Monday, August 13, 2007

Book-lover's Pun

Drove through a few quaint villages and towns today - Hardencourt, Vaux sur Eure, Croisy sur Eure, Pacy sur Eure (where I think one of my favorite cheeses, Boursin, is from), Menilles, and wound up on a nice stroll through Evreux, where just past the cathedral on the rue des Harpes we saw this cute storefront, a play on the word bouquineur, or bibliophile:





I also laughed out loud at this translation of The Bible for Dummies. Why are things sometimes funnier in one's native tongue and sometimes funny to a foreigner but not to a native speaker? (Though I must admit, I can find humor in almost everything...)






My husband told me he heard a story about the townspeople of Evreux removing all the stained glass from the windows during World War II, only to have it blow out in a terrible storm after the war. This and seeing the reliquaries inside made me pause to think about relics in general - why we are consoled to hold on to objects from remote times. I think we all have a certain longing for the physical presence of a cherished person or memory, and a deep hunger for ways to keep connected...as well as a yearning for the sacred...

No comments: