Category Archives: French customs

Friday’s French – Ecole Normale, normal, standard, norme, norm

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Rosemary Kneipp

The first time I heard the expression école normale was when I took up a post as an assistant English teacher in Nantes many moons ago. I soon discovered that it was a teacher training college. I then heard about the école normale … Continue reading →

Posted in French customs, French language | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Friday’s French – Trêve des confiseurs

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

I heard a new expression on France Info this week – “l’entre deux fêtes” – which literally means “between two celebrations”, the first being Christmas and the second New Year. It’s the same construction as ‘l’entre-deux-guerres”, which is what the … Continue reading →

Posted in French customs, French language | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Great Things about Christmas in France

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

Phoebe from Lou Messugo –  traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins near Nice where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia – has come up with … Continue reading →

Posted in French customs | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Voting in the provinces

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

There are no provinces in France but anything that happens outside Paris is called “en province”. In fact, France is divided first into 27 regions, including Normandie, Picardy and Brittany (our region is called Centre and not Pays de la … Continue reading →

Posted in French customs, Les Grouets | Tagged | 7 Comments

Invited for Dessert

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

We haven’t seen Mr and Mrs Previous Owner for quite some time, what with moving, retirement blues, Christmas, New Year, the flu, Granada, getting over the flu and finishing the glass doors and shutters. However, we are now sufficiently en … Continue reading →

Posted in Blois, Closerie Falaiseau, Flowers & gardens, Food, French customs, Renovation | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Weekly Blogger Round-Up – All About France with Lou Messugo

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

You are all familiar with Phoebe from Lou Messugo who lives in Nice and has often been featured in this weekly blogger round-up. Today, she is beginning a new monthly link-up focussing on posts about France from bloggers across the glob. I’ve contributed my post … Continue reading →

Posted in France, French customs, Weekly Blogger Round-Up | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Friday’s French – service civil, service civique, civil service, fonction publique

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

France Info is by far my favourite radio station. I like it because it keeps repeating the news all day so that if you tune off at any time, the same information will soon come round again. I usually listen … Continue reading →

Posted in French customs, French language | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

From Bridge to Bridge

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Rosemary Kneipp

It’s Sunday, the sun is shining brightly, the sky is blue and it’s 8°C. We can hardly believe it after the awful weather we have been having since November. We begin with pruning the roses. We have ten climbing roses … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking, Country living, Flowers & gardens, Food, French customs, Life in France, Retirement | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Mulled Wine and Chestnuts with the Locals

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Rosemary Kneipp

It’s one of those dull and dreary rainy days in December with little motivation to venture much further than the fireside but our local association, Les Amis des Grouets, is having its annual mulled wine and chestnut evening just down … Continue reading →

Posted in Closerie Falaiseau, Cooking, Food, French customs, Les Grouets | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Weekly Blogger Round-Up; Ice Skating on the Eiffel Tower – Blogger Highlights 2014 – French Holidays and Traditions

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Rosemary Kneipp

I missed last week’s blogger round-up from lack of organisation and general post-move sluggishness but this week I have three great posts to share with you. First, Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris takes us ice skating on … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogging, French customs, Paris, Weekly Blogger Round-Up | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments