Do your homework!

Do your homework and learn French!

Many people have the idea of moving to France in an attempt to get out of the British climate and dreary culture of the UK. We had a similar idea almost two years ago. When the opportunity of moving to the sunny Charente in mid France came up we jumped at it. Moving our two teenagers and all our house contents we arrived lock, stock and barrel in September 2010. We left the most beautiful house in North Wales and swapped it for a ramshackle collection of buildings on the edge of the quietest village in the world. It was a real culture shock!
Having had French lessons for over 6 years before we came out, I thought my standard of French was good - WRONG! It is woefully inadequate and having a conversation with my neighbours in more depth than the weather forecast is almost impossible for me.
We now had a gite complex to run and realised rather quickly that it was going to cost us rather a lot of money before we ever saw any return. We had a huge bill for the roof, septic tanks, plumber, electrician, gas man etc. The business is very seasonal and we had to supplement our income in other ways. Many people come to France with rose tinted specs until they realise that maybe it isn't going to be as easy as they thought. The British are very resourceful and I know of a former bank manager who is now a pool maintenance man and a former pharmaceutical salesman who is now a property manager. Many British people make things like cards, furniture or crafts to sell at markets, although few make a fortune. When you factor in all the taxes and charges you will be charged by the authorities I wonder whether it is worth it. You have to do what you can. Unless you speak French fluently it is unlikely you will get a job working for a French employer. Many British people have a  trade like building, plumbing or electrician, cleaning or gardening and these are the people who are in demand.
France is not cheap - it is much more expensive than the UK. The only thing that is cheaper is wine. I just paid 14 euros for the tiniest piece of beef that would have been about £6 in the UK. This is the reason why many people still do their shopping online at Asda or Tesco in the UK and get it delivered to France by one of the food delivery companies. Even with a charge of 20% for the transport it is still cheaper than buying in French supermarkets. What have you come to France for you may ask?

If you are thinking of running a business, think hard first. Do your sums, read the books if it is an established business, factor in how you are going to finance unexpected bills. Some friends of ours have moved out to start a restaurant. However, neither of them have any cooking experience and the waitress had almost zero French. Now they are in at the deep end trying to serve French-style food to the French. Not easy!

If you have dreamt of owning a pool remember that it isn't cheap and you will have to do a lot of maintenance. Always shut down the pool properly for winter (which can be surprisingly fierce) or get someone qualified to do it for you. This year's two-week winter freeze with temperatures of -17 degrees has caused many people's pool pumps, pipes and filters to simply burst causing huge bills that are not insured.

Schooling

We moved our two teenage boys to a tiny rural school where they were put in at the deep end and had to learn French rapidly. The school did help but the boys found it a real shock at first. The facilities and the technology provided for the pupils was so much below what they were used to in a UK school. All French schools seem to look like the same concrete block. The choice of subjects was very narrow and subjects like music and art were almost non-existent. The boys now speak French fluently and are also learning Spanish and Italian and generally we are pleased with the standard of education here. They work them very hard and they have tests every week but they have certainly learnt a lot. We had no idea about how the French education system worked and should have done more research. We didn't realise, for example, that at age 15 the children go to Lycee - the next stage in the education process and we did not realise how far we lived from the nearest one! Through a series of lucky breaks our son managed to get a place in Angouleme our nearest city and a French family to lodge with relatively cheaply but I know people who pay a fortune for their offspring to be at Lycee. Many English people move their children here and have no idea how hard it is going to be for them. Obviously, the younger they are the better. Remember that you will have to give them a lot of homework help until their French is better. If you have to move teens, do it before they start their GCSEs and give them at least 2 years at French college before Lycee. It is amazing how fast children pick up a language but unless they are very clever they will not be able to do it and often have to re-take the year or 'redouble' which is normal here but a demoralising step for many. Much of the information about schools is in French and it is hard for us to understand it all, particularly how to go through the next steps of the education system.
This all sounds rather negative but it is not meant to be. It is just what I wish I'd known before we took the step to move. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Has it been worth it? Certainly.www.charentecottages.com

French Dessert Recipes - Tarte Tatin

Just spent a lovely morning with my French teacher learning how to cook the classic French dessert Tarte Tatin. The lesson was in French and it was great for our vocabulary learning! It was really easy to make and the result was wonderful. Here is the recipe in English: peel and core six yellow golden delicious apples and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discoloration, add 100g butter to a frying pan on a low heat, when melted add 100g vanilla sugar (ordinary sugar will do), stir until the mixture thickens and becomes caramelized. Add the apple slices to the sugar mixture and coat the apples in the sauce. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring now and again to prevent burning. The mixture should be a rich golden brown. Meanwhile heat your oven to 200 degrees. When the apples are cooked tip them into a buttered flan dish or tarte tatin tin if you have one. Take a packet of ready-made and ready-rolled puff pastry and unroll it and lay it across the tin. Fold the excess pastry into the case around the edges. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. When it is browned take it out of the oven and leave it to rest for 15 minutes. When cooler but not cold put a plate over it and turn it over onto the plate. Et  le voilà ! Serve warm or hot with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.

French Winter Recipies

What better time than now to experiment with a few French recipes while there is five inches of snow on the ground and I am wondering what to fill the boys up with next! Tonight I hit on the idea of tartiflette - a dish that I have had in various restaurants in Poitou Charentes which is always delicious and very filling. It actually comes from the Haute Savoie region of France and is a staple in the mountains, just what is needed on a very cold day! The basic recipe says fry some chopped onion, garlic and smoked bacon lardons in a frying pan until just crisp. Meanwhile slice the potatoes thinly and cook them in a pan of water for about 5 minutes. After this, drain the potatoes. Rub a garlic clove around a casserole dish and then begin layering the potatoes with the bacon and onion mixture, a layer of roblachon cheese (or any mixed cheeses), single cream and fresh black pepper. Continue layering until the dish is full and finish with grated cheese on the top. Put in a medium oven for 20 minutes until brown and bubbling. If you are vegetarian just leave out the lardons and maybe replace them with some garlic mushrooms, Yum!

Snow!

After a bitterly cold week the snow finally fell and we had about six inches making the roads totally impassable and meaning that we have to stay home for a few days. The French farmers predicted this ages ago but I didn't really take any notice, now I'm wishing that I had. So thats why there was so many huge bags of salt for sale in the supermarkets!

My friend was due to land at Limoges airport on Sunday but her flight was cancelled and there was no way that I would have made it to the airport. They do not grit the country roads here at all so I am not risking going out in the car. Luckily I was prepared after last year's snow and I have enough food in and milk but the water pipes are frozen and we are having to go next door for fresh water. It is not as if you can pop to the local shop here - the nearest one is 3km away and I doubt it will be open! The boys are enjoying some time off school with their friends who arrived to play and haven't gone home yet! The log supply is running low and I am just hoping that the wood man will be able to get here in his truck when he can get out. In the meantime, just have to enjoy the view and at least the sun is out!

Brocante rumaging

Horrible January day today so what to do? While my son was out getting wet playing a football match I decided to visit Emmaus in Ruffec which is like a very large indoor brocante or car boot sale selling everything from china to beds. Its amazing the things you can find there, there are some real gems and a lot of rubbish. All the money raised goes to help the homeless. It is very popular with the French who queue up every Saturday afternoon before it opens to get the best bargains. Today I found a lovely chair for 10 euros in good condition. I was tempted to get a coffee table but the corner was chewed. I just missed a lovely stove and classic French sleigh bed both of which were sold in a flash. There are clothes, shoes, bedding with the most exquisite embroidered sheets, books, records, games, lamps, china, bikes and very large furniture items like armoires and dressers. If you buy a large item they will deliver it for you. A great place to spend a wet afternoon also a very good place to send things that you no longer want. Emmaus Ruffec is open every Saturday afternoon and alternate Wednesdays.

Angouleme Cartoon Festival

The city of Angoulême is getting ready for its annual cartoon festival which happens next weekend - January 26th-29th.  La bande dessinée is very popular all over France and thousands of people will descend on the city to grab a copy of the latest comic books and to meet the cartoonists who have created them. 

Although describing the work on display as 'comic strips' is a bit of an injustice because the images that many of the artists produce are quite stunning.

The festival at Angoulême is extremely popular with over 200,000 visitors expected and artists from around the world jetting in, who will be showing off their artwork and meeting fans. You can be sitting in a cafe and have the man on the next table suddenly get out his pocket book and start drawing you in cartoon style! The popularity of the books is a bit of a mystery to us British but this year I am determined to find out more about it. The festival is held over four days in very large tents erected especially for the purpose. There are also displays and events on at the cartoon museum in the city.