Blog in France

A recent geocaching trip took us into neighbouring Allier, and to the environs of Montvicq in particular. The trail we were set to follow would take us around an old mining area. The substance that was mined here company between 1847 and 1921 was houille. This is a bituminous coal...

Our dear old Nessie has died, aged sixteen and a half, which, in human years’ equivalence for a dog of her size, comes out as around 120. That’s a very good innings. Nessie was born at a farm down the road from us in Finnis, Bandon. Her dam was a...

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: thanks to geocaching Chris and I have discovered fascination hidden gems of local history that we’d never otherwise have stumbled across. Our most recent geocaching trip was yet another illustration of this, and with a sad story behind it....

We’re now into the fifth month of the French Republican Calender – Pluviôse. The name comes from pluviosus, which is Latin for rainy. It begins on 20 January. It’s not the most logical name as February (two-thirds of which falls into Pluviôse) is, on average, the driest month of the...

As part of my drive to be more environmentally considerate, for several months I’ve been making my own fatballs for birds, rather than buy plastic-wrapped ready-made ones in their mini nylon string bags. First of all I used cheap margarine as the binding agent for the wild bird seed. This...