Vive les vacances!

That end of term feeling has now arrived at Reminiac.

Iona’s best friend breaks up from school at mid day today and we are off to Malestroit this morning to collect her and all her bags, books and paraphernalia that goes with school life!!

Iona and Joe have five more days left of school but on one of those days they are visiting the biodiversity gardens at La Gacilly and on Friday this week they are off horse riding all day with the school. Each term the sport changes, over the last couple of years they have done cycling, rugby, archery, athletics, sailing and this term they have spent half a day a week horse riding.

Homework has finished and I get the feeling that the wind down has commenced !!

The Bretons can't make cakes

The Bretons can’t make cakes, BUT they can make delicious bread and pastries.

 Over the last ten years I have been on a mission to find the BEST pastry cake. It has been tricky but I’m up to the challenge. For years I searched for the best pain aux raisin….then I discovered Kouign amann (no, I can’t pronounce it either!!).

This ‘cake’ brings all the Breton bread / pastry making skills together. A kouign amann is a flaky caramelized cake made from bread dough, butter and sugar and is absolutely delicious especially when served warm. It is probably best not to dwell too long on its calorific content…

The origins of the kouign amann are uncertain. Did it stem from an unsuccessful batch of bread that was dusted with sugar and butter? Was it inspired by a Norwegian dessert, as the two countries were linked during the sardine fishing era? Or was it simply created during a family get together? It is said to have been invented by a Douarnenez baker during the 1860’s.

The kouign amann is not easy to make, and the old proverb, ‘make it if you want, successfully make it if you can’, particularly applies to this cake.

My challenge now, is to find the BEST kouign amann in Brittany. As it is very tricky to make, the quality varies enormously, but I promise you, one mouthful of a very very good kouign amann and you will be hooked!!…The best kouign amann so far has to go the boulangerie at Saint Martin sur Oust.

My quest continues, so if anyone has anyone has tasted an exceptionally good kouign amann please let me know.

A new doctor… offering homeopathic treatments. Will it work?

Joe suffers from nosebleeds. They always occur during the night and are worse during the summer months and at the moment he is having three or four a week

Our doctor has recommended an operation. I am not keen.

Yesterday I made an appointment with a different doctor. We have found that with most things… if there are two ways of doing something, the French will do it one way, the English another and usually the best way would be to amalgamate the two practices !!.. This is true with the medical care. The bureaucracy involved in setting up the paperwork to allow you to get into the French medical system is HUGE… it took us about four years but once you are in, the care is second to none. For example, doctors tend to work on their own, there are not the huge practices that you get in the UK. In France you are not tied to a particular doctor and of course, doctors specialise  or have interests in various areas of medicine, so you could and people do, see one GP for their arthritic problems another for controlling asthma and perhaps another for their diabetes. This is all perfectly normal. Of course the risk here that your medical notes are all over the place and it is the patents responsibility to advise each doctor what medication they are taking.

Well, I heard of a doctor in Caro, he is a conventional GP but he also advises on homeopathy and alternative medicine. So off we go.

The Doctors surgery?

I follow the directions and find this building. Could this be the surgery?, Yes, there is a plaque by the door.

We go in. The building is deserted. The front door leads straight into a deserted waiting room.

The waiting room..... we wait.

Does anyone know we are here? Whilst we wait I look around. On the notice board there is a list of services that the doctor provides. I gather that his wife is a midwife and she offers post natal and gynecological services as well.

The Doctors' price list

Another huge difference in France, is that you have to pay for each consultation but most/all of the charges can be claimed back. Hypnosis and verruca removal are also offered !!..

After five minutes the doctor arrives and we are led into his office. He examines Joe and prescribes two sorts of Arnica for the nosebleeds. He notices that Joe also suffers from hay fever and offers two different sorts of homeopathic granules for his hay fever instead of the conventional medicine he is currently using. He advised, homeopathy doesn’t work for everyone or for every condition, for example, he explains I do not recommend homeopathic treatments for lowering blood pressure but we can try it for hay fever and if it doesn’t work Joe can go back to the conventional treatment.

I am impressed with this doctor, he seems to be effectively combining conventional and alternative medicine.

We go to the pharmacy and leave with 4 brightly coloured tubes of homeopathic granules which (as with all conventional medicines) are free of charge (this applies to adults as well).

We now have to wait and see if the nosebleeds stop…..

English Breakfast in France

Breakfast. My favourite meal of the day.

I know some people struggle with eating breakfast and it appears that a growing number of children, both sides of the channel, are going to school without any breakfast.

This has been recognised by many schools across France and this week a huge number of schools have dedicated a precious hour out of the school week to stress the importance of a good breakfast.

Everyone in the class had to stand up and say what they had for breakfast.

Joe,' Banana, poached egg on toast and apple juice.'

Teacher,' Très anglais, mais bien.'

Crotte de Mouton.

The preparations for Reminiac’s summer fete are gathering pace.

Another meeting was held yesterday to discuss the games / activities.

As well as the traditional ‘palet’ and ‘sabot’ games two new items have been proposed.

Tattoos. Christine, has volunteered her services to draw / paint temporary tattoos. Fantastic idea… the children will love it !!..

The second proposal concerns the  first tombola prize, the sheep. The sheep is being delivered to the village green at 8.00am. I hadn’t realized that this next game is a very traditional game at summer fetes all over Brittany. The sheep will be penned in a square area and the grass within the pen will be marked with chalked squares. The object of the game is to guess which squares will be ‘crotte’ free when the sheep is given to his new owner at 6.00pm.

I am sure I will never get to grips with the idiosyncrasies of the French culture !!

400 games and not a computer screen....Is this possible?

This past week has been pretty showery. Thankfully, most of the days are dry, yesterday the rain started at 4.00pm, but if there is a showery day during your stay in Brittany I have the perfect solution!

An afternoon at Voyajoueurs, Monteneuf.

Voyajoueurs, Monteneuf

Just five minutes away on the edge of the forest of Monteneuf is a building crammed with over 400 games from Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

There are cards to play, dice to roll, marbles to shoot, pins to bowl, tops to spin, words to find, pawns to move, games to win ! There are games of strategy, skill, ambiance, thinking, speed and reflexes.

Over 400 games

It is a fantastic place and it really is suitable for all ages, there are games specifically for very young children and others requiring huge levels of skill and patience.

There is one drawback… there are no computers or screens at Voyajoueurs !!… but, I have been told by previous guests with teenaged children that even without computer games, it is cool.

Always check your fly….

OK.. am totally embarrassed. Still red as I write, in fact why am I writing this…

We have just spent the afternoon in the village hall celebrating Yann and Beatrices’ 40^th wedding anniversary. Throughout the afternoon four people came up to me and looked me straight in the eye and said,’ So you’ll be coming into some money soon then.’

Getting increasing paranoid throughout the afternoon. What rumours are circulating about me ?

In the car, on the way home I mentioned that I thought there were rumours circulating.

‘What did they say to you?’ Mark asked.

Weirdly, the same thing, that I was going to come into money very soon.’ I replied.

Iona, burst out laughing…’That means that your trousers are undone.’

I looked down…oh no, my trouser zip had been undone all afternoon……

Why are Breton Oysters so good?

The Breton oyster farmers will argue that it is due to their unrivalled expertise that has been handed down through the generations. This is probably true, but the quality is also due to Brittany’s outstanding waters. The strong currents constantly mix the water, giving the oysters all the plankton they need to ensure healthy growth.

Brittany harvests 12 types of oyster, and the real oyster connoisseurs will tell you they all have their own distinctive taste.

Not only do oysters taste delicious but they also contain proteins of superior quality with essential amino acids which the body needs for tissue formation and repair. They are also an excellent source of vitamin B12.

So, when you are next in Brittany, head for Pénerf and pick up a kilo or two of oysters !!

The village is now in full swing organising the Summer fete.

An emergency meeting was called yesterday evening to discuss the first prize in the tombola.

First prize in the tombola is a live sheep. A couple of weeks ago the presidente of the Summer fete Association distributed sheets of tombola tickets for us to sell… so if anyone wants a tombola ticket to win a sheep please let me know !!!… not sure how Brittany ferries will deal with a sheep in your boot though !!…

Anyway, there have been lots of questions regarding this sheep… is it a lamb or a sheep? (When does a lamb become a sheep?)… I have kept very quiet during the farmers’ wives debates as my livestock knowledge is VERY limited !!.

Suffice to say, tombola ticket sales have been lost as we don’t know the exact age of the mouton/agneau.

To resolve this problem, the presidente arranged a meeting with the farmer, who is selling a sheep/lamb to the Association. At 8.00 pm we all trooped up to his farm and he proudly showed us his sheep. He pointed out the one that he would be selling to us. It was born in March…. so does that make it a lamb or a sheep… I am still none the wiser. The other women, all farmers’ wives nodded knowledgeably.

The second prize are two lapineau (baby rabbits), the third prize are three poussin (baby chickens).

At the last meeting I questionned the decision to have all live animal prizes as some people live in towns or may not have the knowledge (me !!) to look after a sheep. Nine women looked at me incrediously, ‘Mais Nicole, un mouton est super, tout le monde veut gangner un mouton.’  I have a lot to learn about country living.

Well, my questioning must have triggered something as the forth prize is a suitcase !!.