Life in Southwest France

Welcome to La Lune, French for the moon. This is the name of the lieu-dit (locality) in southwest France where our 18th-century farmhouse is situated. We have lived here since 1997. The name almost certainly has nothing to do with the moon, but it’s intriguing nonetheless.

I’m a British writer and novelist. This blog includes episodes from our French life, snippets about French history, culture and customs, and details of things happening in our area.

I try to tell it as it is and not to romanticise life in France. After so many years, je ne regrette rien, and I love living here, even if aspects of French life are still unfathomable.

I also love hearing about other people’s experiences of France, so do leave a comment underneath a post if you feel moved to do so. I always reply.

If you would like to subscribe to my blog (completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time), please click on the email link in the right-hand sidebar. Your email address will never be publicly visible.

Life on La Lune now has a Facebook page! There, you’ll find additional photos, info and snippets about France that don’t fit on the blog. And you can comment on posts there, too, if you’re on Facebook. I look forward to seeing you there.

Bonne continuation!  

One of the fantastic sunsets we enjoy here

A Walk Around Caylus

Caylus. The lake is on the other side of the hill, below the ruined château

It’s been an eventful 10 days or so. My latest novel is now out, involving quite a lot of last-minute effort. And the Irish Embassy in Paris phoned on Tuesday to say that my citizenship application had been accepted. My certificate arrived yesterday and was, in fact, a bit underwhelming. It bears a photo of me looking as if I’m going to the scaffold as usual, plus some bare personal facts. It doesn’t even mention my grandmother, by virtue of whose birth in Ireland I became eligible for citizenship.

The Life of an Agricultural Labourer in France in 1900

I posted this on my writing site, since it’s background to my latest novel, but I thought Life on La Lune readers might be interested, too. It’s the results of my research on female agricultural labourers in France in 1900: how did they get hired? What did they do? How much did they earn? What were their prospects?

Vanessa Couchman

Market place in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, which had several large monthly agricultural fairs at one time. The fountains are a 21st century addition.

At the turn of the 20^th century, the world of agricultural
labour in France was a patchwork of different métiers and social positions. Wherever you were on the social hierarchy,
your life was governed by the tasks associated with the different seasons.

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Saving Face: Some of the Less Obvious Gems in SW France

Disrespectful stone carving in Caylus.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I’m following the example of fellow blogger Midi Hideaways, who wrote a recent post about the statuary and carved stone faces on buildings in the towns of the Languedoc. In this post I look at some of the less flamboyant, but often charming, architectural patrimoine in our area.

A Special Day for Life on La Lune

Eglise Saint-Corneille in Puycelsi.. Stark on the outside…

A riot of colour inside

Puycelsi – hilltop fortress town

Today is a rather special day for us. More of that below. It’s been a rather eventful couple of weeks, which explains my erratic blogging record just now. Having taken part in a concert in the hilltop village of Puycelsi in aid of restoring the church, the following day saw the semi-destruction by fire of Notre-Dame de Paris.

A couple of days later our cat, Bella, went missing and didn’t return for 72 hours, when we were starting to give up hope. It’s almost impossible to settle to anything when that happens. Fortunately, she was unscathed, if starving, and has hopefully learned a lesson. In addition, I’ve been getting my latest novel ready for publication and attempting to stop the garden turning into a jungle.

Emma Calvé: Forgotten Singing Star of the Belle Epoque

I posted this on my writing blog, since it concerns my latest novel, but as this post is about a famous singer who was born in Aveyron, SW France, I thought readers of Life on La Lune might be interested, too.

Vanessa Couchman

Emma Calvé, Wikimedia Commons, SIP 89-12, by Reutlinger

Have you heard of Emma Calvé? I hadn’t, until I read about her in a French novel. However, she was one of the brightest stars of her time in the singing world and had a highly-acclaimed international career. Hers is a fascinating rags-to-riches-to-rags story, which has inspired my latest novel, Overture.

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Centuries to Build, Hours to Destroy: Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame intact

One of France’s – no, the world’s – best-loved icons, Notre-Dame de Paris, caught fire shortly before 7 pm last night. The flames quickly took hold and, although the fire brigade was quick to react, it was impossible to save the roof, composed of tonnes of wood and lead. This morning, thanks to the tactic of playing water over the stonework, the towers and the walls are still intact. And no one was killed, although a fireman was badly injured while fighting the flames.

Clock This

I hope you remembered to put your clocks forward last night if you’re in Europe, otherwise you’ll be a bit behind everyone else. We posted reminders throughout the house so that we wouldn’t forget, but there’s always at least one clock that slips through the net. However, in 2021, we will change the hour for the last time.

Say it with Flowers: France’s Villages Fleuris

The garden is burgeoning and it’s that time of year when one’s thoughts turn to planning and planting. While driving around France, you might have noticed village signs declaring “Village – or ville – fleuri(e)” and sporting one to four flower symbols. I had never really thought much about this until Le Figaro published an article celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the Villages Fleuris organisation. Rather like the plus beau village label, these accolades are not given out lightly.

Tilting at Windmills

Windmill at Saillagol

One of the things I love about living here is local people’s interest in le petit patrimoine, the vestiges of a rural life that has faded away. Groups of enthusiastic volunteers contribute to their restoration to rescue them from oblivion. Today, I dragged the SF off to visit one of these projects, lo molin de la Gaventa, a windmill outside the village of Saillagol.

The Story of the People at La Lune

Our house, almost at the point of no return in the 1960s.

I’d love to know who lived in our house long ago. Elderly neighbours have always been hazy about this, perhaps because it doesn’t really interest them. This week, at last, I discovered a story about previous occupants.

Very Welcome Visitors

Who’s hiding in here?

We knew they were there, because we’d heard them. But we didn’t know exactly where. They kept themselves well concealed, only moving about at night, until we stumbled upon their secret hiding place.

The Post-Impressionists Head South to Rustic Provence: Guest Post

Arles on the Rhône, one of the places we’re visiting today

Main square in Arles

Life on La Lune: I’m very keen on art, so whenever I visit a place, I always seek out the art gallery. The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists particularly appeal to me. They have a few connections with Southwest France: Toulouse Lautrec was born in Albi, Renoir in Limoges and Suzanne Valadon in the Limousin. However, they are better known for their attachment to Paris, Normandy and Provence.

Today, I’m delighted to welcome Jeanette Gory, whose website follows in the footsteps of these artists. She’s written a post for us on Cézanne and Van Gogh in Provence, including helpful tips on visiting places associated with them. Her post has certainly whetted my appetite for revisiting their haunts (the two images above are from my visit to Arles a few years ago on a very cold May day).

New Technology Lands on La Lune

Life on La Lune passed its 9^th  birthday last week on 14^th February. A few things have changed since then, not least our ability to access the internet. When I published my first post (the present one is the 628th), we were still using a dial-up connection. After all this time, the electronic tune the modem played each time we switched it on is engraved on my memory.

The Bells, the Bells: the Magic of Church Bells in Rural France

Notre-Dame de Paris, of Quasimodo fame

In Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the loud ringing of the cathedral bells has turned Quasimodo, the bell-ringer, deaf. Some of you will no doubt have seen Charles Laughton hamming it up inimitably in the 1939 film. I love the sound of church bells pealing, although I must admit I wouldn’t like to live next door to them. This week, news reports revealed that a part-time resident of a village in Vienne is taking the commune to court because he finds the church bells too loud.

As ever, this snippet inspired me to look closer to home for stories about local bells.

La Chandeleur: Candles, Customs and Crêpes

Return of the sun

Today is la Chandeleur or la fête des chandelles. I had never heard of it before we moved to France, but I had heard of Candlemas – lovely name – which is the British equivalent. To those of you in the States, it’s also Groundhog Day. Nowadays in France, it’s an excuse for eating crêpes (pancakes), but, as ever, it has a host of traditions behind it.

Maigret: France’s Favourite Flic

A small selection of our Maigret books

Before you ask, flic is colloquial French for a police officer. Commissaire Jules Maigret is probably the best-known French fictional detective, created by the novelist Georges Simenon (who was actually Belgian). When we first moved here and my French was lousy, I cut my teeth on the Maigret novels, which are not that difficult. Recently, we’ve been watching DVDs of a long-running series of Maigret stories starring Bruno Cremer in the title role.

Five French Weather Phrases

Ça caille

The Brits have a reputation for talking about the weather. Hardly a surprise, since you can experience four different seasons in one day in parts of the UK. It was a surprise to us initially that French people also talk about the weather a lot. In our region, which is mostly a farming area, the climate has always been an important matter and greatly influences the difference between a good and a bad harvest. The French have developed some colourful phrases to describe different types of weather.

Épiphanie, the Day of the Three Kings, in France

Galette des Rois (PhotoXpress_Nath Photos)

Now that New Year’s Eve has passed, I can wish you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2019. In France, it’s considered bad luck to do so before midnight on 31st December. Although we have turned the corner of the year, I will still be writing 2018 on cheques and official forms until April.

French Christmas Quiz 2018: the Answers

Hoping it won’t be like this in 2019…

I hope you had a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it. How did you get on with the quiz? Now is the time of reckoning. The answers are below. And there were a couple of trick questions, but if you’ve been doing it every year you ought to know that by now!

French Christmas Quiz 2018

A very happy Festive Season to all my readers. Thank you for reading the blog this year and for your stimulating comments and emails. Welcome to the 2018 – and 8th – Edition of the Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz. This is my traditional Christmas gift to my loyal readers. Something for you to exercise your brain on, once you’ve exercised your stomach.

Mistletoe in French Tradition

Mistletoe – abundant in our area

When I lived in the UK, mistletoe was a rarity, only to be found in over-priced bunches in garden centres during the run-up to Christmas. Moving here, I saw that it grows abundantly in our area. Some species of tree are covered with spheres of it. In fact, it’s a bit of a pest, but mistletoe is so entwined with myth and tradition, that there is nonetheless something magical about it.

Ma Vie Française #8: Chris Bockman, Sniffing Out News Stories in SW France

There’s been a slight hiatus in posting, as I’ve been dealing with some family health issues. However, this week, I’m delighted to bring you another interview in the Ma Vie Française series. Chris Bockman has been keeping his finger on the pulse of the news in SW France for around 20 years. He gave a talk at our local library recently, during which he regaled us with some of the stories he’s covered during that time. And he’s written a book about it: an ideal Christmas present for Francophiles. Without further ado, over to Chris.

Béret Nice

Béret model

Along with the Eiffel Tower, the baguette and the Citroën 2CV, the béret has become a (caricatured) symbol of French culture. Thus, it was adopted by people like Ernest Hemingway, who wanted to look French even if they weren’t – and the SF who has graciously consented to model his, above. For the people of the Béarn, where the béret is still manufactured and worn, it remains a badge of identity.

Wild Boar

Wild boar. Not my picture – I’ve never got close enough to one. KoS [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

When we moved here in 1997, it was not uncommon to see whole troupes of these animals, of up to 20 individuals. We have also seen the occasional lone male. Since then, our sightings of them have been much rarer. For quite hefty beasts, they can be remarkably invisible. Large-ish stones overturned in the woods and shallow holes dug in the ground are the tell-tale signs. Then we know the sangliers (wild boar) are around.

Millau: Towers, Markets and Bridges – Guest Post by Angela Wren

 

Millau Bridge

I’m thrilled to welcome back to the blog Angela Wren, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting at an authors’ event in Carcassonne in September. Angela is a Francophile, who has visited many more corners of France than I have, and stayed in most of the campsites! She’s also the very accomplished author of a series of murder mysteries set in the Cévennes centred on gendarme-turned-investigator Jacques Forêt. Today, she’s taking us on a tour to a town in the region which I don’t know very well: Millau. The photo above is mine; the others are Angela’s.

France’s Flower of the Dead

A pot of chrysanthemums decorating a family grave

For a fortnight or so before 1^st November (Toussaint; All Saints’ Day) pavements outside French florists’ shops and undertakers, and whole marquees at supermarkets, are heaving with chrysanthemums in pots. But don’t be tempted to offer a pot as a gift; you’ll likely sour a budding friendship. Why? The chrysanthemum is the flower of the dead in France. 

Ça Sent la Rose

 

Roses in our garden during a happier year for them

Roses must have one of the loveliest scents of all flowers. They have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years and thousands of varieties now exist. Unfortunately, they don’t do well here in our poor soil and they didn’t like this year’s late summer drought in particular. However, a garden close by once had a roseraie (rose garden) known for its contribution to the perfume industry.

French Flavours: Pounti, Traditional Auvergnat Dish

Pounti

During our recent visit to Cantal, we had the opportunity to taste again a dish that is traditional to northern Aveyron/southern Cantal: pounti. Before we first visited that area, 25 years ago, I had never come across this dish, not even in other parts of France. But, like many other traditional French recipes, it excites no small controversy among devotees, who argue about the correct way of making it.

Villeneuve d’Aveyron: Ancient Paths and a Historic Gem

What do you think this building is? A small château or fortified house? A barn? All will be revealed below. Autumn is the best time for walking in this area. The days are warm and sunny, it’s usually dry underfoot (a little too dry until last night) and the leaves are turning to tawny brown. Knowing that the weather was planning to change, we decided to follow a walk that I have wanted to do for some time.

Ma Vie Française # 7: Elizabeth Moore, Fulfilling a Long-Held Dream

Some of Elizabeth’s memories of France

This week, I’m delighted to welcome in my series of interviews another Francophile, who has a long-standing attachment to France. Elizabeth Moore, who writes as EJ Bauer, turned the distressing experience of illness into an opportunity by travelling from her native Australia to explore France. I normally ask people to provide a few images to illustrate their answers. Elizabeth has done us proud with a fabulous selection of photos from her trips.