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Category Archives: Personalities
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
That Which Should Accompany Old Age
Yesterday, we visited our elderly neighbour, whose wife died nearly two years ago. We often feel guilty that we don’t visit more often, but Monsieur F is almost 90 and now rather frail. He is very difficult to understand, even … Continue reading
Posted in History, Personalities
Tagged elderly in France, farmers, Farrebique, rural depopulation, rural France, rural life, SW France
25 Comments
A Film Record of an Aveyron Family Post-WWII
Just after WWII, Aveyron was a different country from much of France. It took a long time to get there from anywhere else, people spoke a different language and the way of life had existed for centuries. Change was happening, … Continue reading
Posted in History, Personalities, Places
Tagged agriculture, Aveyron, Farrebique, Film, French country life, Georges Rouquier, Occitan, Rouergue, rural life, SW France
5 Comments
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
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
Bach, an Ancient Village on the Causse de Limogne
This was a week of excursions. Yesterday, we rehearsed and sang in the biannual scratch choir concert in Puycelsi, a hilltop fortified village in the Tarn. As always, it was an inspiring event. The concerts are held in aid of the … 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
Monsieur C – One of a Dying Breed
Today, we visited an elderly farmer neighbour, whose wife is in hospital with respiratory problems. They were the first local French people we met in 1997. Monsieur F has always been difficult to understand because of his strong regional accent … Continue reading
End of an Era at the Hamlet of Flouquet
It was the end of an era in two senses, to which I’ll return below. Every year, as part of the summer walks laid on by the commune of Espinas, we visit a pretty hamlet called Flouquet. The houses are … Continue reading
Posted in History, Personalities, Places
Tagged baking bread, bread, Espinas, Flouquet, four à pain, lavoir, patrimoine, rural life, subsistence agriculture, SW France, threshing
10 Comments
Four Famous Frenchwomen
Today is International Women’s Day. It celebrates women’s achievements and highlights the plight of the millions of women around the world who are oppressed, living in abject poverty and certainly not considered equal to their menfolk. Fellow blogger Finding Time … Continue reading
Posted in Books/writing, French life, History, Personalities, World War I & II
Tagged Déclaration des droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne, Eleanor of Aquitaine, feminism, France, French women, International Women's Day, La Princesse de Clèves, Madame de La Fayette, Olympe de Gouges, Simone Veil
10 Comments
Every Château has a Story: le Château de Cornusson
The word “fairy-tale” when applied to a château usually makes me cringe. But there is something a little magical about the château de Cornusson, with its jumble of towers and turrets. You get tantalising glimpses of it peeping above … Continue reading
French Regional Cuisine: L’Auberge Lou Bourdie at Bach
Bach is a small village on the Causse de Limogne, in the heart of truffle country. In common with many rural French villages, it’s a quiet place nowadays. But it does have a rather good restaurant, l’Auberge Lou Bourdie.
Monet’s Garden at Giverny
Most people have heard of Claude Monet (1840-1926), one of the founders of French Impressionist painting. Many people know about and/or have visited his house at Giverny in Normandy, where he landscaped the gardens and developed the lily ponds … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Personalities, Places
Tagged Claude Monet, gardening, Giverny, Impressionist painting, Monet's garden, Normandy, water lily ponds
10 Comments
Parisot Literary Festival 2014: how did it go?
This poor old blog has been a bit neglected of late, but that’s because so much has been going on that it’s been hard to get to it. One of the local events that has taken up some of … Continue reading
Corsican Vendetta in Fiction and in Reality
We have recently returned from our fifth visit to Corsica, the setting for my novel, The House at Zaronza (reissued in April 2018). L’Île de Beauté is a captivating place, with a savage beauty and a culture all its … Continue reading
Posted in Books/writing, Corsica, History, Personalities, Places
Tagged Colomba, Colomba Carabelli, Corsica, Fozzano, Olmeto, Prosper Mérimée, The House at Zaronza, vendetta
3 Comments
17 Years in France: What’s Changed Since 1997?
Well, I’m 17 years older. And I don’t want to think about how old I will be in 17 years’ time. So let’s look back instead and think about what’s changed here since 1997. Yesterday was the anniversary of the … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Personalities
Tagged Expat, French country life, French life, rural life, social customs, SW France
13 Comments
Beaumont-de-Lomagne: Garlic Capital of Southwest France
I’ve been getting out and about a lot recently, interviewing people for various magazine articles. This gets me away from the computer and the internet and introduces me to places I might not otherwise have visited. On Tuesday, my … Continue reading
Posted in History, Personalities, Places
Tagged ail de Lomagne, aillette, bastide, Beaumont-de-Lomagne, Fermat's Last Theorem, garlic, Gascony, Lomagne, Pierre de Fermat, Tarn-et-Garonne
8 Comments
Anniversaires and Albi Revisited
Anniversaries were in the air this week. My blog is four years old today. When I started it, I barely knew what a blog was, let alone how to set one up. Thanks to WordPress and a lot of practice, … Continue reading
Posted in History, Personalities, Places
Tagged Académie des miniatures, Albi, Annie Jaurès, Cathédrale Saint-Cécile, Chez Oscar, SW France
11 Comments
A French Country Upbringing
‘Of course, Occitan was my first language,’ our friend Georgette said. I was sitting next to her at an association lunch today. She has never talked much about her childhood but, once I had started questioning her (no one is … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, History, Personalities, World War I & II
Tagged Claude Michelet, farming, French country life, Occitan, Occitan hymn, rural life, SW France
8 Comments
The Secret of Le Château de la Reine Margot
‘Queen Elizabeth I slept here.’ It’s well known that Tudor monarchs imposed on their subjects’ hospitality to reduce their own household expenses. But if Elizabeth I stayed in all the places that lay claim to it, she would never have … Continue reading
Original Exhibition at the Abbaye de Beaulieu
I have to admit that contemporary art isn’t always my tasse de thé. However, they do put on some good exhibitions at the Abbaye de Beaulieu, a Cistercian gem a few kilometres away. As well as being an historic monument, … Continue reading
Posted in Personalities, Places
Tagged Abbaye de Beaulieu en Rouergue, Contemporary art, farming, Ginals, rural life, SW France, Virginie Dagault Revel
4 Comments
The Bishop Comes to Town
I don’t recall ever having met a bishop before. But such are the exalted circles in which I move these days that I recently had not one but two occasions to meet Mgr Bernard Ginoux, Bishop of Montauban (there’s his … Continue reading
Musée Ingres at Montauban
We took advantage of yesterday’s spring-like sunshine, abandoned the computers and awarded ourselves a day off. We spent it at Montauban, where we had to go anyway to collect our new identity cards – more of that anon. I’ve written … Continue reading
Posted in History, Personalities, Places
Tagged Black Prince, Bourdelle, Hundred Years War, Ingres, Montauban, Musée Ingres, painting, sculpture
15 Comments
French Provincial Cooking
When pondering what to serve dinner guests this coming Saturday I reached for my disintegrating copy of Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking. Not because I expected to copy a user-friendly recipe but because it is chock-full of ideas. First published … Continue reading
Posted in Books/writing, Food/drink/recipes, Personalities
Tagged Elizabeth David, food, France, French cuisine, French Provincial Cooking, Writing
15 Comments
Chestnuts and Chestnut Recipes
This autumn’s chestnuts It’s that time of year again when the sweet chestnuts are falling. Very few chestnut trees grow near us but not far away, around Najac and Laguépie, they clothe the slopes. If you walk along the River … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes, History, Personalities
Tagged châtaignes, chestnut cake, food, gâteau à la châtaigne, rural life, SW France, sweet chestnuts
17 Comments
Parisot Choir’s Debut
Phew, what a week it’s been. Who says nothing happens in la France profonde? I’ve already told you about our fête last Sunday and I’ll say a bit at the end about the verdict. This week’s major event was the inaugural … Continue reading
Posted in Personalities, Places
Tagged Choeur de Parisot, Parisot, Parisot Choir, Peter Nowfel, SW France
4 Comments
What Happens to Former French Presidents?
For the past two weeks, the spotlight has inevitably been on François Hollande, France’s new socialist president. Last Tuesday, his first day in office, was not entirely happy: he got soaked during his triumphal progress, his plane was struck by … Continue reading
Musical Moments
I never cease to be amazed at the high standard of musicians and music to be found in la France profonde. In the summer, of course, you can’t move for concerts and recitals. But even out of season there is … Continue reading
Posted in Aveyron, French life, Personalities
Tagged Choeur Départemental de l'Aveyron, choir, choral singing, singing, SW France
14 Comments
The French Presidential Elections 2012
This post was written two weeks ago on 21st April. Anyone looking at it now will realise that it has been superseded by the news at 20h00 6th May that François Hollande is most likely to be France’s next president. Bonne … Continue reading
Burning Desires: Enleveurs de Feu in France
The old year didn’t end terribly well for me since I managed to burn three fingers of my right hand while removing a metal oven tray from a very hot oven, using a holed and damp oven glove. I couldn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, French life, Personalities
Tagged burns, Christian Signol, Enleveurs de feu, Healing, social customs, SW France
2 Comments
