Welcome to my Family & Friends website.
This site details my simple life in Brittany and the things that are really important to me – such as cooking, eating, reading and enjoying the beautiful countryside and the people who live here.
Whilst this site is certainly not intended to be a definitive guide to living in France (it’s more of an explanation of how and why I choose to live here), you may find information here that aids you in your life (whether you are living here now, or planning to move over), or for your holidays in this beautiful part of France where I have chosen to make my home.
All the best
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Well, this is going to be the last post in the present version of BretonDiary.
I’ve decided to embrace the modern age and, from now on, use WordPress as my blogging platform.
Doing everything in raw html (and then FTPing it all up to the server), has just got too time consuming. I’m scared to post because of all the work involved.
Read more about… Changes afoot!
Well, the snow visited south west Brittany and for a few days we all thought… “Oh, how nice.”
Then we all got sick of chopping wood and continually feeding the fire.
We all thought about trading in our perfectly decent cars….
For four wheel drives that would cost an arm and a leg.
Read more about… Here today, gone tomorrow!
Sometimes I wonder where I have gone wrong in life.
I think the real mistake was not being born a cat.
I look at my two sometimes and think… “Yup, you’ve got it cushy!”
Fed and kept warm – and cuddles on tap!
I suppose I ought to admit that the Girlie is fairly well trained.
She’s a good cook and is great at starting the fire.
And, as for the cuddles on tap…..
Read more about… It’s a cat’s life!
Well, www.aTasteOfGarlic.com seems to be going from strength to strength.
I’ve recently interviewed the lovely Karen Wheeler who was kind enough to answer all my silly questions AND send a signed review copy of her first novel, Tout Sweet (I understand that if you can find an un-signed copy, it is worth an absolute fortune!)
Jenny was also kind enough to feature me on her blog… www.ToutSweet.net
Last night I finished an interview with probably the hottest chick-lit author in the universe (definately the hottest one that lives in France), Jenny Colgan – her interview is scheduled to be published on the 8th of January.
Jenny has written loads of books, once worked for the NHS and was a stand-up comedian (not all at the same time, one hopes!) If you can’t wait for the www.aTasteOfGarlic.com interview with Jenny, take a look at her site at… www.jennycolgan.com – you’ll be able to find out all the stuff that I don’t ask Jenny!
I’ve got more interviews coming up and plenty of Life in France blogs to review. If you haven’t taken a look yet, I suggest you have a little peak at… www.aTasteOfGarlic.com.
All the best
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For a long long time I’ve been writing.
There are numerous novels that I’ve started and never finished, one novel that I have finished but haven’t managed to get published… as yet.
And a whole load of short stories.
Some of the short stories are influenced (in style and content) by Jim Fogg, who used to write stories for motorbike magazines.
I have collected together the best that I have done and am intending to publish them towards the end of February 2010.
To get an idea of what these will look like (4 complete stories and teasers for all the rest), take a quick look at www.RoadsideTales.com
All the best
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My new website – www.aTasteOfGarlic.com seems to be going well.
Only a week after I launched it, the visitor numbers are increasing each day and I have already managed to interview two world famous authors.
There are plenty more interviews lined up (it takes time getting past famous people’s agents and personal assistants), and of course, each day a new blog about Life in France will be highlighted.
I can’t really tell you about who I’ve got lined up for interviews (just in case they read some of the previous interviews and chicken out), but I can let you know that I have fired an email off to the Palais de l’Élysée asking some famous chap who lives there (I’ll give you a hint – he’s the one married to that pretty Italian burd that sings a bit), if he’d me give an interview for www.aTasteOfGarlic.com.
I’m specifically interested in his views about all the English who sell up, move to France (especially Brittany) and then go round growing beards and wearing old vests?
And, if the behaviour of British women in Brittany wasn’t bad enough, what does he think about the men?
All the best
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The Girlie and I went to Redon today to buy our Christmas tree.
We decided to get a small one and then also make some Christmas tree sort of thingies out of Holly that we can gather locally.
I’m not too sure if this is to save money; I have a horrible feeling that the Girlie watched all too much Blue Peter when she was a little… well, Girlie!
This is the tree we decided on, it’ll be unwrapped and installed in the living room and then, tonight, the Girlie and Josh can decorate it.
I’m not getting involved. I know that my job will come every morning until festivities are over – putting the bloody thing back up after the cats have spent the night playing Tarzan and Jane, climbing all over it!
Still, I expect it’ll look pretty enough when it is decorated – it’ll just need a pretty little angel to sit on the top.
“Girlie, where are you – got a job for you! Might be an idea to clench your buttocks first!”
All the best
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It’s easy, sometimes, to feel sorry for yourself. I’ve recently been having trouble with the mask/respirator that I have to wear during the night.
It has a built in humidifier; that works great, most of the time. Recently, however, because of the sudden drop in temperature during the night the moisture condenses and I wake up with a mask full of water – that’s fun, that is!
I could get all grumpy about it but I had to laugh, the other day, when I met (via www.aTasteOfGarlic.com) someone else who suffers from Sleep Apnea. He has to wear a a gum shield top and bottom which keeps his jaw from dropping back and closing his windpipe. I told him that I was glad I didn’t have to do that – it doesn’t sound like much fun.
He replied saying… “My mum’s best friend has a sort of Darth Vader outfit. She has a nightmare each time she flies anywhere. All straps around the head and a vacuum cleaner type oxygen feeder making gurgling sounds next to the bed. Bloody hell, I hope you don’t have that too!”
Um, that’s exactly what I’ve got. But little things like that are sent to try us. You can’t let them get you down.
I saw this sign outside E. Leclerc today and it made me think.
All the best
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Another day, another website!
I’ve long thought that it was a shame that there was no detailed directory of the sort of blogs that I like to read – namely, those that deal with the various aspects of Life in France.
Of course, there are the open directories but they are just listing services. I thought that there was a need for a more in-depth type of site; one that gave a basic synopsis of each blog so that the potential visitor would get an idea of what to expect.
Anyway, I hope that that is what I have done with www.aTasteOfGarlic.com – I’m sure that people will let me know, one way or the other.
All the best
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I decided to launch Images of Brittany when I realised, after looking at the visitor statistics on here, that many people were searching the internet for information on Brittany.
I felt that, as “A picture tells a thousand words…..”, an image based site would be of aid to those people planning to move to Brittany, already living here and looking for places to visit or people just planning to come here for their holidays.
I knew that there was a wealth of images on the internet that were available for re-use, either being in the public domain or released under one of the free use licenses.
It is my hope that more and more people will share their own photographs by releasing them under either one of the appropriate licenses or directly into the Public Domain.
As photographs relevant to living or holidaying in Brittany become available in this fashion, I shall attempt to add them to this site.
Why don’t you take a look at www.ImagesofBrittany.com
All the best
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Thank God it only happens once a year – that’s all I can say!
The Girlie decided to have a birthday and, to keep things simple for me (as I am a simple man), she had it on the same day that she had her birthday on last year.
Now, that was nice of her, wasn’t it?
So, I was despatched to Redon to buy a surprise birthday present for the Girlie, with strict and detailed instructions on exactly what sort of “surprise present” would be acceptable (even down to the relevant sizes!)
Read more about… Naughty Knickers in Redon
Looking through the logfiles on my web server, I realised that lots of people were coming across BretonDiary as a result of searching for the phrase.. “Market Days Brittany”.
Thus, the Girlie and I decided to create a site to specifically detail Market Days in Brittany in more detail.
As well as giving you the details of the Markets Days, we have also created downloadable guides that you can print off and take around with you.
I hope that the new site is of some use to you, whether you live over here or just visit for holidays. I’ve certainly discovered a few markets that I didn’t know about; ones that I want ot visit soon (or as soon as it stops raining – possibly Easter, next year!)
Please take a look at www.MarketDaysinBrittany.com
All the best
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The Girlie and I decided to create a site to detail French Public Holidays/Bank Holidays.
We realised that there was a need as many people seemed to be getting confused about the dates and meanings of French national and public holidays.
I suppose that I should be ashamed that in my first year living in France, I went into work twice, not knowing that there would be no work because of a bank holiday.
As well as giving you the dates of the holidays, we have tried to explain the meanings and reasons for some of the Public Holidays in France. You are welcome to download PDF versions of any of these guides to print off for your personal use.
Why not take a look at www.FrenchPublicHolidays.com
All the best
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The Girlie went to England last week; to stay with my sister, see her daughter (and her parents), go shopping, do more shopping, drink tea and natter about the shopping and….. all that other Girlie stuff.
Joshy and I were left at home to be Bachelors Alone.
So, as well as pigging out on microwave burgers, we decided to visit the car museum at Loheac – it’s a man thing!
As well as cars, there are a few boats and motorbikes – and a few things that could be best described as an amalgam of all three!
Read more about… A Visit to Loheac Car Museum
Over the last month or so, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to return to Josselin for the day.
I’ve got clients there and have also had to visit Helga’s House of Pain (as the abattoir where I used to work is commonly known!), to sort out my redundancy stuff.
The Green Beastie (my car), and I have been clocking up the miles (or, should that be… kilometers) and, so far, we not managed to kill anyone. Give it time?
One of the things that I’ve noticed about Josselin is that the Church Clock is always three minutes slow.
Read more about… Three minutes slow
Over the couple of weeks, I’ve been trying very hard to improve the speed of our internet connections at La Maison des Fleurs. When we lived at Rue St. Nicolas in Josselin (and when I lived at Les Croix), we had 2Mbs internet access.
Now we only have 512Kbs (about a quarter of what we had before.)
Read more about… Speeding up the internet
Well, the jobs have started trickling in.
It’s only Wednesday and I’ve already visited 3 clients, travelling as far as Gael on Monday and Cruguel yesterday.
In order to be able to visit clients without having to ask the Girlie to drive me, I am in the process of getting my car (the Green Beastie), back on the road. Two visits to the insurance office and it’s nearly there. Perhaps third time lucky?
Read more about… The adventure begins!
Well, it’s finally happened!
I’ve received my final pay packet from Helga’s House of Pain (the local name for the abattoir where I used to work), and am now reliant on my own efforts in order to feed myself and family (and keep me in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed.)
The Siret number (a sort of license to run a business that you need in France) has arrived – the delays were entirely my fault!
I am now on some computer somewhere as 514 452 838 00014.
Everything is ready, all we need now are some customers!
The Girlie is busy researching local businesses that don’t appear to have websites and I am working on setting up our websites.
Of course, as the picture above testifies, I am no stranger to hard work, having been sent down t’pit at an early age!
Read more about… A new job!
I’ve finally realised (perhaps due to all the “Are you still alive?” emails that I’ve been receiving), that it might be time to post something on BretonDiary.com.
So, to all of you who are worried – Yes, I’m still alive and plan to be so for the next 100 years or so!
The truth is, a lot has been happening recently and I’ve been spending many hours away from the PC.
This is a list of various things that I shall be talking about in more detail in the near future…..
Read more about… Still alive!
Tracy Walters – Mobile Hairdresser – 25 years experience
Recently, at the St. Patrick Day celebrations at La Taverne in Josselin, I noticed a woman (one of many, I have to say), who was dancing round a handbag to YMCA.
Then, at the 60s and 70s Soiree Disco (also at La Taverne, Josselin), I noticed the same woman dancing (arms flying about – once again, one of many), to Abba.
I rushed outside to recover and have a ciggie – she came outside as well. We started chatting and it turned out that she is a hairdresser and lives in Mohon, not far from where I used to live.
I promised her that when we had both sobered up, I’d ask her a few questions for the benefit of the readers of BretonDiary.
Well, that was 2 weeks ago and I think we’ve both just about sobered up enough (it was a very good night, that disco at La Taverne!)
Read more about… Tracy Walters
