This French Life

Author: Craig McGinty

  • So you want to offer yurt holidays in France?

    Ecovallee-yurts
    FOR Alex and Clare Crowe a move to France with their two young children was encapsulated in the phrase the Big Green Idea.

    The idea was to set up a small collection of yurts in the Dordogne countryside to offer summer holidays that promised a return to a simpler, greener way of life.

    Alex-croweBut the Big Green Idea soon became a rock to cling to as they were buffeted by a rising tide of bureaucracy and official opposition that threatened to scupper their plans.

    Having got through the other side, the family is now running the écovallée yurt camp, and Alex has written an ebook offering up his family’s experiences, as well as advice and tips on taking an idea from a piece of paper to reality.

    Here he tells how life in Brighton, and the busy advertising world, left the couple between two stools and looking for a way out:

    Alex Crowe – écovallée, part one

    The yurts sit on the side of the valley, with woods running around both sides, and visitors are able to look across a gently sloping field, and while not overlooked the camp is half a kilometre away from the busy Dordogne town of Lalinde.

    For many people it is the first time they have spent any time in a yurt, which are off grid and have solar powered fairy lights and showers.

    Alex will often find guests sat looking across the valley as many are amazed at the space in front of them, taking some time to get used to the countryside after spending their working days in busy cities.

    Now though with écovallée beginning to establish itself, and no plans to expand beyond one additional smaller yurt, Alex has a little more time to reflect on the project and see the benefits for both his waistline and the family.

    listen to ‘Offering yurt holidays in France’ on Audioboo

    Website: écovallée yurt camp
    Ebook: écovallée – behind the seams part one

  • A blast of winter chill across France

    France-autumn-chill
    A COLD winter blast from the north across much of France has shaken off any lingering summer memories and seen heavy snow, rain and winds.

    Night time temperatures are expected to be below freezing across eastern France, and over the weekend 15cm of snow fell on the lower reaches of the Alps, and a ferry was pinned to the harbour wall in Marseille after strong winds buffeted the region.

    Here in the Dordogne the light of the moon shimmered on the frosty fields early in the morning, but once the sun had risen its warm rays began to sparkle on the melting chill.

    The last of the cranes headed south over the weekend, their melancholic cry echoing across the valley, and with the last of the chestnuts being gathered I’m sure I saw a flash of red as a robin dodged under the laurel bush.

  • A virtual year in Poitou-Charentes

    Jo-harrisonIT is a year to the day that Jo Harrison left the UK to live in France, moving closer to her mother and her French boyfriend.

    From her home in Poitou-Charentes, Jo has been able to use websites such as Twitter and Facebook to help her fledging business take wing.

    And with her initial plans to offer virtual assistant services through her Writer’s Block Admin Services business having slowly transformed into providing ebook formatting and website advice as well , this willingness to be flexible has set her up for her second year in France.

    “I didn’t have a website when I first started, so I was literally using social media to get started and to put my name out there,” Jo said.

    (more…)

  • Trooping the grapes at Les Domaine des Sangliers


    AFTER passing an innocuous signpost near a small hamlet called Loupiac, in the Lot, I am en route for Les Domaine des Sangliers, vignoble biologique, in the Cahors valley, south west France.

    Veering past a red rock face, upward through a leafy canopy to a hilltop driveway which opens out on to ten cars, several vans and mobile homes, writes Carol Miers.

    I can see another sign to ensure there is no mistake, and as I walk toward some building works, I see a farmhouse and an open garage complete with grape picking troughs.

    What I already know is that all hands are needed for the annual vendange, which will be a few days of grape picking at Kim and Lisa Stanton’s organic vineyard.

    (more…)

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  • Telling a few Tales From Across La Manche

    Tales-la-mancheTHE sights and sounds, as well as some of the characters of France, have been brought to life in an new Kindle ebook by journalist Peter Clayton.

    Leaving behind his home in the north west of England to visit his maison secondaire, some 20 miles south of Cherbourg, Peter would use his trips to France to visit and explore the country.

    And it is many of his adventures and discoveries that have found their way in to Tales From Across La Manche, all of which he insists are ‘totally genuine’.

    “Because of family commitments, we now split our time between homes in Manchester and Normandy,” Peter said.

    (more…)

  • Village crime busting with Bruno Chief of Police

    Bruno-chief-policeI AM most probably the last person in France to have read Bruno Chief of Police, by Martin Walker, but just in case I’m not here is a quick review having just finished it.

    The crime story takes place in the small Périgord town of St Denis, and the solving of a particularly grizzly murder falls upon the shoulders of Captain Bruno Courrèges, the town’s chief of police.

    In the book Martin Walker brings his observation skills as a long standing journalist for newspapers around the world to the small details of French village life, capturing market scenes, petty administration but also the bonds of community that exist between family and friends.

    And Bruno’s understanding of that community is what helps him get to the heart of the crime, while others cast accusations and threats of prison upon the heads of local villagers.

    Anyone who has holidayed, explored or lives along the Vézère Valley will recognise many of the scenes described in the book, from hidden caves to the site of the local bank and cafes.

    It is an enjoyable feature of the book to spot these places in the text and compare them to the real layout in the towns and villages of the area.

    Bruno Chief of Police is not a deep book, or a blood thirsty crime thriller, more a pleasant stroll through the lives and foibles of an entertaining list of characters that find themselves thrown together in a market town in south west France.

  • Beneath the chestnut trees at harvest time

    Chestnut-tree
    BENEATH the wide canopy of the chestnut trees are spread fine nets scattered with shells and nuts waiting to be collected.

    It is a busy time in this corner of the Dordogne for the chestnut growers as they sprint out to collect the nuts between rain showers and strong winds.

    Our job for the afternoon was to grab a corner of the nets and pull them across to the other side to gather together all the chestnuts, and then do the same from the other side of the net.

    (more…)

  • Reflections on leaving France

    Jennie-wagnerA RECENT news story that made the headlines in France featured three Frenchmen urging young people to head overseas to find work and experience life.

    They claimed that the French system was ‘run by old men’ and that it worked against younger people, whilst opportunity was abundant in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, China and Senegal.

    I linked to the story on Twitter, and it was retweeted by Jennie Wagner who had faced her own difficulties when tackling the system so much so that it was one of the reasons that convinced her to leave France to head to Australia.

    The US-born linguist is fluent in French, created the popular ielanguages website and taught English in schools in the east of France and at the Université de Savoie.

    But as Jennie writes the frustrations of trying to work in the French system ultimately sapped her spirits, forcing her to move to southern Australia and the city of Adelaide.

    Quotesstart_2 I turned 30 years old in May, and moved to Australia in mid 2011 after spending nearly five years in France.

    Working in France was often depressing because I could only find temporary jobs (CDDs) with low incomes. I had a Master’s degree in Linguistics and years of experience in teaching English, and I could not find anything that was long-term or that paid what I felt I was worth.

    (more…)

  • A few signs of autumn in Périgord

    Autumn-morning
    AUTUMN, my favourite time of the year, with chill fresh mornings, yet the warm rays of the sun create magical, swirling mists which rise from the fields.

    Overnight, with a clear, full moon sky, you can take a walk by its light and as the sun rises pick out the tracks of animals in the morning dew.

    Chestnuts

    It is also chestnut season as the local farmers spread their netting beneath the heavily laden trees hoping for a bountiful harvest, but until the husks are split open we won’t know.

    Driving around the small, tight lanes of this southern corner of Périgord the bright green, spiky chestnut dazzles high in the trees as the late afternoon sun casts shadows over the valley.

    Spring-cabbage

    But I have an eye on next year, and as a bit of an experiment, a little square foot garden has popped up with a dozen spring cabbages in place, close enough to the house to be protected from winter frost and hopefully there will be one or two spare to pass on to friends.