Blog in France

I currently have two and a half chickens who think they’re penguins. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Reginald is the first one to permanently adopt the upright stance and waddle of a penguin. For the first three or four months of his life he was to all intents...

On Sunday we moved Ruadhri into his student digs. Briefly. You may recall from my last blog post that we’d hit a last-minute hitch in the rather complicated process for signing up as a student and then procuring accommodation via CROUS. (CROUS = Centre Régional des Oeuvres Universitaires et Scolaires...

Even after living here for thirteen years, French bureaucracy still trips us up. This latest ‘huh?’ moment occurred yesterday. Ruadhri is about to begin his first year at university. Having been through this process twice before with his big brother and sister, we were fairly well clued up, although there...

Last week Chris and I left our farm and lakes in the capable hands of our two sons and slipped off to Burgundy for a few days’ cycling. We went to Morvan in Burgundy. Morvan isn’t a département but a highland area that forms the north-eastern extension of the Massif...

Today we had our first ride on a purpose-built cycle route. Well, more like a recycled version of such a route, forgive the pun, as it’s along what was once the towpaths alongside the Canal de Berry. This route stretches from Montluçon in Allier to Tours in Indre-et-Loire, with a...