So, I saw these two swans standing calmly on the edge of the weir and I thought maybe one was saying to the other “dinnae fash yersel” – or don’t worry/don’t get upset……..and how that attitude then turned out to be typical of this part of the world.
Not long after moving to the Charente region of France I was in the Orange shop trying to organise a phone line, broadband, a French mobile….and the assistant was on her computer trying to set me up with a new account. Something went wrong and she had to phone for help. After a few minutes of clicking here and there and conversing with her support line, she said “Soyons Zen” and finished her call. “C’est ça”. That was it sorted, our account was created and off we went.
I liked the phrase “Soyons Zen”, which means something like “Let’s be Zen”, or “Let’s stay Zen”. I think that little exchange says so much about the quality of life in this part of the world. Repeatedly I’ve found people helpful, friendly and not inclined to get agitated or upset easily. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but the Charente river has the reputation of being a calm, flowing river through these parts.
One of the nearby villages is Segonzac, which is a signed up member of the “Cittaslow” movement.
I do think there’s something about this environment which seems to generate this attitude to life.
Which makes me wonder…..how much does our physical environment influence the way we experience life?
Your comment about the local attitude of life reminds me an experience I lived when I came to Charente and started to renovate a rather big house.
Once during the renovation, I went to a neighbour who is a distiller. When he asked me about works, I started to complain about the plumber who had not come that morning. My neighbour took two glasses and served a cognac from his grandfather. Then he told me “this cognac was produced by my grandfather 50 years ago. I don’t know how hard it was to distil it. But today we enjoy to taste it together. It is the same with your house. Into 50 years who will remember the plumber ? You ? Even no sure, but everyone will enjoy to stay in the house. So relax and give a bit of time to time…”
In other words, to get the best of things and people, we have sometime to be patient. In Charente, we live at the pace of the eau-de-vie, a good way to forget superfluous things, thanks to the gods and their liqueur !