Empty streets in La Ciotat. But this isn't the only reason why citizens here may be spared from the coronavirus. It has to do with an unusual sanitary practice dating back to the plague. More, in today's story.
Today's Word: épargner
: to spare
Click here to listen to Jean-Marc read the French below:
La Peste épargne La Ciotat. Grâce aux mesures sanitaires, au courage des femmes, la cité maritime se préserve du terrible fléau. -Frequence Sud.fr
La Ciotat is spared the plague. Thanks to sanitary measures, and to the courage of the women, the maritime city preserves itself from the terrible plague.
Epargner was word of the day on Dec. 15, 2008, with an alternative meaning
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
Since President Emmanuel Macron declared the current Covid-19 pandemic une guerre sanitaire we, along with many countries, have been careful to respect the government-imposed confinement. Each night our family gathers to watch the news, to learn how Paris and Grand Est are faring. Yesterday, when Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned the virus is spreading quickly to other parts of the Hexagone, and that protective gestures are now a matter of life and death, we all felt a chill creep in.
"This will be the end of La Bise for the rest of France…" our son, Max, predicted.
THE END OF THE KISS
Currently, all French are practicing les gestes barrières, including no more bises, or "salutation kisses"–a habit that's been easiest to break for citizens of our town because we've been out of the habit for 250 years. As those of you who have visited La Ciotat can attest, our seaside town is the only place in France that does not practice la bise. The ritual kiss was ended during the 18-century plague, where La Ciotat had the lowest mortality rate.
WOMEN WRESTLE THE TOWN FREE FROM THE VIRUS
According to town records, if La Ciotat survived La Peste, it was thanks to an army of determined women who guarded the city ramparts, literally pushing the fleeing Marseillais and other non-Ciotadens off of the mur de peste.
Mur de la peste. Plague walls such as this one can be seen around La Ciotat. photo from Wikipedia
Pierre-Edouard Lemontey writes: Le petit port de la Ciotat échappa au fléau par la sévérité des femmes, qui se chargèrent seules d'en garder les avenues. The small port of La Ciotat escaped the scourge by the severity of the women, who were responsible for guarding the avenues alone.
It is not clear what the men–Les Ciotadens–were doing during the epidemic (playing boules, as we will soon see?), but according to numerous sources including our city's website, the bravery and efforts of les femmes Ciotadennes saved the town. Having survived the plague, La Ciotat would go on to become the birthplace of cinema, as well as the town where boules or petanque was invented.
This brings us to Fanny. All who are familiar with the popular game of petanque will recall the Kiss Fanny tradition. According to this Petanque site:
Being fanny (être fanny) means losing a game of boules or pétanque without scoring a single point— losing 13 to zero. (In the USA, we call that a “shutout” game.) Having to kiss Fanny is the ultimate humiliation for boules players everywhere.
You do not have to literally kiss someone's derriere… a photo or a statue will do…
THE BUM BONJOUR
If you ask me, this unusual ritual is second only in humiliation to another tradition, known by locals as La Fanny. This bonjour gesture involves, as you guessed, the fanny or behind, and dates back from the time when La Bise or social greeting kiss was outlawed in an attempt to protect citizens from the plague, which had already killed 60 percent of nearby Marseilles' population.
Centuries before the elbow bump would be the socially acceptable salutation during a pandemic, those brave French women who guarded the cobbled streets of La Ciotat came up with a new way to greet: They called it "La Fanny" in honor of the bravest in their Bubonic army. Their heroine, Fanny, returning home from an exhaustive day wrestling plague-ridden subjects over the fence, and in a bid to protect her family/friends from catching the malady that she herself might be harboring, refused la bise. Turning away her cheek and pulling her arms close lest they carry traces of the disease, Fanny jiggled her bum in what would become a quaint and cheeky bonjour.
LA CIOTAT'S CHEEKY HELLO
The tradition caught on and all citizens began using the new, more sanitary, greeting, affectionately known as La Fanny. To this day our town is the only place in France that does not practice la bise–instead, it does the bum greet.
I admit this was the main reason I ruled out The Cheeky City back when we sold our vineyard and needed to move on. Sanary! Bandol! La Cadière! I begged Jean-Marc–anywhere but La Ciotat. As someone who is easily embarrassed, I knew I could not bear to greet our new neighbors via a–pardon my French–"butt bonjour."
BUMMED (A WHOLE NEW MEANING BEHIND BEHIND)
But when Jean-Marc found this charming bungalow with a yard where I could plant my permaculture garden, I was bummed (in another sense of the word)! Reading up on the culture of the bum bonjour–La Fanny–I learned there are many ways to practice the cheeky greeting. There is a version or… a bum for everyone! Everything from….
The well-heeled/upper-class/Aristocratic Fanny (involving a slight turn to show your backside…a bum curtsy if you will… to the casual/blue-collar Fanny (a no-shame jiggle-jiggle-jiggle of the derrière!)–all are fitting and acceptable ways to say hello here in La Ciotat (but don't try this in Paris–or be regarded as a country bum-kin).
DON'T SHAKE HANDS – SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!
Beyond Paris and the countryside, other countries would do well to follow our cheeky example here in La Ciotat and avoid passing along an illness. Anglophones, for example, could shake their booty instead of shaking hands. So remember: Don't shake. Shake, shake, shake! instead.
Somewhere in the midst of it all, I have found my own comfortably conservative version of La Fanny. Please stand with me now and let's practice the bum bonjour together. Here we go….
Show us your backside…
and…
Jiggle-jiggle-jiggle! (giggle giggle giggle)….
I call this version the "April Fools' Fanny!" Enjoy it and be sure to share it with a friend.
Kristi
P.S. If this was your first April Fools of the day, let me know in the comments, below–or tell us what jokes have already been played on you. I leave you with a picture of my sister-in-law and me greeting family à la Fanny. Both of us are doing the April 1st version, bien sûr! That's Cécile pointing out the Jean-Marc is doing it the wrong way! Isn't that what siblings are for? To help us with our social étiquette? 🙂
P.P.S. As usual, your corrections are most helpful and appreciated. See a typo or a grammar mistake? Let me know in the comments and thanks in advance!
I hope you enjoyed today's history lesson, a reprieve from the news. And while the bum bonjour may not spare us from COVID-19, staying home will help save lives! Take care everyone. Stay home. Before long we will all be kissing again! Vive la bise!
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You sure got me. I was also thinking about the story FANNY by Marcel Pagnol, my favorite writer. Thanks for putting a sheepish smile on my face.
am sending you a virtual bise.
Wonderful! You got me again. I should make a note on my calendar to beware of you on April 1. Very clever. Thanks for the laugh.
BTW- does your son know you’ve made him a part of this? 🙂
Yep, you got me hook line and sinker once again, this was a really great one given the current situation. It was such an interesting article. So were there some truths in the history part with just the fanny wiggle being the joke ? Is it true that La Ciotat does not bise? And is your town free of the virus ? I certainly hope this part is all true.
Great post, and à bientôt when this passes.
Quelle bonne plaisanterie! Poisson d’avril!
Adding to all the other gullible, poisson gulpible posts, I, too, fell this year. EVEN THOUGH, I’ve been reading your journal since 2005! And even though when I saw you had posted, I said to myself, “This is surely another April Fool’s post! It’s Kristi’s trademark.”
But then knowing the story of Fanny Kissing and boules was a true thing, having read it in another book a couple of months ago, I thought, “Okay, she’s being serious this year.”
So imagine my delight at the end of the post! This is indeed one of your specialties (said with a French accent)! Thank you for the levity to brighten everyone’s day! Many “air bises” ~Alisa
Hahahahahahaha!!
Can’t stop giggling (and jiggling), Kristi — in the pure delight of having been totally taken in! Your word magic numbed any thought of a Poisson d’Avril completely, and I love love love that I fell for it all with open-mouthed wonder. I admit to a twinge of doubt when you pushed a tad too far, re your wariness of living in La Ciotat … “Hmmm! Surely, she’d have mentioned this bum-wiggle custom affecting her before now??!”
But no, I was swept away again, all caught up in your deliciously cinematic historical and visual details — and such explicit instructions. I was and am still as happy as an ant in sugar! What a terrific launch of this new month in these strange times.
I suspect that all over the world there are now little pockets of chuckling people in self-isolating havens gleefully practising ‘La Fanny’ and eager to share the fun. Merci MUCH for this merry product of your magnificent imagination and talent! And a bouncy waggle of La Fanny to you and yours!! xxx ooo
Kristi,
This was so good! I was about to take it to my husband to share (we had a gite identified to stay at in La Ciotat for the fall- we’ll see), when I started reading the comments. Congratulations – this was so well done! (especially because I have heard about the “kissing Fanny” ritual for boules shutouts before.
Susan Blough
Thank you so much, Kitty!
You ” caught ” me , though I fought the line a long time , because I love a good history story . At least now , I see it is partially true , and learned 2 good history stories — about the walls and about the tradition around the game of boules . At least , I hope those are true . I will have to read them again and research . But at least , you may have caught me again , with the typo : ” Isn’t that was siblings are for ? ” If that is another poisson , I think you have exceeded your fish-catching limit — catching the same fish twice . You have to throw me back in the sea .
Bonjour, Kristi,
Tu m’as donné une grande surprise ce matin! Comment tu as une imagination extraordinaire! Tu as remplacé mon 😷 par un grand 😊 ! Merci, ange 😇 !
Good response. I was taught about fish on 1 April while I learnt French at school in the 1950s and have never forgotten about les poissons d’Avril!
Thank you, Alisa. This means a lot. Air bises back to you and jiggles, too.
Thanks, Frank, for catching the typo! Off to fix it. And yes, the part about kissing Fanny is true, as the plague walls, and even the women who guarded the streets.
GwenEllyn, Yes he does. Now to make him read my story!
Ha! I fell for it! I started to stand up to give it a try and noticed the next paragraph! A good laugh, thank you!
I also enjoyed reading your previous post featuring ‘epargner” from 2008.
Merci!
….WOW!!! The joke is on me! I was thinking that someone who did not want to ‘bise’ that way woukd be a “Snooty Booty”…. just sayin…. Very clever article and actually, not a bad idea! Stay safe…. Judi
Totally fell for it, but thought it was a good way to greet people during this pandemic staying 2 meters apart. I think it would add some delights and diversions to this very dark and grim time in our lives.
Dear Kristi,
I, too, like so many others, completely fell for this. When I figured it out I had to go back to try to figure out what part of your story might be true!
On a serious note, Is Jackie still in Florida? Hope and pray she is doing okay.
J’oublie les jours pendant cette période! J’espère que je n’aurai jamais à utiliser mon derrière pour dire bonjour!
Kristi,
Oh my, I am soooooo gullible. I fell hook line and sinker!
Thanks for making me laugh at myself today. I truly needed that !
-Amelia
The women ganged up on the wall refusing the “bise” reminded me of the hysterical play Lycistrada, by Aristophones. In Lycistrada, the women of Sparta refuse to have sex with their husbands until the men agree to call off the perpetual war with other Greeks. Anyone who thinks that the classics are no fun should read Lycistrada….
Judi, love the *Snooty Booty* 👌
Chris, All parts are true except the exact location of the plague wall (closer the Avignon) and the bum bonjour !
Thanks for asking about Jackie. She is doing fine. A little stressed, like most people, but ok. She has a good roommate and they are cooking, decorating, and talking a lot about life and their futures. She hopes to stay in Miami. I wish she were in France.
Bon courage to you, George, and family.
Bravo-I was actually practicing the fanny shake before I realized that your post was a spoof!! Love it. Thank you for reeling me in. Stay healthy in Ciotat. Salut!
IF ONLY IT COULD HAVE BEEN TRUE! I know some of my opponents who would have been puckering up, right Gary?
dear Kristi: Actually, I believed the whole story; it’s so plausible! But, I’m sure the history part of the story where the women defended the town might be factual? Loved the “fanny bump”. I offer this to my husband quite often!
Always, merci boucoup. Amicalmente, Ann
I guess our kids get the wanderlust as we, their parents did. Whenever our daughters wanted the freedom to travel, they would say to me…and where was it you went to live on your own at age 18?
So glad Jackie is doing okay. I am sure it is difficult having her so far away…
J’espère vraiment que nous n’aurons jamais à nous saluer en secouant nos mégots, mais j’apprécie la touche de féminisme dans cette blague. Bravo Kristi! Tu m’as presque eu.
Oh my gosh, Kristi! You got me again!! After a day of tears yesterday, today I will be chuckling at your story and myself following along so seriously learning about the history and customs of La Ciotat.
Thank you!❤️
Adrienne
Adrienne, I hope everything is better today. Sending you warmest wishes 💕
well done, you certainly led me up the garden path!! Best wishes and stay safe!
Well, I broke three ribs (a tangle with my suitcase at the FlyAway) on the way to stay with my daughter’s family in MS 2 1/2 weeks ago. I am still having a lot of pain, especially getting up/down and laughing (forget coughing/sneezing!). Surprise – during and after reading your post today (a day later), I actually was able to let loose a laugh! Been holding those laughs in, but your poissons d’Avril was just too good!!! – I could not avoid laughing – at the wonderful story and at me for falling for it all the way!! You are so great at these. I should know by now to watch for your April 1 stories! Wonderful! Everyone needs laughs in this scary time. Be well, stay safe! Much love, Judi
Kristi, I was taken in by your story because you mentioned details that I found a little odd but were true. For example, that women, not men, defended La Ciotat from outsiders during a plague and that people who didn’t score any points during a game of boules had to kiss someone’s fanny. You asked your readers to let you know if they noticed any typos etc. I noticed an extra word in the following sentence «The town La Ciotat was spared of the plague. ». I checked and saw that the expression is to spare someone something. So the extra word is « of ». It should read « La
Ciotat was spared the plague. » I think I have my iPad on the French setting which is why the quotation marks look the way they do. At any rate, I love your newsletters, they always make smile. Thank you so much for the effort you put into them.
Hi Suzanne, Thanks for your kind words and for this helpful edit. I remember writing that sentence and being unsure of just what word comes after *spare*. I will try to remember next time..using the words meaning as a hint!
Kristi, this was great! I just wanted to tell you that I shared this with my Grade 10 French class (now, online only) as a fun break from regular studies, and gave them a little vrai/faux quiz with it, to see who else got taken in! Thanks for making us think and laugh! I am especially fond of the part where you share your inner “oh no” about having to do a fanny greeting if you move to La Ciotat. It’s just so you–the part of you I completely relate to, and only can because you share so honestly about your thoughts and feelings. Bless you!