Living in La Trinite Porhoet

Our favourite view

 

We have now lived in La Trinite-Porhoet for exactly two years and are pretty much settled into the ways of the village. We have come to look forward to the various festivals and events that crop up at certain times of the year. Where as before, coming across Papa Noel  arriving on a tractor hurling sweets at (or should that be to) excited children was a surprise, as we were on our way to the supermarket, it's now a must see event. The fact that we know there will be mulled wine helps as well.

The putting up of the Christmas lights also actually heralds the beginning of the Christmas period, not the end of October as in the UK.

 



As we push into Winter the dark mornings are beginning to have an effect. Getting up in the dark is always difficult, for me anyway, and as it doesn't even become lightish until at least 8 o'clock I don't stand a chance. When we have guests the effort has to be made, but when we haven't.......... zzzzzzzzzz.

The one down side to this time of year, apart from the lack of paying guests, is the fact that a number of our good friends from hereabouts disappear off to sunnier climes, or back to England, for the Winter. Not that I begrudge them their time in the warmer parts of the globe, but the place isn't quite the same without them. But with the hardy soles that remain we do our best to take up the slack and make sure the wine consumption stays above agreeable levels.

In the meantime it's time to put another log on the fire and hunker down with the cats and make plans for next season, but please remember that Maison Driscoll is open to guests all year so please come and see us whatever the season.

As time goes by

Paimpol

Time marches on here in Bretagne, It only seems five minutes ago we arrived with our "plan," or no "plan," depending how you look at it, not knowing a soul, and, in my case, no French. Well, my French hasn't improved much, a little but not a lot, but on the plus side we have many friends, and the "plan" seems to be trundling along quite nicely thank you very much.

This summer, as people who watch us on Facebook will know, we've upgraded the seating arrangements at the front of the house. This, I think, has made us look far more professional and made the house look much more attractive.

Our guests this summer, so far, seem to be more varied than last year. We've already had people from America, Spain, Ireland and Belgium as well as the usual French and British. It's really only when you meet these people at close quarters that you come to realise how they differ from each other and what traits they have in common. It's fascinating stuff, maybe I should write a book on "Europe at the breakfast table", a sure fire winner.

Spring saw us get a fair amount of British house hunters visiting us, obviously spurred on by the favourable exchange rate.

   

 



Rennes

Our way of life does make it slightly awkward to get out and see the country we now live in. When we are busy we don't have the time, and when we're slack we don't feel we should be spending the money. I'm sure as time passes and we have more confidence in our position that will change. However we have got out a little. Early in the year some friends took us to the Saturday market in Rennes, apparently the second largest open market in France. It was well worth it. No tourist tat here, all  fruit, veg, fish, meat, cheese and flowers. Oh and not forgetting the bars, coffee shops and street entertainment. A pretty decent day out.

We also have ventured to both the north and south coasts, about an hours drive either way. On the north coast is the beautiful town of Paimpol. It boasts a very pretty harbour surrounded by  restaurants, and  full of both yachts and fishing boats. Small windy streets with bars and such are worth a look or two as well. It also has the most beautiful sandy beach.     



Potager

The main new addition this year is the potager in our private side garden, we grew vegetables back in the U.K. so we had a little knowledge, but are total novices compared to all our French neighbours. They grow stuff on an industrial scale, and not a weed in sight.

Considering this time last year it was all lawn I think it's done pretty well, we now have broad, runner and French beans in the freezer with lots more to come. Leeks, spuds and the rest also growing well, all we need now is the 1000 ways to cook a courgette book and we'll be fine.   

 

Why we still have some weeds

If you haven't been on Mars for the last month, you couldn't have not noticed that The Tour de France has been happening. I knew nothing about this sport at the outset, but by the end I was hooked, the sheer enthusiasm of the crowds, the flags, the whole thing was wonderful. I would try to use my new favourite word, peloton, as much as possible, even if it didn't fit into the sentence.

The "tour" was also good for us, as it passed quite close,  so we were full for four days, some guests picking their spot to watch the race then dashing back to ours to watch the end of the stage on the TV, then watching the highlights.

The various parts of the country the race passed through obviously took the chance to sell their area to the viewing public, and quite rightly so. Brittany, which is after all the home of French cycling, came over very well..........But I would say that wouldn't  I. 







Long time, no post.

 It's been a while, hasn't it......Life in France seems to plod along and before you know it Bonfire night (my birthday), and Christmas have been and gone and we're headlong into a new year.
Our one year anniversary  in La Trinite Porhoet was passed at the end of November, so we can no longer use "being newbies" as an excuse for getting things wrong, and my poor French. But looking back I am amazed at how quickly we've become accustomed to the French way of doing things. Nothing being open on Sundays, fine, in fact I like it. Shops closing for lunch, not a problem, having the cheese course before the sweet, comes naturally now. Actually I'm a little concerned that if I went back to the U.K. and went into a pub I would wander about trying to shake hands with everyone before I bought a drink. And parting with money for each individual round....I think not.
The only thing I still find slightly alarming is French drivers. Their habit of drifting on to my side of the road when negotiating even the slightest bend, and needing to over-take me no matter how fast I'm going, I don't think I'll ever get used to. And as for those strange little 50km per hour "cars", don't get me started. 

One of the major additions to Maison Driscoll this year will be the introduction of our vegetable patch. We prepared the ground at the end of October last year and then covered it over for the winter. The plan is to rotovate the plot once more at the beginning of March in readiness for planting. We did have an allotment in the U.K, which we kept for three years, so hopefully that should stand us in good stead for this coming summer. But even if our crop fails the plus side is I have less grass to mow.

The end of last year also saw the arrival of a rather lovely piano. It used to belong to my Grand mother who died back in the late 60's. I, unfortunately never heard her play, but word has it she was very good, and my Mother and Aunt would sing along with her. I'm not sure what they would have made of it being transported all the way out here but hopefully they approve.

 Bookings for this year seem to be going fairly well, helped by the presence in Brittany of the Tour de France. Also this year the Paris-Brest-Paris is being staged. Held every four years competitors have to complete the 1200k distance in 90 hours or under. Sleeping and eating wherever they can. Happily several of them have chosen to do that with us and we are fully booked for two nights. One chap is coming all the way from the U.S.A. Bizarrely there is even a sweet pastry named after the event, anything to make a euro.

One note of sadness blotted an otherwise perfect year. One of our two cats, Riley, was knocked down and killed outside our house. I'm not sure how he managed it, considering how much traffic we see, but manage it he did. I find it even more sad as we brought them here to enjoy the French country life with us and he didn't get much time to do that. His brother Arthur took a while to adjust to not having his playmate about, but he's settled down now.
We miss Riley much.