Funeral rites

  Today we went to a funeral, which was a little unusual in several ways. The deceased was the mother of our friend Jean-Luc, whose wife Patricia is one of our choir members. We met the old lady just before last Christmas, for the first, and in fact, the last time. Our choir has the tradition of visiting the houses of elderly or sick members of the congregation who can no longer attend the weekly service, or `culte` as it is known to non-catholic French churches. We called then on Jean=Luc`s mother and father, both somewhat elderly and frail but looking good for several years!  Alas, it was not to be and the mother died a few days ago.
   The couple were members of the Darbistes, a church founded by a Mr Darby, an English-man. They are, I believe, somewhat similar to the Plymouth Brethren in their beliefs, and one of their tenets is that they allow no musical instruments in their services. Nevertheless, they enjoy a reputation for singing in parts, which we found quite justified this afternoon.
 The other striking feature of this funeral was the atrocious weather, it rained heavily all afternoon, which did nothing to make a sad occasion more bearable. Our little choir had been asked to rehearse the four hymns to be sung, which we did, but the Darbistes were quite capable of holding their own, instruments or not! I have been to funerals in England where Kim and I were practically singing a duet but the large assembly this afternoon sang strongly and sweetly. I was amused to note that the embargo on instruments did not forbid a mouth-organ or perhaps a pitch-pipe from giving a discrete first note. The service in other respects was identical to other French funerals we have attended.
    The hammering rain was difficult to bear at the grave-side and we left as quickly as was decent afterwards, to get back to our fireside for dry clothes and a hot drink. We didn`t want this funeral to be the cause of our own!

    Bye for now, time for dinner now we have warmed up!