11 minute read
La Vie En France
La Vie En France Hearts and Candles
by Sue Burgess
Advertisement
La fête de la chandeleur (Candlemass) is held on the same date, the 2 February, every year.
This festival is a religious one. It is celebrated 40 days after Christmas (40 jours après Noël), on the day when Jesus was presented in the Temple, (le jour de la présentation de l’enfant Jésus au Temple). The name “Chandeleur” originally comes from “chandelles” » (candles) traditionally used on this occasion. In churches, the candles are lit to represent light (la lumière), purity (la pureté), and to keep evil away (éloigner le mal). The faithful (les fidèles) often take a candle home and leave it in their window on the 2nd February.
But why do we eat pancakes (les crêpes)? The round shape (la forme ronde) and the golden colour (la couleur dorée) of the pancakes represented the sun and the return of light after the dark winter. Different superstitions are attached to the festival. If the peasants didn’t make pancakes for la Chandeleur, the wheat (le blé) would be bad the following year. To ensure a good harvest (une bonne récolte), the peasants used to turn the first pancake over by tossing it (en la jetant en l’air) with their right hand (la main droite) whilst holding a Louis d’or coin in the left hand and making sure that the pancake fell back into the pan.
For Saint Valentine’s day (la saint-Valentin), people think about flowers (les fleurs) and chocolates (les chocolats). But the festival has complex origins in several different cultures and religions, a persecuted Roman priest, orgiastic partying and a carnival. Les Lupercales romaines (The Roman Lupercals) were a pagan religious tradition. Men chased after women and whipped them with leather ribbons to make them fertile. These celebrations were often followed by the « Bacchanales » ancient religious festivals when people drank and drank. The Christian religion tried to put things in order. Pope Gelase 5 instituted a festival to celebrate spiritual love around the 14th February; Today’s Saint Valentine’s day. In the Middle Ages, several carnivals (plusieurs carnavals) took place during the month of February.
Vocabulary / Vocabulaire
la tradition the tradition
la coutume
une pièce d’or
une bougie / une chandelle the custom
a golden coin
a candle
faire des crêpes
une crêpe to make crepes
a thin pancake / a crepe
faire sauter une crêpe to flip a crepe/ to toss a pancake
verser
ajouter
remuer to pour
to add
to stir
mélanger
casser un œuf to mix
to crack an egg
YOU COULD ADVERTISE HERE
EMAIL US AT INFO@THEDEUXSEVRESMONTHLY.FR
February 2022
Life in 79
In the Middle of Nowhere
When people ask “Where do you live?” I reply “Fifteen minutes drive north of Parthenay, in the middle of nowhere”. A hamlet, made up of four properties (only three of which are inhabited). If we run out of milk it's a ten minute drive to the nearest shop, which is usually shut.
We used to live on a busy main road in the UK. Our windows would often rattle as a high performance vehicle cruised by with bass bins turned up to eleven; beer cans would litter the front garden; our wing mirrors were regularly kicked off and once, some charmer, took the coping stone from our gate post and dropped it on the bonnet of our car. Now, living in the middle of nowhere we occasionally see an old woman walking her old dog, a lost cyclist or an escaped cow.
Annually, a farmer will sever our telephone cable with his hedge cutting machine. This year the telephone company told us they couldn't reconnect us for a week. This coincided with an electricity cut for twenty four hours. Now, I'm all for life in France being like a step back in time, but this was medieval. The novelty of living by candlelight waned after half an hour, even reading a book was a struggle and I nearly went up in flames several times.
Light pollution is not something we suffer from. Walking from the car to the house after Franglais can be a perilous journey in the pitch black. Will I break my neck on a bag of chicken food or be savaged by a wild boar? On a clear night, the milky way is something to behold.
The first property Anna, my wife, and I bought was in London. The hustle and bustle of city life became a bit much for us after a few years so we moved to the more sedate (some might say boring) town of Peterborough. After a while town life became a bit much, so we moved to a village in rural Lincolnshire. Now we live in rural France in the middle of nowhere. We have gone from city mice to country mice, from city slickers to country bumpkins, from....well you get the idea. We are sociable people, but at the same time enjoy not seeing another soul all day, being in our own little world...or 'compound' as we tend to call it (Anna purchased a natty orange boiler suit from Emmaus for doing jobs in, and the Guantanamo look was complete).
Solitude can engender strange behaviour and irrational fears. It would be unfair to say that since living in the middle of nowhere Anna has started talking to herself. She has always talked to herself. Giving a running commentary on her daily activities or what she is thinking about (when not talking she will fill the gaps of silence with humming). But there has been a definite upturn in conversations with the cat over recent times. Now the children are all grown-up and flown the nest, the cat has to soak up a lot of chatter and attention. She has even suggested making some little outfits for him to wear. It is very endearing but occasionally it can become a little disturbing and yes, even frightening. I feel like Shelley Duvall in 'The Shining', stranded at the Overlook Hotel, watching my partner slowly turning to the dark side in the forced isolation.
During lockdown our solitude was heightened: not leaving the compound for days on end, not seeing another human being, even the criss cross of aeroplane vapour trails ceased. The world stood still. When we did venture out for our daily walk, having completed 'the form', if we did bump into other people, we became confused, frightened, we would veer around each other keeping as much distance between us as possible.
Stephen and Anna losing the plot in the middle of nowhere
by Stephen Shaw
And then there was Christmas. Me, Anna and a very big turkey. We, like so many, expected loved ones to come and visit, but alas 'twas not to be.
So, if you find yourself fifteen minutes drive north of Parthenay in the middle of nowhere and stumble across a woman in an orange boiler suit and a man trying to reattach a telephone line, do pop in for a glass of something...we're really very sociable people.
GETTING ORGANISED IN JANUARY by Jacqueline Brown
Iknow my goal every January is to become more organised, but this year, I’m off to a better start than ever before and I think it’s because I’ve been busier than normal.
January is always the time to get organised with the yearend accounts and this year I managed to email them over to our accountant a full five days ahead of the deadline, which put a spring in my step and a smile on my face. The next task on the big organisation list was to create a single page health information document to keep in an accessible place in the kitchen, just in case we ever had to send one or other of us off in a blue-light ambulance! This might seem a bit dramatic, but when I found myself trying hard not to panic as two medical teams descended on our house, with one doctor treating Adrian and the other demanding information from me, this single sheet would have been so much help. More by luck than anything else, I was able to locate the last report from the cardiologist he’d seen in Niort, as well as his carte vitale, top up insurance details etc. This proved invaluable, but there were a few other things that would have helped in those time critical moments when you need to keep a clear head. When he arrived at the hospital, some of the things Adrian was repeatedly asked for, were his date of birth, height and weight, all numbers, and many of them falling into the somewhat complicated (in French) ‘soixante-dix’ (70’s). We now each have an easily accessible sheet with name, date of birth, height, weight, a copy of our carte vitale, carte de sejour, blood group, mobile phone numbers, GP name and number, top up insurance and a brief health history. I’m hoping they won’t be needed, but the fact that they are there makes me feel much more organised and ready for anything this year may bring.
As the French say at this time of year, bonne année et bonne santé, so I do hope you won’t have to use this anytime soon, but don’t forget, if you need to call for help, the best number to use is 112. The SAMU and Pompiers often respond to different types of emergencies (medical or accidental), but the call handler will triage your call. It is likely you will need to explain the situation to them and again to a doctor before they decide who to send.
In other happier news, Mini, our black misfit, has just celebrated her fourteenth birthday, which (the internet reliably informs me) is equivalent to her being 103 years old. They say a dog is for life and not just Christmas, and a quick calculation tells me she’s now been around for two thirds of Ed’s life and for more than half the time Adrian and I have been together. Celebrations were low key, but she did enjoy a gentle walk and a comfy blanket in a sunny spot.
Knight Rider in France
by Roxanne Knight
I’m 14 years old and I have been horse riding for over 7 years. Éclair is my Connemara pony and I have owned him since he was 2! In July 2022 we plan to compete in the show jumping at the Championnat de France and I hope that you will enjoy following our journey…
Recently it’s been full steam ahead!
In November, Éclair moved to a competitive yard. He is in full training to become a sports horse rather than a field pony and we are both benefiting from the facilities and the expertise that the yard has to offer. It isn’t just Éclair that is on a strict regime! I attended a sports nutrition conference in December to help me to learn about fuelling my body correctly. With school, my days are very long, and my weeks can become tiring. I must also improve my fitness and stamina, so my bike has been dusted off and I am looking forward to getting back into training with my netball team, Les Étoiles de Clessé. To help my flexibility, I have started online yoga lessons.
After some very successful voluntary work experience, I was accepted as a young ambassador for an online saddlery, and so when we entered our first competition of the season both Éclair and I looked the smartest that we ever had. discussion with a charity who want to increase their social media presence so this could become an exciting opportunity for me… In January, Éclair and I will see the osteopath (Yes horses see the osteo too!) to ensure that we are in good shape before the real qualifying period starts in February. We will be competing nearly every weekend and so my next article will be packed with news from our shows.
If you would like to follow our journey on a weekly basis, please head over to my YouTube channel, “Knight Rider in France”.
Thank you to the DSM magazine for their support and the opportunity to share my dreams with you and thank YOU for reading.
A très bien tôt!
With thanks to all my sponsors - Cheval Chic, Sarah Berry Online, Daisy Vie, Leggett Immobilier and Jeka Yoga and Massage. Plus my family! If you wish to join me in my quest, please email knightriderinfrance@gmail.com
Facebook @knightriderinfrance
Instagram knightriderinfrance
It gave us bags of confidence and we got some “qualification points” under our belt... not bad at all for a practice run!
Renowned for its long and technical qualification period, The Championnat de France is not only a big commitment in terms of time, but also a huge financial investment. Due to my age, I am relying mainly on fundraisers and the financial support of willing businesses.
I have also started my own YouTube channel! With enough subscribers this could create my very own source of income one day. I am working hard outside of school hours to build my social media presence which should help my channel to grow. I am currently in
