Like lots of things, I have ruminated on writing a diary. for a long time. Around 40 years by my last calculation. As a young teen, I kept one that was red that had a key , but it lasted a matter of weeks. I lost the key, and had to slice the piece of…
I am in the midst of my Sunday morning trawl through the blogsphere, and I have just read Jaqueline’s Brown’s delightful French Village Diaries. As a fellow foodie, Jacqui has posted up a lovely piece on Chandeleur – or French Pancake Day. For those that know me, I hate Winter, and refer to it sullenly…
Life in rural France is one of feast or famine – well, it is for me at least.
The key public holidays tends to bring the annual invasion of family, friends and acquaintances,and even those who fall into even more distant categories- junior school chums, window cleaners and the like.
France is a place of clichéd landmarks: Say Provence and infinite fields of lavender will appear along with its attendant charms and sun drenched monuments. Say Ile de Ré and golden sandy beaches and the white sails draped around its chic harbours resonate in the mind’s eye. Say Deux Sèvres and you will be rewarded…
I arose this morning to find there were no chairs on the ground floor of the house. Only the couch in the lounge remained. Confident that I had heard no-one enter the house illegally through the night, I opened the back door and looked into the garden. It was the same outside.No seating remained. A…
My “about” page on here says that I wear many hats – no understatement I might add. One of them is that of a teacher. In a former life I taught Spanish at the University of Wales, and somehow that has morphed into teaching English here for the local Chambre de Commerce. I even get…
So this morning I wake up to yet another public holiday, the third this month. I know it’s only the 13th today. Pretty good going, don’t you think? Sadly the two previous ones have fallen on a Saturday, so there has not been the usual three to five-day lull in commercial activity that is common…
Helen Aurelius Haddock - A Writer's Blog. 