John Lichfield: Racy goings-on in la France profonde

The nearest town to our house in Normandy is a sad place which has never fully recovered from the summer of 1944. In June of that year, it was pointlessly bombed by the British. In August, it was partially burned by the SS. Sixty-four years later, shops and restaurants are struggling to survive. The population is ageing and glum. Excitement is hard to find.

A few days ago work began on renovating a long-closed shop on the town's main square. Would this be yet another estate agent selling houses without roofs to the British? Or something more interesting? A hand-written red and white sign appeared in the window. The sign read: "Ici bientôt, Club Echangiste." Opening here soon, Wife Swapping Club.

Clubs Echangistes are an accepted part of the entertainment industry in France. Paris has more than 60 of them. That, however, is the wicked big city. An officially proclaimed, rural wife-swapping club – next to the notary's office – seemed too good to be true. On closer inspection, the red-and -white sign in the tiny shop-front added the following details. "On peut apporter son mari, son chien, son âne, sa belle-mère". A separate sign read: "Fully booked until 20 August."

Was this meant to be a satire on the submerged, sexual oddities of rural life? I asked the man painting the inside of the shop. He shrugged. "It's meant to be funny, I think," he said.

Yesterday, a new sign had appeared next to the other ones. "By popular demand, we will open on Sunday. After Mass."

Words of comfort

Such curiosities are part of the inexhaustible charm of France. Here is a more poetic example. I was travelling on a train the other day from Clermont Ferrand to Paris, trying to compose a difficult letter to a friend whose mother had died. I looked up just as we passed an abandoned wayside station. On a derelict grain silo, there was a large blue-and-white advertising banner, which read: "On n'est pas seul. Il y a des Mots." We are not alone. There are Words.

Was this part of some kind of poetry-by-the-lineside venture by the SNCF? Apparently not. It was simply the work of an individual, or a group of people, who wanted travellers between Clermont Ferrand and Paris to know that they were not alone.

Carla who?

Racist, the French? Top in the annual survey of the most popular people in France, published yesterday, were: first, Yannick Noah, tennis player turned singer (origin West Indian). Second, Dany Boon, comedian turned film-maker (origin, half Algerian). Third, Zinedine Zidane, retired footballer (origin, Algerian). President Nicolas Sarkozy came 44th. Carla Bruni was 50th.

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