Tick, tock. On Sunday Rick will spring forward the hands of the grandfather’s clock in the living room. This twice-a-year ritual is a touch more ceremonial than my resetting the car clock: I’m not required to pause for the Westminster chimes at each quarter…
While in Paris on a Sunday afternoon in October, I nearly missed my train because I briefly forgot that we change our clocks three weeks earlier than they do. Daylight Savings Time is just not a traveler’s friend.
I’m sure my grandpa René never missed his train. He worked for the French railroads where punctuality was the foremost qualification. He was issued an official Régulateur pocket watch. The engraved guilloche on the brass case is quite ornate; the dial is marked with Roman numerals and the image of a steam locomotive; the crystal is not even scratched.
Timepieces made a hundred years ago were built to last a lifetime. Or maybe two. René’s watch still works perfectly. Tick, tock.
Vocabulary
La guilloche: engraved pattern on metal
a french life, one perfect moment at a time