Pressreader: no travel restrictions!
Pressreader is a virtual newsstand that gives you remote access to daily newspapers and magazines from all over the world, in an incredible number of languages (which reminds me of our Assimil training courses, also available online). So, depending on your mood, you’ll have access to, among other things:
- to beautiful interiors (South/East/West facing),
- to the daily press in Switzerland (Le Temps) and abroad (The Guardian, El Pais),
- vegetarian gastronomy (Esprit Veggie) or not (Cuisine et vins de France),
- to the women’s press (Marie-Claire),
- to the latest technological trends (01Net),
- to the wonderful world of patchwork (Love Patchwork & Quilting)
- or, finally, to travel dreams (National Geographic Traveller or Echappée Belle).
In practical terms, there’s no need to visit the Pressreader site, just go directly to “Connect” > “Library or group” > “Library – Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire Lausanne (BCU)” then enter your reader’s card number (identifier) and your Renouvaud password. But the real added value of this kiosk is its use on smartphones or tablets, with its mobile applications for iOS or Android which also allow you to download the press, and which have the added advantage of being easier to take in your suitcase.
Basically, let’s not kid ourselves: long-distance travel is not on the agenda just yet. Even in normal times, we tell ourselves that we need the sun at this time of year. So we end up being tempted by vacations in paradisiacal places whose publicity photos were taken in the middle of summer and with a good Photoshop treatment. The result: we were expecting sun and warmth before our time, and to be the only ones to have come up with this idea… and we end up on the Mediterranean coast in the rain, in a rental not designed to withstand the cold and humidity. We’re sitting on a sofa covered with a miserable blanket, with drops beading on the ceiling and no way of escaping to a restaurant… because they’re all closed! Well, well…
So, before you tell yourself that you’re going to take advantage of this good advice and not leave our country. Or that you need to approach this n-th period of confinement with ever-greater resilience, that waiting for the next season of The Crown will allow you to take up YogaZoom and that it might be time to start writing that collection of short stories entitled “November Rains” that you’ve been planning every time you feel the blues for over 20 years… rewind the film a little and go back to the beautiful glossy photos that made you dream of escape and stop time! Because the solution to escape is right there, at your fingertips.
Indeed, as you may have read, BCUL is extending its Pressreader offer to all its users, without having to leave the house (which is all the rage these days) or that dodgy rental, simply armed with your reader card number and the password that goes with it (which you were careful to memorize before leaving on vacation “in the sun”).
So go ahead, it’s free, it’s a dry trip and it’ll avoid a lukewarm critical reception for “Pluies de novembre”.
