Languages & Palaces

A peculiar thing happened to me when I was in France. Well, not so peculiar as it has happened before but not to such an extent. When I was trying to remember my French, I just kept coming up with Japanese phrases. There was an almost overwhelming desire to spout out Japanese, which is not all that useful in France. I believe that this problem arises when you learn languages in your teenage years or later. Your brain gets confused, can only deal with one language and so produces the one that you are most familiar with. Not that I'm all that familiar with Japanese as I have forgotten a lot since I stopped learning it 12 years ago. I remember a lot more now, though! : ) This doesn't happen with the languages I learnt when I was little. It is quite strange and requires a lot of concentration not to use the wrong language.

Went to play badminton again on Friday night. The people there were of varying ability. I was surprised at how bad some of them were. Played only 3 games spread over 75 minutes so was in much better condition on Saturday morning. : )

On Saturday, I followed Jean's advice and caught a bus from Richmond to Hampton Court Palace. It dates back to Tudor times. I prefer the French palaces to the small red/brown brickwork of Hampton Court. The brickwork is somehow not as majestic and grand. The Great Vine was oddly disappointing. I don't know what I was expecting but the oldest surviving grape vine in the world looked a little small and boring. A couple got married in the Chapel Royal and then drifted out into the garden with their guests for photos. When I later visited the Chapel, I overheard a little girl saying that she wanted to get married there (it is very lovely) and a lady telling her that it cost £5000 just for the Chapel and grounds before the reception. Little girls don't care about the money! They just dream about the fairytale. [I've posted photos of Hampton Court.]

Have heard bad news about my grandma. She had numbness and loss of power in her hand so they performed an MRI. The cancer has apparently spread to her brain.