Category Archives: French life

Summer’s Lease Hath All Too Short a Date: La Rentrée

Posted on 05/09/2017 by nessafrance

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 | 7 Comments

20 Years of la Vie Française

Posted on 29/08/2017 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 15/08/2017 by nessafrance

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 | 11 Comments

Un café, s’il vous plaît

Posted on 27/07/2017 by nessafrance

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 | 15 Comments

Water, Water, Everywhere – But Not a Drop to Drink

Posted on 06/07/2017 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 22/06/2017 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 04/06/2017 by nessafrance

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 →

Posted in Customs, French life | Tagged aperitifs, French social customs, la France profonde, living in France, rural life, social customs, social life in France, SW France, Teysseroles | 9 Comments

Finding Our House in France

Posted on 26/04/2017 by nessafrance

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 | 22 Comments

Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2016: the Answers

Posted on 30/12/2016 by nessafrance

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 →

Posted in French life, Quiz | Tagged Christmas, France, French Christmas quiz, general knowledge quiz, Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz, SW France, trivia | 10 Comments

Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2016

Posted on 23/12/2016 by nessafrance

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 →

Posted in French life, Quiz | Tagged Christmas, France, French Christmas quiz, general knowledge quiz, Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz, SW France, trivia | 4 Comments

19 Years in France

Posted on 26/08/2016 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 02/08/2016 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 18/07/2016 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 08/07/2016 by nessafrance

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!

Posted on 22/06/2016 by nessafrance

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

Posted on 15/05/2016 by nessafrance

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 →

Posted in French life, Ma Vie Française Interviews, Personalities | Tagged blogs about France, Creuse, France, French property, living in France, moving to France, property renovation, rural life, Stephanie Dagg | 4 Comments

Ma Vie Française #1: an Interview with Jacqui Brown

Posted on 03/04/2016 by nessafrance

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 →

Posted in French life, Ma Vie Française Interviews, Personalities | Tagged blogs about France, Deux-Sèvres, France, French village life, Jacqui Brown, living in France, moving to France, rural life, The French Village Diaries | 13 Comments

The First Cuckoo?

Posted on 27/03/2016 by nessafrance

Happy Easter, Joyeuses Pâques à tout le monde. Easter this year has coincided with the clocks going forward for summertime and, I think, the first cuckoo. When I hung out of the window this morning listening to the birdsong, I … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Nature | Tagged birds' eggs, birdsong, brood parasites, cuckoo, first cuckoo, migratory birds, spring, summertime, SW France | 14 Comments

Is the Rural French Café Dying Out?

Posted on 23/01/2016 by nessafrance

The village café-bar is a typically French institution, just as the pub is essentially British. Our nostalgic vision of French rural life places the café (often doubling as a restaurant) at the heart of the village, along with the church, … Continue reading →

Posted in Food/drink/recipes, French life | Tagged France, French cafés, French village life, Ifop, living in France, rural depopulation, rural life, SW France | 15 Comments

All About Stone

Posted on 14/01/2016 by nessafrance

This is a land of stone. Old houses are invariably built of la vieille pierre (old stone). When you walk along a footpath, it’s usually bordered by ancient stone walls. If you want to plant a tree or shrub, you … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, History | Tagged barn, construction materials, dry stone walling, la vieille pierre, limestone, patrimoine, rural life, stone, SW France | 18 Comments

Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz 2015

Posted on 23/12/2015 by nessafrance

***Season’s Greetings to All My Readers*** Welcome to the fifth edition of the Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz, an internationally-renowned cultural tradition. Here’s something to exercise your brain cells once you’ve exercised your digestion: 20 questions on aspects … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Quiz | Tagged Christmas, France, French Christmas quiz, general knowledge quiz, Life on La Lune, Life on La Lune Christmas Quiz, Quiz, SW France, trivia | 8 Comments

Where there’s Smoke…Beware of the Smoke Detector Scam

Posted on 03/10/2015 by nessafrance

I never cease to be amazed by the inventiveness of potential scammers. Not content with phoning up and pretending to be Microsoft’s help centre, or emailing to tell you that someone you don’t know in Cameroon wants to place millions of … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Rants | Tagged house fires, house insurance, scams, smoke alarms, smoke detector scams, smoke detectors, SW France | 15 Comments

Preparing for Winter

Posted on 09/09/2015 by nessafrance

This might seem a little premature. After all, we’re only in early September and it’s still summer officially. But heating these old stone houses has to be taken very seriously. The summers can be blisteringly hot here in SW France, … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Weather | Tagged boiler, central heating, firewood, Heating systems, SW France, Weather, winter, winter weather, woodburning stove | 16 Comments

Stirring Up a Hornet’s Nest

Posted on 11/08/2015 by nessafrance

I lifted the trapdoor into the loft of our pigeonnier with infinite care. On the ceiling, right over my head were the unmistakable signs of very unwanted summer visitors, accompanied by a tell-tale buzzing. I shut the trapdoor fast and … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Nature | Tagged bees, frelons, honey bees, hornet's nest, hornets, pest control, summer, SW France, wasps | 5 Comments

5 Seasonal Summer Road Hazards in SW France

Posted on 19/07/2015 by nessafrance

The last few weekends have marked the start of the summer holidays in France, when a mass exodus from the towns takes place and people head for the hills or the coasts. Overnight, the numbers of market stalls, tourists conspicuous … Continue reading →

Posted in French life | Tagged France, French roads, holiday season, summer, SW France, Tour de France | 12 Comments

Noises Off on a Country Evening

Posted on 30/06/2015 by nessafrance

The poor old blog has been sorely neglected of late. The trouble is that there’s this pesky thing called work, a necessary evil that keeps me away from what I really want to do. And it’s nearly always at its … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Nature | Tagged countryside, farming, living in France, rural life, rural noises, summer, SW France, traffic noise | 5 Comments

A Question of Accent

Posted on 18/05/2015 by nessafrance

I speak French with an English accent. Try as I might, I can’t get rid of it, even though my French is now pretty fluent after 18 years here. As soon as I open my mouth, I give myself … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Language | Tagged English accent, Expat, French, French accent, French pronunciation, Language | 37 Comments

Countless May Holidays and SW France Weather April 2015

Posted on 05/05/2015 by nessafrance

May in France is a month when you can’t move for public holidays. There’s one a week: two historical and two religious. Then the next one isn’t until 14th July, la fête nationale. We were talking about it at … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Weather | Tagged climate, French public holidays, frost, Jours fériés, migratory birds, rainfall, SW France, Weather, Weather in SW France April 2015, Weather statistics | 4 Comments

The Ups and Downs of Life in La France Profonde

Posted on 24/03/2015 by nessafrance

I spent much of last week in London, which led me to reflect on the differences between urban and rural life. As it turns out, this was quite timely, since the French government had been carrying out a charm … Continue reading →

Posted in French life | Tagged agriculture, broadband, France, French health services, la France profonde, rural depopulation, rural exodus, rural France, rural life, satellite Internet connection, SW France | 6 Comments