Life In France

After a bit of research, I was able to pinpoint this lovely Romanesque ensemble that we saw two years ago that I mentioned in yesterday’s post. The group is located in the village of Saint-Thomé. There is a wonderful website by the village of Saint-Thome at http://www.saint-thome.fr The two churches, located in this charming village, are the Church of Saint Thomas and the Chapelle of Saint-Sebastien. Here is a photo that I mentioned in my last post, the fence of the churchyard with the old...Read Full Story

August in La Clusaz means one thing: cheese . The Fete du Reblochon is held annually, and this year, it celebrated 50 years of enjoying AOC status, which means any cheese sold under the name of Reblochon must be made locally. The fete starts at midday with crazy people attempting to ski down a white, plastic sheet with ancient wooden skis in temperatures hovering around the mid-thirties. Once they’re done, this turns into a giant slide for kids, who spend the rest of the day — and the evening...Read Full Story

A friend first introduced me to Lobsang Rampa over a cup of coffee some 35 years ago, when the book was placed on the table in front of me and I was asked if I had read any of his books. I had never heard of him at that time, and my friend left the book for me to read. I picked the book up and glanced at it, then unfortunately it got placed on my bookshelf and there it stayed for several years. Out of the blue one day I just picked up this book “You Forever” and read it, I was so intrigued by...Read Full Story

Well here we go with the next saga – the day it changed the rest of our lives forever. The day we shall never forget and was controlled by happenings, which we could not have predicted. We say Fate !! The established and well known removal company had informed us they would arrive at 9am in the morning, under no circumstances would it be earlier, the men did not start until 9am !!! So we had booked our crossing for 10.30pm on the overnight ferry thinking that they would take about 3 to 4...Read Full Story

Firstly, there are strict guidelines to picking wild mushrooms in France, and these must be followed: French Regulations state (Article 547 Code Civil) that mushrooms belong to the owner of the land where they grow. Each commune has the right to decide whether mushroom picking is allowed, and on what days, can say what quantities can be picked, can charge a fee or can totally forbid mushroom picking in the surrounding forests. You should contact your local Marie in the commune (or your local...Read Full Story