Back To England

Well, I know I haven't been on here for quite a while, the whole ordeal of selling and moving out of France and back to England has been so time consuming and tiring.

What I will say at this stage is that we have been back here in England for a couple of months and are enjoying every minute of it. It is so nice to be greeted with a smile when one enters a shop, its wonderful to know exactly what I am buying and the food here in the supermarkets have over whelmed us. So much choice and hardly any difference in price. One feels at home and welcome and all the problems of translating and having to think about what one says and how one says it have almost disappeared from our minds now. When a bill comes through the door its so easy to understand every word and so easy to pay without any red tape or bureaucracy. When we disagree with something its so easy to explain our problem. In fact.... its so good to be home !

All the family came over at Christmas time, something which never happened in France and we were able to serve a proper Christmas dinner, something else which never happened in France.

It is very strange to say that neither us miss France, but we can say with hand on heart - that is the case. We even have accepted quite easily all the problems which England seems to have, perhaps it is because it is home and will always be so.

The rented house that we moved into, from the moment we entered felt more like home than France ever did.

Anyway, thats all the want to say at this moment, and I will start back dating some stories on how difficult it was to get home and then a nightmare to travel back to France for a couple of days to complete the sale on the house.

Summer has arrived

Having had such beautiful weather this past week or two, we now feel that summer has arrived. The garden is looking lovely with so many beautiful colours and such attractive plants. The Sun always makes one feel so much better.

We have visited quite a few Vide Greniers lately; the English equivalent of a Car Boot Sale. (Although the translation into English means "attic clearance" or "empty loft") It seems most villages will have one during May and June and throughout the summer months. It is always so pleasant and enjoyable perusing these stalls, talking to the French and getting to understand more about their culture and habits. We are often surprised to see some English stall holders as well, often selling English books etc. This does make a pleasant afternoon out especially if it’s in a village that we haven’t looked around, and there are so many little villages scattered amidst the countryside. All have their own identity, charm and uniqueness and are absolutely well worth a visit.

Today we woke with a scattering of rain, which now seems to have died out, and it is bright again. Summer certainly is a time when we can appreciate all the benefits of being in this wonderful region of France.

Mushrooms in France

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 prefecture) where you wish to pick mushrooms and they will advise.

Tools of any sort are forbidden with the exception of knives
A knife must be used to cut the stipe so as not to damage the mycelia
Mushrooms must be a certain size before being picked so that they have a chance to release their spores
Mushrooms must be carried in a wicker basket to let the spores fall out and help propagation

Do remember that there are over 3,000 varieties of mushroom in France and only a few of these are edible. People still die in France from eating poisonous mushrooms and if not fatal can cause problems such as diarrhoea, nausea, hallucinations, vomiting, cramps, coma and more serious conditions such as convulsions, tachycardia or kidney infection.

Poisonous mushrooms closely resemble edible ones. Pharmacists in France normally have a large photograph on their wall of all the various mushrooms, and are professionally trained to identify which are poisonous and which are not, so if in doubt always consult your local pharmacy in France.

If you collect any wild mushrooms to eat do make sure that your identification checks out in every detail, weather conditions or animal damage can cause differences in appearance that could lead to misidentification and do remember that there are people who are allergic to all species of mushrooms.

One of the most deadly of all mushrooms is the Amanita Phalloides (Death Cap) see image

In case of accidental poisoning, contact the Emergency Service, and if possible, keep some of the mushrooms or the remains of the dish eaten. Do not attempt to throw up and do not take any drugs.

There are some Anti-Poison centres in France

Angers tele: 02 41 48 21 21
Bordeaux tele: 05 56 96 40 80
Lille tele: 0 825 812 822
Lyon tele: 04 72 11 69 11
Marseille tele: 04 91 75 25 25
Nancy tele: 03 83 32 36 36
Paris tele: 01 40 05 48 48
Rennes tele: 02 99 59 22 22
Strasbourg tele: 03 88 37 37 37
Toulouse tele: 05 61 77 74 47

Rain, Rain and more Rain

Well, Tired of Roaming is one thing, but being Tired of Rain is another. When is it going to stop I ask myself.

The other day we had such electric storms, turned off everything we thought that could be affected, which included our pc’s. Once the storm had passed, or so we thought, we turned on the computers again to carry on and several minutes later with no warning came a loud crash, yes, that done it, hit by lightening across the telephone cable. Blew the box and our router, so it has taken a while to get things back to normal.

We know we should appreciate the rain, but at this stage we do not mind giving it to Inland Spain, we know how much they need it. It seems it has done nothing but rain. Think we are all suffering from Sun deprivation now, and are in need of a holiday in the Sun. Weather reports say again Rain all week and temperatures down to 14… is there no end to this and will we ever get our Summer sunshine.

We have been told that this is very unusual for this Region of France.....

So in the meanwhile, we will try to keep smiling.

Dechetterie

A Dechetterie is the French name for a Waste Collection Centre, as known in England as the local council rubbish tip.

In France they are normally extremely well organised and easy to use. Usually you drive your car onto a raised area therefore making the “tipping” part very easy, particularly if you use a tipping trailer as you can reverse right up to the edge to tip your load.

We have found our local Dechetterie to be very helpful and will guide you as to where to put the items, and sometimes help to unload depending on how busy they are.

Do try to avoid mixed loads unless you are prepared to sort it out when you arrive as they are quite strict as to what is allowed in the various containers and it can be time consuming moving the car around the area.

There are large categorised skips for all your rubbish and below is the English-French translations which may help when unloading:

French	English	French	English
Bois	Wood	Emcombrants	Mattresses etc
Ferrailles	Scrap Metal	Dechets Verts	Green Waste
Papier	Paper	Verres	Glass
Huilles	Oil	D.M.S.	Spray Cans etc
Gravats	Rubble	Plastiques	Plastic
Cartons	Cardboard Boxes	Batterie	Batteries

Most Dechetteries are open from 9am until 12 noon and again 1.30pm until 6pm including Saturdays. Although most do have several mornings where they are closed for emptying and replacing. Sundays they are closed all day.