Magazine news

La Plume, our village magazine

It has been a while since I’ve blogged, but now we have emerged from our winter funk and life has accelerated to full summer speed, I have lots to share. First up is some magazine news, as I’ve still been writing, even if I have neglected my blog a little.

 

La Plume

Since 2001, our village (of under four hundred people) has had a monthly information magazine that was one of the first things I got involved in when we arrived here back in 2004. It is run entirely by a small group of volunteers who meet each month to decide what to put in, including announcing and reporting on village events, sharing public service information like council meeting minutes and a Mot du Maire (word from the mayor – that we translate into English). 

 

Until recently, my involvement has been to help come up with ideas, translate the important things into English, and once it’s printed, join in with the stapling and distribution around the village. That was until May, when our friend and ex-Maire of the village Gérard, who had done all the editing, page layout and printing, got taken into hospital. Without him at the helm, the future of La Plume looked uncertain, so along with our friend Lesley, Adrian and I put together an emergency edition at the end of May. We are now just about to print a bumper 20-page edition for the summer that will be delivered at the end of the week. How brave of our French friends to entrust our Englishness on their French magazine, but at least we can rely on them to correct any grammatical issues and it’s certainly helping to raise my written French level. Gérard is now back home, but happy to step back and let La Plume continue in our hands. Merci mes amis.

 

The Deux-Sèvres Monthly Magazine

Up until the end of last year, I had been writing a regular 500-word column for The Deux-Sèvres Monthly magazine since 2012, or 121 issues, and under three different owners. It was totally understandable that back in January, Tony and Lynne made the decision to stop the magazine and focus on their health issues, but it was sad to think this part of my writing life was over. 

 

Happily, for all of us Anglophones living in this tucked away gem of west France, a little bit too north to be the real southwest and a little bit too south to be the Loire valley, new owners were found. In March of this year, Kathleen and Chris Butler-Donnelly took on the editorship and have been busy behind the scenes designing a new logo and website, as well as putting together their first edition. The July 2023 issue is back from the printers and ready for delivery at the usual drop offs in supermarkets, bars and restaurants in the Deux-Sèvres. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, and from Saturday 1^stJuly you will be able to read an online version here. I’m now off to finish my August piece before the deadline this weekend.

 

French Property News July/August 2023

French Property News

Earlier this year I was contacted by a journalist for the UK based magazine French Property News, that we used to subscribe to and devour, over twenty years ago before we made France our home. She wanted to interview me for the My Village feature where someone who has embraced French life shares a little bit about their life.

 

I always enjoy things like this as the questions about where we live, what I do for work etc allow me to stop and think about our life and how it has changed over the years. It is always nice to be reminded about what a fantastic adventure we are on. I am delighted by the full page (p146) article in the July/August edition that is available to buy in the UK now.

 

A link to the blog was included and I’ve already had a lovely email from Monique Jackman who enjoyed reading it and has offered me review copies of her books aimed at getting intermediate French speakers to the next level. This summer more than last, I am feeling frustrated with my level of French as I’d love to be able to wax lyrical about the history of the Château de Javarzay and the themes of our musuem to the French visitors, in the same way I do for the English ones. Monique’s books, along with a training session in French from our local Pays d’art and histoire heritage association, should really help. 

A fat little piggy

Les Gastronomades, Angouleme

This morning I am feeling like a fat little piggy having spent the whole weekend celebrating all that is good about French food and social eating.

On Friday morning I set out for the regular airport run to collect Ade, but we found ourselves diverted from our usual drive home, firstly by the coffee stop that has become our routine and then by Les Gastronomades, an annual food festival in Angouleme that we have visited before (see here). Held in a selection of marquees throughout the town, the festival promotes the local Poitou-Charentes produce, holds a huge market where producers from all over France come to sell their products, puts on displays and demonstrations by top chefs and more importantly encourages everyone, young and not so young to learn more about food and where it comes from. From snails to saucisson, wine to walnuts, fromage to foie gras and breads to Bio (organic) products, we tasted the best of flavours from Brittany in the north to the Pays Basque in the south.

Some of our purchases from Les Gastronomades, Angouleme

There were increased security measures following the recent events in Paris, but I’m delighted it was still able to go ahead and not only that but Friday is the day the event normally welcomes around 2000 school children and this year was no exception. It was lovely to see them tasting, learning and trying their hand at making too. That’s the spirit France, allons-y!

Les Gastronomades, Angouleme

French village pork fest

On Saturday evening we joined over a hundred others to eat a pig feast in the salle des fêtes (village hall), where a small team of experienced family cooks had spent three days preparing lots of different pork dishes. The smell of cooking pork had been lingering over the village and even tempted me to take a peek in the kitchen on Thursday afternoon. The cooked meat from the pig’s head was being mixed together with vegetables and parsley before being poured into plastic water bottles with a homemade gelatinous pork stock. Once set, the plastic bottle was cut away leaving cylindrical blocks of fromage du tête (pig’s head cheese or brawn) that was sliced and served. There were many firsts for me, including the first time attending this annual event despite having lived here for 11 years. The pig’s head cheese was certainly a first as was the boudin noir, a black pudding type of blood sausage and the gigouri a local speciality made using cooked pig skin, belly fat, seasoning and blood. The boudin noir was delicious, the brawn ok but I think I’ll pass on the gigouri in the future. I was always a very fussy eater when I was a kid, so I think I did very well to try what I did. The main course was roast pork, studded with garlic and served with beans, then there was cheese and to top it off (at about 11.30pm) a tasty homemade apple tart. I rolled into bed after midnight feeling happy but very tired and very full.

Rillettes, pate and gigouri

Roast pork with garlic

Sunday dawned and despite not really needing to eat, a Sunday isn’t a Sunday without a breakfast of coffee and croissants from the village boulangerie, so I somehow found room. Thankfully my diary is showing no major eating events until next weekend and I’m back to enjoying my simple vegetable soups, the perfect winter detox.  

A small taste of a big adventure, cycling La Vélo Francette

With Freewheeling France cycling La Velo Francette

One day I would love to take on the challenge of a big cycle adventure. As a child, going out on my bike was limited to cycling the towpath of the Basingstoke canal, turning around and heading home. More than anything, I wanted to be able to do circular cycle routes. Here in rural France I’m in circular cycle route heaven. Whether we pick up a marked route in the Charente or plot our own route, the varieties are endless. But I want more. I want a big adventure. 

La Vélo Francette

In June of this year a new French cycle route is opening up, La Vélo Francette, that runs from the Ouistreham ferry dock near Caen in Normandy to La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast. With 600kms of marked cycle ways linking up and joining existing cycle routes, just reading about it was enough to give me a tingle of excitement. Lynette Eyb from the French cycling website Freewheeling France, is giving the route a pre-opening test ride, with the help of various local tourist information offices. I won’t deny I’m slightly green with envy, but yesterday Adrian and I were able to meet up with her and her friend Nicole and help escort them through one of our favourite cycling areas, the Marais Poitevin.

We met in Coulon, a pretty town in the heart of the Marais Poitevin, and a regular start point for our bike rides in the reclaimed marshland area situated between La Rochelle and Niort, that is criss-crossed with canals, waterways, footpaths and cycle tracks. We joined them for the 20km ride into Niort, which is our closest big town; somewhere we have to go to if we need something not available locally, or if we have to visit the Prefecture for official French bureaucracy. It is not somewhere we had ever considered actually cycling into for pleasure. The beginning of the route took us through our beloved Marais Poitevin where we acted as unofficial tour guides and pointed out the knobbly, pollarded trees that are essential to keep the structure of the canal banks, the fields of angelica, which is a local delicacy and told them about our visit to the annual market that is still held in barques on the water (see here for photos). Although we knew the start and end destinations for this stretch of La Vélo Francette, it was nice that the route itself was a new discovery for us as well them. Arriving in Niort along the cycle path by the river was so different to battling the traffic and reminded us that cycling into a town or city is always a special way to arrive, like sneaking in the back way. The view of the town sitting above the river was quite spectacular.

Niort, Deux-Sevres

It was lovely to actually meet Lynette in person and we chatted like old friends from the moment we pulled up outside their lunch stop in Coulon and twenty kilometres later as we arrived in Niort we were still chatting away so decided to join them for a drink in the sun (any excuse). What struck me most was that despite being cycling enthusiasts Lynette and Nicole are still just normal cyclists. Neither of them has undertaken a big adventure before, they are not kitted out with the latest cycling must-haves and they are very laid back about the number of kilometres they still have to travel. Their attitude is that cycling is something anyone can join in with, from a short family ride to a big adventure like this one, cycling in France is accessible and fun for everyone.

Refreshments in the sun in Niort, Deux-Sevres

On the drive home, part of my brain was back to routine thinking about what I was going to cook for dinner and wondering if the washing had dried, but part of it was thinking wistfully about their next step, making their way north through the hillier contours of Deux Sevres from Niort to Parthenay. Bon courage ladies, I’ll be keeping up to date on your progress via Lynette’s daily blog posts (see here). Have fun for me!

Monday travel blues

Poppy says 'pack me too'

It was a busy weekend and a short one too for Ade. He arrived home from a week in London on Saturday afternoon and was off again to Belfast this morning. It is something we were used to even before we moved to France as his work regularly takes him away from home, and obviously work means money, but there are times when he is away a lot and (like Poppy) I wish I could curl up in his suitcase and go along too.

This morning's departure was a little stressed as due to the ongoing SNCF rail strike his train from Poitiers to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was cancelled and rather than a relaxing train journey where he could work on his course notes he had to battle the Peripherique in Paris and a six hour drive. Merci beaucoup SNCF workers. Thankfully he made it safely to Belfast, but I'm not sure the weather there is quite as nice as here.

Vide grenier at the chateau

Sunday morning was spent wandering around a vide grenier (literally empty loft) held at a local chateau. We made a few purchases, but the scary looking flat, dead fox peering into the box of cuddly toys was not one of them. Some of the things you see for sale never ceases to amaze us.

Vide grenier dead fox

Vide grenier delights

Sunday afternoon was the perfect weather for a bike ride and despite getting a puncture less than two kilometres from home we did a 40km circuit that included getting up close to some wind turbines, cycling past vineyards, fields of sunflowers where we saw the first cheery yellow head of the year, wheat, maize, pea crops and even flowering onion fields. I don't think I will ever tire of slowly wandering the back roads by bike as every trip out highlights the beauty of the countryside we are lucky enough to live in. It is a real recharge for the batteries

Cycling the back roads

The house seemed very quiet this morning, but I've picked some cherries, made some jam, baked a cake and a quiche, walked the dog and even dabbled in a spot of housework.

The good, the bad and the ugly of our long weekend

Thanks to Pentecost Monday we have just had a lovely three-day family weekend with no school or work interruptions and during the days at least, wall-to-wall sunshine. Here is a little of what we have been up to - the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good

Saturday afternoon started with a picnic before a wander around a garden show at a local chateau, Fete des Plantes et du Jardin au Domaine de Péré. It has been a regular early summer event for us for the last few years and this year it was better than ever. Loads of lovely plants, ideas galore and the cutest garden ornaments ever. We even watched a demonstration of a truffle hunting dog put on by the Association des Trufficultures des Deux Sevres and we didn’t realise we lived in a truffle producing area. We came home with some new pots and lots of goodies to plant up, which is what we spent the pre-apero hour doing. Tidying up the terrace and pottering with the pots before relaxing with a glass of chilled rosé, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Truffle dog demonstration

Garden ornaments at Domaine de Péré

Fete des Plantes et du Jardin au Domaine de Péré

With the warm temperatures and sunshine we also managed to get out on our bikes three times over the weekend. We plotted our routes to take in different sections of the Boutonne river valley that gave us gentle, shady cycling. The source of this river is in our local town of Chef Boutonne and it then winds it’s way through the south Deux Sevres and into the Charente Maritime before joining the River Charente near to Rochefort.

The River Boutonne

The Bad

Despite the sunshine, it has been quite a wild weather weekend with storms every night, however we were very lucky to miss the really nasty ones. I usually wake at the first rumble of thunder and then worry myself into a sleepless state while the rest of the house continues to snore peacefully. After the third night of storm warnings, despite us having nothing more than distant rumbles of thunder during the previous nights I was a little too wound up to sleep properly last night. The window rattling thunder we had during the evening didn’t help and neither did the local paper reporting pictures of tennis ball sized hailstones. Yes – tennis ball sized! I was speaking to our insurance agent this afternoon and she has had a busy morning dealing with damage from fallen trees, hail damage to property, vignerons who have lost their entire grape harvest for the year and farmers who have lost fields of cereal crops. I am feeling very relieved and grateful today.

I had a bit of a shock when I opened the shutters at the lounge doors on Saturday morning as this poor fellow had taken refuge from the overnight storm. He wasn’t very big, so I managed to persuade him into our spider catcher gadget, which also allowed us to have a good look at him and try to identify him. We think he is a harmless smooth snake or courleuve lisse and as their population is in decline we set him free in a shady spot by our compost heap. It wasn’t the best start to my day I have to admit.

Smooth snake

The Ugly

If storms and snakes weren’t enough to dampen our spirits we also found a tick on the dog. If you thought getting a cat to take a tablet was a high risk, stressful event you have never tried to ‘do’ something to our dog. Having discovered it we had to persuade her into her muzzle (to ensure our safety – see here) and then Ade held her down while I bravely went in with the alcohol and tweezers. Thankfully all Mini did was shake like a leaf and then spend the rest of the day hiding under the stairs and I’m pleased to report the tick was successfully removed.

Today we are back to a normal routine, Ade left for an early morning flight to London and Ed is back at school, although not for long as we only have four weeks until the big summer holidays – yippee!

The Rainbow Fields of Deux Sevres France

Today is the first day of summer, which I thought called for a celebration. Here is my celebration of the rainbow colours to be found in the fields around our village in Deux Sevres, France. I hope you enjoy the pictures. #DiscoverTheDelightsofDeuxSevres

Why I love French Village Life

Does your dog walk your donkey or your donkey walk your dog?

It's Sunday, the sun has shone all day, the 8.02 morning Angelus was ringing to accompany my walk to the boulangerie, a chat with my neighbour taught me that snails make love for four hours at a time and on our bike ride we spotted a donkey taking a dog for a walk. I love French Village Life!

Day one, Deux Sevres to Tarn et Garonne

A week ago today we set off for what should have been an eight day blast around the south of France in our Mini Cooper. We were excited, optimistic and looking forward to visiting lots of lovely places (see here), however if you are a follower on Facebook you will know that things didn't go to plan. Here is part one of what turned out to be quite an adventure.

We set off in the sunshine which is worth a mention as despite the lovely weather we've had recently, blue skies and sunshine aren't normal weather for when Ade's parents are visiting. I hope it continues for us and them!

Ready to go

Our morning route took us through the Cognac vineyards to Aubterre sur Drone, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, but sadly not one thoughtful enough to provide picnic tables for travellers, however being quick on our feet we snapped up the only bench to munch our baguettes. It is a very pretty village clinging to the hillside like many of its Provençal cousins, has a Romanesque church and a monolithic underground cave church (which we didn't get to visit this time) and has been on my wish list to visit for a while. Patisseries are always an important part of our road trips, but the choices in Aubterre were not great and we agreed we should have bought them from our boulangerie before leaving home (desolée Bernadette). 

Some of the funniest things we saw this morning was a lamb chasing a German Shepherd dog around a garden and some old supermarket trolley shelters being used for cow shelters in the fields. (Little did we know then that we would soon find our own original use for a trolley shelter.)

Aubterre sur Drone

Having driven through clouds in the Dordogne the sun came out again as we left the Bergerac ring road and found ourselves in rolling vineyards with hilltop chateaux and plum orchards. A sight that made it really feel like we were on holiday. We then drove into the Lot et Garonne and Bastide country, there are over 350 fortified hilltop towns in the south west of France, and Montflaquin provided a great place for our afternoon patisserie with a view. We were joined by lots of swallowtail butterflies enjoying the sweet chestnut blossom and sunshine. All was well with our world!

Afternoon tea with a view

We drove a total of 350km today and took no wrong turns, although we did manage to bypass Riberac so only glimpsed what looked to be a lovely church from the distance. Our rest for the night was not far from the banks of the Garonne river at Douce France, a B&B with friendly hosts, a welcome beer in the sun and a covered pool. Thankfully we swam plenty of lengths before walking just over a kilometre to dinner as the pizzas were HUGE. The restaurant also had a very friendly cat who was well behaved until she jumped onto the table.

We were a mixed group at Douce France; a Belgian/Irish couple, a Franco/Italian couple and us all conversing in French (as best we could). Thanks to Fred and David for making us so welcome.

The Pizza Cat 

In the spotlight

Guest Speaker

Sometimes my life can be rather routine, sometimes things get exciting, and at the moment I seem to be going through an exciting phase. I was recently contacted by a local gardening club, who incidentally happen to be the longest running English language gardening association in the whole of France, to see if I would give a short talk to the members at their Annual General Meeting. As I read the email, I could feel my heart rate increase as my eyes widened and that tingle of panic mixed with excitement took hold in my stomach. I am quite a shy person, happy to share my French village life via my blog and regular column in the Deux Sèvres Monthly magazine, but not really used to speaking in front of an audience. However, I feel it is a good thing to step out of your comfort zone every now and then and if I’m honest, I do like a challenge.

Yesterday afternoon saw me ‘preaching’ the benefits of growing and eating courgettes (zucchini) to twenty enthusiastic gardeners with happy, smiley faces. They welcomed me into their meeting, they listened and they even had a few questions that I hope I was able to answer for them. They were so friendly I have decided to become a member and am looking forward to taking part in their monthly meetings, horticultural days out, summer bbqs and Christmas meal. I’m also hoping that over time I will be able to convert any non-courgette growers to become fans even if it means giving away seedlings. Yesterday, as well as coffee and chocolate biscuits, I was also lucky enough to win a new trowel in the monthly raffle, which I promise wasn’t fixed even though I managed to draw my own ticket.

Thank you to the members of Les Jardiniers du Sud-Ouest à Chives for being so welcoming. If any of my local gardening friends would like to join in the fun I can let you have the membership details.

France et Moi with writer Helen Aurelius-Haddock

Helen Aurelius-Haddock

Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where this week I am talking to writer Helen Aurelius-Haddock about what France means to her. Helen has lived in Poitou-Charentes France since 2004, writes a blog about food and France, regularly contributes to a number of French lifestyle websites and has had articles published in the Daily Telegraph, French Property News and Flavour Magazine.

Firstly, 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. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?

Helen: I think I'd have to say that the French houses, especially the older ones in the countryside are quite stunning. I've lived here for nearly ten years now and I am still bowled over by the breathtaking places I pass when I am out and about.

The other "French" thing about it is the fascination the French have about food. You can engage them on pretty much any subject, but in the end, it will all come down to food. It's like a religion for them!

Also, they seem to still have a very strong sense of family loyalty here, and they spend a lot of time together - usually eating!!!

2) When you first arrived in France what was the best thing about being immersed in French life and the scariest thing?

Helen: The best thing was realising that we had at long last achieved our dream of many years and had finally found a place to live in France.

Sending our youngest daughter Eve to school here was a real high too. We'd sent our eldest Holly off to university to study French in Bristol just before we left, and were delighted that both of them were going to have a close affinity to the country we had come to love.

The scariest thing was being offered a job about three weeks after arriving!

I was approached to teach English in a number of local primary schools, but I had always taught adults in the UK.

I had visions of them tying my shoelaces together under the desk and putting a live mouse in my school bag. I decided to turn them down, as I wasn't too confident that I would be able to handle a class full of ten year olds.

3) 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?

Helen: That's easy! I always have un grand creme avec du lait froid - I love French coffee but its so strong - I am quite crafty asking for cold milk as the waiters always seem to give you more, which "softens" the coffee for me. If it's early, then I must have a pain au chocolat - I just can't resist them.

4) Every region in France has it’s own culinary specialty, do you have a favourite regional dish?

Helen: I am a real foodie, so France is a bit of gastro paradise for me. One local dish I love is "rillons" -  pork belly, slow cooked in the oven with red wine, bay leaves garlic and fresh herbs. I cook it when family comes to stay and it gets devoured very quickly. Delicious!

5) Is there anything French you won’t eat?

Helen: Yes, Andouillette. Shall we move on?

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?

Helen: Gosh, that's a hard one, let me think.....Ah, I'd be a Chabichou. It sounds like "shabby chic" and I guess that sums up me and my lifestyle really! Tastes great too!

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

Helen: With great difficulty! I like to think of it like this:

Imagine a "vigneron" standing in a narrow lane. To his left is a vineyard, to his right is a vineyard. They both grow the same grapes, but the one to his left is on a higher gradient than the other. It gets a tad more wind and sun. I can guarantee the vigneron will tell you that the wines taste completely different from each place, because the "terroir" is different. I tend to agree with this tenet of wine lore, and after years of wine tastings, I can attest to this fact being true.

8) France gets a lot of good press about it’s health care system, have you any experience of using it and how do you rate it?

Helen: I am a big supporter of the French health care system.

About five years ago, I became ill and underwent a number of tests. I was diagnosed as having genetic hemochromatosis. Although it is a hereditary disease, I was the first one in my family to be diagnosed with it. The genetic test was swiftly carried out, along with a battery of others, leaving no stone unturned. My health care and support system here is excellent, and have often wondered how long my illness might have gone undiagnosed in the UK. It is no coincidence that, according to the World Health Organisation, France comes out as one of the top health care providers in the world.

9) How does France inspire your writing?

Helen: My writing is about France, so to be immersed in the life and culture day in day out is ideal. I live in a very peaceful place, which provides an ideal location to write with the minimum of disruption.

It has so much natural beauty that the landscape often talks to me through my writing. It's quite spontaneous really.

Finally, you are currently writing a novel set in France. Is this your first book and can you tell us a little bit about it and when we will be able to read it?

Helen: I don't want to give too much away, but I will say this: It is a novel about moving to new pastures, and in the case of the main character, they are making the move alone. Trying to start out in a new place as a family or couple is hard enough, so the themes of loneliness, isolation and fitting in will be explored within its pages. The novel will be published in the Autumn of this year.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you and good luck with the novel.

You can follow Helen’s blog here, find her on Twitter here and Facebook here.