Fest Noz and stuff

The Bretons are very fond of socialising and much of this is done with organised events such as the Raclette we were due to attend with Marie-Pascale and Eric during our last stay, but regular readers will know of the events which led to us missing that.

Every event is advertised with posters usually home printed on A4 paper. These posters are everywhere but can be seen 'en bloc' in such places as the village hall and local shops etc. In Corlay the Proxi Super is a small franchise supermarket. English readers will liken it to a Spar or Londis. One window is taken over with posters for locally organised events, and they are never out of date! There are posters for a Raclette here, a Fest Noz (feast night) there or a 'loto' (bingo, I presume) elsewhere. There are also regular cultural events , ranging from outdoor festivals in the spring and summer to indoor concerts and recitals in the autumn and winter. Again these can be a small local event or a large city or regionally organised festivals.

There always seems to be opportunities for socialising, one need never be alone in Brittany. We are really looking forward to this aspect of French life. One noteworthy aspect of the French social life is that it invariablyseems to involve the family rather than individuals or couples.

In the village where I live in England there are some organised events but these tend to cater for specialist interest groups and individuals. For example there will be a WI meeting, a reading group or a' young farmers' club 'do' and these tend to create cliques by, rightly or wrongly, seeming less inviting to outsiders.

The ain centre of social life in England almost invariably revolves around the pub (or two in our case) but this again tends to engender small group socialisation between coherent relatively homogenous groups, usually men and occasionally groups of married couples or females. The bar does not have such an important social role in France.

The family tends not to have a place in social England, Children are not permitted into public houses except where there are designated dining areas and only in areas where alcohol is not being served. Even when the law is ignored, and children are allowed in, their behaviour often leaves much to be desired and they are made unwelcome by normal partrons. As a growing child I can only remember a few occasions when the family socialised and that was within the extended family groups, we might get together for a knees up atChristma, or Grans birthday or some other notable family occasion such as weddings and funerals. It appears that this is still the case but diminishing as family relationships become complicated by divorce and second marriages.

We were much more likely to be left in the 'kids' room with a packet of crisps and a bottle of 'pop' and left to our own devices. A bit like 'Lord of the Flies'. This all too often seems to still be the case. However there are now few 'children's rooms'. They are not an attractive financial option. so you end up with a situation we came across recently.

While having a quiet Friday lunch and drink in a local pub, the landlord allowed a group of young mums and (one) dad to bring their young children into a bar area. Quite against the law but often tolerated. The young parents had a few drinks and ignored the children, leaving them to their own resources. The children were merely toddlers and were soon on hands and knees crawling across the carpet. They then decided to use the stools which were around to build barriers across doorways and passageways. No response from the parents, no attempt to control or modify the behaviour No family cohesion, they just wanted to behave as single people once again. The landlord seemed incapable of stopping the action. The children growing up not knowing how to behave in a socially responsible manner. Needless to say we haven't eaten there since. People say that I am intolerant of children when I complain. I am not, I am intolerant of bad behaviour. That appears to be the difference.

The French, like other European societies seem to place a greater importance on the family. I look forward to finding out if this is so.