Tuesday, June 12, 2012

" You old scoundrel ! "






It's been raining solidly for four days. The little market town deserted. The election posters peeling off the billboards. Angus goes to the post office with a parcel of books from Amazon. The carton has burst and three of the books are soaked through . Why the post lady would have left them outside in the downpour is a mystery . The post master can't understand why they've been left outside either . He agrees to return them but blames Amazon for putting too many books in the box. '' Books are heavy you know " he says by way of explanation. Angus unsure of how to respond , nods .

Home to find that Madame Bay is at the breakfast table relaying the latest village goings on to ' the font ' . Today she is in a chintz cotton dress , yellow woollen cardigan and paisley headscarve. A pair of blue wellington boots a gesture to the constant rain . It seems the 1500 bottles of Evian we saw being  delivered to the town hall on Saturday morning have been sent by the regional government . They are to be given to the old folk of the village if a '  heat emergency ' is declared . 

The very old farmer showed up at the town hall yesterday morning to demand his share of the water . The mayor patiently explained that he could only hand out the bottles if the temperature exceeds 100 degrees for more than four days in a row.  This is not what the very old farmer wanted to hear .  Madame Bay , coffee cup in one hand, feather duster in the other, then does a more than passable imitation of the old fellow shouting " I fought in the war for the likes of you. I know what your game is , you scoundrel* . You're going to sell them and make yourself a tidy little profit ''. Mayor and the very old farmer are no longer talking to each other .

This does not auger well for the next village committee meeting .Such is the excitement of life in deepest France Profonde .

* Not the exact word used but close enough .

19 comments:

  1. Would it be inappropriate to ask if the old farmer volunteered to fight or was conscripted....

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  2. Heavy reading material in the amazon box. Hope it wasn't something you wanted to read right away.

    Nice someone was thinking there might be a need of waterfor some during a heat wave. Maybe the farmer and the Mayor will be speaking to each other before the next committee meeting.

    Still would like to see Madame Bay in her colorful outfits.

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  3. I'm hopeful that the disagreement between the mayor and the old farmer isn't anything a shared bottle of Perrier or something else with (or without) bubbles can't fix! :-)

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  4. uh oh. since the font is now a member of the esteemed council...
    isn't it just a matter of time until she's drawn into the debacle
    between your neighbor and the mayor.
    poor mayor. he's only a stand-in too. we lost the true little mayor.
    wilf would have said ... "here my friend. have some water.
    and oh... here's a half croissant too."
    wilf was like that.

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  5. What would you do without Madame Bay to keep you up on all the town gossip?

    Cindy

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  6. It seems world wide is getting a good soaking, we had our fair share over the weekend as well. Complete with tornado warnings! Fingers crossed that the heat does not reach over 100 for any days in a row. That's just cruel!

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  7. The little market town is so beautiful!

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  8. I agree with rottrover, lovely little town. We are a bit soggy here too but I will take soggy over snowy!

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  9. Better books than chocolates. Our carrier seems to think that the sun won't melt chocolate left outside our door!

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  10. Only 100 degrees and for only four days is an emergency! Sounds like a blessed relief to me.

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  11. ouch...rained on books...not so good!...yes it's Amazon's fault...(lol) a nod seems to be the proper and safe response for many situations over there. You seem to have it nailed. !! ;-) How nice is it to have a running summary of the latest drama about town...what a TREASURE Madame Bay continues to be. One of a kind! For the sake of all the other villagers, (besides the old folk) hopefully the water will not have to be dispensed too many times this summer!!! 100 degrees over four days in arow!!!??? FOUR DAYS TOO MANY! Have a good one!

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  12. Can you send the books back to Amazon and have them replaced? I would!

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  13. I ordered twenty four 500cc bags if IV fluids and twenty four IV lines for my cat. What usually arrives in a tidy brown carton arrived in a large heavy gage plastic sack. Inside were 24 completely ruptured IV bags with all of the fluid soaking through the IV line packages. With this sopping, useless mess was a small sticker stating. "Damaged in Transit".
    We have not seen rain in so long. How we'd welcome it!

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  14. Well, I guess the old farmer told him! How does Madame Bay get around everywhere to hear and see all the fantastic stuff that she does?

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  15. Oh no, a rift in the village.

    Our auntie once got a letter with 'photographs, do not bend' and someone had written underneath 'oh, yes they do'! Leaving parcels in the rain may be a pay back for having to work in the rain.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  16. What a disappointment to receive a box of damaged books; hope the replacements arrive in fair weather - and before you leave on your travels. Do French post offices hold your holiday mail for you like U.S. post offices will?

    So what happens to the bottled water if there aren't 4 consecutive days of 100+ days this summer? Does the regional government send a big truck to load it up and take it away again? Infer you live in a drought-prone area, if the regional government fears the taps may run dry in a heatwave. What about infants and children during a heatwave induced drought; don't they need special hydration care, too? This glimpse into French bureaucracy is most interesting.

    Jed & Abby

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  17. The region may have been wiser to provide a few free water butts! Blue skies here this morning.....I'm sure it won't last but hoping for the best! I'm off to walk Merlin while the going's good.

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  18. I am intrigued by the size of the tomes peeking out of the rain-soaked box. Holiday reading?

    Joan

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  19. Never a dull moment in deepest France Profonde...the old farmer seems to be a real character, I'm sure he and the mayor will sort themselves out emotionally soon.
    Hope your new book replacements arrive soon for you to enjoy...what a thoughtless postal worker.
    Virginia
    P.S. Hope you and the Font are doing well.

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