Friday, April 20, 2007

La convocation

Tuesday afternoon David found a little note from the police in our part of Saint Ghislain commune summoning us to show up at the police station the next morning at 0830. No indication as to what it pertained to. It was addressed to Madame and Monsieur (although since the Monsieur was a little difficult to read, David tried to pretend that they were after just me). With a little analysis we devined that because they didn't address us by name, it didn't have anything to do with the car (like a speeding ticket). The agent had added the notes "Could you please contact me" and "urgent," so we figured we'd best show up even though it meant juggling a meeting at work. So we presented ourselves Wednesday morning at the police station, whereupon our agent de quartier (beat cop) exclaimed, "Oh, you could have just called..." Turns out he was trying to locate someone who had lived in the house two tenants ago. But it wasn't a wasted trip because he gave us a booklet listing the rules and regulations of the commune, including the new regulation that prohibits mowing on Sunday.

Another interesting cultural adventure...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Two tenants ago"? How urgent could your "summons" have been? But, at least you get relief from the lawn mowing duty on Sundays.

Hope you have/had a good weekend in Germany.

Love, Pop

Anonymous said...

Rita, I know you are devasted by the "no mowing on Sunday" rule as this was your day to mow. However, be assured you get full credit every Sunday anyway as this is outside your control! David--suck it up. It's just meant to be this way. Where's the beer?....THE donald

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the neighborhood! Actually, I think you are really supposed to go register at your commune or police station when you move in so they know who you are and can make sure you are aware of all those commune regulations, like no mowing on Sundays. Now you should keep track of exactly how many times you will see the police go past your home on routine patrol. You probably won't need more than your 10 fingers!