Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Gherkins & Tomatoes
A Writer's Musings on Nature and Culture, Since 2008
The cow stood there, stoically it seemed to me, chewing with lazy abandon, while I fumbled with the focus on my camera. She rolled her big weepy eyes, as cows are wont to do when confronted with something new. Coincidence or not? I pressed the shutter and peered at the tiny LCD screen, the sun's…
Continue reading ➞ Keep Calm and Carry On: Cows as Zen Masters
In 1912, André Joyeux published a most interesting book, La Vie Large des Colonies, filled with satirical caricatures of the the colons, or French colonialists in Vietnam. Some were amusing, others truly horrific. Note: The caption reads - Ce que ça va les faire gueuler à Paris! - Ben, qu'ils viennent bouffer les soupes qu'on…
Continue reading ➞ The French in Indochina: Caricatures and Satire
Dear readers of Gherkins & Tomatoes /Cornichons & Tomates, Soon I will embark on a great adventure, doing research on France's colonial empire at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Archives nationales d'outre mer in Aix-en-Provence, thanks to a grant from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Until I return, I will not have the…
Continue reading ➞ The Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Me, Etc.
