This morning next door’s cockerel Victor was in full voice. It may be that Giselle and Daniel
Have invested in some new chickens. This usually produces some extra effort from Victor and he usually starts early in the morning and he goes through a full repertoire of crowing.

Of course, it is relevant to remember that the cock is a French national symbol and this led me to seeking an explanation as to how a humble chicken got to such an elevated position. The Latin word Gallus means both "rooster" and "inhabitant of Gaul". As a result, it became associated with Gaul, which was the original tribe which eventually became France.  Certain ancient coins bore a rooster. 


The French Coq

In the Middle Ages, the Gallic Rooster was widely used as a religious symbol, the sign of hope and faith. It was during the Renaissance that the rooster began to be associated with the emerging French nation. Under the Valois and the Bourbon kings, the royal effigy was often accompanied by this animal, meant to stand for France, in engravings and on coins. Although still a minor emblem, the rooster could be found at both the Louvre and Versailles.
 
The Revolution established the rooster as the representation of the Nation’s identity. It featured on the écu coin. Napoleon replaced the Republic with the Empire and the rooster with the eagle, for as the Emperor said: "The rooster has no power, he cannot be the image of an empire the likes of France."
 
After a period of absence, the July revolution of 1830 rehabilitated the image of the rooster, and the Duke of Orleans signed an order providing that the rooster should appear on the flags and uniform buttons of the National Guard.

During the First World War, rising patriotic feeling made the Gallic rooster the symbol of France’s resistance and bravery in the face of the Prussian eagle. Use of this representation, by political cartoonists, gained ground, and the rooster became the symbol of a France sprung from peasant origins, proud, opinionated, courageous and prolific. Abroad as well the rooster symbolized France, even if it was not an animal everyone attributed with purely positive features.

While the rooster is not an official symbol of the Republic, it still stands for a certain idea of France. In the collective imagination, particularly in the area of sports, it remains the best illustration of the Nation. On a more humorous note, it is also said that the French chose the cock as a symbol because it is the only bird that will sing while standing in a pile of farmyard manure!

We have our own options for a La Godefrere symbol. Possibly our little owl would do but he has already been taken by the city of Athens. However, I think that probably the bird that reflects best the strangeness of La Godefrere must be the starling that has an amazing range of mimicking calls. We used to refer to it as the buzzard starling as it had a full range of buzzard calls. However, in recent weeks the starling seems to have developed a little owl impression and a range of calls. Not only does this cause confusion for me but also for the cats who usually associate the owl’s alarm call with a dive bombing attack! You see the cats ducking and heading for cover when it is the starling!


The little owl (not the starling) on our new perching point

It is now the bicycle season for me and for the past week I have started to ride the bike around the local roads and countryside. Of course, to start with I have limited the distance and made sure that the route has no significant hills. Luckily the countryside is very flat with a few odd hills. To track my exploits my daughter Jo bought me a GPS tracker to record all my trips out. Once I had managed to understand how the technology works (a major brain challenge). Anyway, it not only records and produces a map of the route but also calculates average speed, distance and time with a use of calorie check.

At the end of the ride it tells you how you have done. This week it tells me that I have achieved a new record for time. I let Mrs. Parish know how well I have done, but she unhelpfully points out that this was the first ride so it must be a record! Mind you, it is just as well it doesn’t record how slowly I ride at time when there is an uphill bit. This morning I went for a 16km ride which includes a bit of a hill which I attempted and gradually got into a lower and lower gear so I was almost stationery. Even the buzzards started circling round as they though I wouldn’t make it.


Moggie considers joining me on a cycle ride

It is tax return time here in France and so Mrs. Parish and I spent a rainy morning sat with calculator in hand and our financial records spread out across the table. We file our tax return on line which is supposed to be easier. It is complicated as we have to record income that is generated in the UK as well as income from our gite which while paid into an English bank account is generated in France. So, complex international finance and the value of the Euro depending on the outcome.

At midday, we hear the church bell which tells everyone that it is lunch time. I suggest to Mrs. Parish that we adjourn to a local restaurant for lunch. I reason that not only have we earned a treat and that probably in France the cost of lunch during completing tax forms must be tax deductible!

It has been a lovely sunny day here and we have spent the afternoon sat in the garden with the cats who have had a good week. We had a cat loving couple in the gite who had cat treats and had some for the cats every time they came out to their car. So, the cats are very smug and have also had some sunny days to explore and to find places to sleep.


Archie finds yet another place to sleep in the mower bag

It is now late afternoon and the final day of the football season has just finished. It must be time for a drink, if only I can get my legs working, they are suffering after that 16km cycle ride this morning. Oh well the effort will be worth it.

Bon courage
Graham