We're finally back. All of us, at last.
On the way over, I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. The plane was late, French passport control officials inefficient and I really thought I was going to miss my connecting train. Of course, one of the French passengers started to yell at the "gendarmes" saying the service was crap. And of course, they replied they didn't have enough staff to do the job. French administration in all its glory...
As I was waiting for the shuttle bus to the train station, I met a girl who was also coming from Dublin and going to the same town as me. She was from a village nearby my home town, was my age, also lived in Ireland for 12 years, and was married to a South African man. Talk about a coincidence!
The week-end was short but I managed to meet with a few friends and my family.
My best friend told me she went to Sinead O'Connor's concert in Quimper the week before and it was absolutely brilliant. I think she's coming to Dublin soon, so that might be an idea for a night out...
My sister is also going to experience her share of Irish music soon, as she's going to see The Pogues at a festival in a small Breton town. She and her friends were wondering if Shane McGowan had his front teeth replaced... I can't tell, so I'm counting on her to let me know.
On an another musical subject, the Irish president Michael D.Higgins was in Lorient for the "Festival Interceltique". Each year, a country is honoured, and this year it was Ireland. Numerous Irish artists were present and I would have loved to attend, but unfortunately my stay was too short to be able to travel to Lorient.
On Saturday evening, one of my cousins showed up at the house unexpectedly. Life is funny sometimes. Last May, I was gutted to miss my cousin's reunion and in the space of a month, I have met almost all of them at random. This time, one of them came to tell my parents he was going to Ireland for a week and wanted to pay us a visit. He didn't even know I was in France for the week-end...
During the conversation, he told me he came to Ireland for the first time in the eighties. He was hitch-hiking for 6 weeks and loved every minute of it. He was surprised to see farmers in their field, taking time out of their working day to talk to him and show him around. One of them even took a day off just to go fishing. He remembered the warmth and kindness of the people and wanted to show all that to his son, so he's coming back. Obviously Ireland has changed, but I think Irish people are still very friendly and can go out of their way to help someone or just talk to a tourist. That's what I love about this country.
The way back went a lot better than expected. I just learned I'm not allowed a buggy for a child who is over two years old. I will have to read Ryanair's rule book once more. Or is just Nantes airport staff pissing me off on purpose again? Anyway, they let me take the buggy free of charge -hooray!-
In the end, I had a great week-end in Brittany and strangely, full of Irish connections...
