I know this is a little late but I thought it was a good way to celebrate the end of our current lockdown. We are told the number of deaths will soon diminish and its true that there are fewer hospital admissions. We can now go anywhere we like in France though there is still …
Category Archives: French customs
Baa Baa Black Sheep – Mes bêtes noires
The title in French has nothing to do with our nursery rhyme. « Bête noire » which literally means black beast or black animal is used to indicate something you hate such as spelling. Le titre en anglais n’a rien à voir avec bête noire. C’est le début d’une cantine pour enfant « Mê, mê …
The President’s Cake – La galette de l’Elysée
There is a popular tradition in France for friends and family to share a cake containing a little figurine on 6th January, the feast of the Epiphany (see more information here on my other blog). The person who gets the figurine in their slice of cake then chooses a king or queen. I made my …
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Happy Christmas – Joyeux Noël
With so many restrictions on Christmas this year, especially the absence of my children, I have been feeling a little down but after seeing a Danish friend’s many meaningful decorations on FaceBook, I decided to go into the forest and collect what I needed for my Christmas door wreath which I usually make with my …
Lockdown #2 Day 20 – Reconfinement Jour 20
I was most surprised to see this temporary sign erected by the local council on our walk today. It says « I’m clean – my master picks up after me ». Obviously too many dogs are being taken for walks by uncouth owners. This particular behaviour is not one of France’s most endearing traits. J’étais …
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Lockdown #2 Day 13 – Reconfinement Jour 13
There was no ceremony for Remembrance Day this year due to Covid19 but someone came and hoisted the flags. The chrysanthemums are traditional French graveyard flowers as they always bloom for All Saints Day. Il n’y avait pas de cérémonie pour l’Armistice cette année à cause du Covid19 mais quelqu’un est passé hisser les drapeaux. …
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The Lavender 2 CV – Deudeuche mauve
My first encounter with a 2CV was when I first arrived in France and saw two young men pull up in front of a terrace café on the Boulevard des Pyrénées in Pau. They tried to parallel park but the space was very tight so they got out of the car and manually lifted it …
Colourful Shopping – Courses en couleur
Every household has a shopping caddy in France to take to the market or neighbourhood supermarket but not all are this colourful. Ours is boringly black. The first one says “I cultivate gentle living” but it is a play on words because “douceur” also means “sweet”. The second one says “detox shopping” and down the …
Covid Deconfinement Stage 1 # 1
The weather was so awful this morning with the arrival of the “ice saints” that the first day of post-lockdown or déconfinement as the French call it seemed no different from the last 55 days! The so-called ice saints are St. Mamertus, St. Pancras and St. Servatius. Their feast days are 11th, 12th and 13th …
Covid Confinement Day 55
Our second-last restricted walk today. I have to say that it has encouraged me to walk far more than I did before and we are lucky to have so many neighbours who make an effort with their pavements. No more deaths in our area today and only 80 new deaths in France in the last …