My Blog

VIENNE CAR BOOT / VIDE GRENIER

04/20/2012 13:57:00

VIENNE CAR BOOT / VIDE GRENIER :

MONCONTOUR BROCANTE VIDE GRENIER 1 MAY

One of the largest of the region during the course of the year is a vide grenier which takes place in the pretty historic village of Moncontour, every year on 1st May. Some 350 stalls can be found meandering throughout the village which is closed off to traffic for the day. Even if your other half doesn't like car boots, its worth a visit for the beautiful forest and riverside walks and the view from the XIth century donjon is splendid.

Why not stay 2 nights at Le Grand Saule Chambres d'Hotes just 70€ for a double room contact : Keith and Anji Weston at Le Grand Saule in Moncontour

Vienne Events

04/20/2012 13:47:00

GARDEN FESTIVAL 20 to 22 April at Loudun, Vienne.

Huge selection of plants, fruit trees, exotic trees in this historique town.

Did you know that this town is famous for : Oliver Reed (in a round about way- see references to Urbain Grandier); Theophraste Renaudot who lived between 1586 and 1653 doctor and founder of the french press; and also the infamous Marie Besnard who is thought to have poisoned her husband and some 22 other people - although it was never proven as there was arsenic in the ground where the vegetables grew.

Beautiful town with an ancient tower, medieval garden and some amazing architecture - the gardens are worth a visit too.

FETES DES JARDINS 20 au 22 Avril à Loudun, Vienne

Les plantes, les herbes aromatiques, les arbres fruites et exotique dans cette ville historique.

BOURSE DE PLACOMUSOPHILE 18 to 20 May 2012

04/16/2012 15:06:00

What I hear you say is a 'Bourse de Placomusophile'? Well a Placomusophile is the capsule in the top of the champagne bottle. And over here in France they collect these capsules, many exchanging hands for high prices. Why not come along to the collectors fair which takes place in St Jean de Sauve, near Moncontour, Vienne from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 May 2012. I promise you'll be surprised at the different designs there are, how beautiful some of them are and the prices they exchange hands for.

At the same time why not stay at Le Grand Saule Chambres d'Hotes for our special event tariff of 2 nights for just 70€ bed and breakfast.

Grand Bourse de Placomusophile weekend de 18 au 20 Mai 2012. Cette une grande bourse de belle placomusophile.

Restez-la pour les deux nuits à Le Grand Saule Chambres d'Hotes en Moncontour, Vienne pres de St Jean de Sauve. Tariff speciale : 70€ pour les deux nuits avec le petit dejeuner compris.

FETE DE JARDINS LOUDUN 21 AND 22 APRIL 2012

04/16/2012 14:49:00

Don't miss the Fete de Jardins at Loudun near Moncontour this weekend 21 and 22 April 2012.

Place to buy all your fruit trees, beautiful roses, herbs, vegetables..... or why not just settle for a coffee or beer at the bar and watch the world go by.

Cette weekend 21 au 22 Avril 2012 Le Fete des Jardins à Loudun pres de Moncontour, Vienne. Acheter les arbres des fruits, les rosiers, les herbes, les legumes.... où peut-etre restez-la pour le cafe où la biere à la bar et regarder toutes le monde....

Weather in Vienne

10/24/2011 01:11:00

The weather here today has been a remarkable 90 degrees!! Nearly November - thats crazy...

LIVING IN FRANCE

10/19/2011 19:17:00

We are often asked what it is like to live in France.

Most of the time beautiful blue skies, warmer weather than England, fewer cars and generally we like to think less crime.

For those who move here with young children it is often a struggleat first, as you need to be fluent in french in order to get a job, in order to keep your family. Learning the language is often quicker for the parents of young children as you tend to pick up the language at the school gates so to speak. So many young families initially keep themselves going by having gites unless of course one partner has a very much needed skill here.

For those of us who are older it is often more difficult. If you come before retirement age, then you need to have something to keep the money rolling in, however minimal just to pay the bills. For those who are over retirement age the difficulties arise as the health problems start to arise. Not just the cost of health and bodily repairs, but the language you need in order to attend doctors, dentists, hospitals etc. And the older you are the more difficult it becomes to learn a language - the concentration skills are just not there.

For those working here in France, life can be quite expensive. Taxes are high, as are cotisations which you pay towards the health system. In January 2009 the french authorities set up a new system called the Auto Entrepreneur which was supposed to work similar to the PAYE in England - you pay a percentage of what you earn and that depends on what work you undertake. Lets say for instance that you decide to set up a Bed and Breakfast or Gites - although you work a great deal harder with a Bed and Breakfast providing a greater service you are required to pay 21.6% of your turnover. If however you have Gites or offer evening meals your percentage is only 12%. The people you pay these cotisations to are the RSI - who bless their cotton socks, have had a lot to put up with since the Auto Entrepreneur system started as they were inundated with those who wanted to join the system. So its no wonder they constantly get their figures wrong. Go on any expat site and you will see cries from entrepreneurs of excessive demands - particularly this time of year when the demands go out - just before Christmas.

We are no exception to the rule - our demand is for 10,000 euros - paid half before Christmas and half after. The fact that we in no way make this amount is beside the point. I think the comment WATCH THIS SPACE comes to mind.

GLASS WORKSHOP IN DEUX SEVRES MAKES EVERYTHING TRANSPARENT

10/13/2011 22:54:00

If you enjoy holiday activities with a difference then take a look at my recent write up for www.guide2poitoucharentes.com about magical alchemical activity of glass making.

It discusses the workshop of Sally Cox in Barroux, Deux Sevres where she makes everything from jewellery and windchimes and from mosaic tables to stained glass windows for chateaux and churches.

Click on the following link for a transparent write up on glass http://www.guide2poitoucharentes.com/news/545/Feature-Glass-Making-in-Poitou-Charentes-France

TIME FOR A BREAK OR BASIL FAWLTY HERE I COME!

10/07/2011 15:59:00

Well its now the end of another season here at our beautiful riverside retreat at Le Grand Saule in Moncontour, Vienne. We have welcomed visitors from all over the world from America in the West, to Israel in the East, from Denmark in the north to Australia in the south - very cosmopolitan this year especially. Most of our guests have been fabulous and many have kept in touch since they left here - sending messages of good wishes and photographs taken both here in France and back at their homes, so often we get to know their families - if only by photograph.

It hardly seems like a year since we opened let alone this being the finish of our fourth summer. But suddenly I am beginning to see what Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers was all about with his strange temperament. Towards the end of a busy season following many early morning breakfasts and late evening meals combined with a little room cleaning, maintenance of grounds, shopping, website directing, answer emails and writing up the accounts and all the other small jobs that are involved in running a Bed and Breakfast, we are now feeling extremely tired.

When you just think you have a quiet moment and you want to relax and put your feet up. Guests have gone for quiet meal out at a local restaurant and all is quiet on the Grand Saule front. Then in walk the guests during the middle of our meal and expect to hold a conversation until 10.30 pm - bang goes your meal, bang goes your quiet night. I hear Basil Fawlty shouting 'You have only paid for Bed and Breakfast' throws a wobbly or his waiter and says 'I am not available 24/7 - go away...' But you don't - you politely sit with them and discuss how they want to put the world to rights.

One of our guests got it right this week. Tandy Cassidy co-owner of Les Chuquets or Ski-hike-bike.com in the Auvergne took time out from her busy schedule to stay with us for most of the week and visited a glass workshop closeby. In the evenings she tucked herself away in her guest room and no amount of cajoling to come out would work - she had come for a rest, time to give her brain a rest. I knew the feeling having done the same last year giving myself a weeks break in Ireland.

Well its time now for a break. We have just a few more weeks of guests, then holing ourselves up in front of the log burner in time for Christmas.

Basil Fawlty here I come....

FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

10/05/2011 20:05:00

FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

This weekend Friday 7th October 2011 a festival of light and guarded tour of the troglodyte caves of Turquant near Saumur using 100 candles. The tour finishes with a tasting of wine.

TURQUANT - Visite guidée à la lueur de 100 bougies et de feux decheminées, de l'agencement de ce logis seigneurial troglodytique du XVI°siècle, et, à travers lui, évocation de la vie des habitants de la Renaissance.Visite clôturée par une dégustation des vins du Domaine Filliatreau,propriétaire des lieux.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS IN THE VIENNE

10/05/2011 19:55:00

This weekend 8 and 9 October 2011 is the 34th Salon of Fossils and Minerals being held at the Salle des Fetes in Montamisé in the north Vienne. It is organised by the Mineralogie and Paleontologie club of Poitou. The area is famous for its geological / nature reserves, two sites being found near the Thouars / St Ragegonde area in north Vienne. The event is on from 10.00h to 19.00h on Saturday and Sunday.

Cette weekend 8 et 9 Octobre est le 34e Salon Mineraux et Fossiles à le Salle des Fetes à Montamisé. Cette region est importante pour les mineralogie et Paleotologie particularment pres de Thouars / St Ragegonde region. Le seance est 10.00h et 19.00h Samedi et Dimanche.