Five go to Normandy (and then there were 4!) France on a one-way ticket?
Okay so I know Christmas has been and gone and it all feels like a distant memory but I wanted to share these wonderful pictures of the lights at Beauchêne.
Beauchêne is in the Orne region of Normandy – we live in the Manche region. However, like a lot of things here, it was only a 35 minute drive away and we were told that we must see these Christmas lights. Continue reading “Beauchêne Christmas Lights”
That would be getting yourself some electricity here in France. Now, our house did not have any water, electric, mains drainage or a telephone line. Am I selling you the dream yet? We don’t live off the beaten track or a few roads off the main track. We live on the track. We are the last house in a village of over 500 residents and it’s on a main D road. Positively urban in Normandy terms. Continue reading “The Magic Roundabout”
Okay so everyone loves a Top Ten don’t they? So here’s mine, on your essential checklist, when moving to France.
1. Have a Massive Clear Out of Gigantic Proportions
Obvious. You’d think. I did about 20 bags and felt pretty smug if truth be told. I started at the top of the house and worked my way down. We then hired a skip and cleared out the loft and yes you’d think that would be enough. Wrong. Do it again and then repeat this about 5 more times. Continue reading “Top 10 Tips For Relocating”
Well not entirely. The hobs are gas and the oven is electric. Having spent months cooking with a crappy gas oven which had one setting = #1 burn this has been an absolute delight to cook with. I cannot tell you how frustrating it was to cook with a gas oven. I don’t really see the point of having a top and bottom shelf in a gas oven. The middle shelf is your only hope of something remotely resembling what it’s meant to and just estimate an hour for everything. 20 minute pizza = one hour, 15 minute cupcakes = one hour. So yes, this bad boy has been a very welcome addition to life in France. I hadn’t realised people have so much oven envy until I popped a picture up on my facebook. Continue reading “Now We’re Cooking With Gas!”
I don’t think I’ve ever stopped using this phrase from the Watergate scandal. Sorry. Not sorry. Anything that involves aggro and makes for good evening entertainment fodder means __________ (insert word) and then add the word ‘gate’. Anyone over the age of 40 should get it but depending on their general knowledge, this might result in a tumbleweed moment. Do other people do this? Or maybe I should ask doesn’t everyone do this? Or maybe I need some 21st century sayings that anyone under the age of 30 will get? I digress. Get on with it. So what is this #fossegate you speak of? Continue reading “#FosseGate”
If you’re moving to France with kids then you need to get yourself acquainted with stationery and lots of it. I’m not talking about your light weight WH Smith range I’m talking about hard-core stationery that you never even knew existed! If you’re into a bit of stationery then you will love France. I’d go so far as to say you will need a stationery cupboard at home. There I’ve said it. They don’t mention that on their renovating forums now do they?
Literally translated this means ‘meal’ and is a social event in your commune/village. During the summer months, you will see many a sign for Repas, practically in every village you drive through. They’ll have bunting out, a big banner telling you the date it’s on and what they will be dishing up. Maybe moules and frites, jambon and frites, porc and frites (seeing a theme here) and so on.
Now, I didn’t know what to expect at a Repas, if truth be told turning up for one can be a little daunting for a newcomer and one that doesn’t speak much French at that. But I would recommend it to anyone looking to settle and integrate into the community. Continue reading “Repas”
Now, when I say in French we are going to the ‘zoo’, I get really puzzled looks . Much the same way I do when, just when I think I’m rocking this French malarkey, I churn out a sentence and the person I’m speaking to crumples their face up like a piece of paper whilst taking a few steps backwards. There is no disguising that they just don’t get what I’m saying. Not at all. Continue reading “Zoo de Champrépus”
Now most people’s mobile phones are surgically attached to their hands. You don’t leave home without it. It’s your little computer, social contact, entertainment centre and if all else fails it can make phone calls. When moving to France, I did not consider for one moment, that obtaining a mobile reception would be a problem. In my ‘moving to France’ to do list, this did not even feature. Continue reading “Mobile Woes”
That’s me that is. That 30-year-old woman has just purchased a house in Normandy, France and doesn’t she look thrilled about it #not. Is it a house? Or is it a box with a ‘lean to’ attached to it? You decide. I decided it was a shit heap and I much preferred the barn that we would convert, in a hamlet, that we had seen an hour earlier. Continue reading “You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me!”
Our Normandy Life 