1918, French POW in Germany and a Hidden Message

About 15 years ago, while visiting my hometown of Hambach in northern Bavaria, we discovered a pie safe in the attic of my parents’ farm home.

We took a closer look and founds this inscription on the inside of its back.

Fait par un prisonnier Français. Le 5 Juillet 1918,

Hambach     Genty Albert …73…

We decided to return it to its rightful owners, his descendants, someday. That ‘someday’ has come as my brother has sold his house now and we had to move it to another storage space for now.

The time has finally come to do some inquiries.

Genty Albert - un prisonnier Francais

My social media friends contributed this link in my search for Albert Genty’s descendants. His name is mentioned in the left-hand column, 9th one up from the bottom.

Liste officielle des prisonniers de guerre

Liste officielle des prisonniers de guerre

The list is more legible if you read it from the website: http://gallica.bnf.fr/m/ark:/12148/bpt6k5770231v/f29.textePage

Again, my social media friends directed me to another possible source: a D. Genty in Champigny-sur-Yonne, and I inquired, but they are not related. My search continues. From Monsieur Genty, I just got a polite ” Non, ce n’est pas un de mes ancêtre. Merci.”

Next, I will be looking for a local historian who might be interested in obtaining this chest of drawers for the local museum, etc.

To my readers: If you have any information on how to locate any descendants of Albert Genty, or know of anyone who would appreciate this historical piece of furniture, I would be most grateful.

It is currently stored in a village near Schweinfurt, Germany.

Pie safe made by POW Albert Genty in Germany

Pie safe made by POW Albert Genty in Germany in 1918

French Tongue Twister

Les chaussette de l’archiduchesse sont-elles sèches? Oui! Archi-sèches!

Back in 2003 we stayed in a little village called Châteauneuf-en-Auxois. The owner of a small antique shop, wrote this tongue twister down for me on a little piece of paper.

Free Education and Teaching Music in France

The Go Overseas recent post, How to Study in France for Free, written by Allison Lounes, caught my attention. Many  had read my earlier post about Germany the Land of Free Education, and as a matter of fact, it still ranks number one in the statistics. Getting a free university degree, while learning a foreign language and supplementing your income at the same time,  is one of the great advantages of studying in a socialistic country.

Ms. Lounes describes how to study for free at a French university, while also making a living. Some of her pointers are really useful and I would like to add one myself.

I’ve been told the following by an Asian student, whose aunt lives and works as a music teacher in Paris:

In France, being enrolled for a degree in music at university for at least one year qualifies one to becoming a private music teacher. The French also do not require a finished degree to have you give private lessons to their children or adults.

This would be a good way to supplement your income while studying at university. Ms. Lounes had already pointed out teaching English at various schools, but no mention was made of giving lessons in piano, cello, violin, guitar, etc.

A Basque Classroom in La Bastide Clairance

The village of La Bastide Clairance is one of the prettiest in France, I have been told. It is near Biarritz, in the northern Basque country. For a map, visit Pays en France.

And yes, it is a quaint place to visit.  There is enough to see on a leisurely afternoon. We were there on Sunday afternoon and all shops were open.

At the information center, we visited a replicated Basque classroom in the back of the building. As an educator, I am always interested in classrooms, old and new.

Basque classroom

I liked this short lesson on moral: One does not do a good job, if not done with joy, diligence, and love.

proverb in French

Le Whoopie

Strolling through Biarritz (France), we saw this ad for Le Whoopie at this little Thai eatery, due to open at 17:00. When we returned at 17:00, the hours of operation had manually been changed to 17:30.

Bummer. We were too hungry to wait, alas we did not get any Whoopie, but only this photo.

This sweet treat found its way from New York via Paris down to Biarritz. More about it on Le Whoopie pie, c’est quoi? (in French).

Le Whoopie

Just a note on the side: The word restaurant is derived from the Latin word restaurabo, meaning  = I will restore you

From the full quote: Come to me, all of you whose stomachs are in distress, and I will restore you.
Latin translation: Venite ad me omnes qui stomacho laboratis et ego vos restaurabo.

Yes, we got restored, someplace else.

More about on how to make your own Whoopie Pies: Fun Recipes for Filled Cookie Cakes from Amazon.de.

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