Time is a funny thing

Early morning light in Melle, Deux-Sevres

Time is a funny thing

 

Before the blackbirds began their pre-dawn chorus this morning, we were both up, showered and breakfasted. I’d rummaged in the freezer for a soup for lunch and a quick peek outside revealed just how dark it is before the village streetlights flicker into life. The washing machine and dishwasher had both run before the overnight cheaper electric ended at seven o’clock and the washing was hung out, albeit in the dark. 

Fresh off the ferry in Dieppe

 

We have only been home from the UK for a few days, so we lost an hour last Friday lunchtime as our ferry crossed into French time. We then gained an hour in the early hours of Sunday morning as we said goodbye to European summertime and our early start today was because Adrian is working with clients from Abu Dhabi who are three hours ahead of us, or four hours ahead of the UK. By the time the village church bells rang the midday Angelus, his working day was almost over, even if our body clocks had no idea whether it was lunchtime, dinnertime or siesta time. 

 

One thing I do know is that I need to make time for my yoga class this evening, even if it means more juggling of mealtimes. Time spent in the UK meant time away from the yoga mat, and yesterday was an off-the-scale busy day that saw us leave the house before seven thirty in the morning (for Adrian’s annual fasting blood test in Melle), followed by my last day at the Château, and I didn’t get home until fifteen minutes before my quarter to nine (in the evening) class was due to begin. Funnily enough I opted for time with Adrian, dinner, and a glass of wine, instead of yoga.

 

Halloween

When we arrived in France eighteen years ago, Halloween was low key. Our village had a few enthusiastic mums and lots of elderly mamies keen to see the dressed-up little ones and ply them with sweets. Everyone met outside the village hall early in the afternoon and together with our little monsters we would traipse around the streets filling up on bonbons. Long before darkness had fallen, we were all safely home where the fatigue of a long afternoon walking, fought against the inevitable sugar-rush from the Carambars. Time has moved on; Ed has grown up and I’ve realised just how out of touch I am with Halloween. 

A hidden pumpkin at Château de Javarzay

 

A few months ago, Halloween at the Château de Javarzay was mentioned. Should we close the season on a high with something special on Halloween for the children? It falls during the school holidays here in France and from November, the château will be closed until next spring. The answer was a unanimous YES. We found Halloween colouring sheets, all featuring castles with turrets and towers, just like our château. Decorations were hung in the entrance, and we teamed up with the library to end the day with a fun story time for the four-to-six-year-olds. Following on from the success of our Easter egg hunt, we hid twenty numbered paper pumpkins in and around the château, and each group were given an answer sheet to fill in where they’d found the pumpkins. Sweets and colouring sheets were given to all successful hunters. 

Halloween at the Château de Javarzay

 

I was expecting a slow trickle of families throughout the afternoon, the children dressed up in simple outfits, like Ed and his friends had over fifteen years ago. I was wrong. From the moment we opened the doors at two o’clock, until we cashed up at half past six and let the librarians take over, we were inundated with families and groups. There were witches, devils, skeletons, mad scientists, super heroes and more, plus it wasn’t just the children who were dressed up, the mums and dads had 100% entered into the spirit of Halloween with outfits, face paints and accessories. It proved to be one of our busiest days of the season with the only downside being we massively underestimated the quantity of sweets needed. Some of our visitors had driven over an hour just to join in our Halloween experience and although it was an activity aimed at the children, there were plenty of triumphant parent faces too when they’d successfully found all the pumpkins, especially our golden pumpkin. We had so many positive comments on the château visit and the fun they’d had, I was blown away.

Our village cemetery on Toussaint

 

Yesterday was All Hallows’ Eve, today is a public holiday in France for Toussaint, All Saints’ Day and tomorrow is All Souls’ Day, a day to remember those we have lost. Nothing quite says Autumn to me like the carpet of flowering chrysanthemums we see outside florists and garden centres, destined to add colour to the cemeteries here in France. Family members will have made time over the last few days to tidy graves and leave their potted chrysanthemums to remember their loved ones. 

A carpet of chrysanthemums

Our UK visit was for Dad’s funeral, which despite the circumstances, was a day filled with family, friends and a lot of laughter, just as he would have wanted it to be. Ed was nothing short of awesome as he played the guitar and sang one of Dad’s favourite Irish songs during the service and we couldn’t be prouder of him. He’s certainly come a long way since the timid little pumpkin of 2004, not too keen on scary costumes and always the last one in the doorstep sweetie grab. How time flies.

Our little pumpkin 2006

Poitiers Insolite

Floral display Parc de Blossac, Poitiers

Poitiers Insolite (Unusual)

We recently found ourselves in Poitiers with an afternoon to spare. As we had the bikes with us, and for once it wasn’t raining, a bimble to some of our favourite places, with a few new sights too, seemed to be the perfect idea.

Floral snake, Poitiers

Our first stop was the Parc de Blossac where the winter floral displays were looking beautiful. With Toussaint (1^st November, All Saints Day) approaching, the florists of France are alive with chrysanthemums in the rich colours of autumn. We are not the only Brits in France to have received odd looks from our French neighbours as we’ve decorated our gardens with these beautiful displays - that the French reserve for the cemeteries and gardens of remembrance on All Saints Day. However, the municipal gardeners of Poitiers seem to have followed our lead as not only were the flower beds full of colourful chrysanthemums, but a floral snake sculpture has appeared just outside the Parc de Blossac too.

 

Travérsees \ Kimsooja contemporary art Poitiers

We then crossed the town centre, where there is currently a multi-location contemporary art exhibition in place, the Traversées \ Kimsooja. In my opinion, it is art, but not as I know it, but some of the pieces certainly got us talking about them! 

Palais du Justice, Poitiers

One benefit of the exhibition is that the old Palais du Justise (court house) that was once Eleanor of Aquitaine’s residence in the 12^th century and has been closed to the public for over 30 years, is now open. The grand hall, (salle des pas perdus – hall of the lost footsteps) with its impressive windows and fireplaces would certainly have been some place for a medieval banquet. 

 

River Clain, Poitiers

We then joined the river Clain to the north of the town, where quiet roads took us through residential areas. 

 

Hollyhocks in October

I was delighted to find hollyhocks still in bloom at the end of October.

 

Tour de France 2020, finish line in Poitiers

We then decided on a mission to find the newly installed signage that marks the finish line for when the Tour de France will arrive in Poitiers on 8^th July 2020. Cav, if you are reading this, it will be a slightly uphill sprint finish, on a wide section of the ring road, that I hope will have been resurfaced before you race here. I won’t be camping out just yet, but certainly plan to be there on the day.

 

Lanterne des Morts, Poitiers

With Toussaint so close, we took a detour through the cemetery, where as well as many family mausoleums and chrysanthemums we found a French military cemetery with a Lanterne des Morts as its centrepiece. Les Lanternes des Morts, or Lanterns of the Dead are a peculiar feature, found in only a handful of locations in our area of France. In fact, there are only 36 lanternes left in the whole of France that survived the Revolution (and the subsequent administrative destruction) and 11 of these are in the old region of Poitou-Charentes, with the remainder in the Aquitane. These needles of stone, built between the 11^th and 13^th centuries, sit near the church or in the cemetery and are a symbol of remembrance to those we have lost. At the top is a cross and an opening and at the bottom, a door where a lamp was placed. The lamp was lit at each death and only extinguished once the burial had taken place. They are always positioned so the opening looks towards the east and the direction of the sun rise, as a symbol of resurrection. I’ve been lucky enough to see a few of those that remain and find them fascinating. 

Next to the French cemetery was an area of German military crosses; the final resting place of 104 German soldiers who died as prisoners of war in Poitiers, during the First World War. We were both quite shocked to see so many crosses in a cemetery so far from the Front Line and battlefields.

 

Pierre-Levée, Poitiers

Our route back towards the cathedral took us past an ancient stone, or Pierre-Levée that has been classified as an historical monument since 1862. This large broken slab supported by three pillars is the remains of an ancient dolmen, a megalithic monument used as a burial chamber.

 

Traversées \ Kimsooja, Poitiers

Right outside Ed’s place is another art installation from the Traversées \ Kimsooja exhibition. This igloo-like frame is covered in life jackets and represents an emergency dwelling where protections at sea are turned into shelters on land. Designed by an architecture student who has helped with humanitarian work in Lesbos, Greece and invented the shelter based on the life vests found on the island’s beaches.

Our short 13km bike tour certainly took in the unusual and with megalithic stones, 12^th century palaces and First World War graves, to modern art depicting the current migration crisis, floral displays and a cycle race still eight months away, was probably as varied as it’s possible to get.

The blog has been more than quiet recently, but then as our lives hurtled towards the 31^st October Brexit deadline; neither my mood nor heart were in the right place. We now have another reprieve to 31^st January 2020, which although drags on the uncertainty we have lived with since June 2016, I would much rather leave with a fully formed plan in place than crash out with no deal. 

November and Toussaint

The village cemetery on All Saints' Day

Last weekend the clocks leapt back, leaving summertime behind for another year and this morning the calendar seems to have leapt forward, to November - already. Does anybody else feel like this year is slipping away too fast? More importantly does anyone have any idea how to slow it down?

Here in France we are on holiday, a double holiday in fact for those of us with children. 1^st November is Toussaint, or All Saints' Day and a public holiday, that always falls during the mid term school holidays. It is a beautiful time of year, the autumn colours in the hedgerows are glowing and the florists and cemeteries are ablaze with colourful chrysanthemums, left at graves by families as a mark of respect and remembrance to their loved ones for All Souls' Day (2^nd November). It is worth noting that despite their beautiful array of colours the French only buy chrysanthemums for the cemeteries and never as gifts for friends or autumnal decorations for their house and garden.

Ed has been on holiday all of last week and this week too and in that time I’ve driven over 700km. I’d love to tell you about our adventures; Paris maybe (400km from here) or Lyon (500km away and somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit), but no, sadly we have been nowhere. This is just the general running around involved in living in a small village (in the middle of nowhere) with a teenager whose friends and social life is no longer on the doorstep. The funny thing is that I don’t even like driving that much and would certainly think twice before getting in the car and driving myself to Lyon or Paris, but having calculated my mileage this past week, maybe I should be packing my bags and planning a real getaway.

Ed's fish and chickpea curry

At least I’ve managed to spend some fun time with Ed (fitting me in around his socialising) over the holidays, and it’s mainly been in the kitchen. He has been away from home, boarding at lycée from Monday to Friday, since he was 15 years old. This is something else that seems to have sped past very quickly, and means time at home, learning to cook, clean and run a house, has been rather limited. This week I’ve actively encouraged him make a mess in my kitchen, learn how to experiment with flavours and create simple but tasty meals, as well as clearing up afterwards. 

He has learned a lot and I’ve learned that I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to someone else cooking in my kitchen, but we’ve both enjoyed his efforts and spending time together. What's for dinner tonight Ed?

Toussaint or All Saints Day

All Saints Day is a busy time for florists in France

Today is All Saints Day and is a public holiday here in France. This doesn't mean a roaring trade for the supermarkets, garden centres and DIY stores as it would in the UK as in our little corner of France bank holidays still mean closures. In the last few years we have noticed that more shops are opening on bank holiday mornings, but it warrants big notices everywhere as it is still considered the exception rather than the rule. Our village boulangerie was particularly fragrant this morning as a long weekend with family calls for extra patisseries. 

Chrysanthemums in the cemetery  

The garden centres, flower shops and market flower stalls have been busy in the run up to today as the French celebrate the lives of loved ones they have lost by leaving beautiful floral tributes at their graves. November 2nd is the actual date to commemorate those who have died, November 1st being reserved for Saints only. However as it is a bank holiday today it makes the visit to the family plot at the village cemetery much easier. In some places candles are still lit and left to glow after dark, but more recently the chrysanthemum has become the popular tribute. Even our relatively small commune cemetery has been bedecked with the beautiful autumnal colours of the huge potted chrysanthemums. There will be a steady flow of cars all weekend, family members arriving to tend the grave and then enjoying a meal together often in the home they or their parents grew up in. It is a very important tradition that seems to be held by the younger generation as well as the older ones.

A war hero's grave stone

Although the chrysanthemum isn’t my favourite of blooms I have to admit to loving the many colourful displays to be seen in France at this time of year. The thing we and many expats have done, but only once, is to buy the chrysanthemums either for some autumnal decoration outside the house or worse as a gift for a French friend. The French really only think of the chrysanthemum as a Toussaint grave decoration and will look at you rather oddly if you dare to use it another way. It is just one of those many things you learn on your expat journey in France.

Our village cemetery