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Thurs Oct 2. Lille.

On my way to the train station in Lens I chanced on a very large march led by trade unions. Across France there are on-going protests against government restraint policies.  It felt very good to see all sorts of groups marching together - ecologists, clearly identified socialists, the big unions.  The “Internationale” was blaring out (what a great song that is - full of pride and hope).   People of all ages, lots of flags, and lots of support from townspeople who weren’t marching.

A 40 minute local train ride got me to Lille. I have no particular desire to see Lille, but I can get the Eurostar train here back to London.  A photo near the two train stations (local and international) in Lille.

I haven’t talked much about reading lately. It is interesting what happens when one just picks up books a bit haphazardly as one passes through places.  The “Epic of Gilgamesh” (Mesopotamia c. 2000 BC) reminded me strongly of how stories all throughout the world echo each other and of how human traits are constant over the centuries.  The story hinges in large part on the crucial importance of friendship.  Gilgamesh’s bond with Enkidu (a friend created for him by the gods) converted him from a tyrant into a good ruler.

Then came a book by Patrick Modiano, a French author post WWII.  His universe is Paris, a Paris seen through eyes distorted by the German occupation, collaboration and resistance. A world where people have trouble saying who they are, where they are, what is happening around them.  On my phone I found a film directed by Louis Malle with writing by Modiano,”Lacombe, Lucien” that tells an almost unbearable (for me, anyway) story of a teenager who becomes a collaborator.

Yesterday I picked up a book in a bookstore because I liked the first paragraph (Rachid Benzine, “Les silences des pères”.) Turns out it is about Maroccan men recruited in the 1960s to work in the mines at Lens.  Brought in first by French government recruiters as strike breakers.  How their silence protected their French-born children from knowing about what their fathers had endured.  A book I’ll keep, along with another by a local author, Varetz, about his difficult revisit of a mining town where he grew up. Like Modiano, Varetz personifies the town to convey how deep the impact of place is on people.

Old Lille at night - obvious attempts to make this downtown shopping area street look interesting!




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