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Author Archives: nessafrance
Bonne Année 2020. Weather Roundup for 2019
First, belated Meilleurs Voeux. Every time we go into the village, we are greeted with enthusiastic kisses and handshakes from acquaintances and good wishes for 2020, “surtout pour la santé” – above all for good health. This will continue until … Continue reading
Posted in Weather
Tagged climate change, drought, heatwave, rainfall, SW France, SW France weather 2019
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Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2019: the Answers
I hope you had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed the quiz. Here are the answers to the 9th edition of the Life on La Lune French Christmas quiz. Ready? Award yourself one point for each correct answer. Remember that some … Continue reading
Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2019
A very happy Festive Season to all my readers. I’d like to thank you for reading the blog, which is approaching its 10th birthday in February 2020, and for your thoughtful and interesting comments. Welcome to the 9th Edition of … Continue reading
Favourite Blogs about Life in France
On 14th February 2020 this blog will be 10 years old. A lot of words have flowed sous le pont since then in almost 700 posts. And the number of life in France blogs has proliferated since 2010. However, there … Continue reading
Long Overdue Trip to the Fronton Vineyards
Hands up if you’ve heard of the Fronton vignoble. If you don’t live here, you probably haven’t come across it, like us before we moved to France. It’s a very small wine-growing area, and only a limited proportion of the … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes, Places
Tagged Château Bellevue La Forêt, Fronton, Fronton vignoble, Montech, Négrette grape, SW France, Vinovalie, wine
6 Comments
Are You une Huile or un Gros Poisson? Find Out Below
No matter how long you live here, or however good you think your French is, you always come across new phrases and expressions, some of them quite bizarre if translated literally. Like our own idiomatic expressions in English, there’s usually … Continue reading
Posted in Language
Tagged French colloquial phrases, French language, gros bonnet, gros poisson, grosse légume, les huiles, SW France
8 Comments
Cornflowers and Poppies: Symbols of World War I
Today is Remembrance Sunday, the closest Sunday to 11th November, the day the Armistice came into force in 1918. Tomorrow is a public holiday in France, and remembrance ceremonies will take place at war memorials throughout the country. Wearing a … Continue reading
Posted in History, World War I & II
Tagged Armistice Day, Chemin des Dames, cornflower, le Bleuet de France, poppy, Remembrance Day, SW France, World War I, WWI symbols
3 Comments
Autumn’s Bounty: Pumpkins and Pumpkin Recipes
Where we live in southwest France, size is of the essence; in fact, the bigger, the better. One of our local villages held a competition a couple of years ago for the biggest, heaviest and oddest shaped. I am of … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes
Tagged butternut squash, citrouille, potiron, pumpkin, pumpkin recipes, SW France
14 Comments
Every Château Tells a Story #17: Le Château de Bournazel
So much for my theory that tourist sites are less crowded out of season. Le tout Aveyron turned up at the Château de Bournazel yesterday, giving the hard-pressed guide some logistical problems. “This is the first time we’ve opened in … Continue reading
Posted in Aveyron, Places
Tagged Aveyron, Bournazel, Château de Bournazel, monument historique, patrimoine, Renaissance architecture, Renaissance château, SW France
2 Comments
Autumn Food Fêtes and Festivals
We’re definitely in autumn now. This year it has started off rather damp and gloomy, although the weather is often glorious at this time. But I make no secret of the fact that autumn is my favourite season. After a … Continue reading
Back to Belcastel
This week, we celebrated an important wedding anniversary and returned to Belcastel in Aveyron to do so in style. This plus beau village is home to a Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Vieux Pont, which specialises in Aveyronnais produce and local recipes … Continue reading
Abandoned Village: Saint-Amans-le-Vieux
Today was a beautiful, if still too dry, autumn day, so the SF and I decided to bestir ourselves and make the most of this fine weather for a walk. “Where shall we go?” We are faced with an embarras … Continue reading
Posted in History, Places, Walking in France
Tagged Bonnette Valley, Caylus, deserted village, lac de Caylus, rural exodus, Saint-Amans le Vieux, SW France
4 Comments
Bowled Over: One of France’s Favourite Sports
Under the plane trees on the outskirts of a southern French village, an ancient tradition is taking place. A knot of men is gathered, fortified by glasses of Pastis. The sun dipping behind the trees makes zebra patterns on the … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, French life
Tagged boules, faire la bise à Fanny, la Boule Lyonnaise, Marcel Pagnol, pétanque, Provence, SW France
4 Comments
Cordes-sur-Ciel: Dramatic and Timeless
I’d forgotten what a long way up it is. Seventeen years had obliterated our memory of the steep hike up to the cité of Cordes-sur-Ciel perched on its hilltop, which was long considered inaccessible. But we weren’t going to wimp … Continue reading
Posted in History, Places
Tagged Albigensian Crusade, bastide, Cathars, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Counts of Toulouse, Raymond VII Count of Toulouse, Southwest France, Tarn
23 Comments
From Monks to Mona Lisa: L’Abbaye de Loc-Dieu
Imagine a place the locals dreaded so much that they named it locus diaboli, the devil’s place. A lonely, remote spot near the major trade route between Rodez and Cahors, with dark woods bristling with bandits lying in wait. And … Continue reading
Missing Cat: Chat Perdu
I wrote this post this morning after our cat had been missing for 15 days. An hour later she miaowed and walked back through the door as if nothing had happened. She was hungry and a bit perturbed, but apparently … Continue reading
Posted in French life
10 Comments
Rally Round: the Caylus Car Rally
It isn’t exactly the Paris-Dakar rally, but it’s an annual event that we really enjoy taking part in. The Caylus rally is not about speed; it’s about discovering the local historic heritage during a 50 km circuit with eight checkpoints. … Continue reading
Posted in Places
Tagged Bach, Caylus Notre Village, Jamblusse, Lacapelle-Livron, lavoirs, Loze, rallye touristique, SW France, Varaire, wash-houses
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Timeless Monument: The Cathedral of Cahors 900 Years On
2019 marks the 900th anniversary of la Cathédrale Saint-Etienne in Cahors. The cathedral is even older than the ill-fated Notre-Dame de Paris. Yesterday, 27th July, was supposed to be the official anniversary, since it was on that day in 1119 … Continue reading
The French Countryside isn’t Quiet: Spread the Word
Lying in bed early this morning, through the open window I heard cockerels crowing, a tractor doing some heavy-duty work not far away, cow bells jangling, dogs barking, pigeons cooing and the sparrows that nest in our walls chirping and … Continue reading
Posted in French life
20 Comments
Drought in Southwest France
First, let me wish you a joyeux Quatorze Juillet. Today is la Fête Nationale in France and one of the most important holidays in the calendar. Today is sunny and hot. In previous years, we have been known to light … Continue reading
Posted in Weather
Tagged drought, Quatorze Juillet, rainfall, SW France, SW France weather, water restrictions
26 Comments
Summertime, and the Living is – Busy
Life on La Lune has been a bit quiet recently. One non-negotiable reason is that we had huge problems accessing the internet during the past week. While it is back, it’s wobbly. The other reason is that summer has arrived, … Continue reading
Favourite French Films: Marcel Pagnol’s La Gloire de Mon Père and Le Château de Ma Mère
A few months ago, I posted on Life on La Lune’s Facebook page that we were re-watching the films of Marcel Pagnol’s classic Provence novels, Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources. Do watch them if you get the … Continue reading
Quirky Quercy Art – or Quart
Some of you will remember the late lamented Fyfe Robertson, a British TV journalist known for his trenchant views. A somewhat quirky figure himself, with his tweeds and deer-stalker hat, he had his own series, ‘Robbie’, in which he roamed … Continue reading
Posted in Places, Quirky stuff
Tagged Art, Caylus, Contemporary art, Quercy, quirky art, Saint-Grat, SW France, Vidaillac
4 Comments
Noses to the Grindstone? La Meulière de Clayrac near Cordes
Our walking group has recently taken some interesting routes, which have introduced us to the patrimoine (historic heritage) of the region. Some of the sites are quite off the beaten track and we hadn’t come across them before in our … Continue reading
How Does Voting Take Place in France?
For people like me who are not French citizens, voting here is a rare event, confined to the municipal elections (every six years) and the European elections (every five). The last time I voted was in March 2014, for the … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Top tips
Tagged European elections, European Union, SW France, voting in France
8 Comments
A Walk Around Caylus
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 … Continue reading
The Life of an Agricultural Labourer in France in 1900
Originally posted on 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 20th century, the world of agricultural labour in France…
Posted in French life
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Saving Face: Some of the Less Obvious Gems in SW France
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 … Continue reading
Posted in History, Places
Tagged carved stone figures, Caylus, chimera, French Wars of Religion, gargoyle, Maison des Loups Caylus, Najac, Puycelsi, Puylagarde, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val
6 Comments
A Special Day for Life on La Lune
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Places, Walking in France
Tagged Félines, orchids of SW France, Puycelsi, SW France, walking
15 Comments
Emma Calvé: Forgotten Singing Star of the Belle Epoque
Originally posted on 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…
Posted in French life
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