Our neighbors the ParisiansYou don't see them very often. They live three houses down from us, on the same side of the road. They have a nice, well-maintained house, similar to ours. I don't think they have a car. But they have frequent visitors, judging from the cars parked outside on the road; I assume they are health-care people and house cleaning staff of one sort or another.
I call them « les Parisiens » because that's how another neighbor referred to them one day. I wonder how long they've lived at La Renaudière. Longer than we have, I know that, and that'll soon be five years.
For the record, here's how the back garden looks these days.I've talked to M. le Parisien only once, and never to Madame. It was the day our old dog Collette chased le chat des Parisiens into the bushes across the road from their house. "Your dog chased my cat," M. le Parisien said to me, more as an observation than a reproach.
"The dog is pretty old," I told him, "and at the age of 12 she won't be able to catch the cat anyway." M. le Parisien shrugged his shoulders and turned away to go back into his house. He had been out checking his mailbox.
When we see the Parisians, we always say « Bonjour ! » but that's as far as it goes.
I assume that all neighborhoods have a couple or person like the Parisians. We have one on our street who are nearly recluses and never have any company. I think it's fascinating that humans vary so much on how much socialization they seek. Life is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a neighbour who went further than that, where I lived before. He wouldn't hold the door if he was entering the building before you, he wouldn't say hello or goodbye. It lasted for months until I decided to be just as rude and did the same. It brought me some satisfaction but didn't change his behaviour. ;)
ReplyDeleteClaude from Blogging in Paris