Sunday morning October 31, the sacristan of La Rochelle Cathedral will go to his workplace with a light mind, without any stress. The time change, he won’t have to think about it. It’s this weekend, on the night of Saturday 30 to Sunday 31 October, we switch to winter time. At three o’clock in the morning on Sunday, it will be two o’clock. This has been the case since 1976. So for watches, we will have to think about going back one hour. Fortunately, this is done automatically for electronic objects – phones, computers … and it is also automatic for monuments.
An electronic box takes care of everything
In La Rochelle, the big clock and church steeples have been automated for a few years. Before, a company was responsible for getting everything right. And it’s the same at the cathedral. Because if the bell tower of the Saint-Louis building does not have a dial, it does indicate the time, in its own way: “He strikes the calendar hours, and the start of services, relates the owner, Philippe Garreau. And I, this Sunday, will have absolutely nothing to do. ”
The bell tower will ring at 10:35 a.m., as usual, and mass will start at 11 a.m., as usual
Everything will be done automatically, thanks to an electronic box located in a cupboard in the sacristy. A device at the cutting edge of technology : “There are two small cables, and one is directly connected to the speaking clock in Frankfurt. It is through this cable that the news passes, and therefore the time change. The bell tower will ring at 10:35 am to announce Mass, and it will start at 11 a.m., as usual. ”
– Lise Dussaut
And it has been like this in La Rochelle for a while: “I have been a sacristan here for about fifteen years, and I have always known this box. _Religious buildings went electronic as soon as they could_, in the 60s and 70s. “ So of course, Philippe Garreau had to learn how to handle it. Because it allows him to program when to ring the three bells. He can take the hand. “It is very well done, there are logos. The only thing that was a bit complicated was choosing to program. But I asked for someone to explain it to me, and since then, it’s been tip top!”