Saturday we visited our old picnic spot. I have seen it all of the seasons now – well, all of our seasons in the South of France. After eating and drinking plus spilling a bit of wine, we slept. Remi in the sun, me in the shade and the dogs alternating back and forth between the two. When I woke up, they were restless and so we did the stroll around the perimeter of the vines, the one that I always do, slowly, consciously, as if I were the owner of the land. As if I belonged there.
The sun was piercingly bright, reverberating off the edges of the blue, blue sky. So much so that I couldn’t really see what I was doing in taking my photos, those photos, some souvenirs. But I kept clicking away, nonetheless. Pointing at shadows, zooming aimlessly towards forms and definitions. I was walking blind.
This morning, I feel the same for France. In yesterday’s elections for the European Union, the Front National party won the day with 25% of the vote and claiming victory in 71 out of France’s 101 départements. By doing so, they will now have the greatest number of seats out of the political parties in representing the country for the EU Parliament – which in itself is ironic as the FN wants out of the Union entirely. Today there has been much discussion with some proclaiming that the real tragedy is that 57% of the population did not vote which means that roughly just over 10% of the French chose the FN. Over half did not vote and this is the result. I am reeling, exhausted with disappointment and fear. How else is a foreigner living in this country supposed to feel?
Do I understand that the French economy is not really recovering and that people are frustrated to extremes by a perceived lack of options? I do. But “to extremes”? Just as with that walk I keep taking, I will keep repeating, “Have we learned nothing from History?” France lived through the Second World War. There are those in these streets that knew what it was for Arles to have been occupied by the Nazis. In the United States it is Memorial Day. We are called upon to give respect for those that have fought, who have served and those who lost their lives in the process. We have to remember. To understand what was and what can be.
I want to hear the details of proposed policies beyond ideologies from the Front National party. For this election is solid proof that they are indeed advancing even if stumbling forward while shouting at the sun.
For those of you that read French, you can see an outline of the FN’s suggested policies: here.
Thank you for being here, thank you for reading…
N, I am sorry to have given you a dizzy spell but I am so glad that you chimed in here – I was really curious to hear a POV about what is going on in the UK. And yes!!! If the da*n press wasn't so busy talking about the FN perhaps they wouldn't have had the success that they did…*grrr*
Thanks, Silke! And enjoy the book – it will change your mind, it is a really fun read. Thanks for buying a fellow writers (and friends) work!
Bisous,
H
This gave me hope Emilia. Thank you so very,very much for being such a wonderful guide and teacher. Your students are so lucky to have you…
There are things hard to explain but I love all the photos: the green and the grey and those intertwining vines, even the clouds.
Have a safe trip to your other home and Mom.
It is sad that more than half did not vote here either and the populists are gaining all over Europe. However, I believe many people are so deeply disappointed in their politicians with the never-ending austerity measures hitting the general public (often favouring the interests of the shareholders of large companies) that they have gone to extremes as a protest, not necessarily because they would support the ideas of the populist parties. The traditional parties should learn from this: to find out what are the reasons behind the general dissatisfaction and change their own politics to improve the situation of the man in the street, not that of capital. Isn't that the only peaceful way to change the world for the better for everyone? I am not entirely confident man is wise enough to do it this way but I am hopeful.
Oh, well thank you Heather for this article. After having slept over the whole thing I calmed down a bit. (:
Still, it is disappointig that so many people in France did not go to vote. Even if there should be no real identification with other parties it was clear that with a low participation the far right gains.
But enough for today, Heather it will do you good to see and think about something else the next weeks.
I wish you a lot of fun and that the trip will 'recharge your batteries' (;
Gros bisous,
Silke
PS: I ordered "Its in his Kiss" at amazon.fr because at amazon.de it was not available. I recieved it two days later in the same time that the books from Germany arrrived. C'est un des avantages de EU…
Slim, in my frustration re apathy, especially people who don't vote, I imagine a way that remarks and comments by non voters would show up in a different font as they rage against this or that or how their voice isn't heard. Or in a passive aggressive vein, show up in almost impossible to read palest yellow.
There are few things as frustrating as apathy, in my opinion.
Dear Heather, tuning in from Sofia today as I was sent here for a few days by my company. And what can I add to what you have beautifully written? Even in Malta the Far Right got 8000 votes. Some people were calling it a protest vote against the two big political parties. But it was not. There were other candidates that could have been given a protest vote (political thinking on our island is very skewed and immature but I won't go into that here). So no, it was not a protest vote but a conscious choice. Which is frightening, yes. But I cannot say I am surprised. After the last war, Europe lost the plot. Too many people have been given too much for free by governments who thought that the good years would last forever. And to top all that I think that too many liberties have been given to people of other religions and cultures. I know that that sounds harsh. But if is a fact. And when you try to superimpose these cultures on existing traditions which pre-date the Roman Empire, then trouble starts to brew. This continent has, unfortunately, always been a hotbed of strife and, in one way or another, I believe some type of trouble will rear its ugly head again soon.
What a startling contrast between your idyllic photos and prose of political unrest…