Tag: our normandy life

Our French Life

How To Get Your French Drivers Licence

ournormandylife

Okay I will refrain from my normal joke…oh I can’t I’m sorry….getting a French licence out of a Christmas Cracker. There I’ve said it. Now that’s out of the way we can get down to the actual way you can obtain your driving licence. I’m writing this from my own experience of getting my teenager – Master Normandy – en route to obtaining his driving licence.

It’s all a bit confusing the various abbreviations for different permis de conduire and I do not profess to know them all. Prior to this my son obtained his scooter licence. He was given two road proficiency certificates from his college in 3éme. By all accounts you need to keep these if you then want to get your driving licence. We took these to the driving school which teaches youngsters how to ride a scooter, over a period of 2 days. This costs about, from memory, 240 euros. They spend the first part of the day watching a road safety video and then in the afternoon, learning how to ride the scooter. The following day your teen has a full day of scooting around the Normandy countryside and towns.

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Our French Life, Our School Life

The One Where We Are In Lock Down!

ournormandylife

war of the worlds pic

No one would have believed (in my best Richard Burton voice)…that when we moved here nearly 3 years ago, that we would face a situation which is, quite frankly, like no other. I certainly have not seen anything like this in my lifetime.

Unless you really do live in an absolute bubble, then it cannot have escaped your notice that the world is currently at war. Not with each other but with a virus. Coronavirus or Covid19 as the French always refer to it. Continue reading “The One Where We Are In Lock Down!” →

Our French Life

Do You Know Your Arse From Your Neck?

 

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Did I have you at arse or neck?  I’ve gone right off the rails with the language haven’t I. Actually, I think I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn’t explain the difference between these two words in French. You’re welcome. They sound no different in my Brit opinion but then my accent, at times, can be atrocious. I particularly struggle with a word which has an unacceptable amount of vowels in it – that includes the letter ‘y’ as guess what? The French consider this to be a vowel. I can often see the word in my head, I want to put my hand up like I’m in some imaginary game show and say “oh I know it, I know it!” !”it’s X or sounds like…..” Cue the crumpled up face of the recipient. Continue reading “Do You Know Your Arse From Your Neck?” →

Our French Life

A Year in Normandy

ournormandylife

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Blimey that could be a best seller couldn’t it? Oh wait, it’s already been done with a Year in Provence or something like that. God darn it!

So, I’ve been a bit busy of late working on some wonderful Normandy businesses’ social media accounts. However, sometimes that means my own writing and social media takes a back seat. Just over a week ago marked our one year anniversary in France. It has gone quick and at the same time feels like we’ve been here forever. Does that make sense? I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to reflect on our catapultization. This is a newly made up word derived from ‘catapult’ and bunging ‘ization’ on the end, to conjure up the image of being launched, into French life. You’re welcome.  Continue reading “A Year in Normandy” →

Our French Life

Ou Est La Gare?

ournormandylife
I wrote this on my now old blog The 1970s Diet. So, I haven’t recently had a contact lens removed from my eye after it being in there for 3 weeks. I do, however, like this post as it reminds me of why I used to love coming to France on holiday. Is it different now I live here? I suppose I don’t notice the painted water towers as much but I most certainly can appreciate a good roundabout when I see one. I haven’t, as yet, come across the nasty stuff I was talking about in the woods – maybe it’s a southern thang! I still appreciate the beauty that surrounds me and I hope I never take that for granted.

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