IT’S NOVEMBER. ‘The month of the drowned dog’. Ted Hughes.

As I write this it is November 2nd. Halloween here in France has passed almost unnoticed in my corner of Brittany despite the proliferation of spooky plastic spiders, witches hats and fake cobwebs on sale in Gifi. Does anyone really have to buy fake cobwebs by the way? Maybe I could offer to supply real ones next year as there is always an abundance in my house. (Gifi is France’s answer to the UKs cheapjack shops in case you were wondering.)

Here in France, Halloween is considered an American celebration - ignoring the fact that it actually started in Europe and was Celtic in origin. To the Celts, November (originally the ninth month of the Roman calendar) was the beginning of the New Year marked by the festival of Salhaim which started on October 31st as the old year ended. Bonfires were lit and superstitious rituals were practised against the supernatural activity that was believed to be abroad on that night. Many of those beliefs and customs have come down through the years and are now associated with Halloween.

But while the French tend to ignore October 31st, the following day is a national holiday and holds an important place in French social culture. La Toussaint, November 1st, is the day when ‘all saints’ are remembered and families gather together to visit the graves of family members. People travel miles to pay their respects - family members of my elderly neighbours who live in Paris make the eight hour return journey here every year to take tributes to the local cementry where grandparents, parents and other close relatives are buried. 

Flowershops, supermarkets and garden centres do a roaring trade in the days leading up to La Toussaint selling pots and pots of chrysanthemums and cyclamens as these are regarded as funeral flowers. French cementries tend to be a riot of colour in November more than any other time of the year.

In the title of this blog I quote a line from the Ted Hughes poem ‘November’ and that was because I’m currently feeling rather ‘drowned dog’ like. The builders finally came in October to re-roof our cottage - they had two and a bit days of dry weather when they started three weeks ago and since then the weather has steadily got worse. Gales this weekend have added to the joy! So to cheer us all up I’m going to leave you with a lovely photograph currently doing the rounds on social media. Batten down the hatches and happy writing in November - I'll see you on the other side with a new roof!

                                                                                                             ©Tanja Brandt