And the last Tuesday in May is the time to make just that kind of discovery. Jill Penton-Browne explains

In our last issue we noted that the French aren’t great on neighbouring. As my friend Jean-Luc put it, it’s precisely this lack of friendly contact that allows for those troubles du voisinage I talked about. Well, if you decided that Dupont across the landing is a surly devil who can hardly manage a bonjour, the last Tuesday of May could be your chance to find out what he’s really like.

This year - for the seventh time - neighbours in apartment blocks will gather to mark “immeubles en fête”. That’s a party, inside or outside, where people who may never really meet or have a proper conversation can get together, raise a glass and open up to each other. Last year four million Gauls took part in these convivial occasions, sometimes organised by a particularly sociable resident or even by an enterprising concierge.

“Some lasting friendships have emerged”
We’ve not heard much about such events on the Coast (though they certainly happen in some places), but in other parts of France they’ve become a fixture and some lasting friendships have emerged. Says Atanase Périfan who launched the idea in 1999, “I heard of one couple who after years of living on the same landing but hardly ever speaking got together one last Tuesday in May and ended up married.” So there’s nothing planned in your building? Why don’t you get something organised while there’s still time?

From Reporter 115 - June/July 2006

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