Tournai: Flemish Walloon or French?

Even though Tournai looks like a Flemish town, has always been very important for Flanders during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it's no longer Flemish in the 2008 sense of the word.

I had a very interesting conversation with the lady at the tourist information centre and the director of the Museum of Tapestry and Textile Art. Both were fluent in Dutch and could have spoken to me in my native language. The latter actually preferred to speak Dutch, but I told her that if I expect French speaking Belgians to speak Flemish when they visit Flanders, that I should speak French when I visit Wallonia. They both complimented me on my French. Not sure why I am writing this down, but I kinda feel proud about that.

Anyways, I wondered how Flemish the town still was and both said that Tournai is almost 100 percent French speaking. There's not really an interest in learning Dutch, nor do people from Tournai ever go to Flanders. They also told me that I would have to look very hard to find a store (a shop, a baker, whatever) where I could order something in Dutch. I didn't really try it because of, well, what I just wrote in the previous part. But I trust they wouldn't lie about that. Can you imagine that in any Flemish city? That people in a store wouldn't understand a client if he spoke French?

I asked them about the school system and the children in Tournai still have the choice at age 13 to either choose Dutch or English. That's something which I totally don't understand and why I've been so pro-Flanders ever since I was ten years old. Every kid in FLanders has to learn French at the age of 10. Even though we all speak better English by that age. But in Wallonia they have the choice! Of course they choose English. I would have chosen English too if they would have given me the choice.

But then I asked about Wallonia and then I found it interesting that people in Tournai don't consider themselves Walloons at all. Of course, I didn't talk to that many people. I would need to ask more people about this. But I think it's pretty logical that people in Tournai have nothing in common with people in Arlon or Namur apart from some popular culture on television. People from Tournai feel much more connected to French Flanders. Hey, it's almost a suburb of Lille/Rijsel. It's kind of logical. Apparently young people in Tournai go out in Lille, not in Brussels or Flanders. They go shopping in Lille. They even go to the university in Lille, rather than to Louvain la neuve.

There's currently a French comedy breaking all movie records in French speaking Belgium (and France). It's called Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis. I saw the movie. It's ok. I had to laugh a few times. Especially when someone starts speaking Flemish. It's about this postal office director who gets transfered from the South of France to the area around Lille and has trouble adjusting to the different lifestyle and especially the different dialect. So I asked the ladies in Tournai what kind of French they spoke and they confirmed that they were also speaking Ch'ti. So not Walloon French, but northern France French.

Check the trailer (in French) http://movieclock.com/aw/cvpa.aw/e/188820/Bienvenue_chez_les_Ch_tis.html

Apart from the people speaking French in Tournai, it very much looked like any kind of town in Flanders. Also the area around the city, was very familiar to me.

I actually like the idea of Lille, Tournai and Kortrijk forming a European Agglomoration. Economically and industrially the area already promotes itself as ONE euroregion. Now, we just have to become more culturally interested in each other. And respect each other's language. Some politicians are now referring to solve the Brussels problem by trying to imitate our euroregion. Hey, apparently here, Flanders, Wallonia and France work together withouth big problems. So why can't they do it in Brussels? I'm not opposed to that way of thinking. But people also have to realise that the French speaking immigrants in Kortrijk don't make any effort to learn Dutch. Just like all the French speaking 'immigrants' in the Flemish cities around Brussels have no respect for our language either.

Today again, I realised that I'm too openminded to believe in borders and that the only reason why I'm so pro Flanders is the fact that I just can't understand why WE (flemish) have no trouble speaking French and THEY (french speaking people in general) have no interest in speaking our language at all. This language thing gets me every time. And yes, I also have a problem with Flemish people not willing/being able to speak French or not knowing their culture.