The Tour de Life‏

I suppose cycle racing is a specialist interest but the scenery is marvellous, a real publicity plus for the French   !! 

I'm watching the Tour de France. One of the pleasures of watching this race is the scenic views, as the riders roll through the different terrain. The high level helicopter views of the villages and small towns along the route give one a taste of the way the people of France live, or at least their everyday surroundings.

The sunshine makes everything seem so much more attractive, particularly as we sit under what seems to be continuous rain cloud. 

 

One is struck by the strong rural element surrounding the houses which line the road along which the riders are battling out the race. The houses sit with their frontage straight onto the street, the front door, stepping in the public domain, no driveway or front garden. One wonders about the culture of the people who live here their life-style, the work they do how do they entertain themselves.  We all live with an eye on the people around us, we mimic much of what we see others doing and yet a man's life has much commonality.

 

The pressures of finance, paying the bills, advising the children and "listening to the advice" given by ones partner, perhaps slipping away for a relaxing hour or two with friends

I'm sure the mix is the same but the ingredients are subtly different. The culture of the French who are familiar and involved with all aspects of a rural living have not been commercialised as we have and their roots are deep. Values that have the cement of past generations to back them up, reaffirm an individuals sense of time and place and make him confident in his surroundings and way of life. 

Suburban man has split away from his roots and is placed in a maelstrom of conflicting events. The changes, year on year, the pressure to adapt or die. The conflict which arises as one has to reinvent ones self to stay abreast of all around. Technology has to be grasped, work practises, rules and regulations all aspects of possible litigation but so over the top and far too intrusive.

Maybe we are fools to have bought into this global pressure for so called advancement, at any cost !!!