Current activities of my son

For the last week or so, François Skyvington has been involved in the start of the shooting of a new TV series of moped adventures, to be presented next year on the Franco-German channel Arte. The crew has been operating up in the Flemish town of Hazebrouck in northern France, just near the Belgian border.

This afternoon, I received a copy of a short article that appeared in Friday's issue of La Voix du Nord. The photo shows François being filmed as he talks with Domi and Patricia, who run a friterie (mobile stand that sells French fries). Apparently François got off his moped and actually moved behind the counter, where Patricia gave him a lesson on how to cook French fries in the pure Flemish tradition. People who have seen the hugely-popular French film Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis by Dany Boon (translated as Welcome to the Sticks) will be familiar with this kind of traditional eatery in northern France.

Over the next six months, the series—called Détours de mob—will be shot in four French regions: Flanders-Picardy, Brittany, Corsica and Gascony. Then François and his crew will spend six months shooting in four German regions. In each of these eight regions, they intend to produce five half-hour programs. So, all in all, there'll be a total of 40 distinct programs, to be screened in prime time (start of the evening) on successive weekdays. In other words, it's quite a significant TV project.

If I understand correctly, there'll be a blend of organized themes and improvized encounters.