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Prayers and thoughts: The Inseparables @Finboroughtheatre

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The Inseparables brings Simone de Beauvoir’s posthumously published novel to life. It traces a lifelong friendship between Sylve and Andrée, two unconventional girls who grew up in a stifling world where being a woman meant getting married or entering a convent. With a quick pace and engaging performances from the two leads, it is a journey back into the 20th century that captures two unconventional women trapped in a conventional world that will have you reflecting on how much or little things have moved on in the last century. It’s currently playing at the Finborough Theatre .  We’re introduced to Sylve praying for her country, France, to be saved from the war and indoctrinated into the world of faith and obedience. But too smart for all that, her life was full of detached guilt and boredom. But when she meets Andrée, a new arrival at her school, she is struck by how different she is from everyone else. She was burned in a fire and had a passion for life that nobody else she knew...

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Paul's Travelling Tips Miscellany

More on my weekend later but first my observations travelling 300kph out of Paris:


  • A trip to Paris, then on to Angers need not be tiring... Just travel first class. My return leg was in a solo seat so I did not have to play footsie with anybody... The seats are bigger and the cars are quieter... And in general the cars have much better looking people in them... Although the only attractive people in my car tonight are the women...
  • You also get nicer messages on the PA system, and the crew are much more polite. Unless of course you are Grace Jones trying to get a free upgrade, or the Asian woman at Gare Du Nord who showed her ticket to the smart French gent after me and got: "YOU ARE CAR THREE THIS IS CAR TWELVE! MOVE ALONG!"
  • I am typing this while having a nice glass of champagne. There is a bottle of Bordeaux waiting after that as well...
  • The 3pm train out of Waterloo is a good one to catch if you wish to pick up a Gaelic Businessman returning to Paris. I just didn't try hard enough, but then again I only had the Perrier as an aperitif...
  • I am enjoying myself more as I type this and quaff champagne...
  • Oh and check the Price differential between 1st and 2nd class when you book... For me it was only £20 so I figured that was a bargain...

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Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

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