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Author Archives: nessafrance
French Flavours E and F: Two Aveyronnais Specialities
Time for another instalment of my French flavours series. I realise I have only got to ‘E’ and we’ll never get to the end at this rate, so this week I’ll do ‘F’ as well and you get two for … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes
Tagged Aveyron, Aveyron recipes, Estofinado, Les Farçous, River Lot, rural life, Stockfish, SW France, Villefranche de Rouergue
7 Comments
Water, Water, Everywhere – But Not a Drop to Drink
The joys of living in a rural French commune. We currently have to collect our drinking water daily in bottles from the Syndicat des Eaux (local water board), which for us involves a round trip of about 18 kilometres. The … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Places
Tagged drinking water, rainfall, rural life, Source de Livron, SW France, tap water, water
15 Comments
Discovering a Former Railway Line
Do you enjoy travelling by train? I do, except of course when it’s cancelled or held up by the wrong sort of leaves or by vandals removing the copper from the electric cables, as happened to us recently in Sweden. … Continue reading
Chèque ou Espèces? Cheque or Cash
It often takes a holiday in another country to throw into relief the quirks of the one you live in. We returned recently from 10 days in Sweden (hence the blogging hiatus), where things are a bit different from France. … Continue reading
Posted in French life
Tagged cash in France, cheques in France, credit cards in France, France, French money, living in France, Moneo, SW France
14 Comments
All Fired Up: Bread Ovens
You may have seen these small, domed buildings, often tacked onto the back of a house, in French villages. They’re part of le petit patrimoine, not significant enough to merit historic monument status but important vestiges of past times, nonetheless. … Continue reading
Posted in History, Places
Tagged baking bread, bread, communal bread oven, Flouquet, four à pain, four banal, French bread, patrimoine, rural life, SW France
14 Comments
Getting a (Social) Life in France
Making friends is difficult when moving to a new country. Twenty years ago, our Brummie removal men asked, “Do you know anyone here?” When we said no, they shook their heads in disbelief. If you move to la France profonde, … Continue reading
Preparations for the Fête at Teysseroles
I haven’t written much recently about the church at Teysseroles, which we are helping to restore. This is mainly because not a great deal has happened. I have to admit I find the sporadic activity on the restoration frustrating, but … Continue reading
Ma Vie Française #4: Janine Marsh and the Good Life
Today, I’m excited to welcome someone who not only lives in France, but also has visited every corner of it. Janine Marsh runs a phenomenally successful website, The Good Life France and edits a free ezine, The Good Life France … Continue reading
Restoration of the Lavoir in Caylus
Lavoirs, or wash-houses, are features of the landscape around here. In times past, this is where the women (naturally…) did their laundry. They were normally constructed by a spring or a stream, so if the women were lucky, there was … Continue reading
Posted in History, Places
Tagged Caylus, Caylus Notre Village, lavoir, lavoir de Caylus, patrimoine, rural life, SW France, wash-houses
10 Comments
French Flavours: D is for Diablotins au Roquefort
I have been continuing my researches to bring you another in my series of recipes of Southwest France. Here’s one you’ve probably never heard of – diablotins au Roquefort. I certainly hadn’t. Easy to make, with readily-available ingredients, they are … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes
Tagged amuse-bouche, Aveyron, Diablotins au Roquefort, French flavours, recipes, Roquefort, Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, SW France, walnuts
8 Comments
Finding Our House in France
Today is a very special one on La Lune. It’s 20 years ago to the day since we first saw our house. During our five days’ house-hunting in France, among the legion of properties we saw only two fitted the … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Places
Tagged Aveyron, French property, living in France, Lot, property-hunting in France, real estate, rural life, SW France, Tarn-et-Garonne
21 Comments
#Paris in the Springtime #2
Here’s part 2 of the story of our first visit to Paris in 15 years. We had only three days in the capital, and so we were determined to make the most of it. Our shoe leather was definitely more … Continue reading
Paris in the Springtime #1
People often say to us, “You must visit Paris all the time!” Actually, we’ve been there only twice as tourists in our 20 years in France, and I’ve been there for the day (!) a couple of times for work. … Continue reading
Posted in Places
Tagged France, Impressionist painting, Impressionists, Latin Quarter of Paris, Marais, Montparnasse, Musée d'Orsay, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Vermeer
5 Comments
Tree Pests: Pine Processionary Caterpillars
I trained my binoculars on the tree and zoomed in. My suspicions were confirmed. There was no doubt that the beginnings of a white cocoon about halfway up were the work of pine processionary caterpillars. If you look closely, you … Continue reading
Cattle Country
Considering we are surrounded by them, I’m surprised I haven’t written more about these mainstays of local agriculture. Perhaps it’s because I have a love-hate relationship with them, especially when marauding herds have trampled down our garden. What am I … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes
Tagged Beef, beef consumption, boeuf, cattle farming, farming, food, rural life, SW France, transhumance
27 Comments
Can Spring be far Behind?
The literary-minded will notice that the title is a quotation from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’, written in 1819 while the poet was staying in Florence. The poem can be interpreted in various ways, the most simplistic … Continue reading
Posted in Weather
Tagged frost, rainfall, Shelley Ode to the West Wind, signs of spring, spring, SW France, Weather, winter weather
7 Comments
French Flavours #3: C is for Cassoulet
I can’t allow the letter C to pass by without writing about cassoulet, the signature dish of southwest France. It’s been around for a long time and the correct recipe is the subject of controversy. What is it? A stew … Continue reading
Ma Vie Française #3: Author Angela Wren
Today, I continue my occasional interview series with people who have made their life in France or who have a particular attachment to it. Author Angela Wren is in the latter category. Let’s find out why she finds France so … Continue reading
Posted in Ma Vie Française Interviews
Tagged Angela Wren, author, books, camping in France, Cevennes, France, French life, Messandrierre, visiting France
15 Comments
Puylaroque: Tranquil Village with a Turbulent History
The panorama from the viewpoint at Puylaroque is magnificent. Beneath the rocky outcrop on which the village stands, the plains of southwest France roll away towards the Pyrénées. On a clear day, you can see the mountains, but that is … Continue reading
Forgotten Love Letter Saved for Posterity
Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways. In this case, it saved for posterity a wonderful letter that would otherwise have been consigned to the flames with a heap of junk.
Posted in History, Places, World War I & II
Tagged Espinas, farming, Flouquet, living in France, love letter, rural community, rural life, SW France, World War I
4 Comments
French Flavours #2: B is for lou Bajanac
In my A-Z of traditional French recipes, I’m trying to focus on those that originated in southwest France, where we live. So I’ve eschewed boeuf à la Bourgignonne or blanquette de veau, delicious though they are. Surprisingly, I found a … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes
Tagged Aveyron, châtaignes, chestnut soup, chestnuts, French recipes, Laguépie, lou Bajanac, Rouergue, SW France, traditional French recipes
8 Comments
Beyond Time: A Journey Back to Prehistory Part 2
Last week, I started a journey back in time to look at some of the many prehistoric relics left in this region by our ancestors. This week, we’re dropping in on the artists who used cave walls as their canvas … Continue reading
Beyond Time: A Journey Back to Prehistory Part 1
Ours is one of the more rural French regions, but transport networks criss-cross the countryside and commercial suburbs mushroom around its historic towns. And yet this part of France is peppered with the works of prehistoric artists and builders. They … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Aveyron, cave paintings, Dolmens, Grotte de Foissac, Menhirs, Musée Fenaille, prehistoric art, prehistoric sites in SW France, prehistory, SW France
5 Comments
French Flavours #1: A is for Aligot
The temperature was approaching -10C when I went downstairs this morning – outside, I hasten to add. This is the coldest spell we’ve had for five years. In this weather you want rib-sticking food; nouvelle cuisine doesn’t hit the … Continue reading
Posted in Aveyron, Food/drink/recipes
Tagged aligot, Aubrac, Aveyron, burons, food, Laguiole, Laguiole cheese, SW France, tome fraîche
40 Comments
2017 Preview and 2016 Weather Roundup
Bonne année, Meilleurs Vœux. Wishing you a happy and peaceful year and a better one for the world in general. Welcome to Life on La Lune 2017. This is a particularly special year for me and the SF (Statistics Freak … Continue reading
Posted in Weather
Tagged 2016 weather, climate, drought, frost, rainfall, rural life, SW France, Weather, Weather statistics
8 Comments
Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2016: the Answers
I hope you had a great Christmas. How did you get on with the quiz? I promised you the answers today and here they are – a little late because I got engrossed in writing my next novel. Don’t forget … Continue reading
Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2016
First, let me wish all my readers Season’s Greetings. Thank you for following my blog this year and for your stimulating comments and emails, which I always enjoy reading. Thank you also for the many Tweets and shares on Facebook. … Continue reading
10 French Christmas Traditions
Like every country in Christendom, France has a range of Christmas traditions, local and nationwide. I explore a few in this post. Christmas used to be lower key, less commercialised and of shorter duration than in the UK. During our … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, History
Tagged Bûche de Noël, chansons de Noël, Christmas, Corsica, French Christmas traditions, Noël, rural life, santons, SW France
19 Comments
A Cut Above the Rest: Laguiole Knives
The Aveyron town of Laguiole sits at the edge of the stark and empty but stunningly beautiful Aubrac plateau. We passed through there several years ago on our way to the Aubrac cattle transhumance, which takes place every year in … Continue reading
Posted in Aveyron, History, Places
Tagged Aubrac, Aveyron, Jean-Louis Calmels, Laguiole, Laguiole bee motif, Laguiole cheese, Laguiole knife, Michel Bras, SW France, transhumance
10 Comments
A Walk Around Castanet
Last week, the weather here was truly appalling, especially on Wednesday and Thursday, with high winds and torrential rain. And other parts of southern France suffered much more than we did. This November has been particularly wet, although not cold. … Continue reading
Posted in Places, Walking in France
Tagged Castanet, châtaignes, rural depopulation, rural life, SW France, sweet chestnuts, Tarn-et-Garonne, walking, Walking in France
12 Comments
