Bonjour
I hope you had a good week! Here it’s been chilly and raining, and my normal dog walking route has had to be changed as the country lanes are really muddy now. Instead we’ve kept to the roads that encircle the village and skirt around the fields in which maize, hay and beans are grown by the local farmers in the warmer months. In the last five days of walking – I’ve passed one tractor, the school bus once and three cars. You couldn’t say it was busy here!
On Tuesday night I went to a local expat club quiz night – they’re always good fun and it’s great to have a chat in English! We were talking about how polite French people are. When you go into a bar, certainly where I live, everyone says “bonjour”. When you go into the shops – same thing, the people on the cash registers and the customers near the door all bid you “Bonjour”. A friend told me how he his wife broke her arm falling down the stairs at around midnight. He took her to the local accident and emergency department at the hospital in the lovely city of Boulogne-sur-Mer. It was empty he says and they were processed tout de suite and his wife went off to have her arm X-rayed. He stayed in the waiting area where all was quiet. A little while after a French police woman entered, “Bonsoir” she said whilst scanning the room. She left and returned a few seconds later, accompanied by four burly policemen who were attached by hand cuffs to a struggling, kicking and shouting man – two policemen to each side. They saw my friend sitting there. “Bonsoir” said the policemen one after the other whilst holding on to their crazy prisoner who stopped fighting for long enough to nod and add “bonsoir” before being dragged away.
And on that note, I wish you a very bon weekend!
Bisous from France
Janine
Editor
Don’t miss on the website this week:
Mandatory pollution stickers in Paris, Lyon and Grenoble: Don’t risk a fine – check the new driving rules in these cities and get your sticker sorted!
Ten free things to do in Lyon: Our expat reporter in Lyon recommends these fabulous free things to do in the lovely gastronomic city of the south
Pei Pyramids: Our roving reporter Bob examines the fascinating history of the pyramids at the Louvre.
Life on a French smallholding: We meet a couple of Brits who are upping sticks to live the good life in Haute-Vienne…
Exquisite Eze: Writer and blogger Darina shares what to see in lovely Eze in the south of France where the sun shines 300 days of the year!
The Art of Rebellion: Brenda Leahy’s book is a lovely peek into the days of Paris in 1900 seen through the eyes of a young woman…
The Can-Can Girl and the Mysterious Woman in Pink: Pamela B Eglinski’s tale of Paris in the days of the Belle Epoque is a time travel romp with style!
Photo: My dogs in the little rue du Chapel in the village…
