For some time now I've been meaning to do something with my original "Living in Brittany" website, I started if off with good intentions to provide both information and a running blog or diary, however after a while the blog became unwieldy because I was just basically adding to a text file rather than having a structured setup which is why I moved to here.
However, I have now given it a complete makeover and turned it into a strictly factual site. It is in it's early days yet but the way it is structured means that I can keep adding to it for as long as I like so should just get better and better.
For anyone interested just click on www.living-in-brittany.co.uk to go straight to the site. Any comments or additions I would be pleased to add to it and attribute, there is a contact form within the site.
I cannot believe that I have let the whole of the summer go by without an update, I think the only thing it implies is that I am enjoying my life here and have been busy with other things.
As some of you know I've taken up fishing during this year after a break of probably at least 40 years, it is very therapeutic to sit down by the water's edge on a nice day fishing and even better when I manage to take home something worthwhile like the 4.5lb rainbow trout here.
I have a favourite spot at Saint Michel near Brennilis that I like to go to and even when I don't catch anything is it still enjoyable and something I shall probably do for the rest of my life.
Cooked in the oven in tinfoil with butter and black pepper it is beautiful.
The whole way of life and things that we do over here are so different than we used to do in the UK which gives a whole new slant on things. I think I've mentioned before that it is like going back 50 years in time.
This weekend has been a good example, on Friday we went to a small town called Commana. The whole town was closed off to traffic to allow an annual street market and horse fair. It is supposedly the oldest horse fair in France. There were street after street of stands set up selling pretty much anything you could name plus a "Vide Grenier" which actually means "Loft Sale" or a bit like the UKs car boot sale.
Apart from the horses that were being traded, sold and showed there was loads of small animals for sale, everything from ducks, chickens, goats, pigs, rabbits and ferrets.
We went to a local bar and had coffee part way though and all in all and a lovely few hours just wandering around taking in the sites, even the trip home was nice as we stopped off to look at some ducks on a lake.
On Saturday (yesterday) we went with some friends for an evening at Paule, a small town/village around 30 mins drive away. This was what I would call a quite typical way the French people in this area enjoy having an evening out. It was held in the local "Salle Polyvalente" or multi-purpose hall.
The hall had a stage and was set out with long tables covered in white tables cloths, there was an entrance fee of 10 euros for which we had bread, Moules and frites ( mussels and fries ) and a tarte tatin ( an upside down apple cake ) plus coffee. There must have been well over 100 people in there, I have a feeling we were the only English,although It didn't make any difference as we chatted in pidgeon French and sign language to the people sat on the table around us. A nice bottle of Rose wine at a very reasonable 5 euros helped it down very well.
While we were eating and afterwards we were entertained by a musical chorale group " Chantaccord " who sang sea shanties, I counted 27 of them on the stage, here is a short excerpt.
As you can guess all of this is completely different to our way of life when we lived in the UK, that is not to say It's better just different and certainly a whole chapter of our lives that would have passed us by If we hadn't taken the plunge and moved.
