St. Christopher and Alain Delon
Notes on Day Two in Lyon
I’m having trouble again uploading the Morning Journal flash briefing to Alexa devices. Yesterday’s audio didn’t make it until late in the afternoon. Here is today’s, an exclusive for Substack readers:
Safe Travels
Yesterday I found an image of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, at the Basilica of Notre Dame Fourviére boutique here in Lyon. I bought it with a silver chain to wear around my neck.
The newspapers yesterday bulged with tributes to the French movie star Alain Delon, who died Sunday at the age of 88.
I read about Delon at a coffee shop across from the Confluence shopping center. Darlene and Deb explored the shops while we waited to board the Vaporetto, an elegant hop-on, hop-off river boat.
One line about Alain Delon stood out. Éric Neuhoff in Le Figaro wrote:
Son laconisme était légendaire.
His terseness was legendary.
That would be a good translation, but I prefer the word in French, laconisme. I’d like me some of that!
I’d also like some of the compassion of St. Christopher. It’s not likely that he existed in real life, but his legend has comforted centuries of travelers. From Wikipedia:
His most famous legend tells that he carried a child, who was unknown to him, across a river before the child revealed himself as Christ. Therefore, he is the patron saint of travelers, and small images of him are often worn around the neck, on a bracelet, carried in a pocket, or placed in vehicles by Christians.
As I ponder yesterday’s moments, I see a connection between laconisme and safe travels.
When I pause before speaking, I am less likely to stumble into misunderstanding, sarcasm, or other dangers related to saying too much.
Add to that a soupçon of compassion, and a guy might turn out to be a helpful companion for another day of exploring Lyon.
That’s my plan.
I have the same thing