Letters from France - 4th July 1947 - 1

Yesterday afternoon we bathed again - quite a nice pond but feet of oozy mud at the bottom. There were quite a lot of children bathing, as Thursday is a half-day - here anyway. After supper we went into the town to M. Durand's allotment and picked and ate masses of gooseberries and currents etc.

It is not true here that one only says "Merci" when one means "No thankyou". They say it all the time for "Thankyou". Close friends and family kiss on both cheeks every time they meet, and everyone else shakes hands every time, including M. Durand every time he comes in from work etc.

All the children play leisurely in the middle of road, and make no effort to move for bicycles. The cars all toot much louder and longer than in England.

On account of the shutters the windows open inwards. This only occurred to me last night as the reason for a certain amount of inconvenience I was conscious of!

These people drink "wine" with all their big meals - never plain water. But it is scarcely wine. The midday (12.15 approx) and evening meals are huge - I am full after about half the courses! The forks and spoons are placed are placed the other way up from the way we do it in laying the table.

I have just had the final confirmation of the success of the past year's work - the favourable result of my Intermediate exams.

The trains shake the houses like anything as they go past in the night - all the transcontinental ones - to Belgium and so on - they give a fresh thrill every time one goes past - so soon have I caught the travel bug.

M. Durand says these houses are in Moroccan style. Coming back last night several lads who were lounging about shouted at us, remarks that I partly understood!, and Lucette asked me if the young men are "bêtes" in England too, to which I of course replied yes! (Best translated as "stupid" or "foolish" I think.)

On the wireless yesterday I heard a French translation of an English hit-tune "The Gypsy". They had kept the original word "gypsy" however.

This morning we went to the market - partly open air, and partly under-cover. Very like an English market, of course, tho' some of the goods appeared of better quality than in those English ones of my acquaintance. That is difficult to judge, however. There are some very pleasant sunhats worn, of straw, and a sort of panama. A lot of the women wear rope soled slippers with canvas tops for knocking about. [Espadrilles] In white or colours, and one pair I've seen embroidered at 6/- approx. I've seen one or two pairs of raffia shoes - the latest hit in London at well over £5 in some cases - and here worn to slop about in and considered impracticable.

I wonder if you remember an old blue leather wallet, with a white thong threaded round the edge and a pattern worked on it, that belonged to Gandee. I saw them in the market this morning!

I am glad I brought tea, otherwise I should have had none, and I find that it is to me what smoking is to most. A bad thing that!

I collected my food tickets this morning from the Town Hall, on presenting my Passport. Unfortunately the bank here won't change my Travelers' Cheques - I must go to Creil 7 miles away.

There is quite a different atmosphere in the French radio programmes, the music especially, tho' I haven't been able to think of a way of describing it yet. They have the radio on nearly the whole time - I haven't managed to grasp much of the set up, except that things are advertized over it. (That may have been Luxembourg.)

Referring back to the meals, the majority of courses are eaten off thee same plate - cleaned between times with bread, and one eats as much as one can with the fork, in the right hand, only relinquishing it to cut up meat now and again.

Several people said to me before I came, something to the effect of "You lucky thing, a month's holiday in France", but I felt at the time - tho' it was hard to explain - what I now find to be true, that to begin with at any rate it is not so much a holiday as a visit. It is quite had work in fact, as I not only have to adjust myself to life in a different country, but in a different type of family also. And of course they get up horribly early (to my way of thinking). I have slept late at 8.15 am. (Well Judith, you used to get up at 6.45 - Yes, but they sup rather late at night too, and I can always sleep until 10 am quite happily.) Lucette is ready to go shopping by 9 or 9.15, having accomplished half the "ménage" [housework]. So at the moment it is not so much of a holiday as I could have wished for.

Englishmen are not the only ones to shout at foreigners as tho' deaf. Lucette does it a bit too.