Tranquility
Will hopefully be back tonight. The last three nights have been sorely lacking in that most precious of commodities (at least for us), as the Fun Fair has been going at full blast since Thursday--Wednesday really didn't count.
In fact, the fair itself was perfectly fine and not particularly problematic. Yes, there are the noises from the various rides and games, but that provides mostly a feeling of animation around town. I am, of course, speaking only for the humans in the family. The Border Collie contingent was, in general, not amused.
To be honest, since I got my fill of frites and crepes, that part of the fair could even be called successful. Plus, everyone was in town and we got to visit and chat quite a bit.
No, the problem was the nights. The buvette (drinks stand) was right outside the door and the bandstand was at the corner, about three houses away. Every afternoon, around 6 o'clock, the bands started to set up and "practice," if you can call it that. Mostly it was an excuse for them to crank up the amplifiers and push up the drums and bass. It was so horrid that you could feel the fillings vibrating out of your teeth!
The Cours, lined as it is with old stone houses, basically acted as an amplification chamber, making the sound even louder. Every house had the windows vibrating so badly that we were all worried about the glass breaking. In fact, we had some plaster fall from the ceiling, it was so bad.
The concerts themselves started around 10 pm and ran till 2 am. The worst was on Thursday night, when the sound people actually BOOSTED the sound at 1 am, ripping all of us out of whatever sleep we'd been able to find. Seriously, it wasn't fun for anyone who was not out in the street drinking and listening to the music. If you wanted to sleep, too bad for you. I feel particularly bad for people like our baker, Philippe Corlet, who has to get up at some hideous hour to start baking. I don't think he's gotten any sleep in the last few days.
I DO want to have activity in the village. I'm not against music either. But there really should be some thought into what that music is and how it's going to affect the residents. We're "safe" for next year, as the fair will be on the other side of the village; but why should the people over there suffer? We have a perfectly good stadium outside the village, wouldn't it make more sense to put the music there. Although there are houses across the street, they wouldn't be as "focused" as the houses in the village, and shouldn't suffer as much from the vibration.
Now, it's time to get over it and get back to tranquility. And, not a moment too soon.
Ciao for now!
Randy
In fact, the fair itself was perfectly fine and not particularly problematic. Yes, there are the noises from the various rides and games, but that provides mostly a feeling of animation around town. I am, of course, speaking only for the humans in the family. The Border Collie contingent was, in general, not amused.
To be honest, since I got my fill of frites and crepes, that part of the fair could even be called successful. Plus, everyone was in town and we got to visit and chat quite a bit.
No, the problem was the nights. The buvette (drinks stand) was right outside the door and the bandstand was at the corner, about three houses away. Every afternoon, around 6 o'clock, the bands started to set up and "practice," if you can call it that. Mostly it was an excuse for them to crank up the amplifiers and push up the drums and bass. It was so horrid that you could feel the fillings vibrating out of your teeth!
The Cours, lined as it is with old stone houses, basically acted as an amplification chamber, making the sound even louder. Every house had the windows vibrating so badly that we were all worried about the glass breaking. In fact, we had some plaster fall from the ceiling, it was so bad.
The concerts themselves started around 10 pm and ran till 2 am. The worst was on Thursday night, when the sound people actually BOOSTED the sound at 1 am, ripping all of us out of whatever sleep we'd been able to find. Seriously, it wasn't fun for anyone who was not out in the street drinking and listening to the music. If you wanted to sleep, too bad for you. I feel particularly bad for people like our baker, Philippe Corlet, who has to get up at some hideous hour to start baking. I don't think he's gotten any sleep in the last few days.
I DO want to have activity in the village. I'm not against music either. But there really should be some thought into what that music is and how it's going to affect the residents. We're "safe" for next year, as the fair will be on the other side of the village; but why should the people over there suffer? We have a perfectly good stadium outside the village, wouldn't it make more sense to put the music there. Although there are houses across the street, they wouldn't be as "focused" as the houses in the village, and shouldn't suffer as much from the vibration.
Now, it's time to get over it and get back to tranquility. And, not a moment too soon.
Ciao for now!
Randy
