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VILLAGE TROPHIES
One day in the village I overheard one of the villagers talking to his cousin who lived in the next village. The cousin was saying “Last week we had a new road sign put up in our village”. Our neighbour in reply said “The Mayor is talking about putting up street lights in our village”.
Each response was obviously meant to prove that each other’s village was more important and lively than the others, an important thing for a wine farmer who sees little outside the village, except for his vines. When finally our neighbour could think of nothing more to boast about against the claims of his cousin, he thought for a few minutes and then said “Oh, but we have got two English people living in our village”. I was never sure if the cousin had finally admitted defeat, or whether he had decided that no response was called for, but the conversation died at that point.
THE REVOLUTION TREE
When France was celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Revolution it was decided that each village would plant a tree in commemoration. Our house was next to the church and when we first moved into the village the churchyard had become overgrown.
Carol and I decided to clean it and to care for the plants, also to plant some new ones. After a while, the garden was beginning to look quite nice, and was being used again by the villagers.
One day a workman from the Marie arrived carrying “the tree”. I was in our garden when I heard the man call me. “Where do you want me to plant this tree?” I explained to him that as an Englishman, I was hardly qualified to tell a Frenchman where to plant a tree to commemorate the Revolution.
However he was insistent, and reluctantly I pointed out to him where I thought, was, perhaps, the best position. He then dug a hole and planted the tree, whilst I held it upright to enable him to refill the hole with earth. I therefore claim the honour, of being the only Englishman to have planted an official Revolution tree in France. After some years the tree flourishes.
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