The Collier Marseillais, or Grain d' Or

After living in Paris for three years, we moved to the south of France. Standing on the platform at train station in Marseille, I noticed four things:

1. That the wind was cold enough to freeze water into ice-cubes.

2. That the air smelled like Pine trees.

3. That the language sounded different.

4. And gold ball necklaces.

It seemed everywhere I went the necklace was dangling in front of me. I wasn't noticing faces, instead I was seeing those darn balls of gold. As if I was saying, "Yeah she has one- Oh yeah her too- Hey, isn't she too young to be sporting balls already-- Wow, she dresses to impress, get a load of the size of those balls." Women, girls, and chubby babies with no necks, the necklace was theirs. It seemed that if you lived in Marseille and didn't have a gold ball necklace you didn't belong.

French husband is not from the south of France. He didn't notice the gold ball necklaces. "God what? Corey quit saying, "God balls!" He said to me like I was making fun of God's anatomy. "I am NOT saying, G-O-D balls, I am saying GoLLLLLddddd balls!"

After living in Marseille for a few months, I became a "Pro-gold-ball-observer." I could pick out the old gold ball necklaces from the newer ones. I learned that big gold balls didn't mean better, and that the best ones were linked together.

Then one day I met an older women who had lived in Marseille for over 80 years. She knew the best place to buy cheese. That Friday was the best day to buy fish at the Vieux Port, and that the Mistral, wasn't just a name to describe the wind in the south of France. She also had the answer to the gold ball necklace mystery.

The Collier Marseillais, or Grain d' Or, is a necklace that is added on to, one-by-one, as time goes by. When a girl is born she is given a chain with one gold ball. As each moment in her life comes to be, the child is given another gold ball to string on her chain. A first word, a first tooth, the first step, her first day at school ...by the time of her 21st birthday or her wedding day, the necklace will be ready to link. The young woman would have a full necklace of golden memories. Of course the wealthier the family the more solid the balls of gold were, "See mine? The balls haven't any dents, they are solid gold." Madame also pointed out, "Nowadays, a baby girl is given a full necklace at her birth, there is nothing special about that, no "first" grain d'or to give!"

How do you honor your "first" time experiences? Here is hoping each is a grain d'or!

(Note: This is an older post from my blog.)

Comments

[Kerry]

That's a lovely story Corey!

[ms*robyn]

what a great tradition. I have a gold charm bracelet that I bought years & years ago and started to add to it as events happened in my life. Each time I wear it, I remember the good and sometimes not so good times, that each charm represents. Did you get yourself a gold ball necklace?