Saturday, May 23, 2009

I love Paris in the spring time...


Can you think of a more Parisian scene? The typical postcards, the romantic couple in the background… I thought this was the perfect shot for me to keep connected to Paris as I am currently a few miles away (I’m in the South of France, near Nîmes) enjoying a hot, sunny 4 day weekend in Provence. Life is tough! Sorry this will cause more delay in the posting of the Picnic videos but as Pierre Corneille said in Polyeucte: "Le désir s’accroît quand l'effet se recule"! (C'mon Frenchies, you can translate this for our non French speakers, can't you?!)

61 comments:

  1. "L'effet se recule", or "les fesses reculent" !
    Desire grows up when effect goes back?
    Or, desire increases whe the a$$ goes back,

    Sorry, my translation is poor, but I guess you can understand Corneille's joke!!

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  2. Eric, if you have the same weather in Nimes as we have in Cheverny, you must have a great weekend!

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  3. The desire increases when the effect is withheld?? My ancestors came from Normandy, but I admit I'm a Yank with poor language skills.

    Very romantic, Eric. Wish I was there.

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  4. I love the Parisian scene the image of romance.

    But you know, you can have that anywhere if your with the right person.

    Bon Weekend!

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  5. This one is destined to be a classic! Great composition.

    I bought a nice collection of these square, sepia-colored Paris postcards last week. I keep all of my Paris postcards in a little postcard carousel. Makes my house look like a gift shop!

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  6. "The desire increases when the effect is declining"

    I don't understand the effect declining part.

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  7. Eiffel Tower Suzy: You are not alone, I don't understand it either. I hope someone will explain it for me.

    Love the photo.

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  8. Nicely done.

    The right person : I wish I could share most of my time with her/him. And talk, walk, live, love. Seduce him/her every time. Trust him/her as the best ever person I could live with in my life. Desire goes naturally.

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  9. I would say desire increases as effect diminishes.

    What an interesting shot - it took me a few seconds before I could make out what it was - is it just me? I DID have a glass of champagne earlier.......;)

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  10. Hey Thib GF! So well deserved after those fab photos you took too. So - the big question - what's on your crown this evening?

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  11. That's funny, I got a postcard from a friend in Paris today - Montmartre!

    I love your blog, as always.

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  12. Anonyme, I wish you passionate, all-consuming, ever-lasting love. Don't go to Paris without it.

    One thing I learned during my trip to Paris this month is that it means nothing to me without my lover at my side. Eric, years from now, when you do take that photo of me with the ET, it will have additional person in the frame.

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  13. I guess the longer we wait, the sweeter the vid will be :)

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  14. Ummm...absence makes the heart grow fonder?

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  15. I don't get the relationship of the second part to the first. What effect, or, the effect of what? I think this one may be susceptible to a non-literal translation.

    Great photo, though!!

    Happy Memorial Day weekend to all the Statesiders.

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  16. Yeah, Suzy, your last guess is what I thought it would be, or longing makes the reunion sweeter. Perhaps the flip side to "How can I miss you if you won't go away?"

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  17. Merci Suzy,

    For the sweet sentiment. Passionate, all-consuming, ever-lasting love is there any other kind? Excluding family and friends. Lol.

    I wish you the same too!

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  18. We say in the UK 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' - so I suppose waiting for the vid has the same effect.

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  19. Like your new profile pic Thib. I'm probably a little late in saying that!

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  20. Thanks, Anonymne. I have it! I don't always appreciate it, but I do have it.

    However the phrase translates, I'm sure of one thing - that it will be worth the wait.

    Happy holiday weekend to all!

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  21. I love this picture! And I very much wish I was in Paris right now!

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  22. Foreplay increases a desire which is vitiated by too soon a satiation.

    Does that mean he’s doing a striPDP tease?

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  23. “The greater joy is in the anticipation of a desire fulfilled, not in the fulfillment itself.”

    Yeah, except tell that to someone during the Spanish Inquisition who desired that his torture cease and to be free.

    How about: “The greater the anticipation, the greater the joy in the fulfillment and reward.”

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  24. Beautiful shot. I think it's interesting how the man has his hand resting on the post, as if to spell her from the weight of his arm.
    Happy four-day holiday!

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  25. Great photo. This is my first time visiting your blog. I love it. It's amazing. Have a fantastic weekend.

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  26. I agree with Pierre Corneille :)It's like being waiting for something so badly, that when at last you have it, you feel a great energy inside, a wonderful feeling!

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  27. I love Paris and I love this picture! Thanks!

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  28. I wonder if Eric will come across my acquaintance Serge while he is in Nîmes. Serge is always dressed like this. After all, he is Serge de Nîmes.

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  29. Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed. ~ Pierre Corneille

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  30. Anonyme -- I think you got it exactly. I was going to say that Eric is increasing our desire for the video by postponing it—kind of like sexual tension.
    Hope you're having a wonderful time, Eric, as the tension builds back here on the blog!

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  31. And I should have said: fantastic photo, Eric!

    Thib -- congrats on GF.

    TG -- and I always assumed jeans were quintessentially American!

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  32. I would say desire increases as object [the desired one] moves away... as a literal translation... but the one about fulfillment is the right one.

    ... and the photo is great! Love the composition 'so Paris' in a way, really, the romance bit...

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  33. I think we're getting the gist of it! :) And good things are worth waiting for.

    I love this photo, Eric! So romantic.

    Thib, your crown is as pretty as a postcard. Sorry, that doesn't sound very masculine, does it. But Congrats!

    ET Suzy, that's so touching.

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  34. Whoa! There certainly is love in the air. I must admit that I just hate it when fulfillment is postponed...kind of like a rain delay in a baseball game...or waiting for my Heinz ketchup to pour slowly out of the bottle. Anticipation...it's making me wait. I have heard that GOOD things do come to those who wait. Then, I've also heard that if you snooze, you lose. Hey, Eric...I do wish you well in the south of France. What a splendid place to kick around a few stones. As was alluded to by an earlier post, we Yanks are celebrating Memorial Day. Three days of chilling and grilling. Hey, best ya'll.

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  35. anon ~ seems there has been a failure to communicate. u could try again if you desire

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  36. Anonyme a dit...
    anon ~ seems there has been a failure to communicate. u could try again if you desire

    ***********************************

    Anonyme,

    Oui, but then the person in question will say it was not his/her comment on PDP. Obviously I have no idea who I am speaking with on this site. A failure to communicate is something I am becoming familar with lately. Which is strange, because this not the norm or ever has been in my life. I do not play mind games with people I care about or in general. Merci Beaucoup for your kind thoughts.

    Bon Weekend & Happy Memorial Day {as you Americans would say}.

    ~ JNSQ

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  37. This is a really great photo - Paris and love - who could ask for more ?
    It just make me long for Paris !!!

    Lynn, at first I couldn't figure it out either, and I didn't have champagne...

    I think we have this same saying in Danish, but I can't translate it any better than any of you already did. I think you've got it right.

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  38. Brilliant photo! It truly does evoke springtime in Paris.

    That expression is a new one on me! 'Wonder if it's in my dictionary ...

    Et Suzy, your profile photo is wonderful!

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  39. Je Ne Sais Quoi a dit:

    "I do not play mind games with people I care about or in general."

    Neither do I. I dislike people being manipulative as much as I shudder at masculine intensity.

    BTW, I'm NOT from America. I'm someone in search of artistic faculty & literary types.

    VL

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  40. OK, a lot of much better translations than mine! One of the reasons why I love this blog: so many occcasions to improve my english. Than you all ;-)

    However, this sentence in French has a double meaning that is probably not possible to translate in English. I tried to explain it in my GF comment:
    "l'effet se recule" and "les fesses reculent" are pronounced exactly the same way... And desire increases... ;-)

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  41. Let's add a Paris and a Cheverny postcards, a pink rose, and a piece of jeans on the crown...

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  42. lol what a great crown you have there Thib! I think we can topple a French-English dictionary on the top too! Ooooh careful how you balance that! ;)

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  43. Oh, what a beautiful photo!! I am sooooo onging for Paris -- fingers crossed, there will be a trip this fall.

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  44. Oh, Thib, that's great! Now I understand your first post, and of course, like you in reverse, I love all the help with French that I get here at PDP.

    I'm with anonyeme - something like "Desire builds as its object retreats" -- its way too clinical sounding, but has the sense of it.

    How about, "love grows when love runs away"......or, my favorite, "he chased her until she caught him"....... The French double entendre has a bit more of the joys of the chase about it!

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  45. I'm not gonna translate the sentence Eric, the double entendre is too RUDE! It's a French classic, though...
    Thib did it anyway. I'm the official PDP brat, don't wanna be something else. LOL

    But(t)your picture is perfect! ;) It's a really nice view of Paris, with the Arc de Triomphe in the foreground, well done.

    Bettina,
    "Paris and love - who could ask for more ?" BEER!! LOL sorry, heading to the pub to see the finale of the Heineken Cup, I'm already in a beer mood. ;)

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  46. Oops --- I mean "Anonyme".

    Lydia - I didn't notice his hand on the post before. Now it looks more like she's holding him up as he rests on the post. Its never too early to celebrate, you know. Perhaps he had one too many glasses of that last restaurant's best breakfast wine?!! : )

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  47. Going with the theme of "love" and beer (okay, that one I threw in)...I'm reminded of something Agatha Christie said. Advice to women looking for a hubby. Marry an archaeologist. The older you get, the more interested in you he will become. Doh! ;-) Okay, that's bad...I admit it.

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  48. Very nice, but Nîmes is not in Provence....

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  49. There's a rude connotation, Guille? Come on, you can't leave that hanging in the air.........?

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  50. Hey you know what I think? I reckon Eric's been working on some secret film and ...where is he showing it off? Cannes of course! LOL.....Eric?

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  51. Try: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

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  52. Well this all sounds like fun, but it is a work day for me... so back to painting {on a canvas}. And later tonight, I will have a glass of wine, some great jazz and a warm balmy night full of stars.

    Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed... LOL. Maybe it's the bohemian in me, but I find that funny. A better descriptive word woud be "anticipation" not postponement or just plain old excitment.

    A name for pleasured anticipation is excitement.

    Hey, archaeologists need love too. Lol. But marriage... pas du tout.

    mdr { "mort de rire" }.

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  53. It's not rude. It's just funny. In fact Corneille, wrote classic tragedies but he obviously liked to insert a few double entendre jokes in his play.

    As Thib pointed out, when you pronounce it this sentence can either mean "le dési" d'accroît quand l'effet se recule" or "quand les fesses se reculent".

    Which translates: "desire increases when the effect gets further away" - which does not really mean anything BTW! - or "Desire increases when the bum gets further away", which has a high sexual connotation, of course!

    Quite unexpected in the middle of an ancient tragedy I must say...

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  55. 'Desire increases when the bum gets further away'. LOOOOOOL. Now THAT has given me the giggles.

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  56. lol me too Sue. It's the word bum I think. Snigger.

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  57. Oh, I want to go to Paris and take those pictures myself!!

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