Autumn in France newsletter

Bonjour,

I hope that you and yours are well.

Last week I went to Nancy in eastern France, a culturally dazzling and magnificently architectural city that’s full of surprises and of course I’ll be telling you about it in detail soon. On the way home I stopped off in Paris to go to a fashion show and also to spend the night at the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre (which has its own ‘hotel’), it was fascinating! More details will follow in a future issue of The Good Life France Magazine (which is free – link below!). No matter how many times I visit Paris, there’s always something new to fall in love with! And in case you didn’t know, I’ll be hosting two exclusive tours of Paris next year – if you’d like to come with me, just click on the links for the Spring 2025 tour and the Fall tour of 2025.

When I got home, Jean-Claude popped round with his little van loaded with bottles of home-made cider. A few years ago, we joined the village cider club, basically a group of neighbours who pool their apples together to make cider and since we have several apple trees that have been coveted by Pierre the farmer for years – we were in! There’s not a lot of work involved on our part, collect the apples – hand them over. Jean-Claude organises everything else and each year we get given some cider. Well last year was a very good year for our apples and Jean-Claude was full of glee at handing over the booty that has sat fermenting quietly in his barn.

“Packs a punch this does” he said, “Go on, open it, I’ll just have one little glass, I need a break from Thibault.”

He arched his eyebrows at us, he knew he didn’t have to explain more. We’ve met Thibault. He is the 74-year-old uncle of Bernadette, Jean-Claude’s wife and he is quite bonkers. He frequently spouts melancholy, incomprehensible poetry in a very loud and dramatic voice and sometimes bursts into tears at the sadness of his own words. And he tells the biggest whoppers, including that he almost married Catherine Deneuve, was relentlessly pursued by Jane Birkin, and Brigitte Bardot was in love with him and he turned her down – but it was the right decision as he utterly adores his girlfriend Amandine (who sends him to stay with Jean-Claude and Bernadette when she needs a break from the poems)! And if talking non-stop had been included as a category in the Olympic Games this summer – he would be a gold medallist. Mind you Jean-Claude would come a close second.

Jean-Claude told us his weather predictions for the autumn and winter, problems he has had with his tractor, the woes of his friends (mostly farmers – a lot of woes), an update on his health issues (he’s not been well but is much better now), complaints about the government, the train service and the cost of fuel and everything else. More than one glass, and several hours later he considered that Thibault may have exhausted himself by too much talking and gone to bed by now, and deemed it safe to go home.

Next week – I’m off to Provence and the Rhone Valley – come with me via Instagram where I’ll post photos and video…

Wishing you a bon weekend and bisous from a quirky village in the middle of nowhere, rural northern France.

Janine
Editor

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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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