Extra Post: Watching the Olympics in La Rochelle

This morning  the papers are full of the devastation wrought by the fierce storm that ripped through the region early Sunday morning. Many people are dead and injured and there has been much damage to property. It might have been a lot worse had there not been considerable warning time. Posters were up around the La Rochelle harbour on Saturday afternoon warning people not to park near the water. Totally disregarding these warnings, we set out for a concert in Rochefort, about 40 km away, only to discover it was cancelled because of the storm. We were bemused as the weather then was mild and calm. When the 150 km gusts began screaming down the street, we were very glad to be safely at home! The only damage we noticed from our window was the complete devastation of the dubious deck of les gars. The whole thing is now a pile of lumber, sitting in a jumble on top of their roof proving the dodginess of the construction.

We had to work hard to participate in the Olympic Games. Because of the time difference, nearly all the competitions were in the early morning hours, 1-4 AM, so seeing it live wasn't really an option. We followed on French TV, feeling grumpy and out of it.  We must quickly say that their coverage was extensive and well done, beginning every evening around 8 PM with at least 3 commentators for each event. The problem for us was that they gave the most coverage to French athletes. Quite right too, but it left us in the dark about the Canadians. What a slice of culture! The commenting was quite different from what we are used to, full of hyperbole and Gallicisms. David cracked up every time he heard: "Oooh, la, la, la, la!" They were fiercely nationalistic: all French athletes were potential winners. But when they began to drop behind, the comments became mercilessly critical. Poor Brian Joubert, the figure skating champion, fell in his short program. Before we knew it, he was totally discounted and was being called " une humiliation totale pour la France". Poor guy, he might have picked up in the long program had he had some support!

We were frustrated to discover that the TV channels, CTV and NBC, streaming video in North America prohibited anyone from anywhere else from tuning in. So even the computers seemed useless. The official Olympic WEB site offered statistics but were slow in updating. At last, Mr. Technician solved our problem! David, after endless searching, found an HD channel internet feed to Europe that had live and recorded versions of almost everything. No commentary and  it stopped every 15 minutes for a GE
commercial . . . aaargh . . . the same one, over and over but now we were able to see what was happening.

So by the second week we were with the Canadian team, cheering them on and feeling very proud. There didn't seem to be a lot of  interest in La Rochelle. The sports pages of the local newspaper had football and rugby for several pages before a one page coverage of the J.O (Jeux Olympiques). The man who runs the local health food store explained to me that the rochelais are far keener on the sports of summer. The other customer in the store agreed. But I reminded them of their great skiers of the 60s and 70s and they admitted that things have gone downhill (my pun, not theirs)!! They were amazed to discover that Canada's population is so small and remarked that we had done even better than they had thought. Ludovic, the manager at Women Fitness, has been watching a lot and seems quite delighted to let me know how pleased he has been to see Canada winning so many gold medals. And our new French teacher, Sylvie, was making jokes like ours about the language of the French commentators.

The ice hockey game last night was a wonderful finish and here the commentators were lovely. With no French team to cheer on, they took on the Canadians with enormous enthusiasm. There was little attempt to be neutral as they explained that they would cheer for "les cousins". With them was Roch Voisine who turned out to be a real hockey enthusiast and did a great job explaining and revving up the spirits. All three men enthusiastically explained hockey's place in Canadian life, telling people that all over Canada there were crowds like the ones inside and outside the Vancouver rink. And there was our little 'crowd' of two, groaning and cheering. Great fun and a proud moment!

French Toilets 101

Let's talk about French toilets. First of all, French homes invariably have the toilet in a separate room. It goes by a variety of names Les W.C. (derived from English "water closet"), les toilettes, les cabinets (de toilette), les vécés. Old-fashioned euphimisms are le nécessaire or le petit coin. We have a fine toilet room--with a Chagall reproduction no less. However, if you look carefully you will notice that there is NO heat. As there is no heat in the hallway either, it can be pretty uncomfortable in winter. This is a universal characteristic of all the toilets I have visited so far in France--no heat. The separation of the toilet from the actual bathroom (salle de bains) is typical in France and not unusual in England. After looking at the London house we eventually lived in during the 1960s, my mother suddenly said: "There are definitely three bathrooms but where are the toilets?" Sure enough they weren't in the bathrooms.

Why is it that the toilet and bathroom are separated here? Is it just an accident of history or is there a deeper perspective at work? Moving the toilet from the outhouse into the home is fairly recent in French farm houses where this often occurred around the 1950s or early 60s. In cities, the addition of toilets in older buildings may have been complicated by space and plumbing limitations. However, now that there is a choice, they continue to remain separate rooms.  Apartment ads show separate "salle de bains" and "W.C." often listed as a selling point, so putting them together seems to be viewed as a serious disadvantage. So far, no one has been able to explain this separation to me although under the conversation, I sense a feeling that it is not quite 'comme il faut' to have everything together. Perhaps it is a question of hygiene?


And then there is the more serious business of public toilets. Sadly, the old-fashioned urinals seem to have disappeared as interesting cultural icons on French streets. They were a great amusement and amazement to us when we lived here in the 50s. In one of her letters home, my mother comments that my brother, three at the time, . . . "is going to break a blood vessel soon if Herb (my father) doesn't take him into a pissoir." As a ten year old, I think I was far more interested in the men who used the side of the street instead! This is a rarely seen custom these days. The pissoirs have been replaced by super modern automatic toilets that take a bit of getting used to. First of all, you must at all times keep 30 centimes in your purse or pocket. As you approach the cabin, you note if the small coloured dot is red (occupied) or green (available). If green, you pop in your centimes, enter and the door slams closed--and automatically locks!--behind you. The floor may be wet because it is sluiced down after every use. An important caution: the door will open automatically after 15 minutes. I have not experienced this--yet--but it seems it actually opens wide to the world. So be quick! Here is a cautionary tale from another blog: http://www.travellady.com/issues/June05)

My teenage son thought he could save a few coins by ducking in whilst someone was exiting. No doubt he had forgotten my warnings of earlier and was promptly sanitised -- the toilet received no payment so thought it was empty and retracted the toilet bowl into the wall (with him still on it), then sprayed him with sterilizer.

Finding a toilet in a restaurant or public building may be a bit more relaxing. Remember to use one of the words listed above. If you ask for the salle de bains, people will be perplexed, thinking you want to take a bath. Generally, you will see a sign Toilettes or WC pointing you in the correct direction. However, do not choke if you walk into a sort of lobby with hand washbasins and see a urinal in great prominence! Continue on to the toilet room and then listen carefully before you emerge to wash your hands. If you are lucky, the urinal will be in a separate toilet room and you and the man who has just used it can wash your hands together. Sometimes you will come across a toilet with no seat. Those of you who have travelled in Cuba and Asia will be used to the

crouch  and hover technique required to deal with this. And, if you have perfected this technique, you will have no difficulty with this toilet! Yes, they still exist although to be fair this is the only one I have seen so far. It was beautifully clean and sanitized. If you have never used a squat  toilet,
do have a look at:

http://current.newsweek.com/2009/06/video_how_to_use_a_squat_toile.html

You can practise up and have a laugh!

Bon courage !