An insider’s guide to life in France

A common sight in SW France. Detail from Sunflower field © Stanisa Martinovic/Photoxpress

Welcome to La Lune – French for the moon. Why La Lune? This is the name of the area that surrounds our 18th-century farmhouse in southwest France, where we have lived since 1997. The name almost certainly has nothing to do with the moon, but it’s intriguing nonetheless.

I’m a British writer and journalist. I post about la vie française a couple of times a week.  This includes episodes from our French life, tips about French manners and customs and details of things going on in our area. I try to tell it as it is and not to romanticise life in France.

To see my full profile, please click here.

The French have an expression, ‘Dans la Lune’, which means to be in a dream or have one’s head in the clouds. This is a pretty accurate description of our life here sometimes. However, after so many years, je ne regrette rien, even if some aspects of French life are still unfathomable.

For the latest posts, please keep scrolling down this page or select a subject you’re interested in from the categories list in the right hand sidebar. I love hearing about others’ experiences of France so do leave a comment underneath a post if you feel moved to do so. I always reply.

If you want to find out more about my work as a writer please click here or follow the link in Blogroll in the sidebar – Vanessa’s writing.

Bonne continuation!  

 

SW France Weather February 2014 and Verdict on 2013

New fountain in market square at Villefranche-de-Rouergue – on a wet and blustery Feb day

This month, I have asked the SF (Statistics Freak; aka my husband) to write the weather post, since it’s he who collects all the statistics. I’ve also asked him to look back over 2013 as a whole and make some comparisons with the weather over our 16+ years here. So, over to you, SF.

Heart of Oak

November evening sun on oak wood

When you live in a place for long enough, you start to take the landscape a little for granted. But if you stop and look a while, you ask yourself how it would be without all those trees clothing the hillsides. Around here, it’s oak (chêne) country. We are in the Rouergue here but are only a short hop from the ancient southwest province of Quercy, called after the Latin name for oak, ‘quercus’.

Aux Urnes, Mes Citoyens: the French Local Elections

Hôtel de Ville – Town Hall

The French municipal elections take place at the end of March this year. Passions are already running high, although a French friend who is standing says candidates are not supposed to canvass until a couple of weeks before the elections. She’s told us all her ideas but I suppose that’s okay, since we don’t live in the same commune.

Anniversaires and Albi Revisited

Albi – Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile

Anniversaries were in the air this week. My blog is four years old today. When I started it, I barely knew what a blog was, let alone how to set one up. Thanks to WordPress and a lot of practice, I am slightly more competent than at the start. Now, 369 posts later, the fount of French things to write about still hasn’t dried up. Mel at FranceSays kindly conferred a Liebster Award on my blog, which I will follow up in a later post. Today, I’ll focus on the other anniversary celebrated this week.

Discovering French Street Signs

Classic French street sign

We take street signs for granted. They’re useful when we need to find an address. Apart from that, we don’t give them much thought. This may appear to be an abstruse subject but delve into the history a bit and they’ll tell you something about a place.

Southwest France Weather January 2014

A long time since we saw a sky like this. Chateau at Najac

…plus c’est la même chose. As people in northern and western France prepare to batten down the hatches yet again tonight, it’s my sombre duty to bring you the weather stats for January. And independent corroboration from Météo France that it was indeed a rotten month by most measures – just in case you hadn’t noticed.

Maiden Name or Married Name?

Now, here’s a controversial topic. I usually stay off them on this blog, since nothing is more likely to get the green ink brigade going. However, this time I’m going to stick my head above the parapet. What’s the beef? By which name should married women be addressed officially?

More Difficult French Phrases

Najac château in winter

Difficult for we non-French, that is. While writing an email to a French friend recently I had to consult the dictionary several times to make sure I got a particular construction right. This is after more than 16 years in France, four years of intensive French courses and having twice got to the regional finals (but no further) of a French national grammar competition. I don’t say the latter to boast but simply to show how difficult this language remains.

A Brief History of Cheese

The remnants of last night’s cheese board: Maroilles coated in paprika, Laguiole and Bleu d’Auvergne

At the Tuesday market in Caylus, which stall has the longest queue? No contest: the cheese stall. It’s especially long in summer when the holidaymakers and second homers swell the population. But even in winter you can count on a long wait before you get served. People carry away carrier bags groaning with cheeses of varying smelliness. How did cheese come to play such an important part in the French diet?

Woodpeckers!

Green woodpecker

We have vandals in la France profonde but they aren’t the human variety. After the ravages of deer, wild boar and moles – next up are woodpeckers. The first three have confined themselves to destroying the garden (bad enough); not content with that, the woodpeckers are assaulting the house.

Keeping Your Ear to the Ground in Rural France

 

Pentecost fête at Caylus

A reader recently bemoaned the fact that they had not heard in advance about an event on which I reported. I sympathise. Keeping up with what’s going on is not easy and, dare I say it, the French aren’t always very good at publicising things. Sixteen years ago, we were constantly finding out about fêtes or concerts we had missed. Things have improved but hearing about forthcoming events is still a lottery.

2013 Weather Roundup for Southwest France

Fortified church at Saint-Grat

Saint-Grat from a distance

The spell of mild weather that we enjoyed throughout most of December has continued into January. This doesn’t mean that the weather is good; simply that it’s not cold. On Saturday night, we had a howling gale, torrential rain and even thunder and lightning. I took the photos above during our last walking group promenade of the season before Christmas, when we started from Saint-Grat in Aveyron. It was a beautiful day – one of the few I can remember in 2013.

Five Signs of New Year in France

Galette des Rois (PhotoXpress_Nath Photos)

First, a slightly belated Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you have a happy, healthy and peaceful 2014. Serial over-indulgence during the festive season followed by self-enforced repose has kept me away from blogging for a few days. But I’ve been pondering the ways in which the French celebration of New Year differs from the British version.

La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2013: the Answers

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed doing this year’s La Lune Christmas Quiz. The correct answers are highlighted in red below. I have to admit to having made a mistake on one of the questions when I set it but all will be revealed. And you won’t lose any points as a result. It’s all in fun, anyway, so please don’t write in asking for a recount.

Midnight Mass in France

Eglise Saint-Andéol at Parisot

People celebrate Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve throughout France. We went this year to the service at l’Eglise Saint-Andéol in Parisot. Père Serge, the local priest, had asked for volunteers from le Choeur de Parisot to swell the ranks of the church choir. We thought, why not? Having now been once, it’s probably not an experience I shall repeat but it had its moments.

La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2013

Not on the menu this year, we hope

First, I’d like to wish all my readers a very happy festive season. Today we almost sat out to eat lunch under a cloudless blue sky but it was just a little too breezy. Alas, the forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day isn’t good. Since many recent Christmases have been freezing cold (and complete with power cut on one occasion), the milder weather is welcome.

To Crèche or Not To Crèche

Political correctness sometimes verges on the downright barmy. France is a secular society, which is fair enough. Public employees in France are not permitted to display ostentatious symbols of religious affiliation, such as foulards (headscarves) or large crucifixes. These issues came close to home this week.

An Opportunity to Meet French Schoolchildren

Villefranche market

We attended a rather nice event last Friday at a school in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. Le Lycée Beauregard, a secondary school, invited local English speakers to meet the students and talk to them – in English.

Carol Services with the Parisot Choir

Christmas crèche at Parisot

This is just a quick heads-up about two carol services that le Choeur de Parisot will be giving this year under the direction of maestro Peter Nowfel. Both concerts will feature the usual readings and medley of carols (in French and English) plus some Christmas songs performed by the choir only.

Trip to Planet London

 

Different planet? Copyright PhotoXpress/Gary

I am becoming a country bumpkin. No; not becoming – have become. This was quite clear during a recent short trip to London. I haven’t been there for a while and noticed some changes.

Southwest France Weather November 2013

Let me in!

Posting up the monthly weather stats is becoming a rather depressing task this year. It looks as if even the little fellow in the photo above can’t stand any more. November continued the trend – broken only by July and August – towards the gloomiest year since we moved here in 1997.

A French Country Upbringing

Threshing machine

‘Of course, Occitan was my first language,’ our friend Georgette said. I was sitting next to her at an association lunch today. She has never talked much about her childhood but, once I had started questioning her (no one is spared my journalistic instincts), a story emerged that could have come straight out of a French country novel.

Saint Catherine’s Day Customs

November colours – time to plant?

‘A la Sainte-Cathérine, tout bois prend racine.’ On St. Catherine’s Day (25^th November) all wood takes root. This oft-quoted saying implies that the climatic conditions are right for planting trees and shrubs on that day. I’ll return to this below. Various other customs are associated with this saint in France.

Les Travaux Ready for Take-Off at la Chapelle de Teysseroles

Drawing of chapel by James Burr

Thursday of last week was a big day at the 15^th-century chapel we are helping to restore. A meeting we had been urging for some time finally took place, between our architect, M Salomon, and the architect from Bâtiments de France. BDF are in charge of historic monuments and we needed them to inspect the site and authorise the work we propose.

Facts – and Fantasies – about French Wine

Vines next to the Pont Valentré, Cahors: PhotoXpress

Today was cold, damp, miserable and unpleasant. So let’s forget the weather and le ras-le-bol fiscal (discontent about taxes). Instead, let’s warm ourselves in front of the fire with a glass – or two – of one of France’s best-loved products: wine.

Remembrance Day 2: the Ceremony at Parisot

Monument des Morts at Parisot

I don’t know if this is unusual in France but Parisot celebrates Remembrance Day (11^th November) on the Sunday following the actual date. The ceremony at the Monument des Morts takes place after Sunday mass. By virtue of belonging to the Parisot Choir, the SF and I took our places by the memorial to sing the Marseillaise – an innovation this year by invitation of Monsieur le Maire.

Remembrance Day in France

Symbol of Flanders fields

If you went to any French village today you will have seen the commemoration of Armistice Day. At 11 am on the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918, the guns finally fell silent and, after a brief eruption of euphoria, the world started to count the cost. This day has come to symbolise the sacrifice of French citizens in all wars. Next year, of course, is the 100^th anniversary of the outbreak of the ‘war to end wars’. The centenary commemorations (you can hardly describe them as celebrations) have already started in France, launched by President Hollande last week.

Garlic and Garlic Recipes

Garlic cloves – Mike Parker/PhotoXpress

What would French cuisine be without garlic? This pungent bulb has become one of the symbols of France. As often happens, personal experience led me to reflect on the role garlic plays in French culture, society – and especially gastronomy.

Southwest France Weather October 2013

Parisot lake in autumn

The clocks went back last weekend and now it’s dark by 6.00 pm. Instead of taking an apéritif on a bench in the setting sun, we now sit by the wood burner. The squirrels are vying with us to harvest the falling walnuts and the trees are starting to turn. Autumn is drawing on.

Toussaint at Teysseroles

Graveyard at Teysseroles

Toussaint (All Saints’ Day) on 1^st November is a big religious event in France. French people honour their dead relatives and tidy and deck their tombs. Even if the church at Teysseroles is in poor repair, the cemetery is still in use. Since our fundraising fête at the end of June, the team restoring it – which includes us – has not had much opportunity to work there. But it has been all hands to the pumps during the past fortnight to clear up the churchyard.