What is a French Holiday? Celebration of the Assumption

 

Every day I go to the store at 8:30A M to get one of the two NYT that come to Lesparre in rural France. My second wife said she could tell I was on the hunt for the NYT ,no matter where we were traveling in the world. Croatia, Italy or some African country were all the same she said.  “I was like a bird dog looking for a pheasant in the brush.”

In France I have been buying and painfully translating the Sud Ouest from Bordeaux.  It is a regional paper that tells us what is happening in the SW of France. One day I noticed the International New York as I picked up the local paper. There was only one so I felt it was a sign from the universe that I should stop reading on line. I started going to the only place I could find that sold real papers. If I got there at 8:30 sometimes there were 2 papers, some days only 1.  So my plan each day was to get a croissant and an expresso at a nearby boulangerie at 8A M.  Then I could be first in line to get into the store and make sure I got the paper.

The prize of the week is the SAT-SUN edition which includes the world’s greatest anti-Alzheimer’s treatment in the world, THE CROSSWORD PUZZLE FOR SUNDAY.  I set off on the 15 of August to get the prize. I was first and there was a paper.  I checked the date and it was 14 August ; yesterday’s paper. I checked around and no one had an explanation for the failure.  

I went home, crestfallen but determined to try today and be sure to be first in line. There were others confused yesterday.  They were looking for foreign newspapers also.  This morning I was first in line and quickly walked to the kiosk.  There was a NYT.  The problem was that it was the same paper I rejected yesterday because now it was 2 days old.  Not even fit for the bottom of the proverbial bird cage.

There were other confused customers looking for Italian, German or Spanish news.  We accosted politely a store employee but he had no explanation. I ventured the possibility that the failure was due to the fact that August 15 is celebrated as Assumption Day and perhaps that might explain the failure to deliver international papers. The puzzled clerk brightened and agreed maybe that explained the failure. “Try tomorrow”, he suggested.

Living in a country for a long time forces you to learn some of the cultural practices. On the back page of the local paper each day there is a statement of what holy day it is or what Saint’s day it is.  I read that column each day which is how I knew it was the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. 

7 August  St.Gaetan died in1547 : 11 August St.Claire was born in Assissi in1193 and died in 1253: 12 August St. Clarisse founded a monastery in the 7^th Century: 13 August St. Hippolyte who was an anti-pope 217-235:  14 August St. Eviad died in 958 in a monastery in Switzerland: 15 August Is the Fe’te De L’Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Everyday has a holy aspect assigned to it.  In case you are wondering today is St Armel’s day  an evangelist in the 7^th century

This Saintly start for the day is followed by the events that have occurred on the Saint’s day in history. On this day in 1977 Elvis Presley died.

Every village has a church built before WWII or restored after war damage. My village of 650 souls has Church of St Peter.  I been a resident here and off and on for 4 years and the Mass has never been said here. There is a sign on the door that tells you where mass is being said In a nearby church. Itinerant priests move from place to place on Sunday. France is a Catholic country. The religious history is deep but today it is often only a patina EXCEPT when it comes to important holidays.

You don’t get your paper on a holy day.  

  

 

Q 36 More Granularity: The French Bureaucracy

We have a mad president who believes in border walls. He learned nothing from the Great Wall of China’s failure to keep the Mongols out.  The EU has succeeded in creating an essentially borderless Europe through the Shengen Area agreement. Brexiteers and their ilk want to recreate borders to keep out those they don’t like because of their color or culture or language.  Raw nationalism is in the area so wherever you go you bump into it.

When you come to France you don’t need a visa if you are planning to stay less than 90 Days. I planned to stay for 60 days so I never got a visa. When the epidemic came the question was “should I go home or stay here”.  I have wonderful 975 square foot apartment with a view of the Seattle port and Mount Rainier from my breakfast table or living room in a 6 floor co-op apartment Building.  My French maison is a three bed-room house in a tiny village in the middle of the Medoc wine area northwest of Bordeaux.  I sensed quarantine coming so I had to choose and I chose to stay in France.

I have great food, good wine everywhere and miles of untraveled roads to walk along to get my exercise. 

But I was supposed to leave after 90 days.  Recently the French government announce a 90 extension for all visitors. So now I’m legal until the 16 th of June.  The future is coming. It is not here yet. 

Q 8 Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

A robo email from a Congressman was the first mail I saw today.  It was from Hank Johnson, GA-4, who was a friend in the Congress. He was talking about the need to take care of one another in this time of healthcare peril. He was asking the Georgia governor to take decisive and strong action lead Georgians to take care of one another.

It reminded me of a conversation he and I had one day on the floor of the House.  He asked me, “Why I wore a bolo tie when I wasn’t Hispanic or native American?”  I replied, “Because we are too tribal in this body. I want Hispanics to know I respect and honor their history. This is a simple open way to express it. I know it works because I can see the reaction of Hispanics in the Capitol as I walk around.”

This epidemic has driven us together, if we don’t miss the opportunity to see our universal plight. Corona virus is an equal opportunity enemy.  Rich, poor, old, young, and all ethnicity get their share of the problem. The melding on the floor of the Congress crosses every tribal line on the floor including age, sexual orientation and financial status or ideological position.

My second email of the day was with a good friend who happens to be staunch Republican who supports President Trump. How could he be my friend/brother?  I got to know him from long contacts during our Congressional activities. I emailed him because I needed a favor and I knew he would respond, but only after he gave me a bunch of Rep/Dem guff.

Before the epidemic was noticed in the USA, on 1 February I went to France to a little house I have in a rural wine area. I was going to chill out after teaching last quarter at the University of Washington. I planned to spend about 60 days, but I did not buy a return ticket.

 

Then the tsunami of COVID19 hit and it hit particularly hard in Seattle, my hometown. The question for me was,” Shall I return home or stay sheltered in place in an isolated and safe spot in France.”

Two problems reared their ugly heads.  Passports and French visitor visas.  My 10-year passport expires in August, so I needed to consider renewal before the problem got worse.  I remember the difficulties during government shutdowns in the 1990’s that people had in getting documents from the State Dept. so I thought I should act now.

My second problem was the lack of a French visitor visa.  Since my anticipated stay was less than the 90-day visa, I opted not to apply for a visa which is permissible. The question,” How do I rectify this problem?”

Having served in the State Department in Kinshasa, Zaire I knew about the consulates which our government operates.  I called the Bordeaux Consulate and the Paris Embassy, to no avail. I called multiple times and worked the phone tree as directed and left messages with cell and email information. I know these are good public servants who are swamped by the questions of anxious people, so a lack of response was understandable.

After a week I was getting more anxious and I thought of my Republican friend.  I called and asked for a favor.  I know the atmosphere in the House is combative at best and poisonous at worst, but I know my friend.  His response was,” Glad you were smart enough to call a reliable Republican and not a dastardly Democrat.” Then he asked to be awarded my Bolo ties in my will if I died. Final note was,” I should call in 3 days if I didn’t hear from the State Department.”

The next morning, I got a call from the Consul General in Paris who is helping me with my problems. 

Members often fail to see each other as human beings but we all are in this together.  No matter how anxious or isolated one feels we can see our brother’s problem and help as Christ suggested in the story of the good Samaritan.  My Republican friend was a good Samaritan.  He may disagree on ideological stuff, but he helped his brother, expecting nothing in return except a bolo tie. Hopefully this crisis can bring us back to talking and compromising on solutions that help us all.

Q 4 Decision Day

Should I escape isolation in rural France and enter Isolation in my apartment on QA Hill in Seattle? Donald says, “Come home now or plan to stay away indefinitely.” I’ve seen on CNN the marvelous planning made for American’s re-entry at JFK.

 

Why come back?  Safety would be the first reason.  My own home in a rural French village is probably as safe as my apartment in a Co-op in Seattle with 45 other residents, many of whom are older like me.  There are the same logistical problems in Seattle that there are in the Medoc region. But I am more secluded from access to the virus here than there.

A second factor in returning is the journey itself.  Two long and one short plane flights present their own problems with recycled air with perhaps a virus carrier or two, in the mix of passengers. Add to that, the chaos of three airport experiences in Paris, Chicago and Seattle and you don’t have a reason to choose that way to spend 2-3 days. If the SST had ever flown from Paris to Seattle it might seem like a positive option.

What’s positive about staying here? :  My own Home and miles of backroads to walk in the spring.  Just yesterday I saw the first buds on the grape vines, so spring is almost here. Food is easy to get in small shops within a 5 kilometres radius. It is 18-20 degrees C and now we are having sunshine.  The Carrefore Market is like the Ballard Market and has everything, even toilet paper. It is 6.5 kilometres away, closer than COSTCO to my apartment.

Isolation is the biggest problem for me.  I can’t see you or talk to you, but time and space are intellectual concepts.  If I were home, I couldn’t visit you or hug my daughter and her husband or my granddaughter which means there is no difference between being 6-8 miles away in Seattle and being 5154 miles in Bordeaux. The platforms on the internet like What’s App shrink the distance dramatically.  I remember when I went to Ghana in 1961. A letter took at least 2 weeks to make a one way trip.

Getting sick is a subject that one must think about since this is an infectious disease epidemic. The French health care system is at least equal to ours.  My biggest handicap is my lack of facility in French.  I’m getting better.  I’m about up to a refugee level who has been stranded in a country for 6 months. Necessity is the mother of invention. I have two good French friends, Corrinne and Guy, who guide me and fill in the gaps.

The other day Corrinne called and said, “Don’t go shopping.  I’m going so give me your list and I’ll do it for you.”  Almost simultaneously, Guy arrived with the form I need to have in my pocket if I leave the house.  It spells out what I am out of the house to do.  With friends like them I will survive.

This a surreal time for the world.  All the givens are up for grabs. I feel lucky to have relatively good options.  Two of my Democratic friends have already died in Seattle, both over 65.   That's in a town with the best health care system and practitioners. Keep safe, wash your hands and I'll be back soon.    

Q-2 Happy St. Patrick’s day

No need to hop out of bed so I arose at 8:23, began by a weigh-in 91.9 kg, dressed and ate the heel of yesterday’s baguette with goose pate. Then off to see the world.  My episcerie, Chez Joelle is open and I bought expresso, pain Chocolat, a demi Baguet and the Newspaper, Sud Ouest, for 3,65 euros.

Then the adventure into quarantine began in earnest. I drove 6.5 kilometres  to the city, Lesparre in the foolish hope that my French class,7 souls, might be still be on because it was less than 10 people.  My hopes were dashed by the closed iron gates to the old post office building.

No problem.  Off to the local coffee roaster, La Maison D’artemis to get a second expresso and some human contact. The manager told me I could buy and carry-out but no seating was allowed by the Presidential  order. A favorite lunch spot, La Brochetterie, was closed but the Laverie was open and machines were running.

I’m saving my trip to the grocery store, so I have some place to see people today. We often want to get away from people, but we want to control it, not an official government order. Social isolation forces you back inside yourself more than many of us want to experience. I was never very enamored of retreats when you spent 2-3 days in silence. I do enough introspection by myself.  Contact with people is a welcome relief from being with me and my thoughts.

I just got an What’s App St. Patrick’s day card from a friend in Belfast. We tried to talk on What’s App, which is the preferred European  communication, but technology wasn’t flawless today. So he will try later.  Perhaps the internet goblins will let us talk.

Last week I went to the Café Polyglot, a local once a month coffee klatch where people are speaking German, English and American, Spanish and French. I met a woman who lives in my village of Civrac.  She was there on Sunday evening when they counted the votes in our municipal election. I saw her and she and her husband invited me to her home so Im going go and try to understand what happened in a village of 400+ voters.  I think the Mayor lost his majority.  So great change is about t happen in a village that has church and government  school but no store or restaurant or bar.  It does have a post office and a library open 8 hours a week. Which brings me to books.

I pray to god, Amazon, who says she will bring me some more reading material in English by the end of March.  Does Quarantine apply to UPS trucks?  I’ve seen them last week but that was before the D’eluge. I’m down to two good books but I may descend to the trash novels people have left in my bathroom.

This 500 words is a reflection of what isolation does to this person in the best wine country in the world.  

This man Plans and god Laughs

I came to France to escape distractions, so I could work on a book that has been in my head for a long time. As I arrived here, the COVID19 virus emerged in Wuhan, China on the Yangtze River.  I visited there in 1982 when Seattle went to China to establish a sister city relationship with Chongqing. The eruption of the virus seemed a long way away then and now.

38 Years later, I'm sitting in Civrac-en-Medoc, population less than 1000. Yesterday they had the municipal elections in every town in France. If your town is more than 1000 voters you can vote a straight ticket by selecting a list. Couqueques has more than 1000 voters and so their election was called by 7:15 pm.  My candidate and good friend, Guy Durand St. Omer won.   In Queyrac with more than a 1000 voter, my good friend and restaurant owner Myriame Roure knew by 7:45 she lost 450-215.

But in Civrac with 450 voters, voter can select from all lists so every candidates’s votes must be counted.  I live next to the Community hall where all this was going on so I stuck my head in. 135 people were still there at 10:00 Pm when I went home to bed. The paper today says the result are not in yet. 

On Saturday night I ate dinner in Myriame’s restaurant and she had just seen on TV that all restaurants in France will be closed on Monday(today).  She was more devastated by losing her business than losing an election.  She hoped it would only be for two weeks.  It will be very hard after that.

I have an Irish friend who has been bugging me to see his friend, also a psychiatrist in Bordeaux.  Today I succumbed and called Michael in Bordeaux.  He is involved in the medical system in the University and told me, “Stay where you are. Stay at home. The president will make a big announcement tonight.  The whole country is going to be locked down for probably 45 days. People can go out to get food but otherwise social isolation is the order of the day.”

I brought 8 books with me to read but I’m down to my last two.  I hope Amazon can deliver some in 2 weeks as promised. Who knows.

Reading has always been my place of solace since childhood. Today I’m starting a book called “A Gentleman in Moscow.” It is the tale of a man who is sentenced by the Bolsheviks to stay inside the Metropole Hotel under, essentially, house arrest.

It struck me as I started to read, that this my life unfolding in front of my eyes.  I have been in France now for six weeks and there is no end in sight.  I’m safe and I have food and money and toilet paper. I speak very poor French and I’m an American epidemic Refugee.  My president has excluded me and then took it back, but I’d have problems moving in France due to the Quarantine. I thought what a wonderful blog topic.

So that’s my plan, God.  Have a laugh!!!