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Helios

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Posts posted by Helios

    Bastille Day

    in French Culture

    Posted

    Here in our little village in 84 events started at 10.30am. Flags and bunting being put up, some already tucking into the booze, God knows in what state they will be in later! The open boules competition starts at 15.00, followed by the traditional march from the Mairie to the fountain square carrying the bust of Marianne and then all the children ride their decorated bikes around in a sort of display. After that there is a huge open air 6 course meal at the local school followed by 2 or 3 live bands infront of the bar. I'm just glad that we can walk there and back!!

    Sayre

    in French Language

    Posted

    The answer is........... Tourdres and Sayres are both thrushes/grives from the 'Passereaux' family of birds. Pagnol has expressed himself in the typically Provencal language. Tourdres are small thrushes and Sayres are bigger thrushes, hence the difference in the price of the two. They are also called 'Chacha' by the locals here.

    Lump in throat

    in South East (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur)

    Posted

    Yes, I couldn't watch it anymore on the TV as my French Grandfather was a part of it and recently died, we put the burning Flambeau on his coffin lid. I had to go into the garden and have a good weep accompanied by my 4 year old daughter who kept telling me everything was ok but she missed her 'Pappy' and that he was now in the clouds, how apt at such a time. I'm welling up again so I'll retreat for another blub in the veg garden and avoid the telly at all costs. Thanks for the posting, it's been cathartic. L, wiping tear from eye but sad.
    ps. It gives me some kind of satisfaction to be surrounded by poppies at this moment.

    should the mistral put me off buying in rhone area?

    in Finding/Owning French Property

    Posted

    Please don't let the Mistral put you off, the weather here is great for 90 per cent of the year. Yes it does blow a bit and when it does you'll know about it!! It can be very refreshing and invigorating though, I remember standing in the garden last summer at 1 in the morning and it was like being under a very warm hairdrier, lovely. It really isn't that bad and being on the top of Mont Ventoux when it blows is an amazing experience!

    should the mistral put me off buying in rhone area?

    in Finding/Owning French Property

    Posted

    Please don't let the Mistral put you off, the weather here is great for 90 per cent of the year. Yes it does blow a bit and when it does you'll know about it!! It can be very refreshing and invigorating though, I remember standing in the garden last summer at 1 in the morning and it was like being under a very warm hairdrier, lovely. It really isn't that bad and being on the top of Mont Ventoux when it blows is an amazing experience!

    New hard drive

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    I don't wish to go against your PC Doctor , but generally hard drives either 1. Work 2. Bring up some kind of error message or 3. Don't work. The 16 colours issue sounds more like a loss of the proper graphics card driver which is easy enough to remedy. Have you tried to defrag the hard drive lately? Regards also from the soggy South of France!

    Right to Roam

    in French Culture

    Posted

    This is a tricky one! As Christiane quite rightly says you do run the undeniable risk of getting on the wrong side of people (some of whom may be your neighbors) by putting up signs or a fence. I've found that 'Chasse Interdite' is largely ignored by most hunters and you can talk till your blue in the face to the President of the local chasse, it's a way of life to them passed on through generations. We live in the middle of vine fields and olive groves and our lunches or apros were regularly interrupted by squads of camouflaged carabine carrying locals when we first arrived. The rule is that you have to be 150 metres away from an inhabited property before shooting anything that moves, but again we found this to be largely ignored, which was rather worrying when our 3 year old daughter was playing outside and we had lead shot raining down on our heads!! What we did was to get to know all of the locals/hunters, either by chatting to them at the local bar or by inviting them in for a drink when we saw them. After some Pastis and discussion, they now come and tell us what time and date they are thinking of hunting on our land and we invariably have a knock at the door on the day to ask if it's ok!! We also regularly receive very fresh wild boar etc on the doorstep. If you want to fit in, I advise diplomacy over stubborness, Hope this helps, regards, L.
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