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Swissie

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    THE WEATHER THREAD

    in The Complete France Post Bag

    Posted

    About about indulging in a favourite British activity - talking about the weather:

    We have just had 3 weeks of lovely hot weather, with just a light breeze to help - and cool nights with the wafting smell of freshly cut hay. Just one short storm last week-end to refill the water butts. Hurray.

    Strimming on a Sunday

    in Gardening

    Posted

    Well France is still a traditional Catholic country - especially rural France. if you have elderly neighbours they are more than likely to find any noisy activity a form of disrespect. Same with hanging clothes out to dry, etc. In our hamlet- nobody would have dreamed of doing this on a Sunday until my parents died last year (aged 94 and 96) - since then, anybody does what they want. It isn't that dad would have said anything - but the neighbours knew how older people would have felt, and automatically respected it. Even now though I wouldn't do noisy work on a Sunday before 10- and of course living in the old Vicarage behind the Church - not until church service is over.

    moving to france

    in The Complete France Post Bag

    Posted

    If you, or your kids, ever want to work for a ski company - make sure you find one which provides you with accomodation, food,  equipment and a ski pass. Otherwise if you do not have skis, etc, and rich parents or savings - you'll find that you won't be able to buy a ski pass - which can be VERY expensive for the season. I've known many kids who've got caught on on this one.

    Lavender

    in The Complete France Post Bag

    Posted

    It will be hot in Geneva today! Bonne chance GG.

    I have a subscription to a lovely wildlife magazine called 'La Salamandre' - photos and drawings are always of amazing quality- always such a joy to receive and to re- discover - as I keep them all - too beautiful to throw away. This edition has an article about perfumed plants, and in particular lavender. So I can bore you with the facts:

    Romans just loved lavender- they perfumed their washing water and linen with it. So the name 'lavande' comes from lavare- to wash. In the Middle ages lavender was deemed to keep the Black death away, and bad spirits too. For the xvIII C, lavender gathering takes off on a commercial scale- but lavender is still gathered from the wild right up to the 1930s, and many subsistance farmer in the south sell lavender to the perfumeries in Grasse to help survive.. From the 1920s, lavender is cultivated as distillation technique improves- but mechanical means of extraction begin in the 50s and wild lavender is left to grow wild.

    Four types of lavender in France:

    True lavender (lavendula vera)  grows betw. 800 and 1400m, with single stems on the plant.

    Aspic lavender (latifolia) grows below 600m, larger leaves and stems that branch out.

    lavandin (x hybrida) a hybrid of the above 2- much more prolific and easy to cultivate, but less delicate perfume.

    French lavender (papillon/stoechas) - the one with the little ears on top - very pretty, but perfume less sophistic

    So if you see a field of lavender, it is likely to be 'lavandin'.

    salamandre.net     if you want to sample some of their lovely work

    UK food and wine in France?

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    Yes, raw is good- cut in thin slices and lightly tossed in a good vinaigrette. We like my mum's old recipe 'endives au jambon gratinées'. Boil chicory whole for about 8 mins and let cool a little in colander. Squeeze out excess water and wrap in a slice of ham around each 'chicon' and lay in baking dish. Make a white sauce (béchamel - I make mine with cornflour and skimmed milk to save a few calories - add a few herbs/salt/pepper) and pour over the top- and grate a little Gruyère or other fave cheese- and into the oven for 15-10 mins. Delicious.  Another excellent cheap veg is Swiss chard- wonderful au gratin too.

    UK food and wine in France?

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    OK, there is a very insular community in London. But most of the French I've known in the UK where there because they relished the job opportunities in the UK, both in education and business- which are much more based on merit, experience and ability/talent - than on exams as in France- and loved living there, by choice- and like me, adapted to British food + adding 'un petit je ne sais quoi' (I used to add a few herbs and a dash of pepper to baked beans for instance) and grew my own rosemary for roast lamb, etc.

    Even learnt to make 'spotted dick'- a favourite with visiting colleagues. lol. Of course now it is much easier than for me in the early 70s - where practically no foreign foods were available, at whatever price. Each to their own, of course.

    UK food and wine in France?

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    We all like treats from back home - of course we do. Friends are coming at the week-end and bringing some for us. And the only other Brits in the area (who have a holiday home near here) will be bringing more when they next come- and we are very much looking forward to getting some of our favourites. Very different to buying upwards of 70% from UK and getting shipped by agents, which is bound to create resentment. Choice is not necessarily about luxury, but about adapting to what is CHEAP just where you are, to some extent- and with all the enjoyment of trying new produce, fruit, veg, meat cuts and recipes. Great fun - and part of the joy of (choosing) to live abroad.

    UK food and wine in France?

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    Yes, I can see that Coops, but don't you think huge savings can be made by adapting how one shops and cooks? Of course if one wants Heinz baked beans and Kelloggs cornflakes, etc, it is much more expensive in France. If I'd insisted on buying Gruyère (my home cheese) when I lived in UK, instead of learning to appreciate Cheddar, Stilton and other wonderful cheeses, we would have been very short. Same with some of the veg I liked, like chicory, fennel, ceps and morels - which cost an arm and 3 legs in UK - or some of the fruit, like apricots, black cherries and nectarines- or some or my local sausages, etc, etc. I adapted - learnt to cook with British ingredients- and actually enjoyed it + kept our budget afloat (well, most of the time... I used to spend days cycling around richmond Park picking mushrooms when we were in the red).

    The free range versus factory farming is a very different issue, I perso feel. Again on perso level, would much rather eat much less but better and more humanely farmed meat- but this is of course much easier now it is just the 2 of us. We use much less, but much better, meat now. Our bolognese tomorrow will have more veg than meat in it - and will taste all the better for it.

    UK food and wine in France?

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    It seems clear that the French have not yet cottoned on to the fact that Brits in France are buying more and more food, electrical goods, clothes, etc, etc, from UK and having it all shipped over. Articles have appeared in Connexion and other ex-pat newspapers - but have not yet hit the French Press- but it won't take long.

    Question is, what will happen when they do? Especially in areas where there are many many Brits, like Dordogneshire- where there is already some resentment and some locals already feel overwhelmed? It is debatable whether buying food in UK is cheaper when you had the 15% charge - I am sure it is if you want to eat British foods - but I am convinced it is cheaper if you adapt to eating local/French foods. However, even if importing turns out to be a bit cheaper - is it worth it if it creates resentment in the communities we have CHOSEN to live in? Personally, I am not sure. What do you think?

    Animal Cruelty

    in Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection

    Posted

    Maybe if you gave a bit more detail, it would help posters to give suitable advice. My sympathy to you, as witnessing animal cruelty (indeed any cruelty) is very distressing. Bonne chance. Sadly, it seems much more prevalent in France, where 1000s of dogs seem to be tied day in, day out.

    APEROS

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    BTW what is the local speciality in your part of France? Absinthe was invented here (the Swissi Jura)  and so was Pernod (Pernod production was later moved to Pontarlier 25) - so absinthe is still a favourite- and so is our dry white wine, served in small straight glasses.

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