We’ve been in Cognin for about two weeks now. The centre of the town is mainly made of building blocks, about 8 floors high for most of them. Ours is the tallest, with 15 floors. It means it is quite compact. Everything is less than 5 minutes walk away.
Yesterday afternoon I took Jean-Baptiste to his first training session with the local football team. It is across the road. There is a also a park. There were dozens of children playing around. The parents were sitting on benches or standing around. Some were chatting, others were reading. It downed on me that when people live in building blocks, you have to get out when the weather is fine. So people seem to spend a significant amount of time hanging around and chatting.
It was different in Pabu. Many people had gardens around their houses. There were no building blocks. That meant that houses were more spread out, but also that many people didn’t feel the need to go out of their properties. It actually could be easier to make contacts here because many people want to get out of their small flats. Time will tell.
Category: France
The quietness of French trains
I am on the TGV, travelling at high speed through France.
As always, I am amazed by the comfort and cleanliness. But what is most amazing is the quietness. No one is talking, or if their are, they are quietly whispering to their neighbours. Some people are sleeping. No mobile phone has rung so far. And if one would, the guilty person would have everyone starring at them.
Through the window, the green countryside is rolling, while we speed away towards Paris, the central hub where most TGVs go to.
A weekend in Quimper
We spent the weekend in Quimper. I had been invited to preach in as mall evangelical church there. Saturday was lovely, dry for the most part. We visited a small village called Locronan before going to Quimper in the afternoon.
Quimper is a big town in Southern Brittany. The city centre has retained many old features: narrow cobbled streets, an old cathedral, old houses… There were many people in the narrow streets. I saw lot of young people. We wandered around the town centre and by the riverside. It’s not far from the see and the tide was high, so the water was almost at the street level. early the next morning, the tide was even higher and some of the streets were flooded.
We stayed in a hotel near the town centre.
We enjoyed our visit. It seems to be a pleasant place
11th November ceremony
The 11th November is always a bank holiday here in France. Every town and village remembers those who died during world war one, and other conflicts. It is an interesting ritual with speeches from various people. Flowers are put at the foot of the war memorial. Before the ceremony, a mass is usually celebrated (but not everyone attends). There were a lot of people, mostly elderly.
A breton funeral
There was a funeral in town yesterday. A well-known local figure was being buried. I was in town when the procession came out of the basilica. Since the roads had been closed for the occasion, I watched the procession walk passed. It was impressive and sobering. The bagad (pipe band) was leading the way, followed by flag bearers, the hearse before the rest of the crowed. The man wasn’t vey old. He was in his sixties I would say. I had seen him around the music school a few times. He was well known for having started the local Bagad as well as the St-loup festival, a well known breton dance competition. There’s an article in Ouest-France: Les adieux au président de la Saint-Loup
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Funny French words: hurluberlu
Some French words sound great. I thought I’d share a few with you. Today’s funny French word is “hurluberluâ€. According to the Larousse online dictionary it means: “Personne étourdie, écervelée qui se comporte avec extravagance.” In english it would be: scatterbrain or scatty
C’est un hurluberlu:Â it is a weirdo.