The Prix de, a Grand Prix, and one sad one.

Sadly, a combination of diary conflicts, racing, and a desire to do anything but attend (including standing in a vat of boiling oil, chanting “Oh Jermey Corbyn”), prevent me from attending this year’s jolly at The Green Party conference, the Green Gala. Andy Jay, illusionist and magician to the gentry is set to perform, before recently elected chair Zack Polanski possibly comes out to perform his breast-engagement hypnotherapy routine for the members. How the hell over 20k members voted for this guy is beyond comprehension. Even stranger is the election of their vice-chair, whose track record of voiced opinions on Jewish matters, might be considered by some a tad… anti-Semitic? Surely, that concern would be echoed by the Green’s chair, who specifically changed his name back to his original family’s name, to embrace his Jewish heritage? Apparently not.

6/4 on, they’ll all be in bed with Jezza by March

As the Arc looms, I thought you might be interested to know the following Arc facts… no, no really, it’s no trouble at all!

A Giant Elephant was almost built in its place: Before the Arc de Triomphe’s current design was finalized, one of the earliest proposals for the site was for a massive, three-storey building shaped like an elephant. The proposed elephant monument, designed by architect Charles Ribart, was to include a museum, and visitors would climb a spiral staircase inside the elephant’s body. The idea was ultimately rejected, but a temporary elephant structure was built at Place de la Bastille in 1814.

A Pilot Flew a Plane Through the Arch: Just after the end of World War I, on August 7, 1919, a French pilot named Charles Godefroy famously and illegally flew his biplane through the main archway. The daring stunt was a form of protest by airmen who felt slighted by an order that forced them to march on foot in the victory parade instead of flying their planes.

The Names Inscribed on the Walls are Coded: The inner walls of the monument are inscribed with the names of 660 French military leaders from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A lesser-known detail is that the names of those generals who died in battle are specifically underlined on the arch.

Who knew?

Meanwhile, a profitable day in France, and a jolly lunch sans chevaux. I was caught out by the going at Newmarket, which seemed to have missed most of the rain, although I was right about Longchamp which is now very soft. If rain happens in Singapore, then more sporting predictions might go awry!