Village Vignette

It was a lovely afternoon so I took a break and walked up the hill to our tiny village.

I love this walk – gorgeous rolling hills in every direction, the field of sunflowers about to be harvested, the pony that runs over looking for treats, and the cemetery that seems to be almost the same size as the village.

(The cemetery has the best cell phone reception in the entire village.)

I also love the village itself.  No two houses look anything the same, the church has the style of the region that looks a bit like a fortress, and there are small pockets of loveliness everywhere.

As I got into the village proper on this walk, I passed a stranger coming out of his house. As village etiquette requires, I nodded and said “Bonjour.”

The immediate reply, in British-accented English. “Well hello. I take it you are Canadian.”

?!?!?!?!?

Was it the way I was dressed? Was my smile a little too enthusiastic? Could he be a linguistic savant who could hear an English Canadian accent in a single French word?

Of course it’s none of these. We live in a small village and word has got around.