Living in Brittany

Its very quiet here now since the autumn half term the place is empty of visitors for the first time since the beginning of April so we can shout and scream and no one hears us except perhaps the neighbours.The weather has changed like a switch as soon as the last visitors left at the end of October , the last two months have incredibly dry and warm  and now its the rainy windy  season which is good for the ground and gardens.I had a quick visit to the UK to pick up a few goodies I had bought on ebay which I get delivered to my brother also to pick up of a chipper/mulcher  attachment for my Countax mower from Exeter.I bought one of those electric ones years ago which you use once and then throw to the back of your workshop in disgust as its so slow and inefficient, but the Countax chipper is a good tool as it works direct off the 16 hp motor so plenty of power and can slice up to 6cms  but I prefer to do half that thickness and chainsaw the rest in to fire starter pieces. I also bought a second hand chainsaw as my old one I cynically call it French as it works well for 10 minutes and then it needs a 2 hour rest.My brother has moved to Bude in Cornwall where I went to secondary school  ( it was a grammar in those days ) and the most worrying thing was I knew 10  people in the street of his house, 4 were ex teachers, 2 were in the same class as me , the next door neighbour played in the town band with me its just too much .Tony the ex-class mate insisted on taking me out for a pub crawl which didn't do much for my head the next day.It was interesting that recession wasn't effecting Bude so much as its a tourist town and the "staycation " fashion helps it survive.

I returned from a walk with the dog at the weekend to find a springer spaniel chasing one of our white chickens around the garden last weekend, after a few subtle words of English it disappeared and the chicken jumped into my arms to be rescued and I was going to put it back into its run but noticed the other chick had disappeared so I dropped it in with the brown chick. There was just a pile of feathers so assumed the dog had carried it off. This was a good opportunity for Paulien to have an in-depth conversation with the hunters on dog control and respecting distances with local houses, as they just seem to shoot anything which moves especially while the maize crops are still standing.However the next day when we moved the 2 remaining chickens ( we move their run everyday so they have something fresh to scratch ) we heard a faint noise in the hedge and found the missing chick minus quite a few feathers wedged behind a water butt, a very lucky chick!

I did a gig a couple weeks ago in Plufur with Anthony ( an ex pro trumpet player ) we played the first set before the other group played, "Feeling" a jazz quartet with a very good singer. It was OKish  and in the paper the "Tregor "last week we had our photo in and a write up, Anthony with his "bewitching" trumpet  and Simon with his "hot sax " a bit ambiguous !

We had quite a shock last Saturday in the bar someone mentioned Francois Rolland had died of an aneurysm, he's our neighbour just lives a few fields away. Regular visitors will have seen him working the fields or he would often drop in for a chat  leaving the engine of his  John Deere  tractor running  as he had a quick beer and gossip with me and Paulien. We have known him 17 years and he lived at Coat Aillis before we bought the place  and he had a large hanger in place where he ( or his wife ) milked his 25 cows, in fact we co-habited  on site as he didn't move the hanger till 95 so we always got on well. He was a fiery proud Breton but an unreconstructed chemical farmer who was was an anachronism as he was farming on such a small scale. The funeral was at Ploulec'h a small village near Lannion it was completely packed so we had to stand for the service  where they sang songs in French and Breton and afterwards everyone passes the coffin and sprinkles some drops of water on it. I got out early but Paulien left half an hour after me as there were at least 400 in the church and another 100 outside. He was only 53 and had 3 girls one of whom was going to be married the following week so it was bad timing.

All the dairy farmers locally are on strike  that is they are throwing their milk away ( they will give it away also )  since 10 days it looks like financial suicide  but I guess they aren't making much money anyway.

Yesterday was "jeudi noir" as most of France was on strike and the boys didn't go to school. Even Lannion had a demonstration of 5000 in the afternoon, I was asking people in the bar why there were strikes and demonstrations and nobody had a sensible suggestion. So half the population doesn't like Sarkozy but the other half does and helping out the banking sector isn't popular but letting it collapse would be worse, but what do I know.
A good or bad example of French industry was last week I had to order a small item for the pool, the pipework is by a British company called Certikin and I was told to get in touch with the Perpignan office as I lived in France.Over the next couple of days several telephone calls and emails produced zero response , they weren't interested so I asked for a English company to deal with,one telephone call and the product is in the post. OK its not a lot of money but its an attitude problem they need to learn to love their clients.
The pounds continuing decline although making life more expensive if you are sterling dependant makes the UK much more attractive for shopping so I'll have to make a list a do a shop in the spring.My middle son bought a laptop from PC World about 150€ cheaper than he would have paid here and it also keeps him off my PC as well.
Its our annual band dinner on Sunday I think its the 30€ menu + wine all paid for by the municipality of Lannion, not sure if they are getting good value.

I was being driven my my friend Cogs the other week on the twisty road between Tremel and Plufur and we met a charging articulated lorry on a sharp bend and as the trailer followed the truck around the road became smaller and smaller so we ended up half way up the hedge and missed it my a coat of paint.We both looked at each other gob smacked as they say in shock.needless to say the lorry sped off in search of more victims to scare. The truck I was in fortunately is a 4x4 so easily went off road but the worrying thing for me as a passenger was that it was right hand drive and it would have been that would have been crunched if we had made contact. I was very impressed with Terry's reactions especially as he is 70!
Its our first winter in France since we came 16 years ago that we don't have any major building projects ( just as well with the present economic climate ) so I decided to reoganise the garden making raised beds and having less chaos so we might get better production. A friend just nailed some railway sleepers together to form a rectangle and then filled them with earth which seems a good idea so will do something similar. I also made a greenhouse out recycled transparent plastic against my workshop and only had to buy an extra 4 sheets so it cost me around 40€. The construction was the easy part, but as it was built on the same concrete slab as the workshop I had to hack through 30cm of concrete and stone so there is a connection with the subsoil for the plants. I even topped up the fresh soil with compost and scattered some mustard seeds for a green manure effect.
Last week the town band did its annual concert for the over 70s in Lannion. There was about 600 of them and they all get a meal , music and a dance band afterwards and its all free! The French certainly look after their ageing population well

Its turned autumnal this last week with leaves falling its time for collecting chestnuts in the woods and roasting them on the wood burner in the evenings.Its also the shooting season we get a lot of hunters around us due to the maize crops which are home to pheasants. They all have to wear florescent red hats as they have a habit of shooting each other. On average about 50 hunters get shoot a year, I had friend who went hunting with some French hunters ,they drank an enormous amount of alcohol did various dangerous things and at the end of the afternoon they shot their dog ( not intentionally ) so had to take it to the vets ( it survived ). The moral is to wear something bright when you walk in the countryside
Bas picked up his first speeding ticket at St Efflam, he hasn't even passed his test yet. You don't expect hidden radar traps Sunday afternoon at the sea front.I think its more of a revenue collecting exercise than genuine concern of road safety. Paulien took it on her licence and he paid the fine 90€........
Its our last full week this week before Christmas, Plestin has been quite busy with Parisian on holiday at the weekend. I was thinking Plestin must be quite recession proof as there is no industry and 80% of the population are retired and on pensions so the main beneficiaries are the pharmacists, flower shops and the hairdressers although the funeral shop does a good trade.
Xav has joined the homework club at school they have a supervised session after school so we pick him up at 6.15 and homework is done . No arguments but its a long day 8.00am - 6.15 pm

To give the man his due he isn't a hypocrite whereas previous presidents have had affairs and the strict privacy laws stops it going in the tabloids and Mitterrand even had a daughter by his mistress and it wasn't reported until he died. So he's not a hypocrite but whether its seemly for a president to date a singer/model with a very impressive CV of male celebs its very interesting. I have never heard the French mock their president as much as the present one.
At last I have finished the roof it will be nice working with both feet at the same level another month and the make over for Les Etables will be completed. Max has his interview on Thursday for French nationality there are certain jobs which are restricted to French nationals such as fonctioners ( civil servants ) which probably accounts for half the jobs in France. Paulien visited the CAF (they are occupied with family allowance and family support ) to get yet another form for his visit to the Prefecture and was told that he is entitled to a student allowance of 150€ a month which would pay for half his flat rental.
The system in France taxes the population more but then gives lots of benefits back very socialist and doesn't really encourage initiative and for people to work hard. Whereas the Anglo system ,less tax but more borrowings and less job security makes people work harder. I don't who's got it right

A few weeks ago we had some bad storms and half a dozen containers were swept up on the Brittany coast including a shipment of pineapples destined for Tesco. However they arrived on the beaches between Plestin and Perros and recently there has been a glut of people making pineapple jam and tarts. Further west about half a ton of tobacco was washed up mostly Golden Virgina which even tempted Paulien to go for a walk on the beach the customs were soon on site declaring it was illegal to take it away.
Christmas has been very quiet with a couple of families staying on site French/English + the dog and goat of Karen and Kas who have gone to Holland for the festive period so its a happy new year to my 2 regular readers Jonnie and Peter and any one else who stumbles across this blog. Bloavez matt as they say in Breton

The funeral went quite well a lovely sunny day well attended and the band played much better than the previous night we were half way through the piece before Monsieur Echo had got his instrument warmed up enough to get it squeak out of it so he didn't completely ruin it as usual. I quite enjoyed the service it being catholic and is more ritualistic than the C of E I was brought up on not that I am a regular visiter. Jean Kerbaol the deceased had arranged 5 years ago which music he wanted for the occasion. Since my time in the band we have done 4 funerals of ex members church and civic, I find the church ones more satisfying as its a formal ritual whereas the civic ones are too casual just turning up at the cemetery playing a tune then retiring to the bar for a drink afterwards. I calculated during the service there could be 2 or 3 more this year as we have a few ex members in terminal conditions. I asked a few of players in the bar afterwards if they had chosen their music for their departure but they said they weren't in a hurry. Anthony the Irish ex guards ,ex colonel's trumpeter ( so very good player ) said he definitely didn't want us playing as we weren't good enough, after the others had gone he insisted on another beer ( the Irish in him ) he was giving me lots of useful information ( ? ) on crematoriums as he visited a lot during his time in the forces such as differing burn times for differing bodies according to their condition , fat etc , how the ashes were collected, collection of metal fillings and joints and finally that the Germans made the best ovens. I had to change the subject after that.

The latest hassle with bureaucracy is Max has to join his own mutual for health assurance its called SMEBA and its for students , fair enough but then they have asked for his birth certificate to be translated into French which is lunacy as most of the information is digits and translating 6th November to 6 Novembre is pretty dumb but if thats what they want will have to do it . Will now have to go back to my cupboard where I'm hiding for the duration of the WC after last nights shambles .

It was a poor weekend for the Celtic fringes on site with most of them losing their matches and South Africa looking ominously good it looks as if I'll have to swap the rose for "le coq " as the French team are looking on form. I am almost worried that England might have difficulty beating Samoa in Nantes the match I have a ticket for in 3 weeks time. Paulien's friend Inika has visited again from Holland with her 2 daughters which was fun and different as we are very much a male dominated household with 3 boys. The funniest highlight last week was Inika's daughter Rose sparring with Eileen wearing boxing gloves and chasing her around the gites one evening.
Our hot water heater packed up this week so have had to change it the plumber we use is a brilliant guy he actually rings back the same day and will visit promptly ( not sure if he's really French ) lets me do most of the grunt work then inspects. A unique French worker, the irony is I buy the heaters in the UK its a German make but the price is about £200 cheaper than in France and is actually cheaper than the plumber can buy it for. He can install for me but can't buy in the UK as it has a GB sticker in it and he can only buy and install heaters with a F sticker although the heaters are identical. Vive le Marche

We had a client leave on Sunday in a bit of a rush the previous night I had been helping him attach his bike rack which had been damaged when he drove into a height restricted car park so we fixed it up (not very well ) the night before in the dark.So late Sunday afternoon he telephoned me to say the rack had fallen off en route to the ferry (actually he didn't make Plestin ) and he had abandoned the 4 bikes in a field outside Plestin so we have retrieved them and put them in store if he wants to collect them some time.
Yann has been having a tough time as our local vet did a poor job of stitching him up ( or stapling on Monday ) and the Friday she put in a couple stitches but next day he was worse so we took him to another vet who did major surgery on his leg and redid all the stitching. The first vet not only missed one hole in the leg which was festering she hadn't cleaned out the wound properly so it had gone gangrenous and smelly which needed to be cut out. So now Yann looks like a patchwork of steaks stitched together but is much happier and after showing him to the neighbours whose dog caused the damage they agreed to pay using their insurance.