Why am I going...

To illustrate what draws me to France I will relate something that happened to me on a fall evening in a small village...


A few years ago, when I was living in France, I was traveling on my motorcycle in the evening through Normandy enjoying the sites and smells of the country side. I love traveling through the countryside, especially in the evening with the rusty smells of fall are heavy, the sun is low, the air is cool and the shadows are long.

I had slowed as I approached a small village and when I drove through the middle of town, I noticed a large old truck was pulled up and parked at the end of the village square and most of the village people were all sitting around it on the steps of store fronts and in the grass. I parked my moto and walked over to the square so I could see around the side of the truck and was amazed at what I saw. Moving quietly, I took a seat in the grass and was transported back 6oo years in France’s history as I saw a sight that I had never thought I would see in modern time.

The back and the side of the truck walls were swung open and inside the truck was a reproduction of a rural family home. The inside walls of the truck had windows, small book shelves and knick knacks and the floor had all the makings of a small room with table and chairs, a fire place, lamps and a circular stair way to the roof where another room was set up.

Two woman and two men were dressed in peasant clothing and they were enacting a play for the citizens of the village. It was a play about life and love and regrets and in the end a reconciliation with a wondering son and his father. In the end they took a bow and passed a hat around the square.

I left the village in wonder and thought to myself where else would I see such a sight. I felt my self privileged to see and experience a part of the surviving culture and heritage that lingers in the French countryside.

I never will forget that fall evening in the Normandy.