Quel Temps de Chien!
Quel temps de chien! - One of those colloquial expressions that leaves you saying to yourself, "Did I really hear someone say, 'what weather of dog?" (word for word translation). Common usage meaning: What horrible weather!
But it was a beautiful sunny Sunday Morning ..... and when in Provence, if it is Sunday morning, it must be Isle sur la Sorgue Market. So why the dog weather? It doesn’t have anything to do with the weather really … but it does have to do with dogs.
Walking along the Rue Joseph Roumanille almost at the church square and thoroughly enjoying the beautiful morning - we were just absorbing the scene, reacquainting ourselves with one of our favorite places. The expanse of flowers at the stall in front of the Café de France, the busy vegetable seller on the corner, one that always is crowded – the stallholder who sells a huge variety of olives, tapenade, hummus and other wonderful Provencal treats, the butcher, the cheese seller….. you know the scene, I’m sure!
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Sunday morning market goers, sitting beside the Sorgue River, enjoy an early cafe au lait
and a view of an old water wheel
As we turned the corner at the side of the church en flanant* and at peace with the world, we were abruptly jolted out of our state of “market zen” by a loud commotion behind us and shouts of, “Arretez! Arretez! Voleurs - arretez!” Stop those thieves! We spun around to see a tall man, dressed in white, running through the crowd waving his arms and calling out quite frantically! Seeing what was coming our way, the bewildered crowd around us quickly parted to allow the distraught man to chase down the thieves.
Where are we?!! In the middle of a crowded city where roving pickpockets and muggers have visitors clutching their bags and hiding their valuables in thief proof belts? No, this cannot be on our very pleasant early Sunday morning in one of our favorite places – a very popular market with lots and lots of visitors. So, what in the world was going on? It’s not what normally goes on at one of the most fun places on earth! Why do we have a man waving his arms, chasing thieves through a crowd?
The look of alarm and surprise on the faces of the people notwithstanding, the thieves and their pursuer rounded the corner into a narrow street, three thieves running off, one with a very large leg of pork held firmly in his mouth, while everyone around stood rooted to the spot in fear – only their eyes following the unfolding events.
It all happened so quickly … we didn’t really comprehend the goings on, until the man stopped suddenly , threw his hands up in the air, and looking down at the ground ahead of him exclaimed, “Eh Alors…. Trop tard!” Too late! He admonished the three, four-legged thieves vehemently, and with a very pronounced shrug, turned around and walked back to his stall – talking and gesticulating as he went, but in a surprisingly good natured manner!
Our eyes followed the line drawn between the distraught butcher and subjects of his heated words. It wasn’t immediately obvious, but then we noticed some movement under a nearby stall holder’s table There they were – the “voleurs” … three smiling dogs - all with wagging tails - in between them lay a very large leg of pork which was of course the source of the butcher’s agitation. There they sat, seemingly quite happy with themselves. The largest tan colored dog had stealthily lifted the leg of pork off the butcher’s table and taken off with it while the other two smaller dogs provided cover on each flank, as they made off to enjoy their prize. The actual thief looked guilty (although seemingly quite happy with himself) as the three of them chomped on the tough skin.
To make it all worse, once the startled crowd realized what had happened and the laughing subsided - they made a great audience with the butcher and the “doggie voleurs” becoming an instant hit and the subject of many photographs.
*en flanant - strolling, walking - but not in a hurry.
~French Expressions~
Here's the clue ...... There's a commonly used French expression that involves this guy ....
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Do you know the expression? What does it mean?
All your comments and questions are very welcome - we'd love to hear from you.
Posted by Marianne at 5/30/2009 8:43 AM 
Categories: vacation, Liesure, Travel, Provence
Tags: if it is Sunday morning But it was a beautiful sunny Sunday Morning ..... and when in Provence
Categories: vacation, Liesure, Travel, Provence
Tags: if it is Sunday morning But it was a beautiful sunny Sunday Morning ..... and when in Provence
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