The poppy is a powerful and iconic symbol of remembrance in England, but did you know that the French have an equivalent, ‘Le Bleuet de France’, their own poignant reminder of the First World War?

A silence, our heads are bowed, a prayer from the Mayor. In turn the boys read out the list of the fallen sons of the Great War, perhaps a dozen names from those awful days.  This would have been a village of around a hundred people.

For those readers who have applied, or are applying, for French nationality, laïcité should be a familiar concept; heralded as the fourth element to France’s famous ‘liberté-égalité-fraternité’ motto.