St. Valentin de Loin

Because we are separated by most of France, Spain, the Atlantic Ocean, and probably 44 or so American States, FBF and I sent each other Valentine's Day packages.

FBF was on top of it. He knew what he wanted to give me, packaged it, and took it to La Poste way before I even knew what I wanted to give him. He even sent me photographic evidence of the package being sent away, just to torture me.


Torture.

I finally got around to figuring everything out for him and sent it a little bit late. I was really worried about it getting there in time.

But guess what? My package got there a day early, and his has yet to arrive.

I blame La Poste (because they are evil) and everything being inefficient in France. He blames US customs.

Either way it's Valentine's Day and as if it wasn't already hard enough to be far away from each other, we don't even get to celebrate it in this small way.

Here's to hoping we'll be reunited for next year's St. Valentine.


FBF and I at La Rochelle.
Je t'aime mon amour!

Statue: Mon P'tit Quinquin

In Lille, there is a statue dedicated to the Northern lullaby “P’tit Quinquin” and its author Alexandre Desrousseaux.


Lillois soaking up the sun at the statue dedicated to Desrousseaux and his famous song.

Desrousseaux was a 19th century poet born in Lille who wrote in both French and Ch’ti.

His most well-known and well-loved song is L'canchon Dormoire, more commonly referred to as mon p’tit quinquin. It’s a lullaby that has become Lille's unofficial city anthem.

Here’s the famous refrain (en ch’ti):
Dors min p'tit Quinquin,
Min p'tit pouchin,
Min gros rojin ;
Te m'f'ras du chagrin,
Si te n'dors point j'qu'à d'main.

Which translates to:
Sleep my little baby
My little chick
My fat grape
You will fill my heart with sorrow
If you don’t sleep until the ‘morrow

The statue features the bust of Desrousseaux as well as a woman singing her child to sleep, the embodiment of his famous lullaby.



The lullaby is feautured in Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis. When Dany Boon and Kad Merad are drunkenly visiting all the homes along their postal route, an elderly woman sings them this song, bringing them all to tears.

Check it out:
Rue Nationale entrance to square Foch