La Maison Orange

La Maison Orange is located in a tiny hamlet in the depths of Southern Brittany and has had a bit of a makeover this year.

This is our smallest house, sleeping two, and being small attention must be given to the detail. This year we have redecorated the whole house, re-varnished the original wooden floors, installed a new kitchen, and added a dishwasher and a new settee. These works have been complemented by new paintings.

Take a look at the video, http://www.frenchgites.com/gite%20cottage%20Orange.htm   and let me know what you think…..

Cold Outside. A tartiflette is the perfect Sunday lunch

Tartiflette is a French dish from the Haute Savoie region of France. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, cream, and lardons.

This meal is not for the faint hearted, nor those on a diet, not surprisingly it is very popular in French ski resorts and it often conveys an image of friendliness, authenticity, and soil of the mountain.

The tartiflette saw a revival in the 1980’s when the Union Interprofessional Reblochon used it to promote sales of the reblochon cheese. The dish was then also confirmed by Christian Millau (Gault-Millau Guide) in his dictionary of gastronomy lovers.

Should you visit France in the winter, try a tartiflette. You will not be disappointed!

France has only 2 sales a year. What am I waiting for?…

I’m off to ‘faire les soldes’ (the sales) this morning. Sales are a real event in France. Legally shops are only allowed to have two sale periods a year. The Winter sales start on the second Wednesday in January and finish 14th February. Summer sales start on the third Wednesday in June and end 31st July.

Following reforms introduced this year, outside of these main sale periods shops are allowed to choose a further two weeks in which they can hold their own sales. However, these may not be held in the 30 days leading up to the main sale periods

The Soldes are the only time of the year that shops are legally allowed to sell merchandise at a loss. Retailers can run promotions at other times of the year – but the primary aim of the sales is to get rid of old stock.

For the first time this year, due to the financial crisis, Paris received special dispensation  to start this winter’s sales one month earlier than usual.

Hope to find some real bargains…..

Do you dunk?

My stomach can just about cope with watching my children dunking their breakfast bread into their milk, then pouring their cereal into the milk and finally drinking the milk (I am reassured that THIS is the French way).

This dunking habit is firmly ingrained into the French culture.

Last week I was invited to have coffee. I arrived with several other women and we were served coffee and fresh cake. The woman to my right took her cake, broke of a small portion and dunked this deliciously fresh cake into her coffee. Would our host be offended by this, was this woman insinuating that the cake was stale?. I looked at the host and she was doing exactly the same thing !.

Sunday, we were invited to lunch with a French family. After a deliciously slow lunch, coffee was served at about 4.30pm. The remains of the cheese remained on the table. Isabelle, another guest, took a slice of Camembert and dunked it into her coffee, I looked around the table, and her husband was dunking a hand made truffle into his coffee was anyone else shocked?.. no, everyone was smiling at me for being shocked.

The 35 hour week.

The 35 hour week is extremely important to the French. There are many European laws that are regularly and openly flouted by the French, but not the 35 hour week. The French also don’t appear to like shift work. I am sure that this is one of the reasons that shops only open 35 hours a week and close from mid-day until 2.30pm.

Reminiac is about half an hour from an army training base, the French equivalent to Sandhurst, a major employer in the area. Everyone that we know that works for the army has Friday afternoon off as they have worked their 35 hours. Friday afternoon would not be a good time for a National emergency!.

I digress. Given that the French are so passionate about the 35 hour week but are reluctant to work shifts I am increasing troubled by our rubbish collection.

As in the UK, we now have yellow wheelie bins for our recyclable rubbish. This rubbish is collected fortnightly… at 8.00pm on a Tuesday evening.

This must be a private enterprise but again, this surprises me as there are very few public services that aren’t run by the state. Assuming that it is a private company I very much admire the person in charge who is not happy to see the very expensive dustcarts stand idle and has devised a shift pattern to get as many hours ‘work’ from the dustcarts. Bravo.. but I would like to know how he managed to persuade his work force to work shifts… but one thing is for sure they will all still be working 35 hours a week!!

All change at La Maison Creme

Last week a new water meter was fitted at La Maison Creme.

Whilst I waited for the Veolia men I went indoors and pretended to be a gite guest. What would I see?

Everything was functional, there was a table, chairs and settees, but it was tired. A lift was required.

A budget was set to transform the dining / lounge areas of La Maison Creme..

Two days later, the area has been transformed into a much lighter space with a new seatee, new curtains, new lighter dining chairs, new cushions and some new pictures.

New Years Resolution. Stop drinking.

Caffine is my vice. I drink far too much up to ten (huge…) mugs a day.

2012. My resolution is to stop drinking caffine.

A couple of years ago I went on a, completely unbeknown to me, caffeine detox. My mother in law came to stay and kindly left me a box of tea bags. A couple of days after she left I started getting the most awful headaches. Nothing would shift the pain… then whilst I was waiting for the kettle to boil I idly read the tea bag box…decaffeinated… I didn’t even know decaffeinated tea existed. The penny dropped… tea was abandoned and I made the strongest pot of fresh caffeinated coffee known to man. The headache eased.

My mother in law is clearly concerned about this caffeine junkie who is supposed to be ‘looking after’ her son and bringing up her grandchildren.

Over the last two years I have briefly considered my short detox and up until then I had no idea that I was dependant… and I hate to use the word, addicted to caffeine. I’m not actually sure of the long term effects of caffeine but it is the dependency on the stuff that concerned me slightly.

So, 2012. Kick the habit.

I am slowly weaning myself off and am down to three or four caffeinated drinks a day. The real stuff is being alternated with decaffeinated tea and coffee which does not seem at all right. What process does tea and coffee have to go through to remove the caffeine? Is this chemically altered substance doing me more harm than the real stuff? Not really comfortable with decaffeinated drinks, I have been exploring other beverages… green tea isn’t bad.

I saw Chantel in the pharmacy, stocking up on childrens’ paracetamol, this afternoon and whilst we queued I told her about my New Years resolution. She looked bewildered and slightly shocked.

‘You cannot ‘give up’ coffee Nicole, it is one of life’s pleasures like good food and wine. Everything in moderation Nicole, that is the answer.’ She said as she patted my hand.

‘Three good strong coffees a day, after breakfast, lunch and dinner, just a small demi tasse  (half a cup) is all you need but ALWAYS after food. Never drink coffee on an empty stomach, that is very bad pour la santé.’ She advised.

Now I am in a dilemma, do I stick with my original resolution and try to give up caffeine completely or take Chantel’s advice?

La Vie Communale

In  January every household in France receives a newsletter from their local mayor.

This newsletter contains the minutes of all the official town hall meetings with the elected delegates. There is absolutely no confidentiality. If a matter is raised it is minuted ! The commune budget is also disclosed along with the reasons for the small deficit !!.. In one commune the photocopier broke and three pages of the mayors newsletter was dedicated to justifying the cost of a new €3, 474.16 photocopier !!..

The newsletter also notes the births, marriages and deaths withing the commune over the past year and finishes with photos of all the local clubs, the fishing club, the old peoples club, the keep fit class and would you believe it Reminiac even has 'Fete Committee' !!

I am now fully up to speed on the News of Reminiac ..

The handshake.

Saturday afternoon. Carrefour supermarket.

Brie or Camembert, always a dilemma. Whilst  I was weighing the pros and cons of each cheese, two boys approached the cheese counter.

‘Salut Joe’. The said in rapid succession, shook hands with Joe and continued walking.
Actually I don’t believe they stopped walking.
When did that start… the handshake?

Yes, everyone in France either greet each other with a kiss or a handshake. I had never thought at what age this practice would start.
They looked so grown up. They are only eight years old.

M. Le Bastard, the Bank Manager

Our Bank has recently informed us that we now have a new bank manager.

Guillaume does have a rather unfortunate surname….