As we have holidayed in many villages in France over the years we have got very used to measuring out our life by counting bells.
We have even accepted that because France is a secular country and that there is a certain tension between Church and State that in most villages the hours are rung by both in the Church and the Mairie.

Since we came to Thezan and live next to the church we have heard both these bells clearly during the day (fortunately here they remain silent between 9.00 at night and 7.00 in the morning)
What has puzzled us since we came here is that we hear not two but three bells ringing in the hours.
One we knew was the church, it is right next to us, the second we knew was from the Clock Tower, also very near us, just next to where the old Mairie used to be pre 1900 when the new one was built further down the village.
We wondered could the third be a nearby village bell but remained unsure.

All was revealed this morning.
From the new car park in the village we were able to spot another bell, previously unseen, on top of the Mairie so we realised that the struggle between Church and State had been very effectually won by the state for the last hundred and some years by the simple expedient of their ringing two bells against the church’s one.
They rang on the hour while I was there (none, of course quite at the same time) and I realised that if I craned a little I could get all three into the same camera shot.

At the extreme left the delicate iron cage that houses the old clock tower, then the church Belfry and right over on the right the bell on the Mairie.