53. Brits in France

I know, 'Brits' is somewhat derogatory, I should say 'Britons' but it looks too much like 'Bretons' which is the name in French for the inhabitants of Brittany, whereas inhabitants of Britain are usually referred to, in French, as 'les Anglais'. Note that Brittany takes double 't' while Britain takes a single 't', but Britons and Bretons really look identic. A little ribald song in French will perhaps help here to identify the Bretons as opposed to the Britons. Bretons of Brittany with double 't' are said to wear round hats, wherehas Britons of Britain with single 't'... well, anyway, here's the little song:

Ils ont des chapeaux ronds,
Vive la Bretagne,
Ils ont des chapeaux ronds,
Vive les Bretons.

What prompts me to write a post entitled 'Brits in France' is my recent reading of a small great book entitled 'French Flea Bites' by a world reknown Briton under the name of George East. Mr East travels in France, lives in French villages and writes hilarious passages about his encounters with the strange French folks of France including the Bretons. He is usually to be found west of a line running roughly from Greenwich to Perpignan, tasting the chicken feed prepared in a cauldron by his farming neighbour for his chickens. You can usually find the recipe of what he's been tasting. Or, organising a boot sale whereby local inhabitants can bargain a single shoe on a stall. And he writes about it all with great gusto and humour.

His latest opus is about the Loire Valley, I think, and it could be published in May this year, if my source for this bit of intelligence is right. What I'll do, as soon as I get my meagre old age pension monthly instalment, is to connect to his website and shop there with a virtual basket for a few more of his real books.

Comments

Anonymous said…
There are also British Bretons.
Yes, indeed! LOL and perhaps also Breton British!!!
Tillerman said…
Yes, you should not call us Brits!

I once had a boss who was Jewish but also had a great sense of humour. Everyone except me on our team was American (including the boss),

One day, somebody made a somewhat derogatory comment about "Brits". I immediately went into an irate, angry rant about how rude it was to call us Brits. "Do you call Jewish people 'Jews'?" No? You call them 'Jewish people'" So please show some respect. We are not 'Brits'. We are 'British people'"

I guess you had to be there.
Can I call you a Yank then??? You seem to have lost your sense of humour. I get called Frog and some insist on serving me frogs for breakfast... (grin)
Tillerman said…
I never had a sense of humour so how could I lose it? You can call me anything you like. Just don't call me late for dinner... (grin)

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