Belle Famille - updated to chapter 29

Not Born Yesterday wrote:What a sickening quote from Angelina Jolie but, in her defence, I'm sure that with her brood of children and her career she doesn't have time to read anything about this case other than what's in the mainstream media. Perhaps that goes for all the celebrities (from A to Z listers) who support the McCanns.

If that was the only information I was party to, I'd be giving the McCanns the benefit of the doubt.

They weren't quotes from Angelina, NBY.... they were quotes allegedly from "a pal"

This time, he has brought back, for his nephew, a chameleon, which the child Madec watches in its plastic box. Not very easy to chuck that in the bin. .......it's a metaphor for cuddlecat bought by Uncle Jon Corner.

Many thanks Anna and frencheuropean.

Hmm this could get very very interesting, thank you Anna

Just spotted this on MSN, watch out begging bowls at the ready, could this be to cover the cost of suing Arthur

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/help-find-madeleine-fund-dwindles-3

Kate and Gerry McCann's fund to help find their missing daughter Madeleine dwindled to £125,000 last year, official accounts have shown.

The amount the couple raised for Madeleine's Fund dropped from £233,099 in 2009-10 to £177,534 in 2010-11. At the end of March last year the balance stood at £125,175, down from £470,034 a year earlier, according to newly-published accounts filed with Companies House.

The McCanns, both 43, from Rothley, Leicestershire, had feared that the dwindling fund would leave them unable to continue paying private detectives to search for Madeleine.

To avoid this Mrs McCann published a book about their daughter's disappearance in May last year, with all proceeds from sales and a serialisation deal with The Sun and the Sunday Times going to support the search.

The fund's directors wrote in a preface to the 2010-11 accounts: "Over the past financial year, as with the previous one, the costs of the search continued to be higher than the fund's annual income.

"Income, particularly donations, has been lower than in previous years, as might be expected. It became apparent to the directors that without a significant financial boost, the fund would be empty by the end of spring 2011.

"In view of this, Kate McCann made the decision to write a book about Madeleine's disappearance and her parents' search to find her."

Madeleine's Fund was launched a fortnight after the little girl vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3 2007. Donations flooded in from supporters around the world who wanted to do something to help her parents, and the income for 2007-08 totalled £1,846,178.

More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.

Last year the fund paid for the private investigators, a 24/7 telephone hotline for the public to pass on information, an ongoing awareness-raising campaign and three fundraising events.

Lillyofthevalley wrote:Hmm this could get very very interesting, thank you Anna

Just spotted this on MSN, watch out begging bowls at the ready, could this be to cover the cost of suing Arthur

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/help-find-madeleine-fund-dwindles-3

Kate and Gerry McCann's fund to help find their missing daughter Madeleine dwindled to £125,000 last year, official accounts have shown.

The amount the couple raised for Madeleine's Fund dropped from £233,099 in 2009-10 to £177,534 in 2010-11. At the end of March last year the balance stood at £125,175, down from £470,034 a year earlier, according to newly-published accounts filed with Companies House.

The McCanns, both 43, from Rothley, Leicestershire, had feared that the dwindling fund would leave them unable to continue paying private detectives to search for Madeleine.

To avoid this Mrs McCann published a book about their daughter's disappearance in May last year, with all proceeds from sales and a serialisation deal with The Sun and the Sunday Times going to support the search.

The fund's directors wrote in a preface to the 2010-11 accounts: "Over the past financial year, as with the previous one, the costs of the search continued to be higher than the fund's annual income.

"Income, particularly donations, has been lower than in previous years, as might be expected. It became apparent to the directors that without a significant financial boost, the fund would be empty by the end of spring 2011.

"In view of this, Kate McCann made the decision to write a book about Madeleine's disappearance and her parents' search to find her."

Madeleine's Fund was launched a fortnight after the little girl vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3 2007. Donations flooded in from supporters around the world who wanted to do something to help her parents, and the income for 2007-08 totalled £1,846,178.

More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.

Last year the fund paid for the private investigators, a 24/7 telephone hotline for the public to pass on information, an ongoing awareness-raising campaign and three fundraising events.

This is ridiculous! Time they downsized their house and dipped into their own pockets!

They did actually say in this article from June 2007 that they would sell everything they own - I suspect that it did the trick and produced a rush of donations to the fund!

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/press/2jun7/Express-04-06-07-Transcript.htm

platinum wrote:While acknowledging almostgothics statement about this contemporary cultural artifact and having read the spudgun interview I remain unconvinced as to the validity of this thread.

Don't read it, then.

Thanks frencheuropean and AnnaEsse for the work you've done.

Chapter 3 - résumé from original French by Frencheuropean


Madec, who is seven years old, has an older brother called Vladimir and a younger brother, Atonin. While the other two are blonde and of easy-going temperament, Madec, who is ginger haired, instead has the manners of a peasant, as odd in his family as his first name.

The father, Stéphane, really took to that Celtic sounding first name during a medical conference in Ireland. His wife reluctantly accepted it, while saying to him that he "was taking responsibility for that kid," two weeks after the child was born by emergency Caesarian because of a rare accident involving the umbilical cord.

Laurence, who has strict educational principles, and imposes on her family a bland organic diet, has, all the same, bought a video game for her sons. Madec, seeing his brothers stupidly zapping with the remote control doubts that he is of the same flesh and blood as them and decides to go out.

It is a Wednesday in Autumn and not a school day. The parents are on duty at the hospital and as the Macand brothers are incredibly sensible, they are left to their own devices for the day. Madec goes down, bare-footed to the beach and thinks about his chameleon, which his father has welcomed with enthusiasm, because he doesn't have very much to say to his son and the chameleon always gives him something to talk about.

To see just how red his skin can go, Madec undresses completely and goes bathing. He is happy because he is totally red in the waves.

Across from the beach, the nurse Francine Frêle sees him and rushes to cross the road and find him. Her chin meets the bumper of a lorry carrying ten tons of oysters. She dies and her brain is mixed up with the crushed shells. Madec comes and asks if she is dead.

Stéphane Macand gives his wife his opinion of the event in this way:

"With breath smelling of Aquavit, Stéphane Marcand explains to his wife that there was nothing they could have done, that they weren't there, either of them - you as well as me.That accidents just happen by accident."

Laurence, dissociating herself from manslaughter by her son, is more shocked by the fact that he was walking around totally naked in public view, placing the blame on the proximity of the nudist (and homosexual) beach, set up by the complaisant authorities according the permissive values of the left.

Regarding her husband, she finds him feeble and uninteresting. He turns to alcohol and that is even the object of "private jokes," at the hospital, but as he is a good diagnostician...

Laurence, a frustrated woman, enjoys underlining that her husband is a loser.

Madec is punished, the nurse is buried. Later there will be an investigation to determine the extent of responsibility of the nurse and Madec's parents for the accident.

With strong glue provided by the town council, school children are each going to stick an oyster shell onto the victim's grave. In the course of time, this will become a renowned place of pilgrimage, which will bring in a lot of money for the town council, which, being grateful, will honour Sandrine Frêle, "for her involvement," in this process.

"Belle Famille," (Nice Family) - résumés of chapters 4,5, and 6 from original French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 4

When his parents are on duty, Madec likes to watch television in their room. On seeing a woman on the screen getting herself accidentally devoured by a tiger at the zoo, before the eyes of visitors, suddenly interested in animal life, he plays with the idea of violent death.

Then he looks back on Sundays at mass, where he spends his time observing people and notably the old women (he calls them the hens). He notes that his mother often cries during the hymns and doesn't know why. She doesn't elsewhere.

Chapter 5

One day, after mass, he asks old father Garrec if he can go with him to the farm to see the cows. At the house, the old man recounts old stories while drinking red wine. The child insists on drinking a glass of it, then two and falls asleep. Also drunk, the old man goes to sleep. He is awoken by the police, who have been searching for hours for the child. The imp found asleep with the cows with alcohol in his blood, is given into the care of six child psychiatrists to see if he has suffered from the sequestration and is examined by a doctor who establishes that he has not been abused. The old man is committed to a psychiatric hospital. After consulting her lawyer, the mother does not have him prosecuted, but gives him fifty days to leave town. That will not be necessary; he dies after three weeks in hospital, like his forty cows that no one has thought to water in his absence.


End of Part 1


Chapter 6


Leaving for Tuscany. A dull journey, listening to the father's boring stories and searching, unsuccessfully, for restaurants that are open.


Laurence remembers her first meeting with her husband during a surgical operation where she was assisting him. She had decided to seduce him because she wanted to be a mother. It was only in the car park that she realised with horror, as he no longer had his surgical mask on, that a horrible scar crossed the lower part of his face. All the same, she noted that he had regular features and clear eyes and calculated that that mark would make him more vulnerable and attentive, which decided her.


Five years later, their first child Vladimir is born.

Chapter five.....lol

Thank you Anna xx

I wish I could protect little Madec!

pennylane wrote:Thank you Anna xx

I wish I could protect little Madec!

He's an adventurous little soul while his two brothers are sitting there with their remote controllers!

AnnaEsse wrote:

pennylane wrote:Thank you Anna xx

I wish I could protect little Madec!

He's an adventurous little soul while his two brothers are sitting there with their remote controllers!

Yes he is adventurous, and I'm getting very anxious for him now.

chapter 6.......................Lol....the airport bus. I'm warming to this author.

Leaving for Tuscany. A dull journey, listening to the father's boring stories and searching, unsuccessfully, for restaurants that are open.

Chapter 7 (From the French by Frencheuropean)

Laurence is well-balanced physically, but too steely to be considered graceful. Her features are mordant, her cheeks smooth, her forehead finely lined, her hair a Nordic blond. But in herself, she is a person of tight-lipped principles. She is a dominant woman who has no truck with contradiction and writes off those who contradict as madmen or cretins. "She knows what she knows."

Stéphane gives way to her for the sake of peace and as she directs the cardiology service, he prefers to leave her with the illusion of power.

More adolescent than grown man, smooth face, and at 46 years old, a full head of hair.

Their relations are coldly regulated, love and sex have no place there.

Between this accommodating father and this very strict mother, Madec, in contrast to his brothers who adjust to the situation, feels very alone. His mother, because of this, thinks that he doesn't love her and attributes her frequent migraines to a son she doesn't understand. She sometimes has nightmares in which she sees herself as an animal, devoured by her own children.

During a stop in Italy, a kind shopkeeper offers Madec a keyring with a scorpion embedded in resin, which fascinates Madec and reminds him of Big. His mother is obliged to accept, but refuses to give it to her son because with a scorpion "it's not meant for a child of seven."

"She knows what she knows."

Chapter 8

They arrive at the site of identical-looking chalets in a pine grove, with a swimming pool and close to the sea, but Laurence is disappointed because it's not as good as it looked on the web and she wonders what the Josserands, who are due to arrive tomorrow, are going to think. She consoles herself with the thought that, "as it's expensive, we won't be with the peasants." They decide to go to the swimming pool. Before leaving, because she cannot throw the scorpion key ring into the bin, she decides to place it on top of the highest kitchen cupboard.

Chapter 9

At the swimming pool, Madec, who is constantly in search of new experiences to spice up a dull life, dives under the water. While he is coming back up, his brothers hold his head under the water. Madec passes out.

Ron Murdoch, who was on a deck chair beside the pool, jumps in and brings out the unconscious child. Laurence, seeing the crowd, rushes over and gives her son emergency aid and succeeds in reviving him.

She gives her grateful thanks to Murdoch, who turns down her invitation to a meal. The brothers are not told off, but Madec gets a bit of spoiling: his bed is made up in front of the telly in the lounge and his food is brought to him.

The brothers apologize to him. He asks for his scorpion key ring, but Laurence is stubborn about it and comes up with the excuse for herself that the object could harbour bacteria. She explains to Madec, in an offhand way, that she has lost it. Furious, Madec does not believe her.

Chapter 10

Laurence recounts what has just happened, in an offhand way, to her husband, who has just returned, stressing the kindness of the Englishman. Their conclusion about the incident is that there was "more fear than danger." The Josserands arrive and their chalet is at the other end of the complex. Julien, tall and handsome, is an architect. His wife, Sylviane, envies Laurence her slender figure, but finds solace by telling herself that she has big bones. Laurence delights in learning that Julien has been unfaithful to Sylviane with his secretary, which consoles her a bit for having a husband with such a repulsive scar. The Josserands have a daughter called Mahud. The friends organise a get-together at 2 o'clock on the beach.

Chapter 11

On return from the beach, Laurence gets her oldest son, who is eleven years old, to read a book that contains scenes of violence, that is much too difficult for him. They have milk pudding, a traditional dish. Afterwards, Laurence adds, "...now you're going to bed because after being so busy with you all day, father and mother want to spend the evening with their friends." Stéphane goes to fetch the Josserands.

A short time later. Fabien arrives with his daughter Mahaut and brings as a gift for Madec, an old book, found in a second-hand shop, which tells the story of Kappa, a monster who hides in the water to drown kids. As such, he says, it will be a souvenir for Madec of his own drowning. There follows, told by Fabien, who likes a good laugh, a horrible tale of this aquatic monster, devourer of children with the most atrocious suffering. But to reassure a terrified Madec, Fabien reveals that only cucumbers, the Kappas' favourite food, takes them away from children. Laurence, who has put the other children to bed, puts out the light, and doesn't understand why Madec starts screaming and asks her to bring him some cucumbers.

A bit bothered, Fabien arranges with Laurence to meet at the restaurant.

Thanks anna, this is one h*%% of a made up story Im beginning to think that this author is in the know , wonder if he has ever worked for the PJ?

ha ha, Josserand! This guy is really taking the hiss!

Lillyofthevalley wrote:Thanks anna, this is one h*%% of a made up story Im beginning to think that this author is in the know , wonder if he has ever worked for the PJ?

I've got the résumé of chapter 12, which I haven't read through yet.....saving it up until I have time to translate it because I'm told the incident happens in that chapter! Oooooooh!

"Nice Family," - résumé of chapter 12 - from original in French by Frencheuropean.

The restaurant cannot supply cucumbers, so Laurence and her husband go to buy some from a grocer's shop and go back to the restaurant.

Madec, who is very frightened of the Kappas, decides to find the scorpion, which his mother has hidden, because only the scorpion can protect him from the monster. While he is in the kitchen fetching a large meat fork from a drawer, he deduces that his mother must have hidden the key ring in a high place. So, he tries to reach the top of the cupboard by climbing onto a bar stool, onto which he places an upturned couscoussier, and finally on top of the cupboard, he makes out the shape of the scorpion. At the very moment when he grabs hold of it, his balance is disturbed and he falls over backwards, hitting his head on the corner of the table. As he falls, he skewers his neck on the meat fork. He dies. The noise does not wake his brothers.


Laurence, who leaves the restaurant to take the cucumbers to him, arrives at the chalet, finds that he's not in the lounge and comes across his body in the kitchen.


A small amount of blood has run from his throat. Without a second thought, she puts everything back in place, wraps the body in the tablecloth, cleans the blood-stained floor with a baby wipe soaked in bleach, puts that into the tablecloth and carries the body to the boot of her car. She drives to the edge of the holiday park and, in the rain, drops the body into a small, muddy, waste water drainage channel. Then she covers it with branches.

She drives back.

"A short time later, a Peugeot 807 is seen parking in front of 'La Buona Tavola.' A woman in damp clothing is seen to get out. She is seen going back to her friends' table, tidying her hair, using her fingers as a comb, cutting out the cold part, which she deplored, of a 'four season pizza.'. She is seen eating. She is seen laughing."

Thank you Frencheuropean xx Thank you Anna xx, fantastic translation, you are so clever!


Poor, sweet Madec, oh dear me, he didn't stand a chance. What an horrific accident!

His mother is evil.

Chilling..... "She knows what she knows."

AnnaEsse wrote:




(There's a bit more, but a couple of expressions have me flummoxed. So, will add later!)

Surely "Call for Clarry" isn't out with your translation skills?

Or do the French have no word for "Pink Pimp" ?

and thank you, AnnaEsse and French European.

I feel quite sad about madec.....poor little mite and what a horrible mother to just dump his body like a piece off rubbish...

The End Is Nigh wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote:




(There's a bit more, but a couple of expressions have me flummoxed. So, will add later!)

Surely "Call for Clarry" isn't out with your translation skills?

Or do the French have no word for "Pink Pimp" ?

Frencheuropean included a direct quote from the book, which includes something about an '807.' I don't know what one of them is!

Perhaps it's a Peugeot 807 lol