Advent postcards, Père Noël visits our village

Advent postcard, Père Noël visits our village

Advent day seventeen

Today’s cycling advent-ures postcard is from our village. Today is one of my favourite volunteering days of the year – the day Père Noël visits every child aged ten and under.

 

A few weeks ago, a small team of us visited a local toy shop to buy the thirty-seven gifts, which were wrapped and delivered to the village by their staff. 

 

Two days ago, we all met up to decorate the commune’s white van and convert it into a mobile grotto for Père and Mère Noël.

 

This afternoon, our little convoy of me and my decorated Brompton, a car with a sound system blaring out Christmas tunes, and the mobile grotto made our way slowly around the village spreading smiles. So many happy small people, faces alight when they heard us arrive and parents wishing us a happy Christmas and thanking us. It was a great way to spend a few hours. 

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. 

Advent Day Fifteen, Little Donkey

My new friend

Advent Day Fifteen, Little Donkey

“Little donkey, little donkey,

On the dusty road

Got to keep on plodding onwards

With your precious load”

 

Little Donkey was one of my favourite Christmas carols when I was growing up, and I had riding lessons, many moons ago, on Shetland ponies – yes, I was the short, chubby kid on the short, chubby pony. Sadly, after falling off one too many times, I lost my confidence and that is where my love for horses ended.

8-year-old me, with a Shetland pony in 1979

 

My bicycle is my pony, taking me off on wild adventures to pastures new, and since falling in love with cycling, I have never felt the need to swap it for a horse. I watch way too many Ambulance, A&E and Helicopter Medics programmes to feel happy around horses. I know you can fall off your bike and suffer injuries, but it is rarely the bike’s fault, unlike horses, who seem to enjoy throwing off their riders and then kicking or stamping on them for good measure. I’d go so far as to admit to having thought them a little bit evil, until I was introduced to equitherapie or equitherapy - the broad term for a range of equine-assisted activities for people who have physical, emotional, cognitive, or social difficulties.

 

The local Mellois branch of the France Alzheimer association, run by two French ladies, reached out a few weeks ago, in desperate need for some bilingual volunteers. Set up in 2017, with one volunteer supporting four families, it has now grown to two volunteers helping sixteen families, two of whom are British. Each month they run a number of different sessions for both patients and carers, including games therapy afternoons, walks, talking therapy sessions and an equitherapy afternoon at the local riding stables.

The Alzheimer's support group equitherapie session

 

Today was my first volunteer session where I met T and his wife and helped with the translation as he got to grips with grooming his horse Narciss, checking her hooves and walking her around the paddock. Despite this being the first time in many years he had been near a horse, he bravely agreed to mount and enjoyed walking around the arena with the others, although I think he was more taken with the grooming than the riding. There were certainly lots of smiles from everyone as they bonded with the (thankfully) docile beasts.

 

Afterwards, there was time for chatting, coffee drinking and cake eating before we wished each other a bonnes fêtes. I will definitely be back to help out again next year. 

Advent Day Twelve, decorating the village

Handmade decorations

Advent Day Twelve

Decorating the village

We are halfway through Advent and although decorations have been popping up in villages all around us, until today, our village wasn’t looking too festive. This afternoon a small group of elves met outside the village hall to help install and decorate the wooden Christmas trees that were made by volunteers in 2015. Sadly, this year we were a very small group and if I’m honest, somewhat lacking in Christmas cheer. I think the problem was that, as so often happens, it falls to the same few people to organise and it's easy to feel overwhelmed with the responsibility, especially in the run up to Christmas. 

My cycling elves

I wasn’t the only one of us who has a seriously packed-out diary this week, but I think I managed to raise a smile or two with my silly Santa hat and my cycling elves giving us a helping hand. Christmas at home might be a low-key affair, but I do love being involved in decorating the village and helping Père Noel to distribute his gifts to the children. 

 

The trees might be decorated in a more minimalist fashion this year, with a little less of the garish garlands of tinsel, but with the lights on the salle des fêtes and the shiny bows, there is still a bit of sparkle and magic.

 

Our village looking festive

Our families in the UK awoke to snow this morning and a little further north from here also had a few flurries. I’m not a fan of snow so thankfully, we are snow-free for the moment, but it did drop to -3º overnight. My winter discovery today is that my new glove/mittens were just perfect for having my fingers free to tie up the fiddly ribbons on the Christmas tree bows, while the rest of my hands stayed nice and warm. I will be keeping my fingers crossed (also easy in my new glove/mittens) that it won’t snow here.

 

International Volunteer Day

Our village decorations - made by volunteers

Advent Day Five

The 5^th of December is International Volunteer Day, or in French Journée mondiale des bénévoles. I read this morning that giving your time gives you a sense of worth and purpose, whilst creating positive feelings, and connecting you with other people, thus helping improve your mental well-being. As someone who arrived in France with a young child, knew no one in the village and had a husband whose work took him away from home a lot of the time, volunteering was my lifeline for all the reasons stated above. It has also proved to be an effective way to improve my French, boost my self-confidence and ultimately led to paid employment too. 

 

One of the first things I became involved in was our village magazine and I can vividly remember sitting in the meetings and not understanding a word, let alone being able to contribute anything, apart from helping with the folding, stapling and distribution. Eighteen years on, and I’m still folding, stapling and delivering, but I’m also translating parts of it into English and enjoying the chat and gossip that goes on around the table when we meet up once a month.

 

When Ed started at the local nursery school, I made a point of always saying yes when parents were asked to help out. The weekly craft activities when he was under six and the overnight school trips in primary school, were great fun and gave me a sense of reassurance and a better understanding of the French school culture. Ed’s step up from primary to secondary school was certainly smoother for us both due to the fact I’d been running a weekly English language club for the two years before he moved up. It was an unexpected bonus to learn that this had given me ‘cool’ status among his peers.

 

Life in our French village would be nothing without a core of volunteers. Aside from the monthly magazine, the library, the summer social events, the handmade Christmas decorations, the Children’s Christmas party and more, all exist in our village solely thanks to volunteers. Being one of these volunteers has not only helped me find my place in the village, but it also led to me being elected onto the village council in 2014, something I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of for over six years and offered me many experiences I would otherwise have missed out on. 

My 121st monthly piece in The Deux-Sèvres Monthly

 

Working at the library in Chef-Boutonne came about thanks to being a volunteer at our village library, and in turn led to me being offered the position to work at the Château de Javarzay this year. Having a wealth of new and exciting life experiences here in France encouraged me to start this blog back in 2006. This in turn led to regular contributions to the Deux-Sèvres Monthly magazine and despite never having written anything longer than a letter, I can’t now imagine not having these creative outlets in my life. 

 

I am not the most confident or outgoing person, so to think I could have moved here all those years ago and shut myself indoors for fear of my French not being good enough, is a scary thought. What would I have done with my days when Ed was at school? How would I have met people and learned French? I shudder to think how different my life would be now. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been rewarding, and volunteering has shaped the person I am today.

 

If you are also a volunteer – Happy Volunteer Day to you. If you’re not yet a volunteer – what are you waiting for? It could change your life. 

Counting chickens and other census fun

Some of the residents of the village free range egg farm

Counting chickens

I’m just over halfway through census month, attempting to count how many of the 235 houses in the village are lived in full time and how many people live in them. I have made countless tours around the commune, on weekdays, weekends and at different times of the day (clocking up over 150km on my bike), speaking to as many people as possible and leaving gentle reminders. After an initial flurry of online responses, and several requests for the paper versions, I’m pleased to say only 10% of households have yet to respond. I now seem to have reached the point however, where it might be easier to individually count the 9000 chickens at the organic free range egg farm, than get the remaining households to fill in their forms. 

 

We are an international community, and the census applies to everyone who is a permanent resident, whatever their nationality, family situation or employment status, and whether they rent or own their property. I’m happy to report my fellow Brits have all been accounted for, requiring very little hassling. The Romanian builders who share a rented house were polite and welcoming, and thanks to a Romanian translation available from the national statistics office, all filled out their forms with no issues. Many of the older residents have been happy just to see someone at their door and have taken the time to spell out their names in slow, careful French (like you would when talking to a child) so I could fill in their forms for them. 

 

The ones I’m having a hassle with are the younger French families. Time and again I’m hearing the same story, “I work, I have children and I don’t have time to fill it in”. It takes about five minutes per person and another five minutes to complete the details about the house, and is carried out every five years. If they chose the online option, it can be done any time, not there and then when I knock at their door, which I appreciate might be an inconvenient time. Many of these families have children under ten who benefit from a gift from Père Noel every Christmas. The commune spend 25€ on each child and the shopping and delivering is all organised by a team of volunteers. One of the benefits of counting as many people as possible is that the more inhabitants we have, the more funding we will get from the State, so the more money we will have to spend in the commune budget. Can you tell that their apathy is beginning to irritate me slightly?

Our team of volunteers enjoying delivering the Christmas gifts

 

In the UK it is a legal requirement to complete the census and non-compliance carries a fine of up to £1000. In France it is obligatoire (obligatory), but I’ve yet to find out what (if any) the penalties are for those ‘who are too busy’. What about where you live, is there a census and is it compulsory to complete it?

 

For the next ten days, I will keep knocking, and reminding, and can only hope those who have promised me they will complete the form online, will remember to do so.

 

My obituary, the end of an era

This short message that will appear in the next edition of our village magazine, something I have helped to produce for over ten years, is probably the closest I will ever get to reading my own obituary:

“We would simply like to say publicly to Jacqui Brown, whose deep involvement in the village council, and more generally in our community, is known by us all, our regret that she will not be able to stand for election in 2020 (if she wished).”

This makes me sad. The French have been very proactive in encouraging communities with English immigrants to have a voice by electing someone to stand on their local council. They want us to do our bit, get involved, have our say, help out in our French community, but also to have a representative on hand to help out our fellow immigrants. I have been called down to the Mairie many times since the 2014 elections to help someone newer to the village who has a problem and may not have the language skills to understand what to do now.

The EU referendum vote in the UK will not mean that my village will chuck me out or stop me from volunteering or helping in the local community, but it will take away my voice. Immigrants are often criticised for arriving and not integrating in their new communities. My right to integrate as I am doing now, as a village councillor, is in jeopardy and once the UK has exited the EU, will be lost.

Democracy exists to enable change to happen and that must be viewed as a good thing. At present no one can be certain what these changes will mean for the future of the UK or Europe and I only hope that positive things emerge. The only certain is that things will not remain the same and my daily rights to live my life as I am doing now will be effected.

There will be challenging and worrying times ahead, but whatever happens and wherever I end up living, I know that this quirky little village in the middle of rural France has felt more like home to me than anywhere else I have ever lived.

Volunteering in the village

My French Village Library

Since arriving in France over eleven years ago my motto has been to say “oui, d’accord” (yes, OK) whenever I’ve been asked to help out. This has opened many doors of friendship, helped my French and given me a wealth of experiences I would otherwise have missed out on. Rural villages with small, often aging populations need volunteers willing to give their time and their ideas to ensure there is social centre at the heart of the village. Our village library may only be open for a few hours, a couple of times a week, but it is as much a place to gather for a chat for the older people as it is a place to pick up books.

One of the first things I became involved in was the village magazine committee and I can vividly remember sitting in the meetings and not understanding a word, let alone being able to contribute anything apart from helping with the folding, stapling and distribution. However, I stuck to it and soon found myself able to translate the monthly Mot du Maire (Mayor’s Word) into English and even suggest the odd idea or two. It wasn’t long before I was also volunteering at the village library, the treasurer on a village committee and running a Family Fun Day in the park every August. 

Ask not just what you can do for your village, but also what volunteering for your village can do for you! Volunteering has given me friends as well as neighbours, has increased my French vocabulary, given me a social life and every now and again offered me a tasty meal too.

Mixed fish entrée

Haddock main course

Chocolate dessert

Last Saturday night the library and magazine volunteers were wined and dined at a local restaurant to thank us for another year of service to the village. We are a mixed bunch in all sorts of ways and the only thing we have in common (apart from our love of village life) is that none of us were born here. We are English, Welsh, Moroccan born French and French, originally from Brittany to Montpellier and Paris to the Pyrenees. We have different ideas, different strengths and different languages, but I can tell you there was a lot of chat and laughter around the table on Saturday night.

If you would like to help out in your town or village I would suggest making enquiries at your Mairie or speaking to someone on one of the committees who organise events. It won’t always be easy, but it will be rewarding and it will help you to find your place in your community. 

The volunteers

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