While in Lourmarin the clock tower was just outside my window. It rang the appropriate number of gongs each hour and then a few minutes later it repeated the process. Noone seemed to know why it did so. Do any Fodorites have the answer for me?

Just in case you didn't hear it the first time?

That's the "non-snooze" ring, giving you a few extra minutes.

In Switzerland that was explained as exactly why! Because the first time would get your attention, and then you could count them the second time.

Great answer. I had always wondered the same thing, as the church bells in the nearby village of Mirabeau do the same thing.

-Kevin

Is this gen? We have the same in "our" French village.

I think this is an old custom that is not peculiar to Lourmarin, as others noted. I think the purpose is to tell time, and the bells are repeated a few minutes later for those folks who lost track of the count or didn't count them the first time. Just a convenience, or instant replay, so to speak.

Good point...come to think of it, we witnessed the same thing in Montpellier.