European Heritage Days September 19-20th, 2015

Each year, many listed and interesting buildings are opened to the public as part of the European Heritage Days or Journée du Patrimoine.  The dates for 2015 are the 19th and 20th of September and the national theme is "The heritage of the 20st century, the history of the future".

On September 19th and 20th more than 17,000 monuments all over the country will open their doors free of charge and offer different types of animations to entertain and educate the general public.  You can obtain details of specific events on your area on your local newspaper and tourist office.

As a family, we usually take advantage of these Journées du Patrimoine to visit the sites in our area.  Through the years, we have visited many sites and there are still many others that we haven't had the time yet to visit.  Most of the time we have been pleasantly surprised at our findings like when we visited Chateau Guillaume a magnificent castle in the near town of Lignac.  Other times, to be truthful, we were less than happy with the place we visited as it was either too small, uninteresting or just not welcoming.  Overall, I can say that this initiative to open monuments free of charge to the general public is fantastic.  We always wait eagerly for the next Journée du Patrimoine.

Chateau Guillaume

If you happen to be in Paris this weekend, for the Heritage Days, Paris’ City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) will exceptionally open its doors to the public. A chance to discover this building and have a look at the mayor’s office for free!

Hendaye To Hondarribia Maritime Shuttle

After a week in the French side of the Basque Country I feel renewed.
The Basque country is a place close to my heart, as my ancestors came from there.  For the past few years, I have been taking at least a week a year to visit this wonderful land where you can always find something fun to do regardless of the weather.  And if you are feeling lazy, well, there is no problem neither, why not enjoy a short boat trip and go to the Spanish side of the Basque Country for a tapas dinner and some lazing around.  The trip only costs 1 euro 80 cents per person and lasts about 5 minutes.  During the summer the service is available every 15 minutes until 1am.  So, there is no excuse to skip a trip to the Spanish side to visit the beautiful town of Hondarribia -also known as Fuenterrabía by the Spanish.

Hondarribia / Fuenterrabia seen from Hendaye in France.  

Life On the Farm. Are we friends yet?

Ok, so I am slowly overcoming my fears and now I am trying to befriend one of our cows!!!!

I am not sure who was more nervous, her or me...  My biggest concern is that she might take a bad turn and kick me.  It doesn't happen very often -usually only if you annoy them- but they are sooo big that I am still very worried. 

Des Clowns Armés Terrorisent des Lycéens.

 

Armed clowns on the loose?
A few days ago my teenage daughter refused to go out because of rumours of armed clowns terrorizing people on the streets.  At first I thought it was only a joke, a bad joke or even a prank supported by social media.  I was very sad to find out that the rumours were true and France had really been "attacked" by clowns since the start of the month.  As  I started reading more about the subject trying to reassure my daughter, I found that:

 

• Fourteen teenagers dressed as clowns and carrying pistols, knives and baseball bats were arrested outside a school in Agde, southern France, on Saturday.
• In Montpellier, a 35-year-old man was beaten with a metal rod on Saturday night by a man dressed as a clown who tried to rob him.
• A 19-year-old who had dressed as a clown to terrorise children in Douvrin, northern France, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence at a court in Bethune last week.
• Other arrests have been made - not of clowns, but of "clown-hunters". In Mulhouse, five young people were arrested for "clown-chasing" through the town's streets, armed with baseball bats,  hammers, knuckle-dusters and tear gas.

 

Apparently it all started in the town of Sin-le-Noble on Monday when a girl told police she was chased by an armed person in a clown costume. Next on Tuesday in Lambres-lez-Douai another student said she was attacked by a clown.  Finally on Wednesday in Flers-en-Escrebieux a student said he was threatened by a clown with a knife near a primary school.


I don't know you, but I am really concerned with these facts.  Not the fact that people dressed up as clowns are frightening others, but the fact that a few isolated cases are causing such a stir-up.   A quick look of Twitter shows scores of tweets from youngsters in France on the subject of armed clowns. While there are plenty who point out the whole thing is pretty ridiculous, others are doing the contrary.  It seems that there are even organized  clown hunts and French police have launched a campaign to stop vigilante groups from chasing "evil clowns" from their towns and villages.  In a way, the social media that we are so keen to use is causing panic spreading false information or exaggerating the facts to frighten young people, what it started as a prank is having now an uncontrollable snowball effect. 

Are the French Better Parents Than Americans ?

My First experience with the French style of bringing up children

 

I arrived in France when my oldest child was 3 and the youngest one only 10 months old. As soon as we arrived they went to the Garderie which is our local day care centre run by the local council. I remember at the time (2005) we only had to pay about 1,20 euros per hour for both children, plus we had to provide their lunch and nappies for the day. My little ones loved the garderie and not being familiar with the French language did not pose a problem either for them or the carers.

 

The advantages of having a Garderie for my little ones were several, among which the most important were:

 

• The Price. Being run by the local council, we only had to pay a fraction of the total cost. The price you pay in most local day care centers is decided based on your tax form and your income during the previous year.
• The children start early to learn how to interact with other children and the importance of sitting and eating properly at a table. More important than everything else probably is that they learn to have a Pause. Whether they slept or not, at the garderie children were put in a bedroom to have a sleep or simply to have a lay down and a calming time on their own. This “Pause” continues to be a rule during all the pre-school years.
• Freedom of time. Sending my children to the Garderie meant that I could have a whole day free to do whatever I had or wanted to do without feeling guilty or worrying about leaving my children with someone else.
• First contact with the French language and culture. My children went to the Garderie without speaking a word of French and much to my surprise, in a few weeks they were already speaking French.

 

 

The secret behind France'samazingly well-behaved children

 

  

I can say that the secret behind having well behaved children is based on the fact that:

 

 

•   French parents are not afraid to show their authority
•   French parents do not spoil their children
•   French Mothers say NO
•  French parents let their children be children
•  French mothers have FREE time
•  French Parents enforce rules that affect their own pleasure
•  French parents teach their children to eat well rounded meals

 

 

 

 

Beaujolais nouveau 2012

Despite a very low harvest due to the weather, the famous Beaujolais wine is expected today Thursday 15^th on the tables. The harvest in Beaujolais this year has been perhaps the lowest production in 10 years as a result of the poor spring weather. However, producers have insisted that the small grapes of this year mean concentrated flavour, thus more complex 2012 wines.  

 

True connoisseurs and simple enthusiasts are all eagerly waiting to taste and criticize the Beaujolais nouveau 2012.  

 

Why is the Beaujolais nouveau so awaited for?
The appointment is taken each year the third Thursday of the month of November. This date is indeed marks the end of the winemaking and start of the marketing of this wine. While previously no wine could  be sold prior to December 15, several wine-growing unions have lobbied so that some of them can be released before this date. Thus was born the "Beaujolais nouveau" name in 1951. Then, the exact date of authorization was set in 1985 at the third Thursday of November for practical reasons: not too close to the weekend or on 11 November. Since then, every year on this date, red wine lovers flock to celebrate and enjoy the vintage of the year.

 

What makes a good Beaujolais? 

The Beaujolais is a young wine.  A  good Beaujolais would be made from a natural yeast. 

 

 

 

How much does it cost a bottle of Beaujolaisnouveau?

 

The Beaujolais is a wine averagely priced between 4 and 9 euros.

The Beaujolais in Numbers:

• In France, the three regions that consume the most of this wine are the Paris region with 9 800 hl (1.3 million bottles), Eastern region (7 400 hl or 990 000 bottles) and Central - East (6465 hl or 862 000 bottles).
• Internationally it is Japan, North America and Germany the countries that consume the largest quantities of Beaujolais.

Tax changes in France to affect foreign homeowners.

France’s new government has announced tax raises, targeting wealthy households, worth 7.2 billion euros.  The new changes will be retroactive and will affect non-resident second home owners in France, as well as French expats who live abroad but still own a property here.

The major changes that will affect foreign homeowners and French expats are:

• Increase of capital gains tax from 19% to 34.5%. 
• Increase of Taxation on Rental income from 20% to 35.5%

The tax on rental income is retrospective and will be applied from the 1^st of January 2012 while the increase of capital gains tax will take effect from August 2012.

However, if you already live in France and pay your taxes here, nothing changes for you.  Meaning that if you already have rental income from a furnished property (for example, a gite) then you will not be affected by the increase in taxes. 

Also, if your French house is your main residence you will not be affected by the rise on capital gains tax; and remember that after 30 years of owning a house you are not due any capital gains tax neither. 

For more details about taxes in France including some useful Vocabulary you can read my article Tax in France on Hubpages. 

Spring is Here

Spring is finally here and with it, the fields are full of colour again.   We have been spoiled with a choice of wild flowers and perennials coming back brightly after a hard winter.  These are my favourite ones:

Peony flowers, from the garden, in bright pink.

I think it is a miracle that we could have these lovely flowers after the extremely hard winter that we had.  The peony bush/tree had dissapeared completely and then all of a sudden there it was back again, first a few leaves and then a bunch of fragant bright pink peonies!

Several plants died over the winter but most of them have managed to make it through.  It is amazing that we only lost one rose tree and one of the peach trees in the garden.   Even the wild strawberries managed to make their way through the abandoned back garden where the boys were trying to save them a few weeks ago.  Have a look for yourself below and see my two favourite boys trying to save the strawberries:

The season starts now, it is time to go out and enjoy the first rays of sun and the balmy afternoons while taking care of your garden making sure you respect the wildlife.  Remember that all those little wild flowers in your garden are the foodsource of numerous buttlerflies and insects and therefore of the birds that feed on them.  Try to leave a few corners wild and set little water containers so that insects and birds have access to water.  Another good idea is to mow your lawn with the mower set on a higher setting to leave enough wild daisies and other plants for insect and bird feeding.



Enjoy the Spring!

Winter in the French countryside

Winter finally arrived with temperatures as low as -16 on my little part of the world.  It's been freezing cold but that has not been enough to stop me going out. 

Hunting in France

My hunting experience in pictures:

Getting ready to go out

l

on our way

looks like the dogs found something

My first shoot

that was sore!

How to choose a wine glass

Coming to live in France some people can feel a bit intimidated when it comes to choosing a wine for a dinner or even when choosing a glass for serving the chosen wine.  Living in France, I discovered that wine is a very important part of everyday life and French culture. 

If like me, when I just arrived here, you are wondering what type of glass you should present at your table for your chosen wine; I can give you a few hints to avoid a mayor faux pas. 

Most wine connoisseurs agree that a wine glass should be made of crystal.  The transparent crystal should be thin and without too much ornament in order to let the wine lover appreciate the contents of the glass in all its senses.  In some parts of rural France you will see short Champagne-shaped glasses in porcelain; these are meant to be for coffee, NOT for wine.  To be on the safe side, make sure your wine glasses are of transparent crystal. 

A wine glass should have a stand for easy manipulation when wine tasting.  I have seen wine glasses with no stands, I suggest you don’t try to be too avant-garde and avoid those glasses, at least when you are in France.     

White wines are easier to accommodate to any shape of glass due to their qualities.  Red wines can be more complicated depending on their body.  In France different regions have created special wine glasses for their wines.  The most popular are:

• The wide “ballooned” wine glass for wines from the Bourgogne region, because the wine from Bourgogne should “roll” freely in the glass to be tasted at its best. 
• The smallish wine glass shaped as an egg, for wines from the Bordeaux region.
• Very tall wine glasses come from the Alsace region.
• Flutes are reserved for the Champagne region.

How to choose a wine glass

An advantage of knowing what type of glass goes with which wine is that if you are served a glass of wine without seeing the bottle, you can at least start locating the wine as being a Bourgogne or Bordeaux. 

Remember that a wine glass should never be filled all the way up.  The ideal is to fill it up a little bit more than half the way, that is, leaving a third of the glass empty to leave space for the wine to develop. 

My selection of best wine gifts under $25 for wine lovers

Argenton Sur Creuse In Pictures

St Sauveur’s church on the Place Carnot was built at the end of the 15^thCentury, admire its beautiful 50 m high gothic bell tower

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

The Hotel de Scevole was built during the 17^th and 18^th century. 

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

La Bonne Dame

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

La Coursiere street leads to the top of the hill where the little chapel of the Bonne Dame stands.This is worth a visit as you can overlook the whole town from there.

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

The River Creuse on November

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

Musée de la Chemiserie et de l’Elégance masculine:  Shirt and Elegance Museum 

This little museum is located on what once was the first lingerie workshop in the area.  The workshop opened in 1860 and soon developed to be one of the main sources of revenue in the area.  My favourite part in the museum is the floor dedicated to the women who worked there as it is a testimony of the economical development of the town an also testimony of the way of life of the women in Argenton.   

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

Place de la Republique

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2011 by Wendy Iturrizaga.  All Rights Reserved

Microwaved Steamed Ginger Pudding to warm up a cool afternoon

With autumn here we are having more and more cool afternoons.  The sun still shining and during the hottest time of the day you can expect at the most 20°C, but once the sun starts to go down, the cold temperatures climb up and we can be as cold as 5°C already!  A fun way to keep warm during these autumn days is to bake cakes and biscuits.  Children love to get their hands in the kitchen to grate, mix and decorate their baked efforts. 

Some of my favourite recipes to warm up during a cool afternoon are steam puddings, always delicious with a scoop of ice cream or with hot custard.  The only thing that ever put me off from cooking a steam pudding was the length of time that it had to be steamed.  However, not long ago, I found the solution to this when I found a recipe for steam puddings cooked in the microwave. 

Microwaved Ginger Steamed Pudding

Did you know that you can cook a traditional steam pudding in a microwave?  Yes, steam puddings can be cooked in a microwave in a fraction of the time.  Instead of traditionally steaming your pudding for 1 and ½ hours, you can have your pudding microwaved and ready to serve in less than 5 minutes.  Do you want to try?  Here we go, you will need:

Ginger Photographed by: Frank C. Müller

225g Self raising flour

2 tea-spoons of ground ginger

25g steam ginger finely chopped

50g butter

50g caster sugar

2 tablespoons of honey

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

A pinch of salt

Ginger jam (for the syrup)

Before you start, prepare all your materials and ingredients.  Start by greasing a 1 litre pudding basin.

In a bowl mix the flour, salt and ground ginger.  Add the butter and then all the other ingredients.  Mix well.  That is your pudding ready to steam. 

Place the mixture in a basin; make sure you leave room for expansion and cover loosely to allow steam to escape.  Microwave on full power for 4 minutes (in a 650w microwave) or 3 and a half minutes in a 800w microwave.  Leave to cool.

For the ginger syrup put at least 3 Tablespoons of ginger jam in a bowl and heat it up until runny in the microwave.  Pour the syrup over the steam pudding and enjoy! 

If you don’t have ginger jam, you can always make a light syrup with sugar, water and a piece of ginger root or caramelized gingers.  

November is time for:

Do not forget that November is the month to start preparing your Christmas puddings Remember that once cooked your Christmas pudding  needs to be kept in a cool place, ideally a larder. Christmas puddings are often dried out on hooks for weeks prior to serving in order to enhance the flavour.

Photograph by DO'Neil.

Hailstone storm in October and a recipe for carrot cake

It was a glorious sunny October day, we had just planted our winter lettuces when without warning “cataplun” a loud thunder and hailstone galore everywhere.  It was unbelievable how soon the weather changed from our late Indian summer to a winter storm.

We had to come in because of the ferocity of the storm, but we took advantage to warm ourselves up making a delicious carrot and cinnamon cake with the freshly collected carrots from the garden.   This is a great recipe easy to make and fantastic to get your little ones to eat their carrots.  My little ones love making this cake and usually the cake disappears as soon as it arrives to the table!  

Carrot and cinnamon cake

For the cake you will need:

• 225g of self raising flour
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 150gr dark sugar
• 150gr carrots
• 2 medium eggs
• 150ml sunflower oil
• 3 tablespoons of milk

For the glazing you will need:

• 50g butter
• 2 tablespoons of orange juice
• ½ orange rind grated
• 225g icing sugar

To make the cake, place the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and mix.  Add the sugar and finely grated carrots.  Add the eggs, then the oil and milk.  Mix well until evenly blended.  You can do this with a mixer or with a wooden spoon. 

Place the mixture in a greased tin and bake in a previously heated oven.  Cook for 40 minutes at gas mark 4. 

To prepare the frosting, melt the butter with the orange juice and orange rind.  Add the icing sugar and mix well until you have a smooth paste.

Once your carrot cake has completely cooled down, swirl the frosting over the cake and that’s it, ready to eat!

Just in case you were wondering about our lettuces… they did survive the hailstone storm. 

Fun things to do with Children at Royan

Fun things to do with Children at Royan

Royan is one of my favourite places in the French Atlantic coast.  Every time I can, I pack up a few things, get my little ones ready and we go there for a few days.  It is a great place to visit with children as there is always something for them to do.  Even when it is cloudy or rainy we can just have an afternoon at the cinema or visit a museum or exposition.  

However, during sunny summer and spring days, we like to go to the Jardins du Monde, a beautiful park not far from the town centre with lots to offer to curious children and adults.  

Visit the Jardins du Monde

The Jardins du Monde is a beautiful park where you will find:

• A dwarf goat’s farm: My little ones loved this, I couldn’t get them away from caressing and playing with the dwarf goats.

• An Orchids tropical greenhouse, the Japanese gardens, the English garden, etc. Enjoy the 18 acres of exotic gardens!

• A water spring esplanade with fountains spouting randomly, ideal to refresh your little ones during a hot day.

• A pedal go cart track

• A live butterfly hot house where exotic butterflies flutter among the visitors.

• The Bouncy village: a fun area with giant slides, bouncy castles, trampolines and adventure tracks to amuse children and parents alike.

• Do not miss the bamboo maze.

• For older children there are remote controlled boats and electric boats trips through the marshes and the park waters.

At night time, when you leave your little ones at home or the hotel you can come back to the Jardins du Monde and enjoy the party at the Butterfly bar, an open bar in the heart of the Jardins du Monde park, open every night during July and August and during the weekends on May and June.

For more things to do in Royan you can check my Family holidays in France article on HubPages.

Growing raspberries

Raspberries are very easy to grow as they are tolerant to most types of soil. You can grow raspberries on open ground or in garden pots. Once you have planted your first raspberries there is very little to do but to water them. I usually just let mine thrive for themselves in the garden during autumn and winter and start pruning them in January. I have never applied any fertiliser to my raspberry orchard, it looks like just keeping the old branches and mulch of rotted leaves on the surface of the soil surrounding the bush is enough to keep them going. Once the warmer weather starts showing I just water my raspberry plants when necessary –which is not very often.

Once the fruit starts to show, that is when your work starts and you need to start watering regularly to slowly see your fruit swelling. Raspberries are very thirsty, so make sure that you keep them well watered.

Raspberries are best left to ripen on the tree. Only harvest your fruits when they are ready to eat. Pick individual berries carefully, preferably leaving the white “plug” on the plant -only if the fruit is ready it will detach easily from the white plug. Eat them on the same day or keep them in the fridge for eating the day after. Raspberries start to deteriorate very quickly once they are harvested.

Easy Raspberry Recipe:  Crowdie

This is an easy and delicious traditional mixture of oatmeal, raspberries and cream which I learnt to make from my Scottish period.

It only takes about 10 minutes to make and even less to eat! 

You will need:

• 50g. medium oatmeal
• 300ml whipping cream
• 25g icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons of good whisky
• 225g fresh raspberries

To prepare this delicious and easy to make raspberry dessert start lightly toasting the oatmeal under the grill.  Make sure it gets a golden colour and it doesn’t burn.  Once the oatmeal is toasted put aside to cool down.  

In a deep bowl, whip the cream until is firm and then add the icing sugar and whisky.  With a spoon slowly mix in the cream most of the raspberries and the oatmeal.  

To serve place in individual glasses and decorate with the remaining raspberries.