Sunday, March 27, 2011

Bus Ride in Brittany

When she went to Brittany, the crazy French drivers must have left an impression on Jane Shaw because all her characters, be it by bus or by car, were startled by the crazy way the French motorists whizzed around at high speed. I too remember my Latin teacher at school, Miss Shaughnessy, telling me that when she was in France a bus driver couldn't get past a car, so he went out and broke off the car's mirror so that he could squeeze by. Starting with Sara and Caroline in 1939, right up to Susan and Midge is 1965, the very un-British and unorthodox French driving is a staple feature of the author's early chapters. However much she may have taken to the Breton natives, their driving is something that Jane Shaw never seems to have come to terms with. This picture, from Susan's Kind Heart, depicts the wild bus ride from Dinard to St. Clos.    

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