Making 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 spot. What better way to start my series about French dishes than with a look at one that warms you from the inside out: aligot? Continue reading
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 to the uninitiated; you’ll see why below). August marks 20 years at La Lune and I’ve no doubt we’ll be raising a glass or three. Continue reading
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 that for some of the questions more than one answer of the three possibilities given is correct, and I did warn you about trick questions, too. Some answers are open to interpretation, but I spent a lot of time checking and double-checking. No prizes, just a bit of fun.
So, here we go. Explanations are given below the answers where necessary. Continue reading
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.
Here’s my annual Christmas gift to you. The 6th edition of the Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz, something for your intellect to feast on after the Christmas feast: 20 questions on aspects of French culture, politics, history, gastronomy, geography, etc. Three multiple choice answers are given for each question – but beware, there are some trick questions and more than one answer might be correct. Continue reading
Christmas wreath made by our friend Marjo
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 20 years here, this has changed somewhat. Christmas decorations, toys and boxes of chocolates are creeping into the shops earlier each year. And I’m afraid I couldn’t bring myself to take a photo of the 10-metre high Père Noël that appeared outside our local Leclerc supermarket in November. He does have a function, though, more of which below. Continue reading
Laguiole knife I gave the SF one Christmas
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 late May. It was 1 degree C and snowed the following day. Continue reading
Church in Castanet at the top of the square
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. We’ve already attained 150% of the average rainfall for the month. The past few Novembers have been unusually dry and sunny, so this retour à la normale was not welcome. Knowing that October’s fine weather wouldn’t last, we took the opportunity on 1st November to do a walk that we haven’t done for some years. Continue reading
Autumn colours behind our house – no relevance to the post but a shot in rare sunshine this Nov
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 difficult. I must admit that I have never been a great lover of the phone and use it only when absolutely necessary. But my phone phobia has reached new heights (or depths) in France.
Belcastel
Last time, I wrote about a ghostly story linked to the château de Belcastel. This week, we had the opportunity to make a return visit to this plus beau village in Aveyron. Not only does it occupy a delightful setting beside the River Aveyron and boast a well-restored château, but it also has a Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Vieux Pont. Since the SF had an important birthday, we felt this was sufficient justification. Continue reading
Plenty of these around today
I don’t need to tell you what today is. Halloween has become more commercialised in recent years in France and traditions such as trick-or-treating have taken root. I hope we live far enough off the beaten track not to encounter costumed children demanding friandises (sweets) tonight. Continue reading
Our walnut haul so far
The walnuts start to fall here in SW France around the end of September. By mid-October, it’s positively raining nuts. This year, we were afraid that our crop would be minimal. Many walnuts fell early and were blackened and mummified, presumably because the wet spring and the very dry summer didn’t suit them. However, we needn’t have worried. We have almost filled two boxes already and plenty more nuts are still on the trees.
Blackened walnut
Château de Labro façade
Yesterday, we did one of our favourite walks. It takes in the ruined Château de Labro, and goes up and down the wooded slopes of the secluded Seye Valley. We walked under luminous blue skies with barely a cloud. There was a slight nip in the air, but it was perfect rambling weather. Autumn here is, in my view, the best season for walks: warm, but not too hot, and dry underfoot. Continue reading
Monts du Cantal glimpsed on a hazy day. The conical mountain in the middle is the Puy Griou
I’m never quite sure which destination appeals to me more: Cantal or Corsica. They are both mountainous and beautiful in their own way, but very different. Cantal, of course, is easier to get to, being only just over two hours’ drive away. Since we first discovered it in the early 1990s, we must have visited at least 15 times. This year, we’ve been fortunate enough to go twice: once in May and then last weekend. Continue reading
Le Château des Bordes
When I started this series about the châteaux in our area, I had no idea that so many of them exist. There are the obvious ones – Najac, Saint-Projet, Belcastel – but also less obvious ones. Some are just ruined shells, others are restored and inhabited. Many are more like fortified houses than the traditional image of a castle with moats and battlements. The Château des Bordes at Promilhanes, just over the border in the Lot Département, is one of the former. Continue reading
Château de Cas, Espinas
This coming weekend the annual Journées du Patrimoine take place throughout France. You can visit historic buildings and monuments, some of which are not normally open to the public, and many of them offer free entrance. I have already noted several places I’d like to see. This link takes you to the official website. Clicking on ‘Programme’ opens an interactive map, which is annoying, since you have to know where you want to go to start with. However, you can also download and browse regional brochures. Continue reading
Our front lawn
We spent the first six months of this year complaining that we had too much rain. Now we’re complaining that we are having too little. It has barely rained for about six weeks and the weather has been dry, hot, sunny and windy. The picture above shows our lawn, which crackles when you walk across it. Even the weeds aren’t growing. I haven’t mown for well over a month. Continue reading
A little something to celebrate with
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 few years ago, I wrote a series of posts about the adventures we experienced during our search for a house in France. Today, I revisit our arrival. Continue reading
Calvignac taken from the Château de Cénevières on a hazy day
I often find the smaller places in rural France more interesting than the big cities or the real tourist honeypots. They have their own intriguing histories, their hidden features, and to me these are more satisfying than the roads much travelled. A month ago the writing group I belong to visited the Château de Cénevières overlooking the River Lot. After that, we went upriver to the perched village of Calvignac, where I stumbled upon what may be an untold story. Continue reading
Pont du Parayre over the River Audierne below Peyrusse-le-Roc – an ancient mule and pilgrim track
This region contains so much to see and do that it’s easy to visit only the obvious places, those that get the most publicity: the plus beaux villages, the Viaduc de Millau, the better-known markets, the famous festivals. Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll find hidden gems that are well worth a visit. I’d like to share with you a handful of them, about which I’ve written on this blog. Continue reading
Lavoir in Caylus – current restoration project
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 a local association, Caylus Notre Village, revived it this year. The rally was in support of their project to restore the village’s unique lavoir (wash-house). Continue reading
Château de Cénevières gatehouse
The Château de Cénevières towers over its village and the River Lot, which meanders far beneath. The castle commanded a formerly important strategic position and the river, which was once well-plied trade route. My local writing group went on an outing there last week. One member has a particular interest in the château, but I won’t say more since I don’t want to steal her thunder. Continue reading
Abbaye de Marcilhac-sur-Célé
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 featuring Mozart’s Requiem in the riverside village of Marcilhac-sur-Célé in the Lot. The concert was in aid of the restoration of the ruined abbey there. Continue reading
Cycles decorating our village
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 village progressively decorated. People donated unwanted bicycles, which lined the hill up into the village. Continue reading
I wasn’t sure if I should write about this at all. Visiting Oradour-sur-Glane near Limoges this week, I felt like a voyeur. The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich slaughtered 642 people and torched the village on 10th June 1944, during their destructive march northwards to try to hold off the Allied offensive. Hounded and harassed all the way by Resistance groups, they carried out terrible reprisals. Continue reading
If you fancy a quick trip from Beauregard to the stars…
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 (more of that in a later post), but the sun re-emerged tentatively on Sunday and it’s got better ever since. The organisers of la Fête de la Musique, which took place yesterday, must have breathed a sigh of relief. Continue reading
The imposing château de Najac, a landmark for miles around
At least a dozen years have elapsed since I visited the interior of the ruined château de Najac in Aveyron. This imposing 13th-century castle is a landmark for miles around, best seen from the opposite slope on a misty autumn morning. Although I have written about it before, I had no interior shots to post. Now, thanks to taking visitors there last week, I can show you how it looks inside. This demonstrates clearly what a feat of construction it was. Continue reading
View of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie from above
About a month ago, I revisited Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, to interview a writing friend, Tracey Warr, who was spending time there as a writer in residence. Saint-Cirq is a plus beau village de France, overlooking a meander of the River Lot. Continue reading
Jordanne Valley, Cantal
I’m always torn between sharing places I love with other people and keeping them to myself. After a fierce internal tussle the altruistic side won. The Cantal is a part of France to which we keep returning, although our last stay was nearly three years ago. Another fix of this stunningly beautiful, former volcanic area was long overdue. Continue reading
Traditional dancing at our fête several years ago
We went to our village’s Fête de Pentecôte (Whitsun fete) last Monday. It’s still an important local event, but in times past it was among the bigger fêtes in the region. We have a lovely book of photographs showing our village between 1900 and 2000. Local people lent their photos and postcards – an amazing 616 in all were reproduced in the book. It includes a section devoted to les fêtes de Pentecôte. Continue reading
Stephanie Dagg with two of her many animals
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 France. Let’s hear a bit about their experiences. Continue reading
