Priority to the right

I’ve always enjoyed driving, and driving in France is no different. Actually, it is probably more enjoyable.

Generally the roads all over France have far less traffic than in the UK, so the driving experience is much less stressful. However, I have always been a little unsure about a certain french driving rule, which I’d always heard about, but never quite understood. As we are now living here, it seemed more important to research it, and I can honestly say it really is worth trying to understand, as ignoring it could get you in a spot of bother. It does seem quite an odd rule when you first experience it though, so we thought we would share our understanding of it, and a local example, so you can see how it works in practice.

The rule is called ‘priorité à droite’, or priority to the right - and it’s exactly that. I was never quite sure if it was a myth or not, but it isn’t, it’s part of the french Highway Code.

It works like this; roads entering the road you are on from the right either do, or don’t, have priority over you. If they do, you may be presented with a red triangle with a black ‘X’ in it as a warning. However, these roads do not always have a warning sign before them, so roads entering from the right may have priority anyway. If the road to the right has a ‘stop’ or ‘give way’ sign then they do not have priority, but you may not see that immediately indicated by their road markings (or at all). One of the difficulties of this rule is that local drivers will sometimes just pull out without looking, anticipating your slowing down, but as some of the roads included in this rule have an 80 kph speed limit it can get a little hairy. Failing to give way will render you responsible if there is an accident, it will certainly provoke car horns, waiving of arms and angry words at least.

For me, it seems strange when you are travelling along a straight main road, possibly at speed, with little knowledge perhaps of the area and you suddenly find you have to give way to a minor road from the right. And often the road could have a building, a hedge, or a tree or something obscuring it from view until the last second. I would also say be careful if you are the one entering from the right, as they don’t always honour the rule. As I said, a bit of a tricky one for those not used to it, however there are times that it can work really well, such as at a busy crossroads in town, where you will find the traffic keeps moving - organised chaos.

There are four types of roads in France: autoroutes, routes nationales, routes departmentales and routes communales. This rule only applies to routes departmentales and routes communales, the smaller of the road types. However it does apply to all roads that fall into those categories, whether they are in rural France, in villages, or in towns or cities.

So, just something to beware of when driving in France.

A long weekend!

It’s another ‘bank holiday’ weekend in France. The sun is shining and I’m enjoying my strawberries and yoghurt before getting back out to finish painting the atelier. There were 4 public holidays this year throughout May, two of which are moveable as they are linked to Easter, and two are fixed to a specific date.

The first one is Labour day on 1st May, and the second is Victory day on 8th May. These are fixed dates, which this year fell on a Saturday, so no long weekends to enjoy. Not that we notice that at the moment. However it is good to know when they are, as shops will often be shut. We have found that some supermarkets will open for just the morning.

The second two dates are moveable, the first is Ascension day which is 39 days after Easter Sunday, and the last one is Whit Monday, 50 days after Easter Sunday.

What sometimes happens, as well, is that if a holiday lands on a Thursday say, then the day in between that and the weekend may also be taken as holiday. Never to miss a chance for a day off.

RollIn’ on

Brian has spent the last couple of days sanding and cleaning down the atelier ready to be painted. It has been a very messy, dusty job. However, all his hard work has paid off, as today we were able to both get in there and start painting.

We just about got one coat on, only a bit of cutting in that got missed. Tomorrow though we will be back in there and attempt to get the second coat on.

It’s looking good

Enjoying a coffee out

This morning we needed to collect the flooring we had ordered for the ‘atelier’, so we thought we’d take the opportunity and support our local café. The sun was shining, however it was still a little chilly, but the cafe was not busy, so it was an ideal time to sit outside and enjoy our first coffee at our favourite little market cafe for a very long time.

The french created strawberries

Strawberries and cream, such a British institution, however the strawberry was developed in France. They were originally created by the introduction of large white strawberries brought back in the 18th century by a military naval engineer from South America. They were given to Louis XIV’s gardener, but they lacked flavour so were of no real interest to the royal courts. So he sent them to a farm in Brittany who started to crossbreed them with wild woodland berries. A centre of production grew around the small town of Plougastel just near Brest, which is still operating today.

It is now purported that the best strawberries are ‘Gariguettes’ produced in southern France. The Ciflorette, another strawberry type, follow the season of the Gariguettes which run from March to June. Although, generally you pay more in France for strawberries I can vouch for the fact that they seem sweeter and have an intense strawberry fragrance.

Tarte aux fraises

Self levelling

We were both keen to get on with the laundry room floor today, so after a plate full of banana pancakes, we headed outside to focus on the task.

My job was to mix the cement, I had 2 minutes a bag. Brian was then going to be laying it. He had already made himself a special tool for the job - which he named ‘the squeegy’. It was a piece of rubber he had secured onto a wooden bar, which he had then fixed onto an old mop handle. This was going to be an important implement to ensure he could move the self levelling cement around for it to find its natural position.

Once we started the job we effectively had 20 minutes to finish it. That would be when the first lot of mixed cement would start to set!

here we go…

Doing the laundry

It was a difficult morning getting up, the air was quite cool, the sky grey and there was a risk of rain. But after our morning tea in bed, we soon jollied each other to get up and start our day.

We wanted to try and move forward with the laundry room. We were at that stage where things were going to get worse before they got better. First of all we needed to bite the bullet and empty it out. Brian then suggested I paint the tongue and groove he’d put up. He had already undercoated it so I just needed to pick some paint from our collection we’d put together over the years. We had a very old pot of ‘eau de nil’ paint from Laura Ashley. I’ve no idea why we bought it, except I love the colour. This I think is the perfect time to use it, and luckily it had stored really well and went on nice and smooth. It is a really fresh colour, and I’m loving the look.

I then wanted to get a coat of floor paint onto the concrete slab we had laid previously. This also went down really well, although it will need a second coat.

Tomorrow we will be floating the self-levelling floor on the other half of the room so the last job today is to clean the floor down in preparation. We then need to understand what we need to do to lay it. All we do know is we will need to be prepared and work quickly, as it sets within about 20 minutes. Although to be safe, we will not walk on it for 24 hours.

St Honoré day

The 16th May is the feast day of Saint Honoré, the patron saint of bakers, also known as St Honoratus de Amiens. With our love of french bakers and patisseries we felt that it was a day that needed celebrating so we went to the bakers early this morning to pick up some goodies. The baguette was delicious, and has already nearly gone. The pain aux raisins always delicious, and were eaten with coffee this morning. The galette de chaource are made with the local chaource cheese, we have yet to try these, but we may have one cut up with drinks this evening or more likely, as I will have had a ‘bakers day’ overload, as a nice snack tomorrow.

The St Honoré cake, I think, is produced locally near Amiens, which is a couple of hours drive north from here. It is normally made with choux buns filled with vanilla cream and covered in caramel - as we couldn’t get one of these we plumped for a chocolate religieuse cake. Which is 2 choux buns filled with chocolate creme pate and covered with chocolate icing - very decadent, and very delicious.

Fry up

It was a cold, dull, wet day - we needed a pick me up to get started. So I decided to cook us a fried breakfast.

My day consisted of doing some jobs in the house, Brian wanted to get on with some more work in the laundry room. He gave the tongue and groove another coat of paint, and prepared some skirting to be fitted along the bottom. He then cleaned the cement floor down ready to be painted tomorrow. It’s very much a work in progress.

Pot of gold

We are having some very unseasonal weather for May. It’s only about 15°c and the days are spattered with rain showers. Great for the garden, but not so great for us. Yesterday we were lightened with an amazing double rainbow, it was so bright and a full curve, it looked like it was holding the dark rain cloud up and only letting the soft spring rain fall on our village.

One end of it shone right onto the top of our neighbours shed, Brian is considering going to dig it up for the pot of gold.

An amazing sky

We are now focusing on getting the laundry room finished. There is a dirty old wall made of builders blocks which Brian is panelling with some tongue and groove wood.

Whilst he is progressing with this, I’m trying my hand at lime mortaring the stone wall. I thought this would be an easy wall for me to practice on, and it’s not too big so I won’t feel too daunted by it.

I’m hopeful over the next few days we will have made some good progress in this room.

Peonies

I just couldn’t resist cutting this gorgeous peony from the garden today.

I love peonies and it just so happens I have a few specimens around the garden. Peonies are actually quite easy to grow, they love full sun, or at least 6 hours of sun a day, and can cope with pretty dry climates, so no need to water. This rather large pink blossom, which has petals that look like tissue paper, is from a tree peony.

The tree peonies flower slightly earlier than the herbaceous bush peonies and produce these beautiful oversized flowers. The tree peony, which is deciduous, is starting to fade now and the flowers are dying back, but I’m looking forward to the bush peonies flowering next.

I’m going to try and split some of my herbaceous bush peonies this autumn (October/November) to make some more. To do this they will need to be lifted and split with a minimum of five eyes on each plant, then replanted and watered in well. The challenge though is that they may not flower for two to three years after being split, so I will need to chose carefully which ones I decide to do this with.

La chambre - magnum

There is a real satisfaction in completing a full day of activity and still making time for a cold beer in the warmth of the evening sun. I have to say we rarely have a day when we are not doing anything, but we are both loving the results we are getting from our efforts, and it never feels like a chore.

This morning we needed to finish waxing the last piece of the floor in the Magnum, and as it was such a gorgeous day, I also wanted to give the lawn a cut. So before our french lesson we set to doing both of these jobs.

The main plan for the day though, after french, was to move the furniture back into the Magnum.

The room is looking bright and airy, with a sense of calm. Having the bathroom with roll-top bath and walk-in shower attached feels like a touch of luxury soon to be enjoyed.

When I’m cleaning windows

Yesterday, we spent the day just finishing off some snags in the Magnum. Brian had another small plastered patch on the wooden floor he needed to make disappear which just fascinates me on how good he matches it. I washed the radiators down, and painted behind them - the hole had been cleanly filled - and Brian finished a final piece of lime mortar in the fireplace.

Today, I’ve been cleaning the windows whilst Brian has been waxing the floor. Once the wax has dried I buff it up with the polisher. I like to let it dry further overnight before giving it a final polish, it just allows the polish to soak into the wood. We are now looking forward to putting the furniture back in tomorrow.

Garden gym

It’s been quite an exhausting day today. We started off by mowing and strimming the slope, which is a major job in itself.

We then wanted to place the mulch chippings around the bottom of the laurels we had planted, to help minimise water loss. The trouble with both these jobs is that they involved lots of walking up and down the garden either pushing, or carrying, something heavy, which had left us both quite weary. We stopped for some lunch, had lots to drink to rehydrate (as it was quite a warm day) and decided to check our weather app. Rain is forecast on and off for most of this week.

We hadn’t moved the log pile yet, it was still in the middle of the courtyard, and Brian was conscious we didn’t want it to get rained on, so we made the decision that we needed to move it all into the barn this afternoon. There was way more than we thought, and some rather oversized and heavy ones that will need splitting later, but it has meant that our log storage has been very well replenished, although these logs are a good couple of winters away from burning. I have to say though, I used to pay good money for a workout like today!

How do we patent that?

We were completing some finishing touches in the Magnum today. Brian fitted a new retro light switch, which he needed to make a wooden mount for. I painted the ceiling rose he had put up yesterday, and cleaned the light fitting ready for him to put back up. We had a few areas of painting to finish off, which was mainly cutting in, not my strong point so I had left this to Brian. He had also fitted some architrave around the door, so I gave that a coat, but it will need another coat tomorrow.

A job we had been putting off, was filling a hole behind the radiator, I can see why it had never been done, it was just so difficult to get to.

So Brian, not one to be defeated, made himself a new multi tool. It was first used with a bit of sandpaper to smooth the area and remove some larger pieces of loose plaster. He then used it as his trowel. I think the proof will be tomorrow when he comes to sand it down, and I get to paint it.

Trop tôt

We headed into Bar-sur-Seine this afternoon as I was booked in at the Seine Pharmacy to have my first jab. I was about 20 minutes early, and I think Brian was trying to push me on my french so he suggested I go and tell them I was there. So in I went and in my best french I explained I had arrived early.The lady was very friendly, and said “Pas problem” (no problem). She asked me to take a seat and told me someone would come and get me. There was just one person in front of me, so I didn’t have to wait long. It was all very simple as I’d registered all my details online. Before long I was sitting with a cup of coffee just resting for 15 minutes, to ensure I was all ok following my vaccination. I am now a proud owner of my first vaccination certificate, and my second jab is scheduled for July.

We are able to get Brian booked in from Monday, he keeps telling people he is too yellow, as he keeps using the wrong pronunciation. He actually means he’s too young.

Would work?

The Magnum is really starting to come together. I have pretty much completed the painting now, I’m just waiting for Brian to complete some woodwork around the doors and then I can finish it off.

The fireplace is looking transformed. I love the way in which Brian has blended the additions he has made to the old mantelpiece so that it looks like it’s always been part of it. I may have had a small piece of doubt on whether the plan for the fireplace would work, but Brian has excelled himself on this one.

Chips and chops

It was a very grey day. It had started to drizzle, but most of all the wind was gusting, and from our top floor window, in the warm, we could hear the howling wind and see the tree swaying. However the arborists were dedicated to the task they had committed to and they just got on with it. It really did look quite scary though.

Throughout the morning we could hear the drone of the chainsaw, and the occasional crackling of falling branches as they clattered on their way down to the ground.

I just had to stop looking. The thought of being up the tree was scary enough, but I also didn’t want to think about what was being crushed under the falling debris.

In the afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse, and it started to chuck it down with rain. Needless to say, the guys did not return after lunch.

Today we woke to blue skies and fluffy, white clouds, it was a much calmer day altogether, and we decided we would go and take a look at what had been achieved. It was really good to see how they have been true to the natural form of the tree, and retained its statuesque frame.

They have spent today chipping the smaller branches for mulch, and cutting up the bigger ones (some of which had to be retrieved from over the fence) for use on the fire.

Before leaving they delivered the truck full of logs to our drive, which we will stack and leave to season in the wood store ready for us to use on the fire in a couple of years time. We will chop up any really big pieces over the coming months.

We are very happy with how they have worked, and how tidy they have left the area around the tree. It feels really pleasing when the people you have employed have pride in their work.

The plum tree, which was below the ash tree, did take a bit of a hit with a couple of branches, but they have cut them back and left it in good order. The tree is already breaking out in leafage, obviously enjoying its spring hair cut.

A rather blustery day

Last night we took a call from Marc Toussaint in Bar-sur-Seine to let us know that today he would come and start the work we had commissioned him to do. He was going to come and trim our 100 ft tree at the top of the slope. It is a beautiful tree, and we really don’t want to lose it, but it does need some attention, so we felt we needed to invest in getting it pruned.

After looking at the weather forecast though, he couldn’t have picked a worse day, or maybe hanging from a rope up a 100 ft tree swaying in 40 mph gusts is his idea of fun. We knew they would arrive early so, although we both thought it would get called off, we were up at 7.30am ready to greet them and show them how to gain access to the tree from the vineyards.

8am they arrived. Brian went out to meet them and in his best french directed them around the village and up to the tree. He then went to see them to clarify what was happening and that we wanted to keep - the logs for the fire and some chippings for the garden. I was very impressed, usually I would be there as well to help the translation (not that I’m always that much help), but he didn’t need me, he felt confident all was in hand and it was nice he felt it was like a proper conversation.

It wasn’t long before they were all hooked up and the trimming began. It’s not a job for people that don’t like heights, or get motion sickness.

I’m looking forward to see how today progresses.

A day off

We decided we needed a change from decorating today, so we packed up a couple of small quiches and some water and set out on a walk through the vineyards and across the fields. It was warm when the sun shone, but the north westerly wind was very chilly as it blew across the valley and caught our faces.

The vineyards had all been carefully tended and the soil had been cleared of weeds, apart from the occasional dandelion, which seem to be everywhere this year. It’s now a waiting game for the vignerons to understand how much of their crop they have lost to the harsh frosts we saw in April. We believe it to be quite devastating. We will see over the coming weeks as the vines continue to grow and are continued to be cared for.