Another year nearly over and time to look back and take stock of it all .

It’s been busy, that’s for sure.

Another year where we have been privileged and delighted to welcome back lots of our regular guests at La Genèbre, some who had missed a year or two due to Covid. We have also met many new guests this year and quite a few have booked for next year.

We now have a smattering of Spring bookings and are fully booked from June through to September so 2023 looks like another busy year. And bookings for 2024 have already started so all looking good!

Add to that the usual ups and downs of family life, new places visited, restaurants tried out, memories made and our own home to finish and it’s understandable that  this year has flown by in the blink of an eye …

Here are a  few of the new places we visited:

RESTAURANT – Le Moulin de L’Imaginaire in Terrasson

Always on the lookout for interesting new places to eat, we were delighted to find this gem situated over the River Vézère – only downside is they’re very busy so last minute booking is a bit tricky!

https://www.moulin-limaginaire.com/
Excellent restaurant in Terrasson

MUSEUM – La Rue du Temps Qui Passe ( in Allas-Les-Mines)

This is a very quirky and unusual museum filled with artefacts that the owner has collected since he was 6 years old! It’s created in the style of old cobbled streets with authentic shop fronts filled with the corresponding items. Each shop has one modern item ( post 1980)  which you have to spot as you are walking round. Not always as easy as you’d think! There is also a bistro to sit and while away the hours but sadly that wasn’t open when we visited.

Very interesting museum in Allas-Les-Mines – a real trip trip down memory lane with shops filled with all the things time forgot!

CASTLE – Chateau de Neuvic – 24190 neuvic

This castle has a restaurant which caters for groups / weddings and we had a lovely Christmas lunch there. If anyone is thinking of getting married in the Dordogne, this might be the perfect venue !!

Chateau de Neuvic – www.chateau-mariage-dordogne.com

We discovered these last two venues via The Franco British Network. We’re looking forward to their next  event and visiting some more new places!

Back on home ground, we did get our own pool built in time for the exceptionally hot Summer but other than that we didn’t advance much in our relatively new abode – to be fair we’ve been living in our new home since July 2020 and we’ve stopped noticing the little details that didn’t get finished when they should have done. In fact I’m sure there might be some masking tape still lurking above the bathroom door …. sigh! But, that’s ok. A little imperfection goes a long way to increasing the homeliness and we all know about cobbler’s children ! For reasons beyond our control, (very handy phrase !!)  apart from a good few trees which Amar planted, the outside still lies sorely unfinished like a decaying tooth in an otherwise perfect smile. A project for next year!

All this busyness  has meant however that last year’s Resolution of revamping our websites and information folders and keeping the blog up to date sadly fell prey to that old adage,” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. On a positive note it also means I don’t have to dream up new resolutions and I can just use last year’s. I think I might have resorted to that a few times now – plus ça change!! I do have some aerial shots of the house and gardens taken by one of our regular guests who very kindly said I could use them so I’m looking forward to showing things from a different angle – thank you so much Tom!!

www.latourdegenebre.com

Anyway, wishing you and all your loved ones a very happy Christmas and lots of positivity for 2023 – looking forward to catching up again soon!

Wishing everyone a very joyous Christmas and many happy times in 2023

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année à tous!

We are great fans of their White Picnic evenings ( see http://dordogne-gites.info/balmy-days/) so thought it would be a perfect event for our happy occasion. We organised to go along with 4 friends – after 34 years of marriage and now empty nesters we reckoned we have more than enough opportunities for romantic dinners à deux !!

Dress code was “Country Chic” and there was a competition for the best flowery hat. This was music to my ears as I’ve always been a sucker for any kind of fancy dress. Just a couple of months ago the Pti Bowl, a new food takeaway business in Jayac launched the first of their music and food evenings and also ran a contest for the silliest hat. I couldn’t resist the challenge even although I only just had time to cobble something together. I ended up with some half baked creation nowhere near worthy of a prize but when we got there I was the ONLY one out of 65 people with a hat on so win I did, and I managed to get myself a free dessert!

I was determined to do better this time but again time was against me and I ended up with a flowery hat with a couple of nods to family nostalgia ….but I knew it would take something more out of the ordinary to win the luxury hot air balloon tickets on offer

The worthy winner did just that with a fetching number made entirely out of chicken wire and flowers.

Up , up and away with the Chapeau gagnant!!

I did genuinely congratulate the lucky lady of course, while secretly vowing to think more out of the box in future !

We always managed to do really well in our pre France days winning several awards at the local annual fancy dress parade so I need to get back into that mode!

Emma and Alistair as Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable in one of our fancy dress entries from way back when the nest was full …

More photos of our heyday entries here.  But I digress; back to the Garden Party!

The storms were threatening but owners, Patrick and Capucine Sermadiras were determined to go ahead with the event outdoors and we were met with a warm welcome in the sandy court yard of their home. Not so practical for those sporting open toes sandals who no doubt found themselves going home with orange feet!

Very convivial U shaped seating area

Music flowed out of the rooms in the manoir while dinner was being cooked on the stylish brasero barbecue ( the next in- thing!) , one of which was being raffled at the end of the evening. Sadly, we didn’t win that either.

Cooking dinner on the stylish Brasero BBQ

An evening of food and chat followed and the wine flowed until the threatening storms grew closer and everyone started heading home. The gardens themselves are a true delight and until the end of October there is a display of Pierre Treilhes‘ amazing sculptures which are well worth a visit in their own right.

All in all a very pleasant, sophisticated evening – for more photos, have a peek over on our Facebook page. For us it didn’t have quite the same charm and appeal as the white picnic though which is something really special to go to!

Here are a few of photos White Picnics gone by just to whet your appetite.

We’ll be looking forward to going again this year – hopefully we might see one or two of you there!!

It’s been a tough year for us – we have lost family members and dear friends, some departed from this life far too young. It hits home that every moment spent with friends and family is precious, not only on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries but also , and if not more so, on those other mundane, “ordinary” days which we can all take so much for granted. We really should appreciate them all!

This was very much at the front of my mind when this year’s decorations were going up.

I love our Christmas Tree. Over the years it has become so much more than just a symbol of a Biblical event or a festive holiday.

Every year when I open up the box of tree decorations, I don’t see just baubles and glitter – I see me, sitting my teenage exams with my trusty mascot, truly believing it would make a difference ( on the whole, it didn’t do too badly !).

Trusty exam mascot from way back in 1979!

I see Emma & Alistair at nursery school, beaming with pride clutching the peg dolls they made for their Mum and Dad.

Emma and Alistair’s Christmas peg dolls made at nursery when they were 3 years old

I see Christmasses past when each year Santa left them a new decoration in their stocking to add to the tree ( he still does !!). Keys from houses we’ve lived in bring back visions of entrance halls, paint colours, and the delicious, welcoming aroma of meals bubbling on the stove after a long day at work. Wedding mementos, discarded toys, and an array of special decorations, hand chosen to match the decor in Caddon View, the hotel in Innerleithen which we ran for 10 years before moving to France.

An array of souvenirs which have found their way on to the Christmas tree

All those things which if they hadn’t found a home on the tree would have been relegated to the back of a drawer, never to be seen for years or worse still,would be languishing in the landfill somewhere when someone ( usually my other half ! ) eventually decided they were just clutter and not worth keeping.

Talking of  keeping things, I also have some treasured nativity figures, hand crafted for me by my gorgeous sister when I was about 14 years old. The dough is now crumbling away with age ( they are pushing 45 years now so not exactly surprising!). The angel has lost a wing and its nose and Mary’s veil is hanging on by a thread, so they are well past their sell-by date but every year I wrap them up carefully and will them to hang on for just  one  more Christmas.  I had high hopes of passing them down the generations but alas the home firing techniques back then left much to be desired. Jesus and Joseph are still holding up well though so  at least half of the ensemble might last a few years longer!

(She also knitted me an enterprising jumper in a fetching pale blue with a snowy hilly landscape scene on the front – that hasn’t stood the test of time quite so well !! )

Home made dough nativity figurines now pushing 45 years old!

The tree itself brings back memories of years of work when I was a retail  manager in Shoe City – it stood proudly at the front door of the shop, welcoming in thousands of customers and it reminds me of the many hours spent there with my team, some challenging but all very rewarding. I bought it when the chain of shops was sold and we were all made redundant. It’s been in our home for 25 years now and it’s not looking as sharp as it used to, but with its party attire on, it can still turn a few heads !!

25 years old and still going strong ( as long as it’s in its Christmas finery!!)

It will be a sad day for me (and the tree) when Emma and Alistair finally have their own homes and will no doubt want to take their own “memories” with them.

I do hope they will though – nice to keep family traditions alive.

A very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and safe 2022 to you all!

Well, it’s been a quick year ; and a long one.

I remember distinctly writing last year’s Christmas post and vowing to be more consistent in my warblings. I was only ever so slightly late when Covid struck and sent the whole world into a spin. Life, as we knew it, was completely turned upside down.

Who on earth would ever have thought that on a Wednesday afternoon in March we would be making a fool of ourselves, en famille, doing zumba over Zoom? That didn’t last long.

The novelty of confinement quickly wore off. Literally all of our bookings were (understandably) cancelled. The French Government were very responsive and helped us out short term during April and May ; eventually the Summer was all rebooked with French guests (British guests tend to book really far in advance so French Summer guests are a bit of a rarity!) and most of those who had to cancel rebooked for 2021 so we count ourselves very lucky indeed.

We were also very lucky in that the 1km allowance for daily exercise could easily be stretched to long walks in the woods without ever meeting another soul – just one of the advantages of life in the sticks. I have to admit to feeling pretty stupid , filling out my “attestation de déplacement” just in case a bored gendarme might be lurking in the bushes waiting to pounce out and fine me 135 euros on the spot for not having filled it out before leaving home. But then again, I’ve always been a rules and regulations kinda gal and old habits die hard!

I  decided to keep myself busy and signed up at the local Mairie to sew masks for Jayac’s release. I hadn’t sewn for quite a while so I was really looking forward to getting back behind the machine. A small group of women also turned up to offer their services and discuss the various techniques on which was the best design, how to adapt patterns etc etc.I was getting quite carried away with the idea and when the Mayor asked how many masks we would like to sew I enthusiastically blurted, out, “I’ll take 50 to start off with!”.

Other voices followed. “I’ll take 10”. “I might manage 20 but I’m not sure”. I’ll just take 5″.

Note my fetching pincushion, handmade by Jo Red Dog Sews – check out her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/ie/shop/RedDogSews

They obviously knew more about this mask making marlarky than I did. I was there for days, measuring, cutting, folding, sewing, adding elastics … I soon got into a rythym though and was quite proud of my little pile of completed masks when Emma & Alistair asked if I could make some for them and their friends. Off I went again, glad I had kept all the offcuts of material from previous sewing projects. Waste not, want not!

Our own house build was thrown into chaos as well. It was all going swimmingly and we were secretly quite proud at how quickly it was advancing, given that bureaucratic speed isn’t one of France’s great fortés. The ground floor was more or less complete and our two man team of trusty workers decided  to have a week’s break before tackling the upstairs – the night before confinement struck. They didn’t come back.

Amar was thrown into disarray. This was mid March and we needed to be out of our rented accommodation by the end of May.

I could see him mentally looking around for solutions and feeling his eyes land on me, wondering if I would cut the mustard. Probably not, but let’s face it, he didn’t have much choice.

Luckily we had pre bought most of the materials before so we had the necessary stock of metal rails, plasterboard, insulation, etc. We just needed to get it all assembed over a near 5 metre drop over the empty stairwell.

steep drop down if balance is lost !!

Boards laid on thick wooden planks to cover most of the hole and two ladders on top so we could work at the same height did nothing for my confidence. I struggled to get the screws in at a height and even more trying to hold the plasterboard in place while Amar took charge of the electric screwdriver. He was exasperated with his new, next to useless assistant! I practically begged him to take some photos of me at work ( for posterity and fun factor!) but he saw this as futile and time-wasting – there was work to be done, for goodness sake!!

Nothing else for it then but to take them myself. While he was off collecting supplies from the garage, I quicky set up the camera on the self timer and took photos of me myself – with varying degrees of success I have to say!

We got the job done though, in spite of it all and eventually moved in at the end of June.

Just in tme for me to start a temporary part time job as a helpline agent for UK Nationals applying for their obligatory post Brexit French residency permits.

Having left behind 7 gites and all the work that went along with that, I figured I’d have plenty of spare time   Well, confinement and travel restrictions have certainly given me more free time than I would have liked, but apart from ensuring that I’ve had little opportunity to be bored, I have had the best experience, learning new skills, meeting some fantastic work collegues (albeit still only virtually) and helping to alleviate the stress of filling in online forms for those who are not computer savvy or don’t have internet.

Franco British Network helpline: open Mon, Tues Wed 9am – 1pm and Thurs, Fri 1pm -5pm
Tel 05 19 88 01 09     www.francobritishnetwork.fr

I even managed to get myself on French TV ( for all of 3 blink and miss it seconds ! )The Brexit deadline has come and gone but as long as you are already here, you can still apply up until 30th June. I can honestly say I’ll be sorry when my contract finishes but I’m sure I’ll stay in touch with the team so that’s one good thing to have come out of 2020!!

Let’s hope there’s a lot more positive things coming our way in 2021!

It’s with mixed emotions that we have now handed the reins over to a new family who will no doubt add their own footprints on the paths we have left behind and take this little corner of Jayac on to another level.

When we moved to France, Emma was 8 and Alistair was 6. After a year of looking for the “ideal” place, we were all relieved to finally be putting down some roots at Les Crouquets. We turned up at 3am in the pitch dark and stayed in Le Fournil. When we opened the door in the morning 3 sheep strolled into the kitchen like it was the most natural thing in the world …. it was a culture shock in every sense of that well used phrase. There began our adventures.

For the first month we had no phone, no internet, no television and no outdoor lights. We did have the old owner’s Doberman though, an unapproachable animal with a dislike of children and this dog was the reason we found ourselves creeping across the garden with a kitchen knife when we thought we were being robbed in the middle of the night  (we weren’t) …. safe to say we found ourselves at the start of a very steep learning curve. And learn, we did – Amar very quickly morphed from an academic university lecturer turned self taught chef/hotel owner into the most versatile DIY Man Friday you could ever hope to meet! I suddenly found myself able to multi task with a speed and dexterity I didn’t know I possessed, including relearning my night school French which right from the outset was sorely inadequate for the intregrated life we were aiming for.

There have been highs and lows, ups and downs, all now etched firmly in our minds …

• The neighbouring farmer who took us to court over the pitch & putt course (and is now a good friend )
• The joy of going to collect 9 month old Susie, the donkey and the despair of almost killing her on the way home ( still to be documented!)
• The midnight games of 40-40, boules, Spotlight, BBQs and countless glasses of rosé framboise , prosecco and Pitchers
• The enormous challenge of turning a stony field into a 9 hole pitch & putt course
• The escapades of covering the henhouse and fences with electric wiring so the  the foxes wouldn’t get in and goats wouldn’t get out and then Amar proceeding to “test” the over powered current with his bald head
• Susie’s training course and chipping icicles off her coat when it was minus 15 degrees
• Adopting Poppins and having to turn my workroom into a temporary kitten nursery
• Father & son football matches, competitive golf tournaments and more recently an even more competative triathlon!
• Hand shearing the sheep
• Concerts and improvised theatre shows
• Hedgehog hunts
• Impressive thunderstorms, one of which left us with no electricity for 3 days in August
• Daveed , the dormouse
• Hairy tights for the fox
• The sight of a row of eager children parked outside our front door every morning waiting for Alistair to get up and lead them to the abandoned car in the woods like the mini pied piper of Jayac!

The list is endless … these are just a scant few of the millions of memories we have amassed … some of these tales are documented in this blog, many more are waiting to regale anyone who wants to listen. I could literally write a book, and maybe I will when the time is right .

But the best part of our time here is without a doubt the people we have met. How privileged we have been to have met so many, many genuinely wonderful, warm and endearing families. We are humbled that many have returned year after year and whose children have “grown up” along with ours and of some of which we now count in our circle of good friends. We couldn’t have done it without you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We hope that Phillippe, Guillaume,Jessica and their children have the same enriching experiences as we have had and we wish them all well in their new venture.

Jessica & Guillaume Joly – new owners of Les Crouquets!

And us? Well we still have La Tour de Genèbre to keep us occupied and Amar is about to embark on building us a house, also in Jayac so we’re not going far! But for now it’s time to sit back and take stock before moving on to the next chapter ….

Bonne continuation à tous !!

The Bugle, monthly free local newspaper

So when I come across the latest monthly edition of The Bugle , a local, free, English newspaper, I happily scoop up a few copies; one for me and some to leave in the gamesroom and up at La Tour de Genèbre  for our guests. I then settle myself down for a good read with a nice cup of tea and some biscuits …. So British!

In among a piece about Ryan Air’s recent cancellations scandal and a story about France now banning too skinny models, this month’s edition just happened to have an article from The Grumpy Granny Guide comparing 3 Dordogne climbing attractions. These have all been visited by lots of our guests before so I thought it might be quite interesting to reproduce their findings here.

Their testing team was made up of an experienced mountaineer, a 10 year old child and a fearless teenager. It may be pertinent to note that they omitted to include a 50 something, risk averse, stiff jointed, prone to vertigo mother of two, ( aka Moi!!) in this focus group so the results may be somewhat skewed !

Anyway, here are their findings, copied verbatim (in italics) from the Grumpy Granny write up in The Bugle …. hope the editior, Steve Martindale doesn’t mind!

The Grumpy Granny Guide to climbing adventures in the Dordogne

_____________________________________________________________________

BIG BIRD

This attraction has been squeezed into the crowded Euroland site next to Le Bournat and is a glorified climbing frame for all ages. The safety harness ensures you feel totally secure and it was judged to be a very “tame” experience because at every step you can choose your level of difficulty and it’s not hard to negotiate.

“More annoying than challenging”, “An acrobatic and not a climbing experience”, “Fine for the very young or those who have never climbed before” were the team’s comments.

However the ticket price is high at €17 for what is a short visit (approx 30-40 minutes or even less for an agile or experienced climber), and not really exciting enough to merit a “stand alone” visit. But, it could be included if you are visiting Le Bournat or the Aquarium and have time, and money, to spare.

Big Bird climbing experience in Le Bugue. Photo credit –  www.ce-multi-entreprises.fr

VIA FERRATA

The Via Ferrata in the grounds of Marqueyssac was a much greater success. Well organised, there was a feeling of total security yet with more than enough of a challenge to make it exciting. The Via Ferrata is included in the price of a visit to the gardens, which means those in your party who are adventurous can test their skills while the others can can go off and admire the gardens. The cliff just below the gardens has been transformed into a via ferrata (climbing wall) and the panorama over the river is magnificent. Even our expert climber was thrilled with the spectacular view from this angle. Contrary to the impression given from the Marqueyssac online video, it is not – and does not feel – dangerous, but to allay any fears you may have you can make a 50m test run before committing yourself to the longer ( approx 45 minute) climb. An excellent initiative which some other sites would do well to follow.

The one negative was the lack of signs indicating where the Via Ferrata was located in the grounds. The team had a frustrating time finding it. Overall judgement – “Brilliant!”

People in action on the Via Ferrata!  Photo credit  – www.journees-du-patrmoine.com

You can see a video of people in action here!! In agreement with the above report, to me it just looks petrifyingly scary, but for all those adrenalin junkies out there I can see why it would be a fantastic experience – I can almost, almost see myself now, clinging one handedly on to those ropes while clutching my camera with the other hand , hoping in vain to capture some of those breathtaking views which are almost certainly … in my case, possibly quite literally … to die for !

FORET DES ECUREUILS

The experience at the Forêt des Ecureuils is different again, consisting of a number of high rope trails through the trees which present different levels of difficulty which you can select to climb as you go round the grounds. Again there is something for all ages and the price of the ticket depends on the level selected ( from €15 ). This site presents a real, but achievable challenge with the added advantage that you can spend the best part of a day there if you so choose, stopping off for a snack or picnic or just stopping to catch your breath.

This site was judged to be really exciting and very good value for money; far better than the flyer suggested,being a true climbing experience and not just a set of ropes and zip wires.

However, getting from one trail to the next was complicated by poor signage and the lack of information in the trail area. Something to be corrected for next year’s season maybe?

high wire action at La Forêt des Ecureuils in Sarlat. Photo credit : http://www.sarlat-tourisme.com

All 3 sites staff were friendly and helpful, ensuring clear, careful safety procedures and all spoke some English.

_____________________________________________________________________

There are quite a few other similar activities in the Dordogne which the Grumpy Granny Guide intends to test for next season so if any of our guests who have tried out some others want to give their tuppence worth you can e-mail them at grumpygrannyguide@orange.fr

A few which could well be included next time are:

Monkey’s Forest

L’Appel de la Forêt

Airparc Périgord

Do let us know if you’ve tried any and what you thought ….. in the meantime while I’m waiting for the November edition of The Bugle to hopefully come up with a more sedate set of amusements to test, I may well take myself off to the Via Ferrata for that 50 m trial run ….. who knows, I might even come back with a head for heights!

As this season hurtles towards a close it’s hard to believe that I haven’t found the time to post on here since March… this year has gone by faster than ever and finding the discipline and motivation to write has been elusive to say the least!

But events this week have spurred me on and fueled by a certain amount of maternal self satisfaction, here I am putting pen to paper at last ( or fingers to keyboard for a more up to date turn of phrase!)

Regular guests at Les Crouquets may well have heard our daughter Emma sing before , either here or at local events and more recently with our son, Alistair who also plays the guitar.

This year they both decided to audition for a place in La Truffe de Périgueux – this is a strange name for a singing competition but I presume it’s linked to prestige, both the truffle and the contest being well sought after products!

La Truffe de Périgueux ……

……. and its prestigious counterpart worth around 1200 € a kilo!

7 auditions were held at various venues around the Dordogne and Emma qualified for the semi final first time round. Disappointingly Alistair wasn’t selected and in spite of several people saying he should try again next year, he was undeterred and decided to have another go at the auditions in Boulazac.

“If at first you don’t succeed……” yes, his persistence paid off and in spite of facing an audition with some very stiff competition he was selected for the semi final. He couldn’t believe it and genuinely thought that he would have no chance at making the final.

Both the semi final and the final were held at the spectacular Parc Gamenson in Périgueux which was first acquired by the state in 1876 . A beautiful backdrop for a fantastic two nights of entertainment. We were absolutely thrilled that both Emma & Alistair got through to the final and so pleased that at least if they got no further they had both done themselves proud and anything else was a bonus!

The 7 acts in the semi final plus the winner of the Under 16s section, 11 yr old Mary Wattiau who sang New York, New York

Friday’s final was a unforgettable & nail biting experience for all the contestants  ( and for us, especially Amar who was on the edge of his seat all night, crossing everything for his two prodigies !!!)

I was so impressed at how all the contestants coped with the pressure, especially the Jeunes Espoirs section who had children from 9 to 15 years old. Anything live brings an extra pressure as there’s no take two and your reputation is on the line. There were between 3500 and 4000 in the audience, plus it was streamed live on Facebook and on the radio’s website as well as broadcast live on all of France Bleu’s South West France stations. You wouldn’t have got me up on that stage for love nor money!

Local musician Tibz with his recent track, Nation

The 13 strong judging panel was headed up by local musician Tibz whose recent track Nation has been featured  widely in France this year. Also performing was Ours , another famous French musician with an even more famous Dad, Alain Souchon.

Anyway let’s cut to the chase – after watching all the performances and entertainment (and celebrating Emma’s 20th birthday in the park with cake & bubbly) waiting for the results was one of the most nerve wracking experiences we’ve gone through for a long time …. of course you always hope your children will do well but the competition was stiff and so diverse that it was anyone’s guess.

So you can only imagine how over the moon we felt to hear Alistair get 3rd prize and Emma get awarded 1st !!!!!!

To everyone who wished them well and supported them on the night from near and afar …. thanks a million!!!

Emma’s winning performance – listen here!

Emma’s winning entry “Je Suis Un Homme” by Zazie

Alistair’s performance of “Liberta” by Peps earned him 3rd place – listen here!

Alistair’s performance of Liberta by Peps earned him 3rd place

A proud Alistair and an emotional Emma collecting their prizes

So if you happen to see me and Amar strutting around Les Crouquets with our chests all puffed out like a couple of cockerels on steroids, don’t worry about it – it’s just parental pride !!

PS – a massive congratulations to all the contestants and in particular to Alysce , a hugely talented singer songwriter who walked away with nearly all the prizes for that category!!

THANK YOU!

A special thanks to France Bleu Périgord and CLAP Périgueux for providing us all with a fantastic experience!  Merci à tous !!!!

One of the joys of living in the French countryside is the abundance of wildlife …. it’s also one of the hazards, especially at night when all sorts of animals, rarely seen during the day wander out of the woods for a midnight stroll.

these lovely creatures are safer during the day than at night!

We have always managed to avoid any unfortunate late night collisions – until last week. We were about 500 metres from home when a young deer bounded out of nowhere and straight into our car. Luckily it was fairly small but still big enough to create that sickening thud when you just know that all is not well.

We screeched to a halt (a bit of exaggeration for literary effect here as we actually weren’t driving that fast, thank goodness) and got out to assess the damage.

The deer was stunned, lying twitching in the ditch obviously very distressed. Amar was at the car simultaneously weighing up the big hole in the front wing**, trying to suppress his guilty feelings at not being able to stop in time and wondering if now was a good time to be dreaming up a new venison recipe (Who said men can’t multitask?).

Technically turning this disaster into a meal would not be legal as the person who kills a deer on the road is not allowed to keep it – the next person to come along is allowed to keep it and Amar was mentally nominating me as that lucky winner.

I was having none of that though and got down in the dirty ditch with the poor animal, stroked its head and told it that everything was going to be ok. It didn’t look like it was ok but if this was its last night on earth I certainly wasn’t going to let it suffer alone. It gradually calmed down, stopped gasping and went very stilI. I assumed it was heading for the Rainbow Bridge. But it looked up at me with huge, wide eyes and strained its head round to look at Amar.

I don’t know what happened then – maybe it felt renewed by my healing touch or maybe it was the vision of red wine, chocolate and a bouquet garni which gave it strength but it suddenly leaped up and shot off across the road like Lazarus on an energy drink.

I’m not ashamed to say I cheered out loud and for all his culinary planning Amar looked pretty pleased too! Now who knows, maybe it had internal injuries and didn’t survive after all but as far as I’m concerned it got away! Ya boo to the local hunters who would have no doubt laughed me and my inner Florence Nightingale all the way to the roasting spit.

Ironically we had been heading home from Perigueux and they are building a 2nd animal bridge on the A 89. These bridges are planted with trees, shrubs and grass to create as natural environment as possible to provide deer, boar and the like a safe way to cross the motorway. I still wonder how an animal contemplating crossing a busy road would actually think to keep going another couple of kilometres so it could use the bridge but it’s a great idea nonetheless!

Off now to the count the cost of repairing the car.

* 2017 Commandments

No point in mentioning what they were as it’s almost irrelevant …. safe to say they were all in much the same vein as No 3 !!

** on closer inspection we could see all the deer hair sticking to the jagged plastic which strangely enough made me think of a line from Rabbie Burns’ Tam O’ Shanter  ( one of my all time favourite poems)

Tam O’Shanter – love this poem!!

“Whom his ain son o’ life bereft, the grey hairs yet stack to the heft”

Alas , here I am contemplating the list of all the people I haven’t written to and wondering if a blanket heartfelt message via social media will suffice or if it would be better to cash in on that fantastic French custom of sending a New Year’s message instead. This can be done right up until the end of January so it’s actually very tempting!!

I’m also considering the possibility of squeezing in a quick dash round the shops for those last minute gifts, the ideas for which have been firmly planted in my mind since last Christmas but have only just decided to send me the reminder last night… plus ça change, as they say in French!

This isn’t as bad as it sounds though as round here the Christmas shopping frenzy is actually very sedate. Yes a few more people milling around but all with very modest shopping trollies …. nobody here seems to buy up the supermarkets as if they’re suddenly going to be handed out ration books. This is a good thing but the lack of buzz always catches me out and no matter how organised I think I am, every year Christmas seems to creep up on me unannounced. The Christmas markets are lovely though ….all mulled wine and roasted chestnuts and very picture perfect.

And we have had some stunning Winter sunsets which all add to the festive charm and are altogether much more appealing than panic buying up the local Carrefour!

This year may be a bit more focussed (or frantic, don’t know which yet) as we have decided to have our Christmas meal today on Christmas Eve…. Emma has been invited for Christmas Dinner by her significant other and to avoid the pain of having to eat two dinners on the same day we have compromised…..this means I have a whole day less to get my act together (so I suppose I really shouldn’t be writing blog posts right now !)

One thing I have managed to do ahead though is publish this year’s Christmas newsletter! It’s just a quick catch up of the year gone by and the one to come – you can find it at  www.lescrouquets.net/newsletter.php  and if you would like to receive next year’s news just sign up to our subscriber’s list ( Don’t worry, you won’t be bombarded with loads of annoying e-mails – I won’t promise anything more than an annual send out as given my track record this is highly unlikely to happen!)

This year’s Christmas newsletter

Oh yes, and our Christmas guests at La Tour de Genèbre are already settled in and looking forward to a cosy family Christmas (so in effect I have had two houses to decorate) …

Ready for Christmas at La Tour de Genèbre

….and I have managed to fit in a bit of pre Christmas homebaking too …

home made festive nibbles!

….very Martha Stewart after all!

Anyway I just wanted to wish everyone here a very merry Christmas and only good things and lots of happy times in 2017.

Bonnes fêtes à tous and see you all next year !!!