Saturday, September 22, 2012

Judgement day, suede pitbulls and a cartoon.






Before we leave Toulouse a quick chance to see the tomb of St.Thomas Aquinas. The church around it  a wonder of tracery and soaring  columns. Today, thanks to the ministrations of the town planners, saint and church stand isolated and windswept in the middle of what appears to be a school playground. Come Judgement Day town planners , past and present, will have a lot to answer for.

Walking back to the car we pass a shop selling sewing machines . When was the last time you saw a shop selling, let alone repairing, sewing machines ?  Very 1960's. Next door to it one of those art galleries with an exhibition of smiling suede pitbulls. Who would buy them ? Not us.

By the time the haughty bellman in the top hat retrieves the old VW from the hotel car park the town is beginning to fill up with riot police. Tall, unsmiling young men with shaved heads. Their blue overalls accessorised with batons, chemical sprays, handcuffs, and pistols. It seems someone has printed an offensive cartoon and the town is being locked down before Friday prayers. Time to head off into the countryside. Twenty first century life in France profonde.




15 comments:

  1. Bull Terriers ANGUS - not Pit Bulls.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whatever breed, best left in the gallery.
    Did you see the 'Intouchables' film?

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are four sewing machine shops within a 10km radius of where I live. NZ is a country that still has its "number 8 wire" mentality from the 60's!

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of the most popular items selling in Ikea here is 'sewing machines'! It's become very much a 'recession' effect activity - back to making and mending!

    Ceiling is wonderful in that church!

    Strange times we live in indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wondering what kind of decor a home would have where a brightly colored suede dog would be just the thing?
    The soaring ceilings are incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those are rather colorful canines aren't they? Hmmmmm.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bull terriers, as the statues are, are delightful, loving clowns. Nothing like pit bulls, who look quite different!

    Sandra

    ReplyDelete
  8. Many people quilt. It's an art form quite often. I see sewing machine stores in the US everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  9. There's a sewing machine shop in the city where I work and they do repairs as well. There's also a large fabric store that sells them near us. My mom is a big fan of sewing and her machine does embroidery as well. My sister and stepmom are both pretty avid quilters, too, but I'll be honest, when my machine comes out, it's almost always to sew stuff for the dogs!

    If they were suede Greyhounds, I'd be after them!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Somebody, somewhere had to whip up that tartan pant suit

    ReplyDelete
  11. One more cheer for sewing machine stores and repairers. It has nothing to do with the recession and everything to do with creativity, fabric is fairly expensive these days but if you sew you can have exactly what you want. I sew quilt tops, home dec items (curtains, recover chairs & ottomans, anything you can think of.

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  12. I may be next on the list (after you for publishing it on your blog!!) ...but I can't see how that cartoon is particularly offensive. Or funny, for that matter... Ho hum, what a world we live in now.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Like to read the quotes of Aquinas! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. The craft industry is a multimillion dollar industry -I'm surprised you didn't know!

    ReplyDelete