Thursday 11 September 2008

Pas de fumée sans feu

On Tuesday night I was having dinner with the Benauts (my blogging friends from Adelaide, South Australia) at one of the tables on the right here when suddenly the street filled up with thick smoke. Quick as a flash Mr. Benaut grabbed his camera and went out to investigate. He came back ten minutes later with the news that fire had caught on the last floor of one of the buildings on Place de l'Horloge just a block away. He took lots of action shots of the firemen's truck and tall ladder and had a great tale to tell: he'd been offered ten euros a piece for his photos but had declined the offer. In the meantime Mrs B. and I remained seated and the only photo I have, this one, is a perfect non-event shot: a street full of smoke. Mr. Benaut being passionate about learning French, here's his lesson for today: "pas de fumée sans feu", no smoke without fire.

Mardi soir j'étais en train de dîner en terrasse avec les Benaut (mes amis blogueurs d'Adelaide, Australie) à une table juste à droite ici quand tout à coup la rue s'est remplie d'une épaisse fumée. En une seconde M. Benaut a attrapé son appareil photo et est parti faire son enquête. Il est revenu dix minutes plus tard avec la nouvelle que le feu avait pris au dernier étage d'un immeuble de la place de l'horloge, juste une rue plus loin. Il nous a rapporté plein de photos du camion de pompiers, de la grande échelle et des hommes en action, et nous a même raconté qu'on lui avait offert dix euros pièce pour ses photos mais qu'il avait refusé. Pendant ce temps, j'étais restée à table avec Mme Benaut et la seule photo que j'ai, celle-ci, est un non-événement : la rue pleine de fumée... Comme M. Benaut apprend le français avec passion, voici sa leçon du jour : Pas de fumée sans feu, "no smoke without fire".
Later on in the evening, smoke gone. We really had a lovely time together.
Plus tard, fumée évaporée. Nous avons vraiment passé une délicieuse soirée ensemble.

30 comments:

Jilly said...

Last night Monsieur Benaut played loads of his photos on my television. Just fabulous action shots of that fire. And fab ones of your gorgeous terrace and on the famous bridge in Avignon etc.

They are currently sleeping whilst I'm enjoying your photographs of the time they spent with you.

The Benaut tour continues today...

Olivier said...

Mr Benaut a le réflexe du bloggueur-reporteur, bravo. Alors que toi tu préfères rester à table ;o)).

Webradio said...

Hello !

Elle fait un peu "coupe-gorges" la rue en photo, et enfumée...

Tu pourras apprendre cette expression à Mr. Benaut...

Anonymous said...

L'incendie d'une hotte dans les cuisines du restaurant Le Forum paraît-il (le 9).

Anonymous said...

Nathalie
Too,too funnny your fire story!
It reminds me another fire story in
Avignon:A Colleague of mine wanted to set himself up in that town.
On the first day-working,fire in
the house and all the inhabitants
in the street ect...all Avignon
people knew a new practitioner was
setting there:great free publicity!

hpy said...

Tout est bien qui finit bien. Aussi.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who don't know M.Benaut, he's a fellow blogger from Adelaide, South Australia. He and I had never met before but have commented on each other's blogs for a long time, since I lived in Sydney in fact, so finally meeting him and his darling wife was like being reunited with long-time friends. Thanks to both of them for bringing with them the warm spirit from Downunder!

Pour ceux qui ne le connaissent pas, M.Benaut est un compère bloggeur d'Adelaide, South Australia. Nous ne nous étions jamais vu mais cela fait longtemps que nous correspondons par blogs interposés, depuis l'époque où j'habitais encore à Sydney en fait, et les rencontrer ça a été comme de retrouver de vieux amis. Merci à eux de m'avoir apporté le souffle chaud de l'amitié des gens de la tête en bas.

Anonymous said...

And to the question, why I didn't rush with Ian to where the action was, my answer is firstly because I lost him in the smoke, second because I'm a good host and thought it was appropriate of me to stay with Andrea.

A la question de savoir pourquoi je n'ai pas couru vers l'action comme Ian je répondrai que premièrement je l'ai perdu dans la fumée et que deuxièmement j'ai jugé plus approprié de ne pas laisser Andrea toute seule, je suis restée lui tenir compagnie.

Anonymous said...

Je me garderai bien de développer ma réflexion plus loin pour ne pas sombrer dans l'humour noir, mais on est quand même le 11 septembre aujourd'hui !

Anonymous said...

David, je n'y ai pensé que ce matin en écoutant les nouvelles, en effet. Triste anniversaire !

David commented that seeing a smoke-filled street today necessarily brought up memories of another September 11th, seven years ago. Yes and I apologize for the bad timing, but these photos were taken two days ago. My deepest sympathy goes to the victims' families and friends.

Jane Hards Photography said...

It is fascinating watching there journey. It realy but s flesh on the bones of some fellow bloggers. Lvely memories.

Sally said...

So lovely to see you with the Benauts, even if a little smoke-filled!

And do I recognise that restaurant :-))

Marie said...

Quelle aventure! On pourrait presque dire que les Benaut ont mis le feu à Avignon (à la manière de Hallyday, bien sûr, pas à la manière des pyromanes). Je suis sûre qu'ils ont aimé la ville d'Avignon que j'aime beaucoup. Avez-vous les photos que j'ai postées d'eux quand ils sont venus à Montpellier ?

Tanya Breese said...

My goodness, that turned out to be an exciting evening!

I love the smoke filled alley way, the way you photographed it.
And nice photo of the 3 of you :)

Kate said...

The top photo has a dreamlike quality about it, and the photo of you three is great! I'm so envious of your get-together! Would I be there, too!

Kate said...

PS. Thank you for acknowledging our sad day in US! Please go to my blog today for an anniversary of a different sort.

Virginia said...

Kate is right, it does have that dream like quality. I love the group photo. I am looking forward to my trip to Paris and meeting with some fellow bloggers as well. Nathalie, wish I could add you to the list. Maybe another trip!

Victor said...

This photo really puts you there. Beautiful!

marie6 said...

Great photo even though it's a shame that there was a fire, but hopefully noone was hurt???
It's nice to get to meet fellow bloggers, maybe one day you'll come to Malta for a holiday?

Anonymous said...

au menu des poissons ...fumés?
Plaisanterie à part est-ce un restaurant recommandable?

Seb! said...

C'est être au coeur de l'action...
Pour Monsieur il n'y avait pas de fumée sans feu...
Pour mesdames, pas de repas sans convives :-)

Brigetoun said...

Avignon terre des aventuriers - ce soir c'était l'eau et je viens de passer deux heures à éponger. JE DETESTE L'HUMIDITE essayer le feu pour assécher ? non pas raisonnable

Anonymous said...

Ah oui Brigetoun, moi aussi j'ai épongé ! Quelle saucée !!! Mais que c'était beau, ce ciel vert et gris vu depuis ma terrasse !

PeterParis said...

Unfortunately I never met the Beanuts, but Tuesday evening I had a dinner in Paris with another blogging couple - Pink Ginger + partner! A very nice evening - and no event interrupted our meal!

angela said...

Oh but what a story to tell. It sounds as if it was all great fun and excitement.

Jules said...

What a hoot - trust M B to be in the thick of it!!!!

Ming the Merciless said...

Your simple, non-event shot is simply marvelous. If I hadn't read your commentary about the fire, I would have assumed it was a fog drifting in, creating this eerie look like a scene of movie.

Superb photo! It evokes a very sinister mood.

Kim said...

You were lucky enough to live in Australia and understand that certain quality of warmth I've experienced with Aussie co-workers and travelers I've met. So much fun and enjoyable companionship. Your photos and commentary on the further adventures of the Benaut's are great.
=Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

Pod said...

bonjour madame! what a tres jolie photo of you!

tr3nta said...

WOW... the photo above (1st one) is simply beautiful...

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