purelyfrance

It never ceases to amaze us how many boulangeries, immobiliers (real estate agencies) and coiffeurs there are in France.

In St Remy we counted 16 boulangeries serving a population of 9000, that is one for every 600 residents!

Immobiliers seem to be everywhere.  In Nice you could hardly walk 20 metres without tripping over one. 

And Coiffeurs of every shape and style are a dime a dozen.

It begs the question - how do they all make money, assuming that they do.

Hairdressers have a couple of things going for them. Firstly, most of their clientele are local residents which provides them with demand all year round and therefore they are not subjected to seasonal flows such as tourist businesses experience.

Secondly, a big driver of their cash flow is the regularity of visits from their French lady customers. It is quite common for many of them to have a weekly standing rendezvous.

And I’m not talking about celebs here, just your average French Madame.

We first learnt this from our neighbour in St Remy, Arlette. ‘1500 vendredi, je suis toujours à chez la coiffeur’.  Okay Arlette, we wont ever bother you on Friday afternoons.

The French image of dedication to ‘grooming’ is a reality, and is much to be admired.(I do frequently!)

In Nice, where there is a high percentage of ‘retirees’ it was very evident. Ladies strolling along la Promenade des Anglais in their two piece suits and immaculately coiffured hair styles. Très chic!

Here in Beaune, between us both, we have tried a number of hairdressers. Anne eventually found a gem, Karine at Jacques Dessange. Apart from being an excellent coiffeuse, Karine has a lovely warm personality which she projects with charm and grace.

For a long time I was forbidden entrée to Jacques Dessange - in case I caused any havoc through a combination of any mischievous behaviour and my pathetic French language skills. (that’s an oxymoron right there!)

I am sure it was nothing to do with Karine being very attractive.

However during one of Anne’s absences from Chaudenay I created some lame excuse why I needed to be subjected to Karine’s scissors.  As you can see from the image, I was able to tell Anne I was in good hands. Well my hair was.

A Bientot, Bruce.

There are many styles of architecture present in Burgundy.

Amongst the most distinctive are the colourful roofing tiles that can be seen on a number of major buldings  scattered around the region. 

Probably the best known of them, and the most photographed, are in the courtyard of the Hospice de Beaune. Coloured red, brown, yellow and green and laid in an interlaced pattern they have caught the eye of many a tourist, and indeed local residents.

One report suggests these glazed tiles may have originated in Central Europe, possibly from ceramics master Miklos Zsolnay of Hungary. But Zsolnay’s work occurred in the mid 19 th century and one suspects these attractive tiles were being installed in Burgundy well before that time.

A more common view is that the tiles orignated from Flanders at a time when the Dukes of Burgundy were in their prime with their Dukedom stretching well beyond the borders of France into present day Belgium and the Netherlands.

One could imagine that such artistic roofing tiles were part of the dowry when Marguerite of Flanders married Philip I, Duke of Burgundy.

Marguerite herself is a colourful historical figure. Actually Marguerite III, she was the only grand-daughter of Marguerite I, Countess of Flanders.

In 1357 at the age of 7, Maggie III married her second cousin Philip I, (beats me how that worked) but was widowed just 4 years later on his premature death at the very tender age of 15.

In 1369, Marguerite III, then 19 years old, married the celebrated Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold. Marguerite III lived to the age of 55 dying a year after her husband in 1505.

I’m not sure what all of that has to do with roofing tiles, but interesting to reflect on how lives were lived in those days. How on earth did they manage without the internet, facebook and twitter?!!

Another building with the Burgundy tiles worth checking out is the imposing Mairie in the wine village of Meursault.

 And even here, in our small commune of Chaudenay, our 12th c church steeple is adorned by these attractive tiles.

A Bientot, Bruce.

We are having incredibly unseasonal weather here in Burgundy, heavy clouds, rain, and temperatures about 10 degrees below the norm. Brrr!

Weather more suited to sitting by an open fire reading a book, than sitting in the courtyard sipping pinot or chardonnay, and trying to fix the world’s problems.

Here are two books we highly recommend. ‘Wine and War’, and ‘Champagne’ both written by Don & Petie Kladstrup.

They are hugely interesting and informative, written in a an easy style which make them very suitable for holiday reading.

‘Wine and War’ is set in the major wine producing regions of France during the second World War. It tells how the German military set about controlling the French wine industry and the resultant movement of millions of bottles of quality label wine being shipped, or rather ‘trained’ to Germany.

Against that, the French viticulteurs set about preserving as much of their stock as possible within a number of inventive hiding places.

There are also a number of sub-plots that run alongside the principal story. The German wine ‘Commissioners’ were often friends of the French winemakers; some French families were protecting Jews; there were vignerons amongst some of the French resistance groups; and a degree of insight is provided of the Vichy government. 

As an aside, the line of demarcation between Vichy France and Occupied France in this part of Burgundy was the Saone river at Chalon-sur-Saone just a few kilometres to the south of us.

‘Champagne’ is an equally fascinating and educational read. It traces Champagne -the wine and the region - back to its early beginnings. It covers the Champagne ‘uprising’; life on the front line during WW I; the failed and the glorious vintages; the dramas behind many of its famous labels.

A number of the personalities who created or strengthened the flamboyant Champagne image are presented, from Dom Perignon to the celebrated Veuve Cliqouot to the so named Champagne Charlie.

Above all you acquire a real sense of how passionate and committed the French are in producing Champagne. To them, risking their lives while harvesting in 1914-1918 just happened to be something that one does.

Both books are worth tracking down. English language editions are also available at the Athenaeum shop in central Beaune.

A Bientot, Bruce.

One of the quaint aspects of France which we often talk about is the way the French have the knack of living in a sophisticated contemporary environment while still preserving so many traditions and habits of days gone by.

I guess President ‘Sarko’ has learnt the hard way that the French public may wish to embrace change but only at ‘their’ pace.

 At a very basic level take advertising as a classic example.

In the small towns and villages the accepted practice of promoting some local area event is by affixing signs to street lamp posts, traffic signs, trees and any other conveniently located perpendicular support.

Just looking out my office window from where I am typing this I can see 3 such signs along our street front!

Sometimes the signs are professionally printed but more often than not they have been written up in free hand.  Occasionally you will see a poster that has even been recycled from the previous year.

 If you attend any of the promoted events or fetes you will see that they are extremely well supported, not just by the immediate village inhabitants but those from a much wider area.

So this style of advertising probably doesn’t rate in David Oglivy’s bible of best advertising practices, but the great thing is, for the French they work.

A Bientot, Bruce.

When Robert Browning penned his poem ‘Oh to be in England now that April is there……..he must surely have been traversing Burgundy. 

A poem incidentally even us Kiwis learnt at school. Those were in the days of the ‘mother country’!

April has brought us cloudless blue skies, warm sunshine, bursts of colour from mauve wisteria, soft pink cherry blossoms and acres of bright yellow rape seed flowers.

Well that was yesterday, today it is raining. But for sure le jardin is lapping it up. A pity the weeds probably are too.

I think this April through June period is my favourite time of year. Spring very quickly pushes l’hiver into the background. The twitter of the birds are a delight to wake up to; the air is fresh when I bike the bread run in the mornings and the aromas of the boulangerie seem more doughie and crusty than ever!

Out in the streets there is more activity. Cafés and resaurants are re-painting their shop fronts; tables are going out on the footpaths; the farmers markets are expanding; summer fashions are in the shop windows. A time to enjoy.

And joy too for us accommodation hosts. We get to see guests again - yah!

For the past two or three weeks our guests have been entetained by another symbol of Spring. A little red squirrel, has been darting around in our courtyard, racing up the chestnut trees and scampering up the wall of the Cottage.

This LRS moves like lightening which is why you have to be very quick to spot him in this pic!

Public holiday tomorrow, shame it’s a Saturday - 65 millon French groan in unison.

A Bientot, Bruce.

The ’cost of living’ in France is a topic which often arises with our guests.

While one is tempted to make a comparison with other countries, it is fraught with danger. There are so many imponderables.  The COL can be ‘lower’ or ‘higher’ depending on circumstances and one’s own particular lifestyle.

Pinning down the COL is like those health industry reports you read. One says nuts are bad for you, another says not. Some say chocolate will send you to an early grave, others not. The same for red wine. I loved a recent quote by a centenarian when she was asked of the secret to her longevity - ‘I never touch vegetables ’she replied!!

I digress. The largest ‘economic’ adjustment we have had to make is the ‘high’ level of tax, and the contributions towards ’social’ costs such as your pension, medical, and contribution towards social’ welfare’ funding.

But there are upsides to all that cost.  For example the quality of the French medical services is widely recognised, and we can tell you from first hand experience it is excellent. In fact, it is superb.

And just like in most countries, there are many legit methods for minimising your tax. The important thing is to seek out expert, current advice. I say current as the tax laws are frequently amended. 

One of the standard COL tests is the weekly shop - food and domestic provisions of course being a central cost of our living expenses.

I have always enjoyed supermarket shopping and am like a pig in muck as I while away a couple of hours each week. France is well served by supermarkets and the consumer benefits as the supermarchés tend to compete with each other very aggressively.

We tend to use E.Leclerc mainly because they are located next to a ‘Grand Frais’ fruit and vegetable specialist who Anne swears by for variety and quality. Anne is not in the centenarians camp!

For those of you interested in comparative prices here’s some extracts from our weekly shop, all costs in euros. Firstly from Grand Frais

Banane 1.19 per kg - Citron jaune 2.95 per kg - clemintine 2.99 kg - orange 1.50 kg - royal gala .69c kg - patate douce 1.99 kg - carottes .99 kg - choux de bruxelles .99 kg - haricots gros 2.99 kg - tomate grappe 2.25 kg - poivron rouge 1.99 kg.  

And from le supermarché: café x2 5.33 - 500g of musli 2.31 - 1l soupe 3.00 - 6×1l evian eau 2.92 - 1.5l coca lite 2.54 - 6×100g savon palmolive 3.60 - 8×100g yahourt 2.52 - 1l lait fraich 1.09 - beurre 1.05 - 6 x oeufs 1.57 - 2 tranche jambon 1.44 - 70cl rhum bacardi 13.62 - 300 gr tagliatelle 1.15.

In reality, in many cases a move to France is rarely influenced by the cost of living. If life in France appeals to you sufficiently, you will cut your cloth to fit!! 

A Bientot, Bruce.