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.

"France 2012 Calendar" Calendars by graceloves | RedBubble

"France 2012 Calendar" Calendars by graceloves | RedBubble:

Move to France: Happy New Year

Move to France: Happy New Year: Its a miserable day 31 December but we are looking forward to tonight when we are going to a restaurant to celebrate New Years Eve and Meg's...

Happy New Year

Its a miserable day 31 December but we are looking forward to tonight when we are going to a restaurant to celebrate New Years Eve and Meg's birthday. La Vielle Fromagerie in Brux is an English run restaurant with gites. It is very popular with the Brits out here especially for Sunday lunch because they do an excellent roast dinner with all the veggies and trimmings plus starter, cheese, pudding and wine for 18 euros in the winter. So tonight should be good if not a riot! New Year's Eve in France is typically very quiet and the towns tend to be deserted so its up to you what you make of it. Some of our friends are having parties, others will just let it slip by unnoticed.

Life in Charente 16

We are very relaxed now after spending our second Christmas in the Charente, south west France. Its Boxing Day and the shops are shut and there are no signs of the sales. The sun is shining and the water of the Charente river is flowing strongly after the recent heavy rains. So what is living in France like? Chilled I would say. Its not at all hectic. Even in the run up to Christmas, the shops were cool, calm and collected with no sign of the manic-panic buying that characterises so many UK supermarkets.

Before Christmas we went to the Christmas market in Bordeaux which was magical, 150 little wooden chalets with twinkling lights selling mulled wine, hot chocolate, biscuits and treats from Alsace, teddies, trinkets and everything imaginable. Bordeaux was wonderful, as beautiful, if not more beautiful than Paris with its vast squares, sand-coloured eighteen-century buildings and magnificent fountains. We found a street of the most fabulous restaurants with every food imaginable from French to Chinese, Japanese noodles to fondue.

Back in the Charente now and not much stirs in the winter. The elderly people in our tiny village stay very much indoors but we occasionally get to chat to them when we are out walking the dogs. The village has three Christmas lights up, its rather sweet. The only noisy creatures are the donkeys which call to each other across the village, even in the middle of the night.