Sad News.

Hannah came home early from work yesterday. Deeply upset, she called home to ask one of us to go and collect her. Normally, that’s not a problem, but yesterday was Saturday, and therefore changeover day. We’ve still had quite a busy autumn guest wise, and still have people renting the large gite, the one with the woodburner in. So, Syb went off to collect Hannah leaving me to continue with preparing the gite for occupation. When she returned, she and Hannah were in tears. One of Hannah’s friends and work colleagues has been in an accident and has sadly died of her injuries. So, Hannah’s in shock and has had to work (as has everyone else) knowing that their friend and colleague has lost her life on the roads here. Unfortunately, the road death statistics here are still pretty high, and there are various reminders of that by the roadsides as you travel the lanes and byways. Many times there’s been a newly planted shrine to another unfortunate soul. The papers are always reporting either a serious accident or a death of a ‘jeune’ on a moto, or a scooter. It’s a worry for all parents, and I don’t know what the answers are. At age 14 here in France, it’s legal to jump on a 50cc moped/moto/scooter and shoot off with little or no training whatsoever. Actually, they do have to take a test, and part of that test is mandatory within the school curriculum. At age 16, they’re free to ride off on what can be quite fast scooters. It’s scary. If you’ve ever driven in a French town, you’ll know from experience that you’re constantly watching your retro viseurs for the young invincibles looming close to your bumper before accelerating past you, hunched down at a stupidly low, wind-resisting angle as they crawl past you. It’s not just France, in the UK too they’re becoming more prevalent. London was always a terrifying experience for me because of these road users, and their own seeming disregard for other traffic.

This isn’t to pass judgement on who was to blame in our friend’s case, but simply to try to warn you, as a driver to keep a very careful eye on the roads all around you. That motorcyclist in your rear view mirror is always going to be someone’s son, or daughter.

Take care out there.

Until the next time, au revoir.

TBC

All content © Le Chant d’Oiseau, 2006-2008

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The Last Best Day of Summer.

I was saying just a couple of posts ago about how we love this time of year? Well yesterday (dimanche) had to be just one of the last best days of the summer for a variety of reasons. Not just because the skies were blue and the sun was hot on your face, but also because it was one of those rare occasions when we decided to go out and support a local event.

A lovely setting for a car boot sale!

Usually, we’re flying around the place doing what we do here, or we’re just too tired to bother. This time though, we thought we’d have a wander into Vernoil to help support the village’s inaugural vide grenier. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the French and their passion for these things? A vide grenier simply translates as ’empty loft’. It’s a way of life for many French and it’s a great day to add to any holiday itinerary too. Catch one if you can when you come to France next, you’ll find them great fun. If it’s anything like the one we visited yesterday, then you’ll be able to buy all manner of things from copper pans, to old newspapers, to very old farm implements among the usual baby clothes, cuddly toys and paperback books. There’s usually a few old Johnny Halliday LP’s going spare too…

Our one yesterday also had quite a few old cars on display from the earliest Peugeot’s to late 50’s Citroens and even a cute little Vespa! Niall’s currently looking for his first Moto. Shame it wasn’t for sale!

We bought all manner of things yesterday including an old tin, an ancient (but fully working) enamel inhaler, some books on the WW2, a beautiful (but heavy) copper jam pot, a couple of woven baskets for the fresh eggs and a half a garden bench(!) Don’t worry, I know where I’m going to put it. The lady we bought it from had the same idea – to ‘sink’ it into a wall on one half. All the transactions were extremely good natured, as is the way at these sorts of village gatherings. It was nice too to be greeted by friends with a cheery ‘bonjour’, and to feel like we belong in the community.

There were the usual crowd of people gathered around the bar there and parked right next to it was the fouée stall!

How could I resist a lunch of two of my most favourite things? Ice cold lager and a couple of hot fouée?

This is the rusty old (but perfectly serviceable) portable bread oven they used. I’ve seen a few of these wheeled out for country fairs etc. Although this one looked in need of a bit of TLC! Along with the old bbq parked right next to it, the comité des fetes managed to keep quite a few hundred folks well fed throughout the day. A four a pain was a way of life for many country folks living far from a village with a dedicated bakery. These days, although some remain, far more fall ravage to weeds and the elements. Some are kept as interesting curio’s – a memento of a bygone age. Ours was lost in the 1950’s. I’ve been sorely tempted to begin work on building my own bread oven here at Le Chant d’Oiseau so we can bake fouée for guests here during the summer, and pizza too. But now I’ve seen these portable ones at work, they seem more appealing! Once back home, I actually scoured the Internet looking for just such a beast. There are quite a few of them around, it has to be said. Unfortunately too far away in both distance and cash!

Anyway, here’s what the fouée looked like once out of the oven.

And well tasty they were too!

It seemed that the whole of the village had turned out to have a stall here, and some from quite a way away too. There weren’t that many tourists around, well not English anyway. But, we did bump into one or two friends and acquaintances all looking for a bargain or two as well.

Now, if only there’d been a bread oven for sale….

Until the next time, au revoir.

TBC

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