我要為世界歌唱

下午四點

在巴黎猶太區 Rue des Roisiers 的一間小咖啡廳遇上這樣的一個女孩。
她名字叫Allison Crowe，來自加拿大的二十四歲女孩。喜歡自彈自唱，所以在鋼琴前加了一個麥克風。女孩有著特别渾厚的歌聲，喜歡激昂的曲目，激動時聲音特別響亮，有點嚷破喉嚨的感覺。

女孩喜歡大聲笑，所以每唱完一聲歌就會自己傻笑，告訴在場的每一個聽眾，我很開心可以為你們歌唱﹗女孩自己創造自己的歌曲，也唱偶像的名曲。女孩離不開情情愛愛，所以總要傷心地嚷著情人不要無情拋棄我。你們快樂嗎？女孩問。為甚麼快樂？真有甚麼值得你快樂的嗎？女孩又問。朋友說我很sacarstic，我是很sacarstic的，所以為大家唱一首歌，「I am happy now」。女孩說。

我甚麼都不會，只會唱歌彈唱。我甚麼都沒有，所以從加拿大跑到這裡為大家唱歌。

這裡，是位於這條猶太人聚居的小街的咖啡廳，7 Lezards。咖啡廳有搞音樂會的傳統，所以在地牢有一個小型的劇院，幾張桌子搭上梳發，可容納三十個客人，舒適地一邊喝茶一邊聽音樂。我們是趁了一個免費音樂會的名而來，不認這女孩，也不認識這咖啡廳，純粹因為是鋼琴爵士樂，更重要的是免費，乎合經濟及品味原則。

女孩用了兩個月時間，馬不停蹄，在南美和歐洲跑了一個圈，在各大城市找咖啡廳、酒吧等，讓她免費為來賓演唱。我在巴黎沒有朋友，也不是認識這個城市，我選擇了她作為我旅程的最後一站，因為我想像中的巴黎是很美的。她說。每一次，我都不知道有沒有人會來，如果有人來了，我會很高興。大家都不知道我是誰，但卻願意來這裡聽我唱歌，感覺很奇妙。如果沒有人來，我就當作是自己練習。哈哈哈﹗女孩喜歡大聲笑。

我不知道我會不會有出名的一天，但我這裡有免費的唱片要送給大家，如果大家想找我簽名，我會很開心﹗哈哈哈﹗女孩一邊彈一邊說。

離開了咖啡廳，口袋裡放著女孩的兩張唱片。記住的不是她的歌聲，而是她的話，我喜歡唱歌，所以我要為全世界歌唱。

相片來源及連結︰www.allisoncrowe.com

Little Prince, my rose and the fox

-- A 28 Nov 2005 version

The day when Little Prince decided to leave his planet, he came to his rose. He whispered to the first pedal of his rose, "my beautiful rose, I have to leave this planet and you have to stay in this soil for your own good. My beautiful rose, you have to grow and be brave. Don't be afriad, you are the most beautiful rose and you will shine with your courage".

His rose did not respond. Little Prince then whispered to the second pedal of his rose, "my beautiful rose, you are the one and the only one."

A drop of tear dropped from the pedals of his rose. Little Prince felt sad. He then whispered to the third pedal of his rose, "my beautiful rose, my heart is with you whereever I am."

A breeze blew over his rose, a pedal fell down onto the soil. Little Prince picked the pedal, put it close to his heart and set off his planet.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The day when Little Prince met the fox, he was sad.
The fox asked, "why are you sad, my friend?"

"My rose refuses to take the water I put in the jag before I left my planet, and now my beautiful rose is dying." Little Prince said, with the pedal close to his heart.

"Why your rose refuses to take the water you put in the jag before you left your planet?" asked the fox.

"Because she is angry with me," said Little Prince, with a drop of tear in his eye.

"Why she is angry with you, my friend?"

"Because I put the same water in the same jag for other roses,too," said Little Prince.

"So you have other roses in your planet", replied the fox.

"Yes, they make my planet more beautiful. But she is special, she is the one and the only one. Everymorning when the first sunlight shines on my planet, i would come to her, water her with the freshest morning dew. I would sit by her side while she takes the water and the air. Everynoon, when the breeze blows to my planet, I would come to her, cover her with my hands, so the soil would not dirt her pedals. Everynight, when the first moonlight appears in the starry sky, I would come to her, whisper to her, so she would not feel lonely. I share with her all my happiness and worries. I named her 'my rose', she is my only rose." Said Little Prince with his mind sank deep into his memory of his beautiful rose.

"Why she refuses to take the same water in the same jag with other roses, then?" asked the fox.

"I don't know", said Little Prince. "she would be angry when I water the other roses as the first sunlight shines on my planet; she would be angry when I cover the other roses when the afternoon breeze blows to my planet; she would be angry when I talk to other roses when the first moonlight appears in the starry sky." Said Little Prince.

"Ayhaa... so she is in love with you", said the fox.

"Love?" repeated Little Prince, "what is love?"

"Love, is to tame and to be tamed," said the fox.

"Love, is to tame and to be tamed," repeated Little Prince.

"Everymorning, your rose waits with great patience for the first sunlight to shine on your planet, for she, knows you would be there for her, to water her, to sit by her side. Her heart would beat fast when she hears your steps, her face would shine when she knows you will be sitting next to her.

"Everynoon, she expects with great courage for the breeze to blow so that you would cover her with your hands.

"Everynight, she prays for the moonlight to shine so that you would come to whisper your happiness and worries to her.

"She is tamed, my friend, she is tamed by you". Said the fox.

"She is tamed by me?" repeated Little Prince.

"She is tamed by you, so the first sunshine means not the beginning of the day but your love for her; so the afternoon breeze is no longer a danger but a proof of your love for her; so the moonlight talks are the private moments belong to you and her, just you and her. She would be jealous when you do the same to the other roses. So, she refuses to take the same water in the same jag with other roses." Said the fox.

"She is jealous? she is tamed?" asked Little Prince.

"So you are, my friend, you are tamed by your rose, too." Said the fox.

"I am tamed by my rose, too?" repeated Little Prince.

"You are tamed by your rose, so that you have to water her, to sit with her, to cover her, to talk to her, everymorning, everynoon, everynight. Your heart breaks when she refuses to take the water, to be covered by your hands, and to repond to your whispers. My friend, you are tamed by your rose, too." Said the fox.

"So I am tamed by my rose and my rose is tamed by me?" asked the Little Prince.

"So you are tamed by your rose and your rose is tamed by you," answered the fox.

Photos from http://www.lepetitprince.com/fr/

Flamenco Concert

Living in a student dorm doesn't mean that you are away from the city's hit. When you are in Paris, art and culture is everywhere for you, even when you live in a dorm. Well, can you imagine when you live in CUHK and can still enjoy free concerts everyweek?

Here is Paris.

So me too, I have many free tickets to concerts: piano, jazz band, contemporary dance, folk songs, flamenco, film screenings, photo exhibition, seminars, Mondaynight tango, etc.

This is one of the free concerts I attended, and the most remarkable one, so far. Perhaps there is also my personal bias for flamenco.

The hall where staged the show is the party hall of the residence where I am living. Simple equipment of lighting and stage set up, and yet, everybody enjoyed the show. The majority is in fact from the public, i.e. who paid 18 euro for the show. Differed from a proper theatre, the show allows you to take photos, video, and even audio record.

So, here I am, in my beloved Paris!!

巴黎的第一場雪 First Snow in Paris 2005

十一月的巴黎，開始飄雪了。 氣溫降到零下0.7 至0.4度。
The temperature dropped to 0.7 degree celcius.
Paris snows today!!

砌好的雪人，全靠三個大男孩的努力。不過還是醜醜的。 The snowman, after my friend's hardwork, stood there for three days!!

An alternative to French - on french as a language (1)

Like many countries, there exist different dialects in France, such as Picard, Normand, Orleanais and Champenois. The root of the Euskara, dialect of the Pays Basques, dated back to at least 2000 BC (avant notre ere) when Latin was not yet spoken. It was believed that French is evolved from a medieval Paris dialect known as Francien.

However, French as a language is so strong that overshadowed the other dialects. One reason why foreigners hardly know the fact. Today, most French don't speak these dialects. The progression line is like: grandparents know well and speak well the dialects, parents understand but don't know how to speak, young generation can neither understand nor speak the dialects, and the new generations don't even know there existed such a dialect. People regretting the loss of these beautiful local languages yet justifying the mastery of French as their most important preoccupation to be able to "function" in the society.

The first ruling of French as the official language was in 1539 when King Francois I passed the ordinance of Villers-Cotterets making French mandatory in all administrative documents. 150 years later, the first French dictionary was published by the Academie Francaise in 1694.

Despite the centralization and the "zero sum game" between the official language and the dialects, there is a secret language developed by the French criminals, the Argot. Balzac and Hugo are the defenders of Argot that they made their characters speak the language. Today, some of the Argot words sneaked into the modern French vocabularies, like fric (money) and mec (man). One of the forms of Argot that still exists today in the Arabic ghettos of the suburb is the Verlan. Verlan just reverses the syllables of a word, let me put it in an example with English, eg. "sunny" becomes "nysun". The word Verlan is itself the reverse of l'envers (reverse). The word ripou in French slang, which means "cop", is actually a Verlan word comes from the reverse of pourri (rotten).

French butchers in the 19th Century also created their own language, the Loucherbem (boucher). In the slang, they changed the first letter of all words into "L" and added bem, oche or oque at the end. So, my name becomes "Lelinaoche", "Lelinabem" or "Lelinaoque". Looks cool!!

Read from an interesting book on French

A Ballerina Dream

有關舞蹈的電影我都不會放過，之前的 《浮生若舞》, 《舞出彩虹》、《舞動激情》等，都是我的心頭好。最近在報章上看到法國電視台藝術文化頻道arte，在十一月七日起連續播出一套別開生面的紀錄片，《有一天，我將成為舞者》。可惜沒有電視機，看不到。

紀錄片以入讀巴黎國家音樂及舞蹈學院第一年的十三歲芭蕾舞生Camille為主角，導演Julie Lepkine貼身追蹤小女孩們艱苦訓練的經過，和同學間的互相扶持、互相競爭的真實世界，和一眾女孩追逐夢想的甜酸苦辣。

A series of new documentary, Un jour, je serai danseuse, by Julie Lepkine is now on shown on the arts and cultural TV channel, Arte France. Unfortunately, I don't have a TV to watch the programme. Another remarkable documentary on dance is The Company by Robert Altman. The other film on a dance student's life is Centre Stage . Others include Thomas Carter's Save the Last Dance and Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot.

Lepkine followed Camille, the 13-year-old first-year ballet student of Conservatoire nationale de musique et de danse de Paris, for one year, documenting her life as a future ballerina in the process of harsh trainings, friendship and competition with classmates, and the painful process of realization of a dancer dream.

小幸福 Petit Bonheur à Paris

三個窮學生在巴黎的小幸福，三個半小時的小幸福。

下午，隔壁的羅馬尼亞室友Catalina問我，要不要一起晚餐。我們的「一起晚餐」就等於食堂晚餐，難吃得令人不想晚餐。中午放學回來時做了這個星期的pasta，於是邀請她「一起晚餐」。

晚上她回來晚了。九點鐘，手裡一瓶紅酒，敲我的門。「我們要慶祝一下，因為我的research proposal 通過了，教授答應了做我論文的指導老師。」她說，小小的臉蛋溢滿了無法抑制的興奮，紅暈在兩頰慢慢散開，加深。

指著對面房間，「問他借開酒器」，「請他一起來喝酒吧」﹗

房間的天花燈被關上，書桌燈被反了一個身，射著天花板。橙黃色的燈光在粉白的牆身和天花劃了一個弧形，室內變得悠暗。找來了只點過一次的橘子味餐燭，淡淡的果香從燭杯裡飄出來，份外舒暢。隨即是Diana Krall渾厚而帶點憂傷的爵士歌聲在房間裡回蕩，一遍又一遍。

舉起酒杯，「au petit bonheur à paris」﹗「au nos sejours à paris」﹗

Pasta加了芝士，放進微波爐，兩盤共需八分鐘時間。先來個 L'apéritif，取來了面包和tarama aux oeufs de cabillaud(一種用魚子作的醬，但不要誤會是名貴的魚子醬﹗)。It tastes really fishy !! You don't like it? Mais, si, c'est bon!!

芝士融化在Pasta堆裡，還在顫動著，生怕火山要爆發了。把每一個pasta都沾著點芝士吧﹗這味道簡直是一流。有沒有吃過芝士火鍋，味道就是這樣的。對對對，簡直就是一模一樣﹗哈哈哈﹗

好酒量？﹗小時跟祖母學的﹗你小時怎樣跟你的祖母生活？
哦，我昨晚去了Champs Elyees，聖誕燈飾都亮了，真漂亮﹗
我還經過了迪士尼店，看到 Finding Nemo 的可愛小魚了。
小時候，羅馬尼亞還是共產主義國家，那時我們每星期只有五分鐘的卡通節目。我被卡通片渴死了。所以長大還特別仲情卡通片。
談談羅馬尼亞加入歐盟的看法吧？
我們需要多一年的時候來調整，2007年早了一點。

嚐嚐這個羊奶芝士吧，這是味道最輕的了。
你這個toast很香，加上芝士味道很好。
太輕了，我吃不慣。

像吃牛油，不是臭芝士的味道﹗

因為它不夠臭﹗

煮了茶，喝杯薄荷茶再睡覺吧﹗

睡甜點﹗

The Dancing Moon

The Dancing Moon

© De Anndou (all rights reserved)

The Creative Habit

朋友說︰「創意是一種習慣，要寫，就要天天寫。」

要寫，就要天天寫﹗
要寫，就要天天寫﹗
要寫，就要天天寫﹗

睡覺時寫，
吃pasta時寫，
刷牙洗臉時寫，
坐metro/rer時寫，
上課聽不明白時寫，
看展覽、看演出時寫，
看書看報紙看雜誌時寫，
無無聊聊、走走逛逛時寫，
夜半無人時，枱燈獨伴時寫，
被踩了一腳，碰了一臉灰時寫，
奇人奇事，浮華世家一夜空時寫，
兩杯下肚，左腦清醒右腦渾沌時寫………

開始變成形式時，請立即停止 ── 寫﹗

橘子和刀 – Canteen一幕 Une orange et un couteau

(記於十月一日晚上8時)

這沉悶的空氣使她顯得更加沉悶了。兩人對望著，一句話也沒有。他的眼神是試探式，她的眼神是等待式。

其實他心裡明白，只要他出現了，人來了，就可以了，說些甚麼並不重要。但不說話又不行，空氣凝固著的呀﹗他的喉嚨和這空氣一樣僵。臉與臉之間也不過就有這一來尺的距離，但這空間可以承受多大的距離？沉悶的空氣無情地在這空間擴大。說些話吧﹗說些話吧﹗在她的臉變僵之前，說些話吧﹗他催促著自己。張開了的雙唇，在空氣中凝住了，一句話也說不出來。他心裡不安，盤算著下一步怎樣做好。而他那稚氣的臉卻顯得出奇的平靜和自信，他低下頭，雙手按在桌子上，下巴貼著手背，臉上帶著微笑，眼睛向上一揚，甜甜地看偷望她。此刻，他像極了一隻哈巴狗，努力地擺著尾巴，丐求著主人的寬恕。從這個角度看，她的臉顯得更圓了，豐厚的下巴不聽話地湧上來。此刻，這張臉看上去一定比他年輕。

她的眼腈一閃一閃，故意不去看他。氣都消了，就等他先開口說一句話。心裡著急，不知道這沉默還可以承載多少的溫柔？在大爆炸發生之前，不要讓誤會擴大。不是嗎？知道他正看著自己，她就更加一句話也說不出來。說話呀﹗她心裡喊著，說話呀﹗我要瘋了﹗

拿起那被磨平了牙的餐刀，吃個橘子轉移注意力。你這小子，心裡賣的是甚麼葫蘆？難道要等到大家都沒了牙你才有點出息？掉了牙的刀鋒狠勁地在平滑的橘子皮上磨著，磨一下，滑一下，掉一下。橘子皮還是完整無缺的橘子皮。這掉了牙的刀如你，一點傷害力也沒有。沒有野心，沒有大志，等於沒有出息。但你看，他不會傷害你呀﹗而你就是那橘子，不停地要證明他的一無是處，連割掉一塊橘子皮的能力也沒有。誰才是殘忍？橘子的暴力，在於拒絕被切開，這是一種被動的、反抗式的暴力。原來，拒絕被愛，拒絕信任一個人，也可以來得如此暴力，如此具傷害力。

她開始生氣了，更加使勁地刮著橘子皮，生誰的氣呢我？他的手伸了過來，試圖接過她的刀子和橘子。但她的刀狠狠地前拉後扯著，找不著空間介入呀﹗她終於等了下來，冷冷地看著他，他安靜地取過橘子和刀，專心一致地切起橘子來。慢慢地把第一塊小皮切下來，然後第二塊、第三塊…… 把切好的橘子交給她。她小孩氣地抿一抿嘴，接過橘子，撕開了一片給他，他輕輕一笑，接過了橘子，也接過了她的手。

「這愚蠢的男人還是有些用。」她心裡想。

「這掉了牙的刀子還是有些用。」他心裡想。

藝術與治療 Art and Therapy

家中老祖母七十五歲時證實患上亞爾默氏病Alzheimer's Disease，俗稱老人痴呆症。由於現時還未有治療方法，老人家情況一發不可收拾。五年來，健康狀況每況日下。曾嘗試過以顏色治療來保存她的分辯能力，最後還是失敗了。

(我最心掛掛的嫲嫲)

最近，在報紙上讀到MoMA (紐約現代美術館) 和波士頓美國藝術館嘗試以藝術治療方法幫助老年痴呆症病人。星期二原是閉館的日子，導賞員和護理人員帶著病患長者到美術館，集中看較為容易掌握和具體的表現主義作品，讓長者描述和闡釋自己的看法。雖然藝術欣賞對尚未有治療方法的老年痴呆症的具體效用仍需深入研究，但長者的表現，讓醫學界對藝術能激發他們潛藏的記憶及解說能力感到興奮。例如，一位護理人員引述一位長者看完Stuart Davis的作品後，淊淊不絕而又有條理地形描該作品及回憶當年的紐約，爵士樂、即興音樂等等，清晰而栩栩如生地講解著。又如73歲的患者Irene Copeland Brenton，站在Wyeth的作品《Christina’s World》之前，說︰「你看不到她的臉，但看著她，你能感受到她的快樂」。導賞員問她為什麼？她說︰「因為你知道她會進去那個屋子，我也想進去那間屋子。」

很明顯，她已經代入了這個角色裡，進入了畫中的世界。如果說，老人痴呆症患者大都是生活在另一個世界裡，他們的記憶紛亂失序，時光交錯地纒在巨大的歲月之網中，渾然不知自己身在何時何地。在藝術的世界裡，他們卻可以找到一個參考點 (point of reference)，進入另一個世界，而這個世界顯得井井有條，他們說的話對聽者來說也顯得條理分明。到底藝術可以在人類的精神層面滲透得多深？對人類的情緒、潛意識有多大的提昇？以音樂來治療這些長者則有較長的研究經驗，結果顯示，接受音樂治療後，部份長者減少服藥的份量。

My brother is a real genius

Guest artist: Ting Chun Yuen

MY BROTHER IS A REAL ARTIST

Signature (2006)

Photo credit: Ting Chun Yuen

(All rights reserved)

Public Art in Chicago

Guest Photographer: Isha Ting

芝加哥的棒球隊The Chicago White Sox在贏得全國棒球賽總冠軍後，把球隊的襪子和球帽上戴在市內的雕塑身上，上演一次公共藝術加行為藝術表演。

After winning the American Baseball Championship, the Chicago White Sox put their caps and white socks on the statues in the city. A show of public art plus performance art?!

photo credit: Isha TING (All Rights Reserved)

Public Art in Paris

法國人意見多多，凡事都喜歡爭辯一翻，報紙文章評論多於報導。所以，在 La Défense的兩件公共藝術作品，Miro的 Personnages (1976)和Calder的 Le Calder de La Défense(1976) 都配上了評論，你可以一邊看作品，一邊致電收聽著名電台dj、作家及藝評人Frédéric Taddëi 對這兩件作品的論述，十足博物館般的「導賞」。
Le Calder de La Défense
Artiste: Calder
Date d'implantation: 1976


Personnages
Artiste: Miro
Date d'implantation: 1976
Photo credit: De Anndou
(All Rights Reserved)




"discover.... this work...."

Photo credit: De Anndou
(All Rights Reserved)

巴黎分裂症

巴黎郊區的暴亂越演越激，每晚千多部汽車被燒毀，幾百個滋事青年被捕。這兩天開始出現槍擊和打死人的情況。今天晚上，法國政府更宣佈部分郊區可能宵禁。

晚上留在房間裡，外面的直昇機轉來轉去，警車的笛鳴聲不斷，彷彿置身即將淪陷的城市，敵人每晚來擊。住的地方在巴黎市內南部，本來只是北部郊區鬧事，慢慢漫延至西面和東面。昨晚南部也加入，而且還是鬧得最激的地方。

住在郊區的一定人心惶惶。郊區也是很多窮學生住的地方，當中不乏中國學生。在這樣的反社會、反經濟壓力的動亂中，拼命賺錢至富的中國人就首當其衝。中國人與生俱來就有自力更生的精神，處處咬緊牙關靠拼摶，這也是中國社會缺少福利的原因之一。

雖然晚上好像鬧得很恐怖，但白天郤天下太平，一切都平常不過。人人照樣上班下班、喝酒造愛、購物吃飯。問過幾個法國朋友，他們都漠不關心，一副「小事一椿」的樣子。住在大學區的留學生，就更加事不關己，電視新聞也難得看。

巴黎出事前的週未，我和幾個捷克朋友去了十八區的亞拉伯人區。記得我還和諗語言學的朋友討論為什麼巴黎可以讓這麼多個少數族類在不同的區域建立如此強大、自成一派的社區，像十八區的亞拉伯區、十三區的中國區、十一區的回教區。記得去年住在十一區的朋友家，十一月時回教徒齋戒期間，每天正午時份，他們就會隨便地在街道上伏地參拜，走到哪裡，拜到哪裡，反正都是大家的地方。這些少數族裔聚居旳地方，連帶商店、餐廳、超市、髪型屋、學校、影音鋪，全是他們的。一走進這些區落，你不能再想像自己身在巴黎。無論是視覺、嗅覺、聽覺，還是味覺，你都會相信自己又出走了，到了另一個國家。這些社區，有著強烈的文化凝聚力和生命力，他們幾代人都在這裡生活，久而久之，彷彿在這裡落地生根，生活在自己的文化圈子裡，再也走不出去了。當然，無可否認，法國本身也存在著嚴重的種族歧視問題。貧窮、失業加上對社會、家庭及個人的disillusionment，令這批憤怒的青年走上街，以暴力的方法訴諸不滿。

陽光下、紅酒中的狂歡Toussaints

法國南部中世紀小鎮 La Réola

十一月的巴黎進入了秋天的季節，走在巴黎的街頭、公園、河畔，遍地金黃色落葉，踏著葉子走起路來，唦唦唦。風吹過來特別清冷，對香港人來說，這已是冬天。偶爾的陽光折射出香檳色的巴黎，讓人總想向著陽光走去。


從巴黎出發，TGV向南方的陽光奔走三小時，終於到達Bordeaux這個世界著名的葡萄美酒之鄉。白天的陽光依然充沛，彷彿三小時的路程就把時間倒流了兩個月。這時候的法國南部洋溢著懶洋洋的意味，十月是收割葡萄的最佳時節，經過篩選、壓碎等工序後，十一月是入桶發酵的時候，再過幾個月，成熟的新酒過濾後就可入瓶，新一系列的Bordeaux 2004也即將延生。中間這段難得空閒時期，也是酒農們享受人生的時候。

現在Bordeaux共有十一萬三千畝葡萄園，五十七個注冊酒名，每年生產八億瓶葡萄酒。

在La Garonne及La Dordogne兩條河流中間是一片大平原，每年75%的酒就在這出產，遍銷全世界。這個小城早在三世紀時已有「小羅馬」之稱，中世紀時酒業已發達，並帶動了整個區域的貿易發展。十一月一日是法國的萬聖節Toussaints (意義上相等於清明節)，而十月三十日至十一月一日便成為狂歡節慶，在Bordeaux南部的小鎮La Réole每年都會舉行La Foire de La Réole。

Foire意指Fair，是一年一度的大型展銷會，沿著La Garonne河畔而建。我們從Bordeaux坐半小時火車趕來，感覺有點像古時的人到城裡趕庙會，又有點像六、七年代的工展會。最好玩的是傳統食品檔，那些不同顏色、不同怪味道的芝士，還有法式臘腸Saucisons、煙豬腿、各式各樣的香草、小食等。檔主大方地讓你試食，明知你不打算買也要硬叫你試試看。最叫人期待的應該是酒商的攤檔。剛發酵的新酒讓大家品嚐，評估一下今年的酒質。由於酒還沒有完全加工完畢，故酒精含量只有5%，大家不妨多喝。

不說不知，原來這個展銷會大有來頭，並已有千多年的歷史。籌辦小組主席也是參展商之一的Christian Cots告訴我們，這個展銷會始於11世紀，早期是農民買賣豬牛家禽的地方，後第二次世界大戰後商品以家電為主，現在就更多元化，汽車、房屋都可以成交。看似農夫實是賣農夫工作服 (俗稱蛤蜊衣)的Christian更指出，這個展銷會的另一層意義是抗衡「全球化」，讓本土商品可以在市場上佔一席位，買家又可討價還價，同時比較各家的價格才作決定。但我們卻發現其中一攤檔是某日本品牌汽車、另一是來自美國的牛仔褲大哥大。

La Réole的年輕人大部份都離開這裡到各大城市工作，但每年這幾天都會回老家狂歡。有年輕人的地方就不可能沒有派對，這裡也一樣，晚上是年輕人的世界。啤酒檔特受歡迎，有的請DJ打碟，露天派對越夜越昇溫，喝醉了就大家一起跳舞、吵鬧。

La Réole是一個中世紀小鎮，於公元977建成，今天依然保存著舊日的模樣。Réole是 “Regula” 即 “Rule” 的意思，據說是根據當時的其一天主教派規條Benedictine Rule建城。到遊客資料中心取得英文版地圖及導遊小冊子，便開始尋寶。石板路、石級、教堂、全法國最古老的市政府廳、十二世紀的建築物、舊式門柄、窗花、餐廳、店舖等，慢慢研究起來，還要花不少時間。

La Réole資料
前往方法︰從Bordeaux乘坐火車前往需半小時，車費成人9歐羅
遊覽方式︰可做一個Day trip，鎮內沒有公共交通工具，只需步行遊覽，路線長3公里，約20個景點。若時間許可，則可到近郊的葡萄園碰碰運氣，入內參觀。餐廳︰Restaurant Aux Fontaines是鎮內最著名的法國餐廳，位於Rue de Verdun 8號，傳統的3道菜午、晚餐由16至46歐羅。星期日晩及星期一休息。