A knock at the door

 Rick answered the knock at the door. He held a squirmy Sherlock under his arm.

The man, who told us his name was Joseph, had seen both the red fingers mark and the written explanation on the door. He thought there might be kindred spirits inside.

To explain to those that don't know Argelès, the houses on our narrow little street in the heart of the village go back many hundred years. There are no front yards. We know that a century or so, there might be chickens and goats ambling down the street. If you look closely in our front window, you can see the front door of our neighbor across the street.

The Catalan and Swiss flags fly over our door when we're in residence. However, when Switzerland beat France in a major football match, we took the Swiss flag down for a while.

The four red stripes are part of the Catalan lore. It is said when a Catalan ruler was killed, his son killed his father's murderer put his fingers in the blood and made the four lines and wiped them on a yellow banner. The Catalan flag became a yellow banner with four blood red stripes.

Joseph told us of how there are over 30,000 communes in France each with its own flag. He collects photos of them and has offered to drop a sample in our mail box.

This was all done in French. He did have a problem with my accent but what a fascinating impromptu conversation with the old man. 

Just another reason I love this French village.