On the eleventh day at the eleventh hour......... I walked down to the town after breakfast to watch the Armistice Day ceremony on Place Le Clerc at the war memorial. There was a fair wee crowd as the small brass band wound its way around the narrow streets followed by some old soldiers, members of the gendarmerie municipale, some pompiers and other dignitaries. The band stopped some distance from the memorial itself whilst those and such as those stood in front of the flagpole at the memorial.
It was about 10.30 and the ceremony would take up those last 30 minutes until 11 o'clock itself. The flag was hoisted solemnly, flowers were laid at the foot of the memorial and various proceedings were to follow; the most notable of which was when a small group of children responded as each of the names of the local soldiers who had fallen in various wars were read out by the Marie.
Several speeches followed which I couldn't follow at all. The ceremony was concluded when two ex-soldiers were presented with medals by some dignatory on behalf of the President of France; one ex-soldier received his for services to the nation and the other ex-soldier received his for services overseas. The band struck up again and led the assembly off on another wee tour of the streets as everyone else dispersed and the church clock showed eleven.........Funnily enough, I can't recall the bells chiming??
I made my way back up to the supermarket for last minute shopping as the rest of the day would be marked by everything shutting and people remaining in their homes. And in keeping with French customs, that's exactly what I did.
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