It’s election time !

The weather has turned cold and wet again. Spring has gone into hiding so the heating is on and we are back wearing our coats and scarves.

Last Sunday elections for local councillors were held all over France. This happens every six years, and if there is no clear winner (51%) for mayor then everyone votes again on Sunday 30^th March. It’s complicated. As we didn’t know about the election in time ( last December) we hadn’t registered so couldn’t vote. Don’t know enough about the issues to make an informed decision anyway. But next time !!

Candidates appeared at all the local markets for weeks before and we like the way they work.

A table loaded with lots of wine and nibbles, and perhaps an accordion player to entertain. Each time we saw this there were lots of supporters hanging about chatting and drinking – no big election speeches, no promises to be broken later.

Our mayor, M. Jacques Reix was re-elected.

Recently we went to a Côté Salon at Sainte Foy. This is a trade fair for  the local businesses – pools, central heating, floor coverings, double glazed windows, etc. The local car dealers also displayed a few cars and the vintage car club attracted the most attention.

This is for those who are interested in such things........

We also attended a concert in our local church in Port Sainte Foy on Sunday afternoon. This is a simple country church with white painted walls, a ribbed vaulted ceiling and the most beautifully coloured stained glass windows. About 100 people  sat on wooden pews or , as in our case, small wooden chairs with rush seats (not too comfortable). There were solo and ensemble performances by local musicians of everything from Bach and Mendelsohn to Gershwin and ‘swing’. Impressive performances and a lovely way to spend a wet Sunday afternoon, and literally a one minute walk home for coffee.

Our wonderful french teacher, Steffi, likes to organise ‘activities’ so that her french and English students can mix and practice with each other. Last month it was a dégustation of cheeses and wine which was held at our house ( hers is too small) . It was a  great success and we enjoyed having a group of french people in our home for the first time. This month it was playing boardgames, Cluedo , in french. Did you know that the french for  “wrench”  is “clé anglais”  (English key).  Is this a social comment on the English ??

We look forward to next month’s subject to be held at a local patisserie – desserts !!!

One of our french friends who we met through french class is Emmanuel. He lives and works here in Sainte Foy but head office is on Martinique (West Indies). This means he has to go there regularly - it's a tough life etc. He is there this week so he sent us a photo, just to rub it in.

C’est magnifique, n’est-ce pas ?

à bientôt  mes amis

The sun is out at last…

Quince blossom from our garden

The temperature is around 20 degrees everyday and the sky is blue.  We now understand why the English get so depressed in winter. Everyone tells us it has been ‘unseasonally’ warm ,grey and wet here for the past three months so we are relieved it appears to be all over. We’ve turned off the central heating, opened the windows, hung the washing out in the sun, cut the grass for the first time since autumn and are now working on our new vegetable patch. What a difference some warm sunshine makes to our energy levels.

The plum trees along the river are in blossom...

The petanque players are out enjoying the sunshine...

The magnolia trees have suddenly bloomed...

The first daffodils have popped up in our garden...

We’ve potted up our first geraniums of the season...

And the slugs have arrived in the herb garden...

Now that the ground is drying out we have returned to our walks along the riverside. We have four bridges over the Dordogne river here at Sainte Foy....

some are beautifully built in old stone and some are modern steel. Following the water's edge underneath all these bridges has given us a better understanding of our village and a different view of all the properties along the river. We've found some very attractive houses tucked away and some are even for sale.

4 bedrooms and a riverfront garden

The children from the school along our street made a procession to the mairie (town hall) during the week.

Don't know what it was about but they looked great all in fancy dress - everything from spanish flamenco dancers and princesses to cowboys and superheros. They were led by a car playing very loud music while the teachers threw confetti about and the local police closed the roads and redirected traffic. Then they all walked back to school for lunch at the Restaurant Scolaire ( school canteen).

First marché of the year last week at Montpon-Menestrol , a small town to the north of us. Not a very big market but some interesting displays...

There was also a 'bourse des collectionneurs' which is a fair for collectors - of anything. There were comic books and toy cars, postcards and posters, dolls and medals, miniatures ( of anything at all ). But the strangest collectable and the most common as we see them often at marchés, is the little metal cap on the top of a champagne bottle. People here spend ages going through every cap on the stand looking for  just that special elusive one. You can even buy magazines about them and special display cases for them. C'est bizarre .

Had another interesting 'french' experience this week.We went to a jazz concert with friends at the Chateau de Monbazillac near Bergerac. It was a beautiful fine evening and we all queued to pay for our reserved tickets, and the french all pulled out their cheque books ! The concert was half an hour late starting. 

Bon semaine à tous nos amis

Shopping for food

Everyone knows about the marvelous marchés in french villages but most tourists don’t venture into our local supermarchés. We have four supermarkets around our town but our local Leclerc is an attraction for all our friends who like to food shop. It is a combination of Woolworths, Big W, Dan Murphy’s, and Harvey Norman’s electrical section.

In one visit you can buy a computer, a fridge, outdoor furniture, all your tableware and kitchenware (including the stove), the paraphernalia for bottling your own wine or preparing your own preserves and jams, ammunition and fishing gear, clothing, and then, of course,  there’s the food and wine.

There are the usual supermarket aisles (two) full of pre-packaged and ‘industrial’ cheeses and then there is the gourmet cheese section.

Just too many choices

Decisions, decisions...

There are seven aisles of wine, spirits and beers, and then there is the wine cave for the better wines where you can have the chateau marked wooden box if you buy at least 6 bottles. Most of the wines are ‘local’. When asked  “why don’t you offer wines from other areas / new world ? “  , the answer is always  “why should we when we have so many good wines here “. Hard to argue with the logic.

Nooo Paul...

In the 'cave' with the upper class wines

In the charcuterie section there can be at least 20 different choices of foie gras – more at Christmas.

Graham does love his foie gras

Fresh fruit and vegetables come from all over Europe and the french territories in Africa and the Caribbean.

As we are about 2 hours from the Atlantic there is always fresh seafood and the water tank is always full of homards (lobster) and crab.

Naturally the bakery section is enormous and bread is baked 3 times each day and you can often buy 3 baguettes for €1.00.

And the desserts….. you can buy fresh eclairs packaged in half dozens with either coffee or chocolate filling ( or both if you prefer) , tartes aux pomme, jesuits and réligieuses , paris brest, petit choux sucre, pain au chocolate et croissant, layered slabs of crème patissiere and chocolate and anything else you can think of.

Our thanks to our friends Georgina and Paul for these wonderful pictures - I'm too embarrassed to be seen taking photos in my local supermarket. We have just had the pleasure of their company again here in France and we love their enthusiasm. 

This is the fabulous house warming gift from the very thoughtful Georgina and Paul bought from a local decorator shop. It will be the centre piece for many a dinner party. Thank you so much.

  It's Fêtes de grande-mère here on Sunday so "Bonne Fête" to you know who.

Merci beaucoup mes amis et à bientôt