Discover authentic France newsletter

Bonjour

I hope that you and yours are well.

First, a huge thank you to everyone who has written to me to say how much they love the Summer issue of The Good Life France Magazine, I really do appreciate you taking the trouble to tell me, and I’m so happy when people like the magazine. If you’ve not seen it yet, or shared it yet, you can access it for free here: The Good Life France Magazine Summer 2024.

In my little village not a great deal, well nothing really, happens that would make the front pages of a national newspaper. People say of my village: “152 people, 1000 cows” which I can’t confirm as I’ve never counted them all (the cows that is, the Mayor regularly counts the people!), but it’s possible, there are a lot of cows. Usually they live in fields or barns, occasionally they escape.

Mid-week, on our morning dog walk with Labradors Ronnie and Reggie Kray, and Australian Shepherds Lady Ella and Nina Simone, we acquired a guest walker – a large brown and white heifer.

We’d just climbed the hill past the Chapel of Miracles as it’s known, thanks to a woman surviving an illness in the 1800s whose husband promised to build a chapel if she did. It’s tiny, big enough for 4 people at a squeeze. We’d turned into the road that leads past the field that belongs to White Horse Man (he’s got two!), and were about to head into the ‘alley that leads to the windmill that no longer exists’ (people round here like long names for roads), when the dogs barked in surprise at meeting a cow.

There were several fields of cows around so we couldn’t guess if she was one of Mr and Mrs Pepperpot’s, a petite couple who live nearby, or Thierry the farmer or one of the many other farmers in this area. We walked on a little bit to see what would happen; the cow followed. We walked a bit more, the cow trailed along, all the time keeping its eyes on the dogs, seemingly mesmerised. “We can’t have this” I said to the other half “what if we take it too far and it can’t find its way back home. We’ll have to report it to someone.”

We wandered back, the cow followed, quite jauntily I thought, it even wagged its tail and let out what sounded like a happy moo.

The mayor saw us coming – his desk in the town hall faces the window. He helped lead the cow into the adjoining car park and shut the gate. “I’ll stick it on the lost property section on the village Facebook page” he said, and later emailed to say a farmer from about a mile away came to collect the cow who apparently liked to go for a wander now and again. Well I can’t say I blame her, I like to wander myself from time to time as you know, but this summer I’m staying home – roofs to fix, a garden that looks like a jungle, and a lot of exciting projects to work on including hosting a Paris tour next year (feel free to email me for details)! Join me on Instagram for a taste of rural life and experiences that won’t ever make the front page of a newspaper!

Meanwhile, you’ll find plenty of holiday inspiration below and on the website, advice for those thinking of moving to France, and a fun podcast for how to sound French!

Read the whole newsletter and see this week’s top features and recipe picks

Wishing you a bon weekend, a great read of the magazine and bisous from France.

Janine
Editor

Janine Marsh is Author of My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream, My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life and Toujours la France: Living the Dream in Rural France all available as ebook, print & audio, on Amazon everywhere & all good bookshops online. Her new book How to be French – a celebration of the French lifestyle and art de vivre, is out now – a look at the French way of life.

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