La Vie En France

La Vie En France All in the Merry Month of MAy by Sue Burgess

The month of May, the 5th month of the year, has 31 days. The word May « mai » probably comes from the Latin maius, in celebration of the Greek goddess « la déesse grecque » Maïa. However, the poet, Ovid, states that the word comes from the Latin word maiores, which means ancester « ancêtre ou aïeul », in contrast with the month of June which is supposed to come from the word iuniores, juniors, « les jeunes ».

The month of May is the King of Bank Holidays « jours fériés » ! Although this year in 2022, two of those holidays fall on a Sunday. First of all the First of May, « le 1er mai », is Labour Day, « la Fête du travail ». Officially recognised as a bank holiday by the government in 1947. It MUST be a paid holiday when no-one works, « un jour chômé et payé » in all public and private companies.

A week later, « une semaine plus tard », also on a Sunday this year, the 8th May, « le 8 mai » is also a bank holiday. It celebrates the 8th May 1945, date of the end of the fighting of the Second world war in Europe, « fin des combats de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale ». The 8th May is dedicated to the commemoration of the Second World War and to paying hommage « rendre hommage » to those who lost their lives in combat.

Then comes Ascension Day « le jeudi de l’Ascension », another Bank Holiday with a religious origin. It celebrates the Ascension of Jesus, 40 days after Easter. The date varies every year between the 30th April and the 3rd June because of the date of Easter. This year Ascension Day falls on the 26th May. Mother's Day « La Fête des Mères » is the last Sunday in May (except when the « lundi de Pentecôte » (whit Monday) falls at the end of May. This year « La Fête des Mères » is the 29th May.

The Neighbours' Festival « La Fête des Voisins » where neighbours get together for a picnic or drink « un apéro » is often held sometime at the end of May.

Vocabulary / Vocabulaire

Le muguet

lily of the valley (given on the 1st May) Le bleuet cornflower worn on the 8th May to remember the fallen of the 2nd World War Les parties d'une fleur parts of a flower La tige stalk Une feuille leaf une pétale petal une racine root une grenouille frog un nénuphar water lily un oiseau a bird

un oisillon a baby bird un nid a nest

May 2022

Bringing your dog to France How to move with a pet

by Chloé Louise Moore

Are you thinking of moving to France from the UK with your pet? With a little preparation, moving overseas with a pet can be an easy and stress-free experience for everyone involved! Planning ahead is key, so making sure you’re organised before the big move is very important. Having all the necessary paperwork in order and at hand will allow a smooth trip for you as well as your furry (even feathery or scaly!) friend. France has a few regulations and restrictions when it comes to importing pets into the country: • All pets imported from non-EU countries MUST be declared and presented to Customs, whether it be a first import or not. • The person importing the pet must be the owner or a person willing to take on the owner’s responsibility of said pet and paperwork.

• You cannot import more than 5 pets at a time for it to be considered a pet importation, and not “commercial”.

For dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Your pet must have a microchip that can be scanned, or if your pet got tattooed before July 2011 make sure the tattoo is clearly legible. • The anti-rabies vaccination is mandatory and must be valid. If it’s the first rabies vaccination your pet is having or if the vaccination has not been kept up to date, you will need to respect a 21-day period after completion of the vaccination protocol before travelling. • You will also need a rabies antibody test performed on your pet. This is done via blood test and the customs advise you to get this done 3 months before the travel. This is proof the pet has antibodies present against rabies and can enter France. This test can be used as lifetime proof as long as you keep up to date with the vaccinations. You cannot import a pet less than 3 months old that hasn’t yet been vaccinated against rabies.

• A health certificate provided by your Vet that must contain information on the pets identification, antirabies vaccination and antibody test. You will need both the health certificate, as well as the documents stated above.

For birds:

• Upon arrival the bird will have to have a 30-day isolation period if it hasn’t had the vaccination and at least 1 follow-up vaccine against influenza H5&H7 in the last 6 months or 60 days before the travel OR if you cannot provide a negative H5&H7 PCR test after the 3rd isolation day and keep the bird isolated 10 days before the trip.

• Your birds also need a health certificate from a vet.

• You will need a sworn statement that you are not intending on selling the birds upon arrival, and that you will respect the isolation period. • The bird will need to be in a private home and cannot be in a bird gathering facility. For fish, rabbits and reptiles: • They will need a health certificate from a vet.

Not respecting these rules while importing your pet will lead to sanctions:

• Depending on the situation, your pet can be returned to the UK, quarantined or even be put down.

• You can get a fine of up to 15,000€ and 2 years imprisonment if they believe you’ve involuntarily or helped spread disease.

• If the health requirements are not respected, you can also get a fine and up to 3 years imprisonment. So, whether you’re moving to France with your pet or just wanted to know more about the process, I hope this article was helpful. And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions – I’m happy to help! Chloé

Life in 79

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

by Stephen Shaw

When we moved to France we had romantic notions of wandering around the markets squeezing the melons and sniffing the tomatoes. Anna, my wife, even purchased a wicker basket to carry home the produce. But, in reality we do our weekly shop at Lidl and the basket is used to store our phone and iPad cables.

Every week Anna will stagger back from town with our three bags-for-life full of all the fruit and veg we have to eat before it goes off (so much for squeezing and sniffing). The carrots seem to last 24 hours before giving up on life and the potatoes' black bruises can require continuous peeling until there is nothing left. We like the lack of choice you get in Lidl (not the greatest advertising slogan) and Anna loves the non consumable items at the back. She did the 'big' shop one week and came back with a sewing machine!

When it comes to dining out we are equally as unadventurous. We once spent a day in Milan and ate in McDonalds ...twice! We have had Big Macs in some of the finest cities in Europe: Barcelona, Lisbon, Parthenay. It is shameful, I know (we don't even like McDonalds that much), but we know the system.

Going into Panda Wok for the first time was a daunting experience. For those who don't live in the greater Parthenay area, Panda Wok is an industrial warehouse where you can eat as much as you like. Food from around the world is sitting in trays (a bit like classy school dinners) and you can help yourself. It is a legendary tourist attraction with visiting family and friends. “How about a trip to the largest Oriental Gardens in Europe or we could explore the architectural wonders of Château Brézé?” I ask, “Pan-da wok! Pan-da wok!” they will chant back.

It was lovely to receive our first visitor from the UK since the Covid rules were relaxed. And, as our MSG levels were low, a trip to the warehouse of dreams was suggested. The establishment now has a small robot which takes you to your table with flashing lights and music playing. Everyone looks round at the new greedy people arriving.

I'm not one of these adventurous people who will pick a raw piece of surf and turf to be cooked on the spot by the man with the wok. No, for my dining experience I will have three plates of the beige food which has passed through the deep fat fryer, I will then complain that I am full and want to go home. I'm not proud, but that's the way I am ... predictable.

One of the many good things concerning the Wok is that you pay when you enter, so there is no faffing about at the end of the meal, trying to get the waiter's attention. No, you just put your coat on and stagger out, clutching your stomach.

I am an all-or-nothing sort of person. I cannot enjoy a glass of wine or two, I will continue to the end of the bottle and then suggest opening a second. An alcoholic if you will. Anna didn't drink much when we first married (apart from Diet Coke), but over recent years she has acquired a taste for the red stuff (show her a bottle of Barefoot and her pupils dilate) and we now argue over who has poured themselves the fuller glass. We lower ourselves to coffee table level to assess the who's got more. Pathetic, but there you are.

Similarly when we cruised round the Mediterranean a few years ago we could not believe the amount of food on offer. When sunning ourselves on the poop deck the first afternoon, a bell was rung and people around us jumped up and started queuing for afternoon cake. How desperate, we thought. A couple of days later we were jumping up with the rest of them. Pavlov would have been proud. By the end of a two week cruise I struggled to get into any of the clothes I had arrived with, apart from my pyjamas.

With a long list of friends and relatives coming to visit this year, I may well be calling on the services of my trusty pyjamas come September.

NB - Other supermarkets, fast food restaurants and eat-asmuch-as-you-like-food-from-around-the-world warehouses are available.

If you would like to read more ramblings from Mr Shaw, go to www.lifein79.blogspot.com

Knight Rider in France

by Roxanne Knight

Iam writing this article with red cheeks, following an unexpectedly warm show yesterday! Hopefully the crazy snow and storms are now behind us.

Éclair and I must train whatever the weather. One because we must keep Éclair’s fitness up to compete and two, because show inscriptions are paid in advance, and it is rare that a show is ever cancelled. There is no point in being a fair-weather rider because this would then cause problems for us when the weather is bad at a show. We see it often, with many horses disliking the wind and rain and therefore miss behaving in the show ring! Lately, Éclair and I have been in the show ring a lot. Because we broke Éclair in slowly, he doesn’t have that much experience jumping full courses and we must practice, practice, practice to improve our consistency. I am very lucky that he loves to jump and is rarely spooked by the size, shape, or colours of a jump. Our biggest challenge is brakes. Éclair has two speeds – slow or very fast and we are making small changes here and there to try to regulate our speed. Inconsistency in speed affects when a horse takes off and if they take off incorrectly, this is generally when a pole gets knocked down. Eclair has fully settled into his new yard, and he is now at his correct weight with a good fitness level. We have 2 lessons per week, and I ride a further 2-3 times per week depending on whether we have a show or not. We have also added in a Monday evening walk in hand if we have had a long show day on the Sunday. This allows him to gently walk off any stiffness he may have and then eat

some nice, lush grass as a treat. It’s good for me to walk off my aches too! To give you an idea, a couple of weeks ago we arrived at the yard to load the horses at 5am to head off to Angers for a competition. Éclair and I did our first class as the sun was rising at 8am and our second class at 5pm - We returned to the yard at 8.30pm!

We have a very exciting weekend ahead of us. We are heading to Le Mans for Easter weekend for our first ever 3-day show! Éclair will stay in a rented stable and we will compete 4 times in 3 days. I am hoping that having a stable rather than being tied to a lorry will help Éclair to perform well and that competing repeatedly will improve our consistency. When we get it right, Éclair is an amazing jumper, and we are hoping that this weekend will be his time to show everyone what he can do when we stay focused and he remembers his brakes!

If you would like to follow our journey, please head over to my YouTube channel, “Knight Rider in France” or search for us on Instagram or Facebook. Your support means a lot.

Thank you to The DSM magazine for their support and thank YOU for reading.

A très bien tôt!

With thanks to my sponsors - Sarah Berry Online, Daisy Vie, Leggett Immobilier and Jeka Yoga and Massage. Special thanks also to Cheval Chic and my family!

the enD of An erA

by Jacqueline Brown

Spring arrived with a week of sunshine, blue sky and warmth, that made me smile and encouraged buds and new growth everywhere. I enjoyed picnic lunches in the grounds of the chateau and sitting on the steps with a coffee, the sun on my face and the creamy stonework glowing golden. Then the frosts returned. The following weekend’s cycle commute to work involved three pairs of gloves and seven layers of clothing, but still left my fingers red and stinging when I arrived. Lunches were back in the warm kitchen and by mid-afternoon, most of my cycle clothing was layered underneath my work clothing. I’m discovering that working in a five-hundred-year-old chateau isn’t as glamorous as I imagined and that flagstone floors are bitterly cold. The noises that accompanied the strong north winds set my imagination into overdrive, something that was not helped by discovering some of the windows mysteriously open by themselves.

The cherry trees were looking superb this spring, back when it was warm. Their huge, frothy white blossoms set against cloudless skies were possibly better than I’d ever seen them. As I write this, the wind and rain are lashing down sideways outside the window and what is left of the blossom petals, now brown and frost burnt, are tumbling around the garden. It might not be the best year for fruit after all. For us, this is a disappointment, for the many fruit producers and vineyard owners all over France, it is a disaster and I feel very sorry for them all.

This month marked the end of an era for our dabble into self-sufficiency. Having stumbled into bird ownership in 2005, when a duck made himself at home in our orchard and we bought him some female company, we are now bird less for the first time in seventeen years. Our last feathered friend was Brucie the goose, who was still queen of the orchard and happily laying us eggs at the impressive age of thirteen. She might never have curled up in front of the fire, or accompanied us on walks, but she’d earned her place in our family after all these years, and the garden seems very empty without her. A dog attack was an upsetting end, but again I can’t help but think how lucky we are compared to the devastating news that over 800,000 birds have been culled in Deux-Sèvres alone, in an attempt to prevent the spread of avian flu. Whether it’s crops, fruits, vines, or livestock, it’s not an easy time to be a farmer.

We won’t be replacing our birds, for the same reason we won’t be going mad in the potager this summer – it’s not fair to expect Ed, or anyone else, to look after crops and livestock when we are off having fun on the bikes. I will be sowing a few courgette seeds and maybe a butternut squash or two, as I’m not yet ready to totally quit my courgette addiction, but I think I’ll wait for the weather to improve a bit first.

www.frenchvillagediaries.com Email: frenchvillagediaries@gmail.com

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DÉCHETTERIES

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