Au revoir 2018, you've been a blast

Our first ever family photo shoot by Martin O'Neill Photography

Looking back at 2018 I have realised it has been a year of unexpected experiences for me, taking me in directions I’d never dreamed of, and I’ve had a blast. 

 

New Year's Day cycling in London

New Year’s Day saw me cycling around the west London parks, incidentally only a few miles from where I was born (and not somewhere I ever expected to be cycling), riding a hired Brompton bike on a group ride. I was looking forward to lots of new cycling challenges in 2018, but as it turned out cycling and I were rather distant with each other, although I did just about manage my birthday 100km in a day. 

My new bike

This weekend, I collected my own brand-new Brompton, so 2019 will definitely see more cycling than 2018, then again, 2018 did throw me a few other exciting things to keep me busy.

 

First day at the library

The highlight of my year has to be working in the local library for four months. It was a challenge and took me out of my comfort zone, but it was an amazing experience and a great boost to my confidence. I still miss it and would be back like a shot, if they asked me.

Adrian and I celebrated 20 years of marriage in April, although we still owe ourselves an adventure to truly mark the occasion. Our tenth wedding anniversary was celebrated with a road trip to the south of France and Italy, in Gizmo our Mini Cooper. This became a tradition we continued every few years; marking Adrian’s 30^th, then mine and then Gizmo’s 20^th birthday. Our passion for touring the back roads of France has not diminished, but these days we prefer two wheels to four. The maps are out, and a 2019 Brompton Tour de France is being planned.

 

Ed's BAC results day

Ed took and passed his BAC exams, with a mention bien and I couldn’t have been prouder. This meant no more lycee; he was now ready to head off to university and independent living. If I thought working at the library was a major lifestyle change, it was nothing to moving Ed into his own apartment in Poitiers. 

With Ed in Poitiers

I do miss him, but it has meant I have been able to explore the town a bit more than I’d ever done in the last 14 years and I have plenty of plans to visit again in 2019.

Ed's 18th photo credit Martin O'Neill

Ed celebrated his 18^th birthday in October, with a bash in the village bar. Having the bar open again really has brought the community together and events held there, whether monthly music, karaoke and food nights, or private birthday parties are great fun. It was the perfect place to celebrate Ed’s special birthday, even if I still can’t believe my baby is 18!

On a sadder note, 2018 also saw me experiencing the French medical and palliative care system, helping a friend with cancer in her final days. I can’t fault the level of care she received from the HAD hospitalisation à domicile (home hospital care) and although not an experience I want to repeat, I am glad I was able to help and I can now also add planning a funeral in France to my achievements.

2019 is likely to be a year of challenges. For health reasons, we have recently set ourselves goals to reduce our alcohol, salt and meat consumption, something we have been pretty good at so far, even over Christmas, and in 2019 we are determined to use the bikes instead of the car, wherever possible. Brexit will produce challenges, in terms of paperwork and the legalities of living an EU life as non-EU citizens, but 2018 has shown me that the unexpected often pops up and puts play to the planned, and quite often it’s these new directions that life takes you in that give the most.

Happy New Year to you all. Thank you for reading, commenting, liking and sharing my posts. I hope 2019 is a happy and healthy one for you all.

Merry Christmas To You

Happy Christmas

I'd just like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and share a few photos of our French village Christmas celebrations from this year.

Village Christmas decorations

Early December and the village elves get together to decorate the handmade wooden trees that become a festive feature in the car park outside the village hall.

Foire gras sur pain d'épices, chutney de figues et compotée d'oignons 

Once the village is decorated, then we start the celebrations with the five course Christmas meal for all villagers aged over seventy. This community meal is prepared and served by the members of the council (which means I am lucky enough to get to join in the fun) and is every bit as delicious as it looks.

Terrine de saumon

Roti de veau, sauce forestière, gratin de chou-fleur, pommes dauphine

Salade et fromage

Buche de Noël

Tree and pressies for the children 

A few weeks later and Père Noël arrives for a fun afternoon of hot chocolate, viennoiseries, singing from our little Christmas choir and then a gift for all children aged under 11.   

Père Noël

I always feel lucky to have found my home in a village with a fantastic community spirit and this is especially true at Christmas.

Wherever you are in the world and however you celebrate, I hope you and your loved ones have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Book review of The First Noel at the Villa des Violettes by Patricia Sands

The First Noel at the Villa des Violettes by Patricia Sands

My review today is for The First Noel at the Villa des Violettes, a Christmas novella by Patricia Sands.

This festive novella does so much. It not only takes us back to Kat and Philippe and their villa in Provence, where we left them in book three celebrating their marriage, it also shares many of the delightful Provencal Christmas foods and traditions as well as taking us to the Christmas markets of Alsace.

I was so pleased to get back to the Provence that Patricia describes so well, and to spend time with Kat and Philippe. I thought this book was a wonderful mix of familiar characters, love, family, good friendships and French festive fun. Kat is anxious, both about her first Christmas at their villa and about history repeating itself with trouble from the past rearing its head again, but with Philippe being his usual loving, strong and supportive self, I had no doubt their first Christmas would be just perfect. 

The First Noel at the Villa des Violettes is out now in ebook and paperback format and I know we are all busy in the run up to Christmas, but I encourage you to make time for this quick read. 

Links to Amazon for all the books in the Love in Provence series can be found below.

Here are the links to my reviews of the Love in Provence series: 

The Promise of Provence, book one.

Promises to Keep, book two.

I Promise You This, book three.

Book review of Deck the Halles by Stephanie Dagg

Deck the Halles by Stephanie Dagg

Deck the Halles

It’s next Christmas at the little French llama farm. 

Last Christmas infamous Australian author Nick bought the farm, that was meant to be furnished and without llamas. The reverse proved to be the case. Noelle had been sent to pet sit the llamas until his arrival. After a decidedly frosty start, Nick and Noelle’s relationship warmed up rapidly and they’re now happily living together, with an ever growing assortment of animals.

They’re looking forward to a quiet, romantic Christmas together but at the last moment Noelle is called on to find a venue for the annual national llama show. The local agricultural hallesare free so she books them, thinking that’s all she’ll have to do to help. She couldn’t be more wrong! On top of that, various relatives start turning up on her doorstep unexpectedly, as the result of assorted crises. The farmhouse is about to burst at the seams. Add in a few other events, such as playing the part of a pixie at a Christmas fête, organising Nick’s book launch and training a non-cooperative llama for the agility class in the show, and Noelle is pushed ever closer to the end of her tether. Can she hold it together and stay as calm as a llama? Or will she be the next member of her family to make a bolt for pastures new?      

This festive, feel-good and fun novel is the sequel to ‘Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm’ but can be read as a standalone.

  

Deck the Halles blog tour

My Review

Having thoroughly enjoyed Fa-La-Llama-La, you can read my review here, I was delighted to be back with Nick and Noelle and couldn’t wait to see how their relationship was going. Happily for me, (I do love a good romance) they have settled in nicely to rural French living and things between them seem to be going from strength to strength. 

While their first Christmas was chaos, they are looking forward to a quiet one together this year, with just their animals for company. Their plans soon seem to spiral out of control, thanks to a last-minute Llama show to organise and a seemingly never-ending stream of uninvited guests, all of whom come with catastrophes, disasters and excellent appetites. While we are talking of disasters, anything that could go wrong, does so, but at least Noelle has a back-up team she can put to good use and with Nick beside her, anything seems possible, even the impossible.

This book is great fun; full of energy, humour and romance all sprinkled with quirky rural French magic and lots of festive jingle. It's another great read from Stephanie. If you have read any of her previous novels, you will recognise her writing style and enjoy being back within her pages, if you haven’t yet read any of her books – what are you waiting for!

  

Author Bio – 

Stephanie Dagg

I'm an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. I now consider myself a European rather than 'belonging' to any particular country. The last ten years have been interesting, to put it mildly. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever increasing menagerie, makes for exciting times. The current array of animals includes alpacas, llamas, huarizos (alpaca-llama crossbreds, unintended in our case and all of them thanks to one very determined alpaca male), sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys, not forgetting our pets of dogs, cats, zebra finches, budgies , canaries, lovebirds and Chinese quail. Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it's been a steep learning curve. I recount these experiences in my book Heads Above Water: Staying Afloat in France and the sequel to that, Total Immersion:Ten Years in France. I also blog regularly at www.bloginfrance.com.

I'm married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.     

I'm a traditionally-published author of many children's books, and am now self-publishing too. I have worked part-time as a freelance editor for thirty years after starting out as a desk editor for Hodder & Stoughton. Find me at www.editing.zone. The rest of the time I'm running carp fishing lakes with Chris and inevitably cleaning up some or other animal's poop.   

Social Media Links – Twitter Facebook Blog

Deck the Halles blog tour

universal purchase link: getbook.at/DTH

amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KRKSQ9Q

Vin Chaud, advent 2018

Vin Chaud

This year I have a few Christmas themed posts to share which I hope will help get me in the festive mood, as once again I find December has crept up on me and taken me by surprise.

Now we have reached advent, as well as having a continually bubbling pot of veggie soup on my hob, I also have my pan of vin chaud, or mulled wine on the go too. Nothing says Christmas is on the way quite like a glass of mulled wine, either wandering around a Christmas market, or cosy and warm indoors and accompanied by a mince pie. It is even my apero of choice at this time of year in the village bar.

It seems spiced red wine has been a thing in Europe for many hundreds of years. The Romans would boil honey and wine and then add spices including pepper, bay leaves and saffron. In the 13^thCentury the ports in the south of France, near Montpellier, where the spices from the Orient arrived by boat, had their own spiced wine recipe that included cloves. Traces of its popularity can be found in Germany and it was enjoyed by Swedish kings too, with the preferred spices being cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and clove. By the end of the 19^thCentury, the link with Christmas and spiced wine was born and Swedish wine merchants began bottling their own house specialities. A warm, spiced wine is now as common a sight at a Christmas market anywhere in Europe as Père Noel.

Here is my recipe, first posted here in December 2012, if you would like to give it a go.

Put one bottle of red wine in a saucepan and add the zest and juice of a Clementine, a small pinch of cloves (about 7), a teaspoon of cinnamon (or a piece of cinnamon stick) and I also always add a lemon and ginger tea bag. 

Give it a good stir then add a generous tablespoon of brown sugar and a small(ish) glass of Cognac. Heat until the sugar has dissolved, but don’t let it reach boiling point and then try a little. When inhaling over the pan you should get a Christmassy tingle in your sinuses and a small sip should be a balanced taste between spicy and sweet. If it isn’t sweet enough or spicy enough keep adding until it tastes just right for you. 

Once you are happy with your mix it will keep all week, just warm it up, serve it and enjoy.

Book review of Tales from the Pays d'Oc by Patricia Feinberg Stoner

Tales from the Pays d'Oc by Patricia Feinberg Stoner

Tales from the Pays d’Oc

Twenty-one tales of life, love and laughter in the land of sun and vines.  

What is Matthieu doing up an olive tree?  Why won’t Joséphine ever eat pizza again? Who went four by fourth? And who rescued two hapless Americans at Armageddon Falls?

Travel to the Languedoc, feel the scorch of the sun on your shoulders, smell the dust and the lavender and the ripening grapes and follow the adventures of the Saturday Club and the regulars at l’Estaminet.

In this collection of stories, Patricia Feinberg Stoner revisits the territory of her memoir, ‘At Home in the Pays d’Oc’ with a whole host of new and familiar characters.

 

Tales from the Pays d'Oc blog tour

My review

This book is a collection of good fun snippets of life in a Languedoc village, each one short enough to dip in and out of whenever you get a spare minute to pick up a book. 

Patricia allows us to observe the villager’s routines; meeting the regulars at the village bar, joining the old men on the bench in the village square and sampling the delights at the weekly market. We discover the local characters and their individual quirks, and there is always someone sharing some juicy gossip somewhere. Life isn’t always plain sailing for her characters, but each story is written with humour, a great eye for detail and shows her obvious love for French village life.

I haven’t yet read Patricia’s memoir At Home in the Pays d’Oc, but reading these stories has led me to pick up a copy, and I can’t wait to get stuck in and read more from her.

About Patricia Feinberg Stoner

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Patricia Feinberg Stoner

Patricia Feinberg Stoner is a former journalist, advertising copywriter and publicist. For four years she and her husband were accidental expatriates in the Languedoc, southern France.  During that time she wrote a series of magazine articles which eventually became her first book about the Languedoc: ‘At Home in the Pays d’Oc.’

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Now back in the UK, she lives with her husband in the pretty West Sussex village of Rustington, where Michael Flanders encountered a gnu and the mobility scooter is king. 

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She spends much of her time writing short stories and comic verses. Her first book, ‘Paw Prints in the Butter’, is a collection of comic poems for cat lovers, and is sold in aid of a local animal charity.  In 2017 she published her second book of comic verse: ‘The Little Book of Rude Limericks’.

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In the autumn of 2018 Patricia returns to the locale of ‘At Home in the Pays d’Oc’ with a new collection of stories: ‘Tales from the Pays d’Oc’.

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Patricia welcomes visitors to her Facebook page and to her blog.

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You may occasionally find her on Twitter

Blog Tour Tales from the Pays d'Oc

US - https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Pays-dOc-laughter-vines-ebook/dp/B07JF8RV2N

When Reuters came to the village to talk Brexit

Reuters microphone

A few weeks ago, a local friend contacted me to see if I would be happy to talk to a Reuters journalist from Paris, who was interested in meeting with people who are integrated into their local community in France, about the impact Brexit is likely to have on their lives. 

Filming in the village library

I’ve done a few magazine interviews about our life in France, and usually look on things like this as a good experience and doing something a bit different for fun. Brexit is not fun and we, the forgotten in France, need a voice so this was an opportunity not to be wasted, despite not being totally comfortable being filmed. My fear for our future was greater than my fear of sitting and chatting with a camera, a microphone and a light pointing at me. Thankfully I was told to ignore it all, which I gratefully did.

The interview

The (very reliable) village grapevine has reported that my interview, filmed in the village library, was shown on French TV (in English) about a week ago. All I’ve been able to find online is a written article quoting me talking about our situation (see here), and a video clip following some of our friends in the area (see here). It was an experience, but I can’t say I’m too disappointed at not being able to watch myself on TV.

From the Reuters article

Maybe one day we will have answers to our questions about continuing our business, that relies on EU rulings and freedom of movement, and assurances not only on our status to remain in France, but for Ed to finish his university education here too.

On camera

Maybe one day Mrs May will think about the lives of the EU citizens who exercised their right to move freely within the member states and appreciate the benefits they have made to their new areas. 

Maybe one day my stomach will stop tying itself in knots on a way too regular basis and Adrian’s blood pressure will return to a healthier level.

https://www.remaininfrance.org

Celebrating Friendships

Being together - corridor decoration at the retirement home

My life since finishing my four-month contract at the library, has taken a hectic dive into the unknown, the unexpected and often the downright bizarre.

Some days have been full of laughter and cake, others have been emotionally tough, but the good and the bad have one thing in common; friendship. 

Wine soaked sponge sticks

I am doing what I can, as a friend, to support one of the first people I met here in our village, as the bastard that is cancer tightens its grip upon her life. Morphine pumps, drips, drains and wine sucked through sponges on sticks, have become our apero norm, alongside laughter and good company. From translating for the doctors and nurses, to finding a local English-speaking vicar, to saying prayers with her (maybe that Catholic upbringing wasn’t wasted after all), I know I am doing all I can in a totally rubbish situation. 

In turn I have friends who are there for me too. From caring texts that make me smile, to cake-eating outings; the distractions are welcome and very much appreciated. 

Mr Accordion and the birthday celebrations

Last week, another good friend had a favour to ask. Would I pop into the retirement home and visit her Mum, while she took a well-earned break for a few days. Having seen the devastation Alzheimer’s has had on her Mum, I was unsure if she would even recognise me, but visit her I would, and what a visit it was. She not only remembered me, she asked after Ed too and the god of cake appreciation was smiling down on me as my visit coincided with a communal birthday celebration. A room full of pensioners, an accordion player, foot-tapping music and even a spot of dancing, all helped to perk my mood up no end, and left us both laughing as well as oohing and aahing over the light and creamy, raspberry topped gateau. I would have been happy to stay forever - in fact maybe I should ask if they need a librarian.

Cancer, Alzheimer’s and the constant worry and fear over Brexit, plus the time and effort required to cope with the Brexit bureaucracy mean my stress levels are high and life has felt pretty crap at times. 

Thank god for good friends, friendship, wine and cake. 

https://www.remaininfrance.orghttps