A tour bus of Frenchies descended on St Francis yesterday and the sound of loud foreign accents, as the group chatted excitedly away, caused locals to stop and stare..
Having flown into PE airport after touring the Western Cape, the French tourists were transported by bus to St Francis. On arrival at the port, they went on a canal cruise, then went whale watching for an hour – but were saddened not to have seen a single whale. Next it was time for cool drinks and cafe for the thirsty bunch at Chez Patrick. The Port air was abuzz with the sound of French people talking up a storm.
Refreshed the French group made their way back to their bus which soon headed off to the penguins in Cape St Francis. Then much later, yesterday afternoon, the Cape St Francis Resort was full of Frenchies rooting for France when it played against England at 4 pm French time.
To shouts of “Allez!” and some swear words the Frenchies supported Les Bleus. But their cries of support were unfortunately in vain as England beat France (by only two points! …sniff) at the Stade de France in Paris.
On hand at the Resort was St Francis’ local and roving singer-guitarist, Johan, who provided music for the crowd. After a good dinner of crevettes, calamar and languoustes, the French group retired for the night at the Resort.
Today the Frenchies flew to Gauteng from where they will be driven to the Kruger National Park – in the hope of spotting the Big Five.
This French group all belong to the Ecole Nationale des Ports et Chaussees (the French national school of bridges and roads) (ENPC). The men in the group are in fact all bridge and roads engineers who are on holiday in South Africa with their wives. For nearly all this was their first visit to South Africa.
The foreign engineers gave wry smiles when St Francis Chronicle (fortunately we speak French) told them about the sad saga of our Sand River Bridge – shaking their heads at the fact that it takes so long to do an EIA – especially since the bridge is only temporary and could go again in another big flood!
The group unfortunately could not be persuaded to stay and help us with ideas for a new bridge for the Sand River.
And the French do know how to build great bridges! See this magnificent French bridge:
http://stfrancischronicle.com/2011/11/24/all-we-want-for-christmas-a-magnificent-bridge-video/
Interesting! You may want to read and publish my article as on the internet entilted, ”The Waldesians of our Valleys”. The Patoit speaking people who arrived at the Cape with the French Hugeneots – the Malan family featuring prominently amongst them. If you want a bridge built, then ask the Italians to do it for you. The Storms River Bridge is a good example of Italian no how. Read also the article ”Guido Raffaele Monzali”, the most well known Italian Bridge, Tunnel,and Railway Builder of his time. His construction of the dam outside Durban, and the building of the most difficult ”Mike’s Pass” in South Africa saw him being awarded with a Knighthood from the Italian Government. What the French have is Italian anyway, bar the Eifel Tower.
Interesting! You may want to read and publish my article as on the internet entilted, ”The Waldesians of our Valleys”. The Patoit speaking people who arrived at the Cape with the French Hugeneots – the Malan family featuring prominently amongst them. If you want a bridge built, then ask the Italians to do it for you. The Storms River Bridge is a good example of Italian know how. Read also the article ”Guido Raffaele Monzali”, the most well known Italian Bridge, Tunnel,and Railway Builder of his time. His construction of the dam outside Durban, and the building of the most difficult ”Mike’s Pass” in South Africa saw him being awarded with a Knighthood from the Italian Government. What the French have is Italian anyway, bar the Eifel Tower.