Signs of the Times
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
4d ago
If you’ve ever driven through rural France, you will have noticed the faded advertising murals and shop signs painted on the walls of houses and barns. They evoke the country’s past, publicising drinks such as Suze, Poulain chocolate, motor oil and other products. These "murs réclames" became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries and are works of art in their own right, a far cry from their modern successors. I look at a part of the fabric of French history that will soon have disappeared for ever ..read more
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Spring Sunshine Brings Nature Back to Life
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
1w ago
Spring is arriving in leaps and bounds after what felt like the gloomiest winter we have experienced in our 27 years in France. In the last few days, we have enjoyed springlike sunshine after torrential rain earlier in the week. Time to get outside and tackle the garden jobs that have piled up. Was this winter really as gloomy as we thought? What do the figures that we have kept for 26 years say ..read more
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Four French Women Musicians Who Prevailed Against the Odds
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
2w ago
Today, on International Women’s Day, I celebrate four remarkable French women musicians: Pauline Viardot, a talented pianist turned operatic mezzo-soprano and composer; Emma Calvé, renowned for her role in Bizet’s Carmen and her work for the French war effort during World War I; Lili Boulanger, a musical prodigy who won the Prix de Rome and died tragically young; and Josephine Baker, an American-turned-French singer and dancer who spied for France during World War II and was a civil rights activist. These women overcame considerable odds in what was still very much a man's world ..read more
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An Unusual Leap Year Tradition in France
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
3w ago
You will have noticed that we get an extra day of winter this year, 29th February. While this extends a season that many of us would prefer to be shorter, it’s essential to prevent the dates and the seasons becoming completely out of kilter. In France, there is one particular leap day tradition that began in 1980 and is avidly awaited by readers – a satirical daily newspaper, La Bougie du Sapeur. What’s the difference from other dailies? This one appears only once every four years ..read more
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Every Château Tells a Story #22: Le Château de Graves, Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
1M ago
I continue my series about local châteaux with a visit to le Château de Graves in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. This is a well-preserved Renaissance château, of which there are surprisingly few in France in such good condition. It seems to have withstood the region’s sporadic turbulence unscathed. I had the place to myself as I wandered around, imagining what it must have been like in its heyday. The merchant who constructed the château had made his fortune trading copper. He was keen to impress his friends with this tangible symbol of his wealth, and probably his rivals, too ..read more
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The Star of Spices: Growing Saffron in Quercy
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
1M ago
Saffron more than deserves its nickname "red gold". Ounce for ounce, it's more expensive than the precious metal and outstrips luxuries such as truffles and caviar in price. It gives a gold hue and a distinctive aromatic taste to many dishes, savoury and sweet. Saffron comes from the dried stigmas of the purple crocus lativus, which has been grown and used in France since the 14th century. Our region is one of the principal growing areas in France, and there's a safranière (saffron farm) not far from us. The young woman who owns it gave a talk recently, when I learned more about this star of s ..read more
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Daring Vanquisher of the Skies: Dieudonné Costes
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
1M ago
Septfonds has a lot of history associated with it. The village was once the centre of the straw hat making industry, founded by the delightfully named Pétronille Cantecor. An internment camp for Spanish refugees was set up there after the fall of Barcelona. Perhaps a lesser-known claim to fame is that Septfonds is the birthplace of the aviator Dieudonnée Costes. The fame of fliers like Charles Lindbergh and Louis Blériot has eclipsed his, and few people have heard of him today. However, he was the first to make the westward crossing of the Atlantic in 1930 against overwhelming odds. The local ..read more
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Impressionist Paintings and Historical Curiosities in Montauban
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
1M ago
Free of fixed appointments for once, we braved the road to Montauban this week, still blocked in places by detritus from the farmers’ protests. We wanted to see two Impressionist paintings on loan to the Musée Ingres-Bourdelle. We also stumbled upon some curiosities around the town, which I hadn’t seen before. I never cease to be amazed by the things you find in a place you thought you knew. Finally, we “did” the winter sales. They run to a government-fixed timetable in France and come to an end next week, so it was now or never ..read more
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The French Two-Hour Lunch Break: Myth or Reality?       
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
2M ago
The French two-hour lunch break is a national institution in which all French people indulge. Or is it? Is this in fact a nostalgic myth belied by the reality? I weigh up the facts and look at how things have changed since we arrived in 1997, including the runaway growth of fast food in France ..read more
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The Soul of the French Landscape
Life on La Lune
by Vanessa in France
2M ago
I hate cutting down trees. I would rather plant them. But last week, we had to fell an ailing ash tree that threatened our barn and well roofs. Ash and oak trees are a shaping feature of the scenery in our part of Southwest France, but both are under threat from diseases. This led me to reflect on changes to the landscape here over the past century ..read more
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