Lazy Sunday in France by author Marie Laval

A Paris Fairy Tale Marie Laval

Welcome to another Lazy Sunday in France where author Marie Laval is taking us to the Auvergne for the day. Originally from Lyon in France, Marie now lives in Lancashire with her family. She works full-time as a modern languages teacher and in her spare time she loves writing romance and dreaming about romantic heroes. 

She writes both historical and contemporary romance. Her historical romance The Lion’s Embrace won the Gold Medal at the Global Ebook Awards 2015 (category Historical Romance), and best-selling Little Pink Taxi was her debut romantic comedy novel with Choc Lit. 

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. Her native France, as well as her passion for history and research, very much influences her writing, and all her novels have what she likes to call ‘a French twist’!

Her latest romantic novel  A PARIS FAIRY TALE will be released on July 23^rd and available as a ebook and audiobook on Amazon and various other platforms. 

You can read my review of her novel A Spell in Provence here and her France et Moi interview here.

You can find out more about Marie on Facebook or Twitter.You can also find on Pinterest the many beautiful photos of Paris and illuminated manuscripts which inspired the writing of A Paris Fairy Tale.

A Lazy Sunday in Auvergne By Marie Laval

Two years ago I spent a wonderful holiday in La Crotte, a tiny hamlet in the Auvergne region, where my middle sister bought a ramshackle, rundown house which used to be a sheep fold. Whilst slowly doing the house up, she has learnt to live with the local wildlife (a family of dormouses  - of should it be dormice?) and insects (a bee colony in her loft one summer). She frequently sees boars and foxes around, and last winter, the police warned everybody not to leave their dogs or little children unsupervised outside as wolves have been sighted in the vicinity – yes, wolves!

I was won over by the beautiful countryside, picturesque villages and lovely chateaux (the region counts over 450, most of them private). If I could spend a lazy Sunday there again, this is what I would do…

Souvigny ©Marie Laval

         I would start with a stroll in Souvigny, a quiet and unspoilt little town with winding streets lined with medieval and Renaissance houses, including the ruined former palace of the Bourbons. After a spot of shopping in the ‘Herboristerie’, I would visit the impressive Priory Church of Saint-Peter and Saint-Paul. According to a local legend, the church was built by fairies in just one night, and when a local milkmaid saw it emerge from the morning mist, she was so shocked she was instantly changed into stone. 

Souvigny gardens ©Marie Laval

         What I loved the most when I visited Souvigny were the priory gardens, designed according to the capitulary De Villis, edited by Charlemagne in the beginning of the 9th century, which recommended the plantation of 90 plants known for their medicinal properties in monastic and laymen's gardens. 

         The gardens are a riot of scents and colours. We found garlic, roses, tansy, common sage, mustard, marigolds, leek, carrots, parsley, muskmelon, cardoon, coriander, cucumber, tarragon, rocket, parsnip, radishes, sage, burdock, flax, mallow, chicory, lettuce, to name but a few! I would love to send time there on my lazy Sunday. You can find more information about Souvigny here.

  

Montaigu-le-Blin ©Marie Laval

       The second place where I would stop on my lazy Sunday would be Montaigu-le-Blin, a delightful village boasting a medieval castle, several bourgeois houses (‘maisons de maître’), a tiny Roman church, and a ancient wood with two ‘magic’ stones, named God’s Font and the Devil’s Font. The village square is a listed site with over 143 chestnut, oak, lime trees, many of them dating from the early nineteenth century. 

The village also has two renowned auberges on opposite ends of the square, but as they are very expensive, I would leave Montaigu and have lunch in one of the many small restaurants which offer cheap but delicious ‘menus ouvriers’ (workmen’s menus). 

    

Charlie-Cintrat ©Marie Laval

     There are so many other places worth visiting in the area, especially if, like me, you like chateaux – for example, the chateau of La Palice with its fascinating history (more information about it here) and the charming Renaissance chateau de Chareil-Cintrat, set amongst ancient vineyards which boasts unique wall paintings (more information about it here). This chateau was the inspiration for the fictional Chavigny, which features in my latest romantic novel A PARIS FAIRY TALE. 

        

Market shopping ©Marie Laval

 I would definitely stop at a local outdoor market to buy fruit, pastries and crusty bread for the evening meal before returning to La Crotte and enjoying an ‘apéritif’ and the tranquillity of my sister’s garden. Although all is not always so peaceful in La Crotte… and this is why.

         The first evening of my last visit, we were having a drink in the garden when there a cacophony of honking erupted in the quiet evening.    ‘What on earth is that?’ I asked. 

My sister smiled and answered that it was the gaggle of geese who lived on her (eccentric) neighbour’s small holding nearby. ‘It’s the same every evening, you’ll get used to it,’ she said. ‘However, there’s something else you must get used to…’

‘What do you mean?’

         I didn’t have to wait long to find out. The chugging sounds of a steam train soon echoed all around us and I almost dropped my glass of rosé in shock. 

‘But you said that the train line wasn’t in use any longer,’ I said to my sister, who laughed and explained that it wasn’t a real train but a CD another neighbour played most nights to retaliate for the honking of the geese.

         ‘It’s like war,’ my sister said. ‘The neighbour puts her CD player in the garden and pushes the volume to the maximum. You’ll get used to it…’

         My sister informed me recently that the feud between her two neighbours had not yet been resolved. It is therefore safe to assume that on my lazy Sunday at her place I would be treated once again to the sounds of steam train – unless the angry neighbour picked another CD from her collection of annoying noises, such as rutting stags or Formule One racing cars (yes, she has them too). 

         However, whilst there is still daylight, I would end my lazy Sunday with a stroll down the lane to say goodnight to the donkeys who live in the nearby field, before probably enjoying another glass of rosé wine before bedtime.  

         I hope you enjoyed my lazy Sunday in the Auvergne. I cannot recommend this beautiful and unspoilt area too much.

A PARIS FAIRY TALE

Released on 23rd July.

Is Paris the city of happily ever afters?
Workaholic art historian Aurora Black doesn’t have time for fairy tales or Prince Charmings, even in the most romantic city in the world. She has recently been hired by a Parisian auction house for a job that could make or break her career. Unfortunately, daredevil journalist Cédric Castel seems intent on disrupting Aurora’s routine.
As Aurora and Cédric embark on a journey across France, they get more than they bargained for as they find themselves battling rogue antiques dealers and personal demons, not to mention a growing attraction to each other.
But with the help of a fairy godmother or two, could they both find their happily ever afters? 

Book review of Take Three Birds by Jilli Lime-Holt

It’s the Third Day of Christmas and here is my review for Take Three Birds by Jilli Lime-Holt.

Take Three Birds is a group memoir of a short trip to the Auvergne region in France. This book is different. It is a modern day social (media) history experiment written by three authors who decide to leave the security of the Internet, meet in person for the first time and write about their experiences honestly.

I found this book funny from the outset as included alongside their individual humorous writings are copies of their planning email and text conversations that portray them as plain bonkers and left me wanting to read more. Their plan to meet isn’t without a few problems; namely they live in three different countries (the UK, Italy and France), none of them are the travelling types and they really don’t know each other, just the image portrayed from the words their fingers type on their keyboards. Add in an 18 year old Fiat Punto as their main transport between Italy and France, with no contingency plan and there is plenty that could go wrong. In truth they really had no idea what they were getting themselves into; from taking a first ever flight, turning up at a strangers house, taking an unknown road trip in a foreign land and inviting strangers to stay in your house. If this book was written by, or for, teens it could be dangerous, but it also shows just what is possible with a bit of hope and a sense of adventure. Be brave and just go for it, things may go wrong, but you may also find laughter and friendship that raises your spirits and your soul.

This was a quick read that often had me giggling along with their antics, but I was already on-line friends of two of them and enjoy their writing, so it was like being in the company of friends. This made me think of the appeal of this book to readers who have no idea of the world of social media or who are new to the writing of these three ladies. Would they get it?  Well all I can say is that I hope so as it is very entertaining and as I haven’t yet read all of their respective memoirs, reading this made me want to carry on reading more from them.

Take Three Birds is available in ebook and paperback format and links to Amazon can be found below. Tottie Limejuice is the author of three memoirs set in France and you can read my review of her first book Sell the Pig: a travel tale with a twist (Sell the Pig series Book 1) here. You can also read my France et Moi interview with her here. Jill Pennington is the author of The diary of a single parent abroad a memoir about her life in Italy. Janet Holt shares her unusual life in her memoir The Stranger In My Life. You can follow the Three Birds on their Facebook page here, where you can see the photos taken when they got together.

France et Moi with author Tottie Limejuice

Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where I’m talking to author Tottie Limejuice about what France means to her.

Tottie Limejuice (a fantastic pen-name) wrote her first book Sell the Pig last year, a moving account of how her family made the decision to move to the Auvergne region of France. This was no ordinary family as Tottie’s elderly mother suffered from dementia and her brother is a manic-depressive alcoholic. You can read my review here.

First question, I think France is a special place and it is famed for many things including its cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus, dare I say it strikes and dog poo littered streets. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?

Tottie: Don't forget that, according to the Auvergnats, this isn't France, it's the Auvergne, and there's a famous sign announcing that fact! So I can only speak for this region. But I love how polite people are here. It sounds trite but I find it charming to be called “madame” by people much older than I, although I would probably find the same condescending in England – it's a lifestyle thing.

2) Having lived in France and spoken French for many years do you have any top tips for my readers on how to learn French?

Tottie: Never be afraid to try. Many French people you meet will speak considerably less English than you do French and will be very pleased that you make the effort. Try to read in French. Join your local library and start with easy books that you already know in French. Read all the junk mail, too, it's a great way to pick up new vocabulary. And watch French TV – it's not half as bad as some Brits would have you believe. I'm hooked on Un Diner presque Parfait, Come Dine with Me. It's a great way to pick up on regional accents and customs, too. And listen to your local radio station. Mine is France Bleu Pays d'Auvergne and I really like it. When one of my cats went missing I wanted to put an advert on and found myself doing it live on air. I think my cat heard it as she came back two hours later.

3) Do you have any embarrassing language mishaps you are happy to share?

Tottie: Far too many! Mixing up the French for lips and for hares caused consternation, as did proudly telling the lady in the pharmacie that my fleas had arthritis, when I meant I had arthritis in my thumbs. Or perhaps telling someone my cat had just killed a mule when I meant a field mouse.

4) What was the changing moment for you when you felt accepted into your new French community?

Tottie: Not sure it's 100% happened yet, it takes many years to be fully accepted here in the Livradois Forez. But the biggest compliment from thrifty Auvergnats who are famously tight fisted, when discovering all my money saving devices like solar camping panels to reduce my EDF bills, is to tell me I'm turning into an Auvergnate.

5) Imagine you are sitting outside a French café at 10.00am on a sunny morning watching the world go by, what do you order from the waiter?

Tottie: Ah, tricky one. Up to a year ago it would have definitely been a hot chocolate and a pain au chocolat. Sadly, though thankfully in a way, due to excellent French health care, I have now been diagnosed with Coeliac disease so have to be careful to the point of paranoia not to eat anything containing gluten, nor anything that has been in contact with any. So it would probably have to be a fruit juice or perhaps a cappuccino without the chocolate powder on top and nothing to eat.

6) France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but which French cheese are you? A hard and mature Tome, a soft, fresh and lively goat cheese, the creamy and rich Camembert or maybe the salty and serious Roquefort?

Tottie: I'm told my humour has a bit of bite, so probably a nice mature Cantal Vieux that's sharper than it looks!

7) How would you explain that very unique French concept of ‘terroir’?

Tottie: I love the whole concept of the importance of links to the soil, the sense of place, the sense of belonging. There's a similar concept in Wales, where I used to live, called “hiraeth”, to do with attachment to ones roots, ones home-ground.

8) If money and commitments were no object where in France would you like to own a property and what sort of place would it be?

Tottie: Am lucky enough to be able to say with complete honesty that I am perfectly happy with my little home in the Auvergne and have no hankering to go elsewhere. If money were really no object, I would like to do up my barn and perhaps acquire some more land round and about but this is where I see myself ending my days. I have even planted a silver birch and left instructions that my ashes should be scattered around it, with a stunning view of the Chaine des Puys to the west.

9) France has some beautiful cities and there are a few that constantly battle to be my favourite, what is your favourite French city and why?

Tottie: I am not at all a city person. Happiest in the countryside. Being fiercely loyal to the Auvergne, if pressed, I would pick Clermont-Ferrand, although I seldom go there. I much prefer small, quirky towns. Thiers is quite nice, although I always happily get lost there ever time I visit.

10) Quick poll - beaches or mountains?

Tottie: Mountains, every time.

Finally, do you have any current projects you would like to tell my readers about?

Tottie: Talking of terroir, the man who used to own this property clearly had his own ideas about the connection between the land and the wine. He had a drink problem so sold the soil from the old orchard cum potager to buy wine. I'm currently trying to restore it to productivity and have just planted some fruit trees and some native species. I'm also working on a sequel to my book and Sell the Pig has just been released in paperback format.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you.

Tottie: Thank you for asking me and giving me the opportunity.

Sell the Pig by Tottie Limejuice

I have just finished reading Sell the Pig by Tottie Limejuice (yes I know what a fantastic name and book title, but more about that later).  The book is the story behind her family’s move to the Auvergne in France, but it is not a normal ‘moving to France’ book and they are not your normal family unit either.

“What happens when dementia, depressed dipsomania and downright dottiness decide to uproot from the UK and move to France together.”

I felt I hit it off with Tottie right from the start of the book as we had so much in common, aside from quitting the UK and moving to France;

1. An aged parent who likes to say bum, (although mine has always been like that and it has no relation to dementia).
2. An alcoholic family member, (or at least I did have).
3. A four year age gap with brother.
4. Nothing in common with said brother.
5. Petit-mal epilepsy in the family, (I think she is the first person I have come across in 30 years who has mentioned petit-mal epilepsy).
6. Family pets who are a little quirky and tend to rule the household.
7. A fan of the lovely Terry Wogan and his old Radio 2 breakfast show.

But, where I moved to France with only the quirky pets and a love for Terry Wogan’s breakfast show (plus a husband and young son), she packed all the above and more into a convoy of vehicles to start a new life in France – go Tottie!

It is not your average move to France book, where house in UK is sold, the car is packed with kids, cats and kettle, and the story really begins when the fun of life in France starts, but that doesn't make it any less readable a book as the issues they have to overcome to get themselves across the Channel would have put most people off even trying.  They are all looking to be together, but with separate space and each of them have specific and very different requirements.  I am sure there were many times when she wondered if they would get there.  There are funny moments, there are the heartfelt times when her poor Mother was being let down by the care system and there are great descriptions of the somewhat chaotic muddle their life became.  There are some great tales of dealing with estate agents and the lovely décor to be found in many French houses (although personally I see no problem with zany 1970s brown and orange wallpaper, in fact after 8 years I hardly notice it at all).  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and just the fact that she describes the story behind her fantastic pen name and the reason for the title of the book made it a worthwhile read, although I did feel it ended too soon.  I do hope she continues writing so we can find out what happens next.

Have a look at Tottie’s Book Blog for photos and more stories,see here.