    I have downloaded the book "Under Milk Wood" but haven't got round to start reading it. Perhaps listening on YouTube is quicker than reading.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Myriam12 May 2025 at 20:05

    Footnote : I asked for a proper word, not just asterisks, exclamation marks, stars & & &!!! 😁

    ReplyDelete

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