Eco Blog Posts with a French Theme

Hello - I'm back!!  I've not published a blog on here since January but that doesn't mean I haven't been spreading the green message, I've just been doing it in different ways, which I'll come back to shortly.  But so many things were taking place in my life this year that something had to take a back seat and this blog, A Green and Rosie Life, drew the short straw.

BUT ... it doesn't mean I have not been blogging and I am still been publishing blogs over on our gite (French holiday cottage) blog.  Quite a few of these have an environmental theme so why not make/pour yourself a drink and settle down for a read of them:

My most recent post is the one written about something that has made me so happy - France is banning plastic packaging from all fresh fruit and veg and I smile every time I think about it. Read more about how they should achieve this and any problems they may encounter along the way: 

France to Ban Plastic Packaging on Fresh Fruit and Veg 

 

 

 

And these are the other eco-posts I have written:

Organic and zero-waste shopping in Normandy

 

Trees and Forests of Normandy 

 

Cycling in Normandy

 

Wildlife Watching in Normandy

 

Eco-Friendly Normandy 

 

Eco-Friendly Holidays at Eco-Gites of Lénault 

 

Outside Fun at Eco-Gites of Lénault 

 

Bird Watching in Normandy

 

Where to buy second hand in France

As I said earlier, just because I  have not been blogging I have not been silent.  I have been busy joining in with discussions on various Facebook groups and I have used my Instagram page to promote green issues. The grid pictures are mostly about Normandy but often with an environmental theme and many of my stories focus on all things green. I am gradually adding the most important stories to my highlights.  Oh and I have a long list of draft blog posts and ideas and I just need to find the time to get them written and published.

You can also find me on Twitter and Pinterest. 

What have you been up to this year? I hope you have not been too badly affected by Covid and you are back to some semblance of normality (hopefully even more green than before). Have you got a blog you think I'd like to read? By all means add a link in the comments.

 

Totally Unnecessary Plastic Packaging

Many of us will have seen the episode of Blue Planet 2 which showed the disastrous effect plastic is having on our oceans.  It brought home to many people that the plastic we all handle every day is a HUGE problem and we really need to do something about it.  But for consumers it can be so hard when manufacturers seem to be INCREASING not decreasing the plastic packaging.  Take these examples I have found this week:

A Plastic Wrapped Sink Plunger

Why on earth does this rubber part of the plunger need to have a plastic sleeve around it? It is not a product that needs to be kept extra clean or protected from damage.  The packaging doesn't hold any product details or prices (the price was a small label stuck on the handle) nor enable the plunger to be hung from a rack.  But the worst thing about it all was I bought a plunger just a couple of months ago from the same supermarket and then, IT WAS NOT WRAPPED IN PLASTIC.  Sorry, I had to shout that.  This is NEW packaging. Why Why Why????

My Sunday Photo - April 3rd 2016

French markets are wonderful places to shop with so many small and local businesses selling their wares.  Much of the fresh produce will be have been grown in the region and you will find that the stall owners have will  be happy to sell you whatever weight you want or choose fruit of just the right ripeness for your needs.  Other stalls sell anything from clothes to accessories, kitchen items and even live chickens.  Here are some photos I took at our local market in Condé-sur-Noireau this week although I avoided the chicken sellers in case I "accidentally" bought some chicks that I am not actually ready for yet.

From Guadeloupe to Normandy, the Tale of a Potcake Dog

Saari currently has a canine friend staying whose owners are away for a couple of weeks. She is called Perle and she has a rather interesting history. However, Saari is not all interested in her history, she is just happy to have a playmate, some-one to keep her company on her walks and a bed she can steal that is more comfortable than hers!

So what is Perle's interesting tale?

Perle was in fact born in Guadeloupe, a French island in the Caribbean.  She was a street dog know in French as a chien errant (feral dog) and these dogs are all too numerous on many of the Caribbean Islands.  In the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas (and to a lesser degree in Guadeloupe) they are known as potcake dogs.  The name comes from the fact that many of the residents used to feed these feral dogs the sticky mixture from the bottom of their pots of rice and peas, a traditional Caribbean dish.  The dogs themselves are most probably descended from dogs who arrived on the islands with early settlers and although this may have included many breeds, the potcake dogs themselves now all look somewhat similar.  Perle is an excellent example - short coated, shortish legged and (in her case) a slight look of dachshund about her.

On Guadeloupe these potcake dogs are now a major problem.  Estimates vary greatly as to the numbers but it is thought some 500 puppies are born every day.  The dogs suffer greatly through their short lives from malnutrition, disease, parasites and injury.  If you have a strong stomach (and I mean strong as some of the images are quite horrific, then Google "chien errant Guadeloupe").  To try and combat their rising numbers there are some sterilisation programmes in place and a limited number of adoption agencies working to re-home dogs that are taken from the streets.

Perle was one of the lucky ones.  By the age of less than a year she had already had a litter of puppies but she was caught, spayed and placed with a re-homing charity.  This charity works initially with the dogs in Guadeloupe,  ensuring they are healthy, taming them and generally turning them from feral street dogs to tame, potential pets.  They are then flown to France, to a refuge near Paris and put up for adoption.  Our friends got to hear of this charity just as they were looking for a pet and visited the refuge hoping to be lucky.  All homes wishing to adopt a potcake dog are inspected for suitability (this is not often the case with other dog refuges in France who are often just relieved to give a dog a home) .... and by chance for our friends one of the ladies who checks homes actually works in our local town of Condé-sur-Noireau.  Their home was deemed suitable and Perle, the street dog from Guadeloupe found herself a new and loving home surrounded by the fields of rural Normandy.  Quelle chance!! 

For anyone wanting information about re-homing Potcake Dogs in France please contact: 
 
Association Secours Protection Animale
21Ter Rue Anatole France - 95120 ERMONT
Tel: 06.51.72.73.13
 
internet site: www.secours-animaux-guadeloupe.fr

How French Animals Speak

We all know that the world is full of different language but did you know that animals also "speak" differently around the world, with France being no exception?  We got Saari when we moved to France but we brought Poppy with us and we always joked that the two dogs would not understand each other as the "spoke" different languages!  Of course dogs from the world over can happily communicate with their universal body language and bottom sniffing but it is us humans who describe their sounds differently.  So when Saari barks, because she is French, she says ouah (pronounced waf) as that is what French dogs say, rather than Poppy who used to sat woof (in a very English way!).  If you listen to Saari she definitely does say WAF complete, I am sure with a Gallic shrug!!

So what do other French animals "say"?  Here's a list I have come up with ..

Pets

Cats: miaou and when they purr it's ron-ron (remember to roll your r when you say this)
Dogs: ouah (waf)
Horses: hiiiii

Farm Animals

Cockerels: cocorico
Sheep: bêêê
Donkeys: hee-han 
Pigs: groin-groin
Hens: cot-cot 
Ducks: coin-coin
Turkeys: glou-glou 
Cows: meuh
 

Other Animals and Birds

Birds: cui-cui  
Frogs: coââ-coââ
Cuckoos: coucou 
Crows: croa-croa

Some, I do think, describe the animal sound better in French than the English equivalent but I have to say I have never heard Colin, our cockerel, say cocorico!!   Do you know any more French animal sounds?  What for example does a lion say ... or a hippopotamus for that matter.  Come to think of it what does a hippo say in any language?! 

This post will be linked to Animal Tales tomorrow, the weekly blog linky for all sorts of animal related posts.  The next one opens on Tuesday 15th September and I'd love to see you link up with any posts (old or new) that you have about our animal friends.

Silent Sunday - September 13th 2015

Back to School French Style - La Rentrée

This week is la rentrée in France for most children.  La rentrée, in this sense of the word, has no direct translation to English.  It literally means the return and is used for when children go back to school.  It's a word you will hear a lot at this time of year:  People will ask you when la rentrée is, they may wish you a bonne rentrée or how did la rentrée go?   For our boys, la rentrée was today. 

All About La Rentrée

School in France is somewhat different to the UK.  Some differences are better, some are perhaps not.

French school hours

It is a little past 7am as I am starting to write this blog post and I have just dropped the boys off at the bus stop in Lenault.  Yes, you did read that right - 7am.  In France children have a much longer day than in The UK and for our boys their first lesson starts at 7.50am.  Today, Wednesday, they only go for half a day and finish at midday but on every other day of the week they will not finish until 4.35pm and the bus will not get back to Lenault until 5.45pm.  It's a long day.  They do get a longer lunch break as well as morning and afternoon breaks plus several free periods through the week and longer school holidays but I think they (and I) would prefer hours more like those in the UK.

Uniform

French children do not wear uniform with the exception of a very few schools.  Uniform was phased out in the late 60s but there have been mutterings to bring it back.  Some feel that too many girls dress too provocatively and for many there exists peer pressure to be seen wearing the latest (expensive) designer clothes.  At the boys' school it seems to be a uniform of sort exists in that almost all pupils wear jeans, trainers, a T-shirt and a hoodie.  Tue pupils seem happy with and I can cope with this.

Supplies

In France parents have to supply exercise books and other school equipment and each year we are given a long and very specific list of the things we have to buy.  At least now, 3 years in to the secondary school system I am just about getting my head around what is needed but the first year of secondary and first year of primary when we first arrived were a nightmare! 

School Bags

The standard school bag, known as a cartable, is, for secondary pupils, a large rucksack of sufficient size to carry all the books etc. they need each day and you will see vast numbers of them for sale in supermarkets at the end of the summer holidays.  There are school lockers but school rules do not allow pupils to leave anything in them overnight so all pupils must carry all the exercise and text book plus other supplies on their back for each school day the result is a very heavy bag.  Back problems in French children is not unheard of because of this.

Lunch in French schools

As today is only a half day at school there is no school lunch but on the other 4 days the boys will get very well fed.  In France there are 2 options for lunchtime.  Pupils either go home for lunch or they eat the meal supplied in the school canteen.  There is no option to take in pack lunches.  As we live 13kms from school coming home is not feasible so the boys eat the excellent school lunch.  The meal is a "proper" French lunch with 3 courses plus cheese (but no wine or coffee!) and I hear no complaints from them about the quality.  You'll not see turkey twizzlers, chicken nuggets or a daily serving of greasy chips on French school dinner plates.

Discipline 

Certainly in the boys' school, they are very hot on discipline.  Pupils must stand when the teacher comes in the room, not dash out as soon as the bell goes and be well behaved in class.  Many a small misdemeanor will result in the offending pupil being given a cross and a certain number of crosses leads to a detention (an hour after school on a Friday).  Chit chat in class, forgetting to get a test or other paper signed, leaving a book at home etc. could all give the pupil in question a cross.

So how does la rentrée compare to going back to school where you live?   I'd love to hear from you in a comment.

New French Driving Laws

If you are driving in France any time soon you will need to be aware of these new laws that come into force on July 1st 2015:

Break the following new rules and you can be fined and get points:

• Driving under the influence of drugs - 4,500€ fine and 6 points
• Drink driving is already against the law but now the limits for new drivers i.e. anyone who took their test less than 3 years ago has been reduced from 0.5g/l to 0.2g/l - break this and expect a fine of 4,500€ and 6 points
• Watching a screen that is not a driving aid - so it's OK to use a Sat Nav but not watch a DVD - 1,500€ fine and 3 points
• Texting - 135€ fine and 3 points
• Using headphones (both external and in-ear types).  This includes cyclists and only using one earphone - 135€ fine and 3 points
• Not wearing your seatbelt - 135€ fine and 3 points
• Smoking with a minor on board - this law has yet to be passed but it is believed it will be very soon - 68€ fine and points yet to be announced.  I am guessing this law will apply to anyone in the car, not just the driver.

These new laws could get you a 75€ fine depending on the discretion of the police officer who catches you:

• Eating a sandwich ... I am not sure if this law applies to all foods though.  Is a sweet OK for example?  Maybe some-one better informed can advise me.
• Rummaging in the glove compartment
• Listening to overly loud music that means you cannot hear normal road noises
• Applying make-up, even if you are stuck in a traffic jam.

For further information on driving in France please do pop on over and read this blog I wrote recently - it could save you getting caught breaking the law and should help making your driving in France easier.

10 reasons I will never be French

England and France are just 21 miles (35kms) apart at their closest and the 2 countries have a history has been intertwined for many years.  Parts of France and England were ruled by the same monarchs for much of The Middle Ages and Calais only reverted back to France from British rules in 1558.  However now, France and England are culturally very different. 

In August we shall have been in France for 8 years.  However I could live here for 108 years and I know I would never be "French".  No, I spent too long in England before arriving here and many English traits are just too engrained to be lost in favour of French ones. I have recently finished a book called "Watching the English" by Kate Fox and she has brilliantly notes what it is to be English with all our oddities and thus explaining why foreigners are often confused by our ways, ways that I find hard to change.

10 reasons I will never be French

1.  French language

OK so I can understand French better that I did when we arrived.  I can get by talking and I can read it somewhat more but I will never speak it fluently with all the nuances and slang etc of a native speaker. Nope, I still think in English, structure my sentences in an English way and get hopelessly lost when the conversation speeds up too much!

2.  Tu/Vous

I know this is technically language but it goes so much deeper than that - an exact understanding of when you use tu and when to use vous. For non French speakers both words mean "you" but when you use them depends who you are talking to .... and I don't always get it.  The French even have verbs to cover the subject meaning you can use the verb tutoyer to indicate to someone that it is OK to use the tu form with them or vouvoyer if you accidentally said tu when you should have said vous.  Here's how the Los Angeles Times sorted out this whole Tu/Vous thing!  Confused - I know I am!

3.  I queue

So many French do queue quite happily but also a large chunk of them have absolutely no qualms about jumping the line.  Imagine if you will, standing in line in the bank and an elderly lady and her companion enter. A brief perusal of the queue was followed by a defiant walk to the front without any obvious understanding that she was doing something we Brits just wouldn't do!  So true to my roots, I pointed out the error of her ways (using vous of course) and she did end up waiting her turn - but she was very surprised that I had pointed out her queue jumping to her.

4.  I hug

The French kiss (see below) but they do NOT hug.  A child may give you a "câlin" but no adult will.  Even when a good friend was really upset hugging was off limits and I found that so hard.  To me hugging conveys so much and would have helped relieve her angst yet if I had hugged her I would no doubt only have added to it.

5. I do not get how many kisses (if any) I should be giving

Two, three, four - do I kiss only when I say hello?  Some people give kisses when they say goodbye too, even if they have only popped in to buy some eggs when others only kiss hello in this case. And why do some only ever give a hand shake. Is there a secret sign I should know that tells me to kiss or hand shake?  And boys kissing boys.  That feels so wrong for me.

6.  I clear up dog poo

Pooch does a poop, I pull out a poo bag and scoop the poop.  Many French think I'm daft.  Oh and they even think that if you tread in dog poo with your left foot then you'll be due some good luck!

7.  I dislike pastis

... and whiskey and port so when I am invited for an apéro and those are the choices I am stuck.  I can manage a port but to me that is an after dinner drink not an apéro and certainly not something I would drink in the middle of the day which I have had to when there alternatives were whiskey and pastis.  Luckily I do like wine and Kir so all is not lost but the pastis dislike is another nail in my "Never being French" coffin.

8.  I miss Cheddar cheese

Don't get me wrong, I love French cheese (so long as it isn't TOO smelly) but I also could never live without Cheddar.  Nothing but Cheddar works in a cheese sauce and Cheddar on crackers with pickle is just divine.  It's not just cheese I miss from time to time - there's fish and chips, Marmite, Birds Custard powder and decent self raising flour ... 

9.  French meals

I love food and I love French food but I also love English food.  Where are the Yorkshire puddings, hearty stews and dumplings, spotted dick and Victoria sponges?  And the cheese course.  BEFORE pudding?  (Actually I do quite like that as it means I may not have quite so much room for dessert ..... which I suppose should be a good thing.)

10.  I don't get French TV

Honestly, I have tried but French news just isn't a patch on the BBC, I find dubbed programmes so difficult to understand and French quizzes are just loud and incomprehensible.  Oh and they still have Benny Hill programmes turning up from time to time. With that and dubbed Midsomer Murder and Downton Abbey I do think they may view the English as a sex mad, murdering race of lords and servants!  

So no - I am most definitely always going to be English.  We will have to wait and see whether the boys grow up to be more English or French but at least they should never be confused about the tu/vous thing.  

Are you an expat?  Do you feel more in tune with your country of birth or your new home country?

Breakfast in France - Tripe anyone?

What do most people think of when you say mention France and breakfast in the same sentence?  Buttery croissants fresh from the local baker's? Steaming hot coffee?  Tripe maybe?

TRIPE??!!

Recently it was the local Vide Grenier (Boot Fair) at Vassy, a small town a few kilometres from here.  It's a pretty big affair with the 150 sellers expected and the town centre shut to vehicular traffic for the day.  As well as perusing the tables of wares dragged from the depths of people's cellars, sheds and lofts, between 7.30am and 10.30am you can also have a traditional Normandy breakfast if you want.  But forget croissants.  This is what is on offer:

Tripe and chips

Apple tart

Coffee

1/4 bottle white wine

FOR BREAKFAST??!!

Tripe à la mode de Caen - photo with permission from Yun Huang Yong

Tripe à la mode de Caen is a traditional Normandy dish served at many an event breakfast.  Cow's intestine in a rich tomato sauce.  Hmmmm, I could manage the coffee and the apple tart but tripe and chips plus wine are, for my English taste buds, one culinary step too far. 

What's the weirdest thing you've eaten for breakfast ... and would you tuck into tripe? 

Silent Sunday - April 12th 2015

Our Easter Weekend

Posted by Rosie

In France, Good Friday is not a Bank Holiday and the Easter school holidays take place so many weeks after Christmas, regardless of when Easter falls. With Easter being fairly early this year it meant that the boys don't start their Easter break until this coming Friday evening (and for schools in other regions it is even later) ... so whilst people in the UK had a day off and were tucking into hot cross buns, here in Normandy we were at work and the boys were in lessons.  We did however take an Easter delivery, a new sheep and her lamb.

Mabel or Korma Katie?

They are yet to be named with some dispute between Simon and me as I mentioned yesterday.  He wants them called Korma Kate and Vindaloo Vinny and I like Mabel and Monty.  What do you think?

Saturday was also work as usual getting the gite ready to greet guests.  However by Sunday we were able to celebrate Easter and had a lovely late lunch with friends ... one of whom, I found out, learnt much of her pub trade in the pub I used to drink in when I lived in Gloucestershire!  The New Inn in Coln St Aldwyns in case you were interested.

Luckily in France Easter Monday is a Bank Holiday (Jour Férié) so with no school, I arranged an Easter Egg Hunt for the boys and the children in the gite.  I think they all look sufficiently pleased with their haul don't you?

Searching for Easter eggs

5 happy children at Eco-Gites of Lenault

After lunch we packed up the car and headed to the beach with the dogs ... as did vast numbers of other people it seemed and the beach was really quite busy.

Ouistreham Beach

It was certainly MUCH busier than two weeks ago when freezing temperatures kept all but the hardiest of folks away.  On that visit Harry didn't want to go in the water and his enthusiasm hadn't much improved by Monday.  The boys, in comparison, were keen and whilst we stayed wrapped up nice and warm they donned wetsuits and went in.  Harry didn't follow them, although I think he actually wanted to!

Some-one is not keen to go in ...

... but he does want to really!

We worked out though that it was the waves he didn't like and he quite happily follow Tom into some of the large pools left as the tide went out.

That's better - no waves.

For history lovers, this beach at Ouistreham, north of Caen in part of the D-Day Landing Beaches known as Sword Beach. On June 6th 1944 thousands of British troops landed on the beach to begin what would be the start of the end of World War II.  It's hard to believe, looking at the calm sea and yellow sand, what carnage took place here just over 70 years ago.

How was your Easter weekend.  Did you manage to get out and about or did you stay home and eat too much chocolate?

Wednesday Wonderings - Would you buy Ugly Veg?

Posted by Rosie

If you go into any supermarket in the western world you will be greeted with rows of perfect-looking vegetables, all of uniform size, often shiny and frequently wrapped in plastic.  Any imperfect looking produce will have either been turned into something where it is unrecognisable (soup, purée etc) or, in far too many cases, have been rejected by the supermarket buyers leaving the farmer no choice but to plough it back into the soil.  Supermarkets will argue that they have been pushed to supply this perfect looking produce because that is what their customers want. Customers now expect this but only because they have been conditioned to believe that only perfect looking means the best in quality.

It's a chicken and egg situation but really it doesn't matter how it came about because the end result today is the same - it results in a large amount of fresh produce being rejected and wasted which cannot be sustainable.  Therefore, when I saw a video on Facebook that showed that InterMarché (one of France's big supermarkets) was starting to sell "Ugly Veg"  I was very interested.  It showed forked carrots, lumpy peppers and all sorts of other misshapen vegetables (and fruit) for sale under the banner "Les Légumes Moches" and went on to say how they would taste exactly the same as other produce when in a purée, smoothie or soup.  


 
Actually I was more than interested, I was excited.  This seemed like a great step in the right direction ... only when I went to my local InterMarché there was no Ugly Veg to be seen.  Imagine my pleasure then, when a couple of weeks ago Les Carrottes Moches (Ugly Carrots) turned up at my local branch.  Great news .... or maybe not so great.

Les Carottes Moches

On closer examination the carrots were not what I would have called ugly, but were in fact a mixture of broken and split roots, many were poor quality and some were even mouldy.  And at 75c/kg they were only 9c/kg cheaper than the Top Budget range of carrots, which are washed, bagged and of much better quality.  (For UK comparison, Sainsbury Basics carrots are currently 57p or 76c/kg)

I did buy some and I can, in fact, report that they made a very nice soup mixed with butternut squash.  However, I seriously doubted whether many other people would buy them, when seemingly much better carrots were just 9c/kg more expensive.  Also if you go to the local agricultural merchant/garden centre you can buy a 20 kilo bag of horse carrots of identical quality to the Carrottes Moches for €4.30 or 21½c/kg.  Our pigs love them but they are fine for us to eat too, and very tasty.

20kgs bag of horse carrots

I decided that I would head back to InterMarché and see how many people were buying the Ugly Carrots, only to find on arrival that they were no longer for sale. This fact would appear to speak for itself and I suspect few people had puchased any.

I find this a rather sad state of affairs.  The idea of selling ugly veg is, in my opinion, brilliant.  It saves waste and begins the process of re-educating people to accept that all veg, what-ever it's shape or size, is just as good to eat as it's perfect looking cousin.  I also know from experience that the tastiest strawberries from our garden are, in fact, the small, oddly shaped ones that you will never find on a supermarket shelf.  So I do think Intermarché needs to have a rethink of the Ugly Veg programme in order to succeed in getting it's customers to accept less than perfection is just as good.  It will takes time, a gentle approach and something that will help them to save money.

This therefore is my message to InterMarché.  By all means sell your ugly veg as they are absolutely fine.  But you also need to:

• Reduce the price significantly compared to the cheapest alternative
• Start by introducing somewhat better-looking ugly veg and only slowly introduce more extreme ones
• At all times ensure that whilst the vegetables may be ugly they must never be mouldy, offcuts or of poor quality.

Over to you then.  Do you think "Ugly Veg" is a good idea and would you be happy to buy such produce?  Would you do this at any price or only if the price is significantly cheaper.  Do you think it is something that will catch on?  I would be very interested to hear you views.

Books I have read in French

Posted by Rosie

I often get asked how I learnt to speak French.  One thing I have found has helped considerably is to read books in French as it increases your vocabulary and knowledge of phases.  I started with toddler books but am now able to tackle booked for adults.  I do prefer to have read them in English first and so I know the general storyline and it doesn't matter if I don't understand every word. But if a word or phrase keeps coming up that I don't understand I will go and look it up.

So here are a few books I have tackled in French:

All sorts of Roald Dahl books including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, Matilda and the BFG.  It was interesting reading the BFG with all the made up words!

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

Spiderwick - Tony Diterlizzi and Holly Black - I am now quite the expert of the French terms for elves, goblins and suchlike.

All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot.  The translation managed to put an accent into any farmer who spoke but I very much doubt it bore any resemblance to a Yorkshire accent.

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone - JK Rowling  This is called Harry Potter à l'école des Sorciers in French and Hogwarts gets renamed Poudlard as Hogwarts is not a word the French can say easily.

Longbourn -  Jo Baker.  I was recommended the book by a French friend so bought the English version, loved it and read the French one straight afterwards.  It is a modern day writing of the servants who worked for the Bennets of Pride and Prejudice fame. 

The Boy in The Stripped Pyjamas - John Boyne.   A painfully sad WWII story


Sarah's Key - Gilles Paquet-Brenner.  In French this is called Elle s'appelle Sarah and another very sad WWII tale.

Fear the worst - Linwood Barclay.  This was a thriller about a father's search for his daughter and not really my genre at all.  However a friend lent it to me and I did enjoy it in French.

And now for some that were a bit more challenging:

The War of the Worlds - HG Wells

Animal Farm - George Orwell.  I have read this in English more than once and loved it but found the French incredibly hard. I often finished a whole page without really understanding what had been written and I only got to the end as I knew the story enough to carry me through.  It was a couple of years ago so maybe I should try it again.

1984 - George Orwell.  This wasn't nearly as hard as Animal Farm but still proved challenging.

Around The World in 80 Days - Jules Verne.  Older son read this in second year secondary school so I hope he understood more than me.  I did OK but there was plenty I didn't understand, even though I know the story in English.

And finally a French classic:

L'Etrangère - Albert Camus.  I think I understood what was going on but having never read in it English I can't be sure.  It was what I would call an "interesting" read.  Have you read it?

Could you recommend any books for me to read in French?  I did want to Try "The Help" but worried that the deep south accent may make it hard.

 

Silent Sunday - February 8th 2015

C'est les vacances (It's the holidays)

Posted by Rosie

The boys are on holiday for half term. Yay!! You might think this is early for French holidays and you would be right ... although if you live in Nice or Paris or  Lille or Strasbourg or many other places you would be wrong.

Confused?  Let me explain.

France is divided into 3 school zones.  We are in Zone A but for example Nice is in Zone B and Paris is in Zone C.  The holidays at Christmas (2 weeks), Summer (8 weeks) and October half term (2 weeks) are the same across all of France.  However for February half term, known as the winter holidays (2 weeks) and the Easter holidays (2 weeks) the dates for school holidays vary according to the zones.  Some school will have the first 2 weeks of the holiday period and then go back to school.  The next zone will have the second week of the aforementioned holidays and the next week the final zone will have the second week of the second zone and the following week.  

Are you still with me?  This means that at February half term/winter holidays and Easter, the entire French school holidays are set over 4 weeks each time with one weekend in the middle when everyone is on holiday. The reason, as far as we can work out, is skiing.  Skiing is a big tourist earner for the French economy and many families go in either the February break or at Easter so by spreading the holidays over 4 weeks, they lengthen the family ski season.  In France it is severely frowned upon to go on holiday in term time (even for young pupils) and whilst there are no fines, as in the UK, families in France just don't do it.

The zones rotate round each your so this year our zone is on the first 2 weeks and next year we will be on the middle one before finding ourselves on the late one in 2 years time.  In the summer term there is no half term so when you are on the early Easter break it does make the summer term rather long.  This year the boys will return to school after their Easter break on 27th April but and will break up on July 4th.  That's a 10 week term without a break.  It does include 4 Bank Holidays but as some of these are date specific, with no extra day made up elsewhere, one year, the boys were on the early Easter break and then only has 2 extra days off before the summer holidays.  That made for a very long term. 

I suppose you could argue that French children make up as they get 2 weeks at February, Easter and October plus 8 weeks at Summer.  Yes, but they also start school at 7.50am and don't finish until 4.35pm. That is a very long day. 

How do school holidays work where you are?  Does everyone have the same time off or does it vary across the country. Please do let us know in a comment.

The French and their dogs

 Posted by Rosie

In January we bought our newest dog, Harry from a refuge nearby.  The owner was quite adamant that she preferred the English as dog owners as opposed to the French.  This got me thinking and unfortunately she may well be right in some cases.

French dogs fall into 3 broad categories:

Hunt Dogs

The French love their hunting.  As well as the big packs of hounds owned by specific hunts you will find many owners of a few of their own hounds, kept in kennels and taken out with a group of fellow huntsmen through the hunting season.  These dogs are not pets – they are kept outside in kennels, are not house trained and are generally a bit wiffy if you pass by their kennels.  They quite often get lost whilst hunting but usually have the phone number of their owner somewhere in their collar so can be reunited.  They are very much working dogs but it makes me chuckle that huntsmen often spend as much time chasing after their lost dogs as the dogs do chasing after their quarry.

The Small Pampered Pooch

 
You know the image: Paris, a chic lady and her small pampered pooch at her side or in her bag.  Small dogs that go everywhere with their owner and are incredibly spoilt (I've seen dogs with their own seats in restaurants).  Every town has their own pooch parlour, in fact Condé has 2, as these dogs exist not just in Paris but throughout France. Don't be put off by the diamanté accessories though, whilst adored by their owner these dogs can be snappy towards strangers.  

The Large Dog

Look around and you'll see plenty of large dogs.  Some will be on chains, others in enclosed gardens but rarely will they be in the house. Outside in all weathers, never walked, sad, bored and either overweight or more often underweight.  They bark at strangers, are not used to other dogs and to be quite frank I don't know why their owners have them.

At the refuge, the lady had a lot of large dogs.  Maybe at some point not long after getting their dog the owners didn't like having this large creature barking in their garden all the time.  Some escape and their owners didn't look too hard for them.  Others are left tied to the refuge fence or in the case of a mid-sized terrier cross we saw when we were there, simply flung over the gate into the refuge.  

I appreciate these are huge generalisations.  I know our lovely neighbour had a large dog who lived in the house with her, had regular walks and when his time came due to an eye tumour she did the kindest thing and had him put down.  Igor was lovely and she was so sad when he died.  But then there are the hunting dogs locally who are exactly as described above and the dog who lives a couple of fields away which, as far as I am aware, has never left the garden.  As for pampered pooches - they are everywhere and if you are thinking about a business to set up in France I reckon you'd not go far wrong with selling canine accessories or running yet another pooch parlour.

So when we rang up the refuge to see about getting a puppy we had seen advertised (he was gone) the owner was over the moon that we were English and might take Harry.  We will never know if we saved him from a life in a garden or on a chain but as I sit here typing he is currently snuggled up on his bed across the room from me, possibly dreaming of the walk he'll get later and I think, without a doubt, a happy dog.

Do you think I have categorised French dogs correctly?  Have I missed any out?