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Category Archives: French life
New Technology Lands on La Lune
Life on La Lune passed its 9th birthday last week on 14th 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 … Continue reading
French Christmas Quiz 2018: the Answers
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Rentrée Time
Here we are in September again. How did that happen? Surely Easter was only last week. Actually, I don’t mind. This is my favourite month of the year, perhaps because I was born in September (cards and presents welcome). We … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, French life
Tagged autumn, la rentrée, la rentrée politique, la rentrée scolaire, summer, Summer holidays, SW France
6 Comments
Ma Vie Française #6: Author Jane Dunning
Today, I continue my occasional series of interviews with people who have made their life in France or who have a particular attachment to it. Jane Dunning’s love affair with France began in earnest in the 1990s and she has … Continue reading
British, French or Irish? Or all Three?
I don’t write about politics on this blog. Of course, I have my views, but I generally keep them to myself. So I haven’t mentioned the ‘B’ word (okay, Brexit) in my posts so far. However, I can’t ignore it … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Rants
Tagged Brexit, Carte de séjour, European Union, French citizenship, implications of Brexit, Irish citizenship, SW France
37 Comments
A Local WWII Resistance Group: Update
Today, the causse above the riverside village of Cazals is a tranquil place with superb views of the Gorges de l’Aveyron. It’s covered with juniper and scrub oak and the only sounds are birdsong or the occasional whirr of … Continue reading
Summer in Southwest France
Summer is here, les grandes vacances have begun and the foreign number plates in the area have multiplied. And to go with them, a little present from the French government: a drop in the speed limit on secondary roads from … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Places
Tagged Chapelle de Teysserolles, fete, French markets, lavoir de Caylus, summer, summer fêtes, Summer holidays, SW France, Teysseroles fête
11 Comments
Eight Years On…
A little celebration is in order. Life on La Lune will be eight years old on Wednesday, which just happens to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Since February 2010, I’ve published some 586 posts, learned an awful lot about France … Continue reading
The Pros and Cons of Brits in France
Peter Mayle, the doyen of writers about the good life in France, died recently at the age of 78. His book, A Year in Provence (1989), describes how he restored an 18th-century farmhouse near Ménerbes in the Luberon with the … Continue reading
S.O.S. French Towns
A few days ago, I had coffee with two friends in the centre of Villefranche-de-Rouergue. This Aveyron town, some 25 km from us, is one of my favourite towns in the region. It’s an attractive place, steeped in history and … Continue reading
Summer’s Lease Hath All Too Short a Date: La Rentrée
Yesterday, the summer holidays ended in France as children went back to school, people packed away their holiday gear for another year and workers prepared themselves for the routine of métro, boulot, dodo (subway, work, sleep). The eight weeks or … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Weather
Tagged autumn, autumn signs, canicule, heatwave, la rentrée, summer fêtes, Summer holidays, SW France
9 Comments
20 Years of la Vie Française
Last weekend marked the 20th anniversary of moving into our house in France. We had arrived in France a few days earlier, but we regard the occupation of the house as the true anniversary. This year I had a long … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Places
Tagged culture clash, France, French culture, French restaurants, la vie française, living in France, moving to France, SW France
13 Comments
Bons Voisins – Good Neighbours
I’m constantly amazed at French people’s ability to conjure up a social event from unpromising components, whether it’s an apéritif, an improvised barbecue or a full-blown fête. Last night, some neighbours organised a repas de quartier, a neighbourhood meal, which … Continue reading
Posted in French life
Tagged country fêtes, Fêtes in France, French farmers, French fête, living in France, repas de quartier, rural life, SW France
23 Comments
Un café, s’il vous plaît
Coffee fuels the French, who have a penchant for strong black espresso-type coffee. Having to use coffee substitutes during World War II must have been a real hardship in that case. A chance remark to that effect during a recent … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes, French life
Tagged café culture, cafés, coffee, coffee substitutes, French cafés, French coffee, SW France, World War II
17 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
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
16 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
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
23 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
French Telephone Etiquette
Even after more than 19 years in France, I lift the receiver with apprehension when the phone rings. This is partly because it’s invariably a cold caller. It’s also because dealing with people on the phone in French is damn … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, French life
Tagged cold calling, etiquette, France, social customs, SW France, telephone etiquette
19 Comments
19 Years in France
Time for a little celebration. Nineteen years ago today, we moved into our house, but we had arrived in France a few days earlier. The time has passed quickly, although much wine has flowed under the bridge since then. A … Continue reading
Posted in French life
Tagged France, French customs, la canicule, living in France, Montauban, moving to France, SW France, Tarn-et-Garonne
11 Comments
Caylus Car Rally Revived
Our village formerly held an annual car rally. This wasn’t a race with souped-up vehicles – fortunately – but a “rallye touristique”, i.e. following a circuit between checkpoints around the commune. The event faded, as these things do, but … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Places
Tagged Caylus, Caylus Notre Village, lavoir, lavoir de Caylus, patrimoine, rallye touristique, SW France
12 Comments
Summer Arrives at Last in SW France
C’est l’été and the weather has finally caught up with the calendar. We’ve had wall-to-wall blue skies and hot sunshine for the past few days. This was a particularly good thing this weekend, since we sang in a concert … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Weather
Tagged Abbaye de Marcilhac-sur-Célé, climate, Goldfinch, Marcilhac-sur-Célé, Mozart Requiem, rainfall, summer, SW France, Weather
8 Comments
Tour de France 2016
The Tour de France passed through our village for the first time yesterday, which has inspired great excitement during the build-up. All of the roads along the route have been resurfaced and relined, the verges have been cut and the … Continue reading
Posted in French life
Tagged Caylus, cycling, cyclists, SW France, Tour de France 2016, Tour de France Stage 6
28 Comments
C’est la Fête!
It’s that time of year again when every street corner (and your windscreen if you stop for long enough) bristles with posters advertising local fêtes, vide-greniers and concerts. Some of the early ones have had to contend with appalling weather … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Places, Teysseroles chapel
Tagged bastide, Beauregard, chapelle de Teysseroles, Fête de la Musique, fête de Teysseroles, Lot, SW France, Teysseroles
15 Comments
Ma Vie Française #2: An Interview with Stephanie Dagg
I’ve known Steph since 2010 but we have never met! Author, editor, blogger, businesswoman, and smallholder– she wears so many hats it’s difficult to keep up. She’s written a popular book, Heads Above Water, about her family’s life in … Continue reading
Ma Vie Française #1: an Interview with Jacqui Brown
You’ve heard a lot from me over the past six years about life in rural France. So let’s hear from someone else for a change. This is the first in an occasional series, Ma Vie Française, in which people tell … Continue reading
