The article “They are the true face of France” by Natacha Polony or the summary of the book by Gérald Andrieu “Le peuple de la frontière” (The people at the border; Current Concerns No 27 of 14 November 2017) must be a stab in the heart of anyone who, 20 years ago, toured the rural parts of France or spent holidays there. What has become of France? How severe has the rural population of France been let down! From my school days I remember the books of Marcel Pagnol and other French authors with the description of life in rural areas there. As high school students and students these descriptions tempted us to visit rural France with its humble villages and to stay for the holidays there. We stayed overnight in small hostels, enjoyed to stroll through narrow streets with small craft businesses, shops, bakeries, etc. We experienced there in the villages, what we used to understand by the term “savoir vivre”: simple, frugal and still rich. Much of this spirit is gone today. The devastating analysis of Natacha Polony points out clearly that from the current government Macron there is nothing to be expected that could bring back the spirit to these villages.
Our website uses cookies so that we can continually improve the page and provide you with an optimized visitor experience. If you continue reading this website, you agree to the use of cookies. Further information regarding cookies can be found in the data protection note.
If you want to prevent the setting of cookies (for example, Google Analytics), you can set this up by using this browser add-on.