My French garden Living France feature

Living France December 2014

The December issue of Living France magazine is on the shelves now and as I was lucky enough to be featured in the gardening section I was sent an e-copy which I enjoyed reading this weekend. 

I’m sure you will want to pop out and pick up a copy just to see pictures of me lovingly cradling one of my super-sized squash and talking about how being a nosy neighbour can help with your gardening, but if that’s not enough to persuade you, there are also more interesting things like:

• Where to visit this December, including Lyon’s Fête des Lumières which looks so pretty. Note to self; I must get to Lyon one day.
• An in-depth look at the Haute Pyrennes.
• The delicious butteriness that is the Galette des Rois.
• Plus lots of practical information on property ownership and living in France.

If you can’t find it for sale near you, you can purchase it online by following this link here.

http://www.buyamag.co.uk/France-Magazines/Living-France

Happy reading.

My French Garden Living France Magazine

France Today in Poitou-Charentes

Earlier this year when the France Today team re-launched their magazine I gave it a shout out (here) as from the feel and smell of the paper to the articles and information inside I felt it was a really good quality read. 

Well, in the current edition I was delighted to find not one, but two great articles on the lovely Poitou-Charentes region. Having lived happily here for nearly ten years I know I am biased, but although our little region isn't as popular as Paris or Provence, we still have some lovely hidden gems, from pretty villages to smart cities and tasty foods to delicious drinks. It was lovely to see some of these having their moment of glory in the magazine. Even if you can't get here to experience it for real, you can get a glimpse from the pages of this great France read. For more information on how to get your hands on a copy see here.

France Today in Poitou-Charentes

France Today Magazine

The team behind France Today are so pleased with their new re-launched magazine that they sent me a copy to read in the hope I would give it a shout out. Which is exactly what I’m going to do as I’ve had a great time this weekend dipping in and out, as you do with a magazine. With books, blogs and websites there is always somewhere to turn to get a France fix, but I have had my magazine love reignited with this magazine such was the mix and quality of the articles.

Firstly this magazine feels lovely with thick paper and a mat finish, plus it smells fab – we are a household who love the smell of a good bit of print, please tell me we are not alone? On picking up a magazine I always turn to the back page first – no idea why, but I’ve always done it. I loved Kristin Espinasse’s ‘Le Dernier Mot’ (last word) piece all about the gently curved terracotta roof tiles, famous not only in Provence, but also in our region of Poitou-Charentes too. I now know how they were originally shaped and I might just have to steal her idea of using one as an apero dish this summer (if the weather ever improves).

This issue also saw me virtually shopping in Paris, supping the famous bubbles from Champagne, touring in Montpellier and oyster eating in Arcachon. Not only was there a lot to interest a Francophile like me, I learnt new things and have added some more must sees to my ever growing France holiday list. Top of that list is the Espelette villages in the Basque region, thanks to the mouthwateringly delicious article (and recipe) by Susan Herrmann Loomis. Although it would have to be at the end of summer when the houses are bedecked with their famous red Piment d’Espelette peppers drying in the sun. This really is a small selection of what this magazine has to offer, so if you fancy a French  fix do treat yourself, I’m sure you will love it. For more information see their website here and for subscription information see here.

France Travel Magazine App

It’s new, innovative, colourful, very clever, informative and a whole lot of fun.  It is also designed to promote the best that France has to offer – I love it.  

‘It’ is the new free tablet app .fr France Travel Magazine that is launched today by the publishers of the French Entrée magazine.  When I heard they were looking for bloggers to give it a try, how could I refuse?  I will admit to being a bit of a novice navigator on our iPad, as Ade rarely lets me get a look in, but that didn’t stop me enjoying it and I only got ‘lost’ once or twice.  It is so much more than a digital magazine; it is exciting and engaging as every feature has hidden surprises that are a just a ‘slide’ or ‘touch’ away. The quality of the photographs is stunning; the article content is interesting and informative and there is a good mix of articles covering historic villages, regional guides, food, museums and more.  Although I will say that I found the text difficult to read on the 48 hours in Aix-en-Provence article as I couldn’t stop the images continually scrolling as I was trying to read, but they were beautiful photos so I could almost forgive them.  The only other issue we had was our broadband speed struggled to download the magazine, but that is one of the downsides of living the rural French dream.

No longer are reading text and looking at placed images enough now we have seen slick and arty page loading, full screen pictures, slideshows, video and audio clips, direct links to related websites and each page instantly shareable via email and social media.  This has to be the way forward for digital magazines and I can’t help feeling I may need my own iPad soon.

The app is free and available to download now from iTunes, see here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/.fr-france-travel-magazine/id561651885?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

For more information see the French Entrée site here.