|
Leaving the country church, we arrived a the small town of Longny au Perche.
A small, pleasant town, clean and well kept, it has some nice streets for walking.
And that is what we did, walk. I took some pictures, especially of the church. The symbol
on top of the steeple is one I see on almost all the churches of France: The Cross and Cock.
Since it is everywhere, it must have some significance. This is my guess. The cross is, of course,
the symbol of the Christian religion. The cock is the traditional symbol of the French state. In the USA,
of course, we have the tradtion of separation of Church and State. In the Kingdom of France, which preceeded
the French Republic, that was not the case. The state and church were inextricably intertwined. Most of
these churches were built during the time of the Kingdom of France. Just a guess.
Speaking of the Kingdom of France, I suppose this would be a good time to discuss Perche, since I have mentioned Perche
several times, Brasserie du Perche, Longny au Perche, etc. Perche has no political existance today.
It was a provice of the old Kingdom of France. It is rather remote, hilly, and forested. Thus it tends to be a isolated from
the rest of the country and has it own, unique, cultural identy. Those who live in Perche, know they are from Perche, and other Frenchmen are not from Perche. There is a lot of local pride. It is a bit like Appalachia in America, it has no official existance, but is exists in the minds of the people who live there.
Perche in know for its Percheron horses, in which the people take great pride. It is still known within France for its forests. Most of the French who early immigrated to New France, came from Perche.
|