Napoleon’s last home

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about the house where Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile. You’ll discover the “dandy horse”, hear some listener news and great music, and of course, there’s the new quiz question, too.  Just click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy! 

Sound Kitchen Podcast RFI

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winners' names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

I am busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to [e-mail]  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, rfienglish.com, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Paris Perspective, Africa Calling, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have a bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too.

As you see, sound is still quite present at the RFI English service!  Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent staff of journalists.

Send me your music requests! I’ll make programmes of your favourite music when I can’t be in the kitchen to cook up something new for you … write to me at [e-mail]

To listen to our features from your PC, go to our website and click on the three horizontal bars on the top right, choose Listen to RFI / Podcasts, and you’ve got ‘em! You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

To listen to our features from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show. 

Teachers, take note! I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is [e-mail]   If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. 

RFI Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni ([e-mail]) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me ([e-mail]) when you write to them so that I know what is going on, too. N.B. You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload!

And don't forget, there is a Facebook page just for you, the RFI English Clubs. Only members of RFI English Clubs can belong to this group page, so when you apply to join, be sure you include the name of your RFI Club and your membership number. Everyone can look at it, but only members of the group can post on it. If you haven’t yet asked to join the group, and you are a member of an independent, officially recognised RFI English Club, go to the Facebook link above and fill out the questionnaire!!!!! (if you do not answer the questions, I click “decline”).

There’s a Facebook page for members of the general RFI Listeners Club, too. Just click on the link and fill out the questionnaire, and you can connect with your fellow Club members around the world. Be sure you include your RFI Listeners Club membership number (most of them begin with an A, followed by a number) in the questionnaire, or I will have to click “Decline”, which I don’t like to do!

We have new RFI Listeners Club members to welcome: Mohammad Sakawat Hossain from Sylhet, Bangladesh, and Bidhan Chandra Sanyal from West Bengal, India.   

Welcome, Mohammad! Welcome, Bidhan! So glad you have joined us!

You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write to me at [e-mail] and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy. When you win a Sound Kitchen quiz as an RFI Listeners Club member, you receive a premium prize, AND, you can join our Facebook page, the RFI Listeners Club page. You must ask to join the group, you must furnish your RFI Listeners Club membership number, I’ll approve you, and then off you go! Mohammad and Bidhan, be sure you join in!

This week’s quiz: On the 8th of May, I asked you a question about Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military commander who crowned himself Emperor in 1804. 2021 marks the bicentennial of his death while in exile on the remote island of St Helena. RFI English journalist Sarah Elzas created a wonderful report on Bonaparte’s final years on St Helena for the Spotlight on France podcast she produces with Alison Hird every other week – and which is really good! You shouldn’t miss one single episode! That same week Sarah also published an article on our website drawn from her Spotlight on France reportage: “The ‘human’ side of Napoleon on St Helena, one of the most remote places on earth”. I asked you to listen to the podcast, or read the article, and send in the name of the house on St Helena where Napoleon died in exile.

The answer is: Longwood. Longwood House was meant as temporary lodging for Napoleon; it was quite run-down. Although London, as Sarah noted, had ordered a more luxurious house to be built for its famous prisoner, Napoleon rejected the plans and did not live to see the new house built.

Longwood House has been fully restored; much of Napoleon’s furniture and personal objects are there.

The winners are: Ras Franz Manko Ngogo, the president of the Kemogemba RFI Club in Tarime Mara, Tanzania, and three RFI Listeners Club members from Nigeria: Mr S J Agboola from Ekiti State; Muhammad Nasyr from Katsina State, and Ibironke Abosede Oyewole from Lagos State. Finally, there is Rachid Dahmani, from M'sila, Algeria, also a member of the RFI Listeners Club.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Cotton Tail” by Duke Ellington, performed by Duke Ellington and his orchestra; the “Roman Carnaval Overture” by Hector Berlioz, performed by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “Things Ain't What They Used To Be” by Duke Ellington, performed by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, and the “Overture to Rosamunde” from Die Zauberharfe by Franz Schubert, performed by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Do you have a musical request? Send it to [e-mail]

This week’s question ... You'll have to listen to the show to participate. You have until the 5th of July to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 10th of July podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address in with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

[e-mail]

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here

To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here