Living in France

Entryway Part 2; Under the Stairs

Having finished tongue and grooving the two walls near the back door I added a panel to lengthen the under stair so they ran parallel to the other side….

The panel is the side of the armoire that the mirrored door in the kitchen came from. You’ll notice the wood block underneath; this was left in the garage by the previous owner. I’ve used others that were there in the will be kitchen.

As the side of the armoire had a detailed piece that I didn’t want to lose and it didn’t quite reach the top the block served to raise it up to fill the gap. Well, almost.

I just marked on the wood the lowest point where it needed to meet the stairs and the highest. I cut along the line I drew between the two with my jigsaw.

As there was a wood strut where the stair panel ended I glued the two together and clamped them tight.

I carried on gluing tongue and groove to the brick wall under the stairs. I have another armoire door (don’t ask 😖) and I thought I could make a cupboard under the stairs using this.

It’s incredibly heavy. As I heaved it down the stairs the weight made me think about how to support it. Although I have heavy duty hinges I thought it would be a good idea to add a few rollers to the bottom too, just to be sure.

I measured the door and it came to just below the back of one of the stair treads. There’s an additional piece of wood that runs along the stair as it descends that juts out slightly. I ran two lengths of wood horizontally beneath that in line with where the door will stand.

I finished tongue and grooving the back and side of the space.

As I finished that days work I took a length of wood and glued it so it ran parallel to the base of the door. The wheels that needed to be screwed in where too wide to attach without doing this.

In the morning I attached the pole for the hangers along with the wheels and the hinges on the door. I used the same technique for the hinges as when I did the shutters in the will be kitchen.

The mirrored door was a little too narrow so I added a panel to the side of the cupboard.

I left this part of the project at this stage to continue with the doorway. However, having found a bargain Henry II buffet, I used a lovely detailed piece from that to finish off the door.

You can see in the above picture that I’d originally painted the surrounding area white, but not the door. I wasn’t sure at that stage if I wanted to have it all white and thought a contrast might look nice. But I decided that painting all the section would help to unify the whole area in the end. This hasn’t got its fin coat yet, but you get the idea.

There’s lots more work to do, I’ll add another update soon.

Buffet to Bookcase

This is a very proud mummy moment. My eldest daughter (9) has just finished her first upcycled piece 🎉🎈🧁🍰🥤🥂🍾 (the champagne is for me, obviously).

During this last week we’ve been preparing for la rentrée and I’ve also been spending some time focusing on the living room. My second Covid jab wiped me out, and I I just couldn’t face cementing the second half of the kitchen prior to laying it. As we have people coming over I decided to do a little more work in the sitting room; it wasn’t quite so taxing.

My daughter is always curious about my DIY and I’d said to her that, if she cleaned her room really well to prepare for going back to school, she could paint a buffet top I’ve been meaning to do. I had it because of the beautifully panelled doors which I want for another project, and I thought that as we need some bookcases I’d use it for this purpose.

Then in the afternoon I set her up for the buffet. It’s not a very solid piece, but does have some nice details. My thinking was even if it’s not eventually sturdy enough it will be a good for a first project for her and will make do for minimal money in the meantime.

She was so excited about it and got straight on with doing her room.

Her first task, if course, was to clean it all down. As it’s not the most refined piece of furniture I wasn’t going to go to town on it; it wouldn’t have been worth my while sanding all the wood back, for example. So I got her to just clean it thoroughly and talked to her about the stain marks to look out for when doing this on a piece of old furniture. It’s always good to be aware that we might be facing trouble ahead.

There seemed to be no stain transfer on to the kitchen towel during wiping down, so I got her to start straight away with a primer. Even though I use chalk paint most of the time I always use primer if I haven’t stripped the wood. I use one specifically for covering stained wood, as I’ve been caught out before.

You’ll notice on the finished piece that the interior is a darker grey; I bought Royal Grey from Action and used that on the interior with a coat of transparent, water based varnish. Then I mixed a small amount with Old White. It’s about a 2:1 ratio.

She painted it with just 1 coat of primer. Half way through she complained she was tired. I encouraged her to continue, saying she wouldn’t have the satisfaction of being able to say she did it by herself.

After some wailing and gnashing of teeth she finished and was happy with her efforts.

She finished her second coat in the chalk paint and I did the third for her whilst she was in school.

You’ll notice the top is new wood. As it was the top half of a buffet the top wasn’t made for putting anything heavy on, so I bought a new wood worktop and cut it to size. The stain is a bit orangey, I’m disappointed with that. I may apply another coat of stain on top.

I helped her sand it all back, then we added a coat of clear wax and copper to highlight the details before buffing them all. Both of these wax’s were by Libéron.

The buffet hasn’t been artfully arranged underneath – it’s definitely not Pinterest ready. It’s purpose is for after school each day. We don’t allow the kids to watch tv during the week and encourage them to read. I believe that if there are always books nearby they become a part of our lives. Some of my happiest moments when I was young was curling up and getting lost in a book!

Normal

On August 9th we’ll have lived in France for 5 years. A post Brexit move – insane, but fulfilling a long held ambition. Today I realised that almost one third of the time we have lived here has been in the COVID world. That makes you pause, huh?

Slowly life is getting back to normal. However with all the cycles of lockdowns I’m apprehensive that we may not be open again for Christmas this year. We’ll see.

We’ve had three bright spots in our lives recently though. The first was a concert at our daughters pre school. L’école maternelle had a concert with the children singing. The parents arrived in the bright sunshine. Maskless. Free. It felt like this…

In the playground, the same density of an open air market, our masks went back on. The children sang. It was sunny. Perfect.

Then came the first gourmet market in our village…

Our second was tonight. My parents, who live in France,came. My mother, not much of a drinker, said to me “I said to your father, next time we’ll stay the night and get drunk. I don’t think I’ve ever heard my mum say that.
Simple pleasures. I long for normal.

Spring

COVID, Deconfinement and Masks

Although deconfinément is the current situation in France, and president Macron has stated that he has no intention of imposing another lockdown, the spread of Covid is being monitored. The alert threshold is being used to monitor the state of the epidemic and is partly calculated using the number of positive tests combined with the R number – which represents how many other people one ill person will go on to infect.

When this R number is less than one the virus is believed to be retreating, when it rises to 2 it’s spreading. Mainland France is currently at 1.05, but there are communes that skewer this figure as they have significantly higher rates.

One such area is Mayenne where the number of cases was at 45 and is now increased to 50.1. This is in contrast to the rest of France which has a threshold of 10.

Masks are now obligatory in enclosed spaces throughout France; a law which was brought forward from the 1st August and has applied since Monday due to the concerns of some communes. In the suffering Mayenne masks are even to be worn in some public areas.

I’m a fan of twitter and both sides of the debate seems to have hit almost a religious fever there. The culture wars seems to mark it’s territory quickly now huh? I’m grateful for people who argue for the protection of the health of others, but I’m equally grateful for others who challenge the mandatory wearing of masks.

Like many people in the generational middle I have parents who I’m concerned about, but also my children. With all the hand washing and mask wearing I wonder how they will develop resilience to illness if they can’t develop immunity not just from Covid, but from anything? What affect will raising them in a sanitary bubble have on their future health?

The destruction of the Martian invaders in the War of the Worlds, finally felled by the common cold, comes to mind.

Their world will be so different to ours in many ways. Today my daughter wandered into the sitting room announcing that she thought the playroom should have arrows on the floor. Evidently accepting as normal now the arrow markings and signs showing us which direction to walk in, where to stand etc.

I’m attending mass almost daily now. As the restrictions continue like many others we face an uncertain future. Living in a country where French is our second language this is very concerning. It feels as if the options to find other employment are limited for us.

The good news is that our friendship circle is strengthening and expanding. Over the last week we’ve had various little friends of the children over to play and I’ve sat with the parents for a coffee for half an hour at least, chatting in French. Today was one such play date and I had a conversation with two sets of parents for at least 2.30 hours on a variety of subjects and even managed to follow the conversation between two parties for about 30 minutes. That’s a milestone.

The conversation was centering around Covid and the confinement. For some in the village it was very hard as they have no garden, so they were confined to their house for the majority of the day.

Inevitably we were all worried about work and the long term, economic impact of the response to the pandemic. Our friends were saying how their folks had struggled with their being unable to visit. Their child was the first grandchild and contact was, naturally, painfully missed.

Better times will come though. I’m taking one of our neighbours children to a puppet show in the village tonight. I’ll let you know soon how it went.

12 Inspiring Tapis des Carrés

When you are doing up an old house you have to make do and mend. Not only to get that vintage look but, unless you’re a millionaire, because it’s an expensive process. We’ve been lucky so far in that there have been no unforeseen costs – well apart from our boiler that is. We’ve just got our quote for that. 7,000€. It could be worse, but that’s a big dent in the finances this year.

As a result we make do with what we’ve got.

Having had the electrics nearly completed in the will be kitchen, we need the flooring done to be able to connect them to the kitchen island and move further forward. Yet the flooring will be expensive…😬.

I got a quote to have the floor tiled and the work alone was 4-5000€. Even pre boiler quote that just wasn’t possible post COVID. So we were considering laying a wooden floor ourselves. This is slightly more practical to diy than the tiles, which can be tricky to lay on a well used floor without the possibility of future cracking.

Even with that as a future plan money is a problem now. Leaving us with the expensive electrics almost completed and the majority of the bill paid for, but the need to finish the flooring around the wiring laid in the floor to be finished. As we’re using solid, freestanding furniture we have the options of laying the rest of the floor later, as long as we have the tiling around the central isle and the sink finished first. The latter would be needed so we could get it plumbed in without it being disturbed in the future.

A while ago I bought these tiles as I was going to use them for a splash back and worktop respectively.

I remembered the tiles and wondered if there was a way I could just tile these areas and then lay the wood around them at a later date. What would this look like? I started searching for some ideas. Here’s what I came up with. Some of them is just where wood meets tiles and some are a specific design called a tapis des carrés – or tile rugs. Let me know what you think…

Deconfinement

This week France started to open its doors again. We had been searching the government sites – would our region be red, amber or green. Thankfully there have been few deaths in Normandy, so we were poised to join the world.

School was due to start receiving classes on Thursday for the pupils whose parents had deemed it safe enough for them to return. It was to be a staggered, with different pupils going on the Thursday and others the Friday. The teaching team wanted to make sure that all pupils understood the safety requirements so were taking the time to go through things with each group.

During the restrictions my girls footwear had been made obsolete; their winter boots now too small and impractical for the warmer spring weather. So we needed to Go to the shops to buy something more suitable.

It was interesting to see how each store approached the situation. In the first one we went to, the shoe shop, I couldn’t enter without a mask. Although my girls could. We had to sanitise our hands at the entrance too. In others there wasn’t the mask requirement, but there was hand sanitiser and also latex gloves available. There was someone to meet you at the entrance cleaning trolley handles and ensuring social distancing. However within the shops, despite guidelines on the floor, there was little occurring in the aisles. We’re all just used to going up and down aisles looking at things, so it seems to be forgotten.

Just prior to the girls returning to school we went to the market. It had a one way system, with masked guides on each end with the hand sanitiser. There weren’t many stalls and few people.

The guidelines for returning to school were clearly layed out before hand;

A staggered approach depending on age, so there weren’t too many people around the gates.
Marked sections of a one way system.
All staff wearing masks.
The first day to be spent on hand washing and social distancing instructions.
Pre schoolers are only taught in the morning, and parents encouraged to pick them up at midday.
Staggered leaving times.
Separate pick up points around the school so not too many adults congregate.
Children remaining indoors until called to maintain their social distancing.

We have been told that there may be alternate school days come June when all pupils will be back.

The girls were excited to be back. We missed them. The house is suddenly very quiet.

Covid 19 Confinement

As I’ve been getting stronger I’ve started to gradually do more. Yet, like many people we have the prospect of wondering how this pandemic will be affecting us as a family. My husband works with the cruise industry, obviously it’s been very affected by the current situation. So as he works each evening to prepare for the lifting of restrictions, and we hope and pray for our financial future, I’ve been looking at how I can help.

To me one of the good things about being a stay at home mum is that when we face financial difficulty their may be ways in which I can help. When both spouses are working and your expenditure matches that two fold income, there may not be a similar resource to draw from. So I’ve recently been completing a course online to teach English as a foreign language, and possibly French too. I’m a former teacher anyway, so this may be a way to provide an additional income source whilst staying at home God willing.

In France itself we had the exciting prospect of some the restrictions of the confinement (as it’s called here) lifted. There was news that the maternal children would be going back on 11th May. I was incredibly relieved. I’ve been teaching my youngest daughter to read here at home and she’s doing wonderfully. As I’ve said before her speech has been really impacted upon by the move and other issues, so reading has developed this significantly.

However I’m teaching her in English, as we don’t have a lot of French children’s books for her age group. We’ve bought them for her, but she’s ripped and scribbled on them. There’s nothing more frustrating is there? This phase stopped a lot earlier with my eldest daughter because she was reading from the age of three onwards, but our youngest’ speech proved a negative factor here too.

So, no books and my poor pronunciation meant I’ve concentrated on English. That and zero contact with the outside world has meant I’ve been very worried about her losing what little French she has. These are extraordinary times, but the consequences are significant for those kiddos struggling at school.

Yesterday we left the house and suddenly we were chatting with two neighbours. I’ve got to say no one seemed to consider social distancing, 😬. One of our neighbours said the mid May date wasn’t a definite, in fact she wasn’t confident of it at all. So I’ll have to phone on Monday and make sure, my other neighbour suggested speaking with the Maire as they would be the person to make the decision.*

Our neighbours had experienced the police stopping them, which we’ve fortunately avoided. One was spoken to about going for a loaf of bread 😬 and she’d heard from a friend that she’d been reprimanded going for baby nappies as these “weren’t essential” – 😬 😱. I can’t thing of a lot more things that are essential than nappies from the grocery store.

Whilst I’ve been ill my husband started to take the girls out on long walks. For the first time I went with them on Friday, and I joined them Saturday too. I thought I’d share some photos of the local scenery.

God bless you all; I hope you and your family are well.

It’s been confirmed that the village school with be reopening on 11th. Whopee!

1000 Most Used French Words; 1 – 10

As I’m feeling a little better I thought to myself that I’d make the most of the lockdown by learning some French. Perhaps you’d like to join me? This will be a series of posts concentrating on the 1000 most useful French words, ten at a time. Some will be so obvious, like the first on this list, you’ll wonder why I’ve included them (answer, because they’re one of the 1000 most used French words 😉). Hope they help you in your efforts too😀.

Hit the subscribe button and have the posts delivered straight to you inbox.

NB The ones with little devil symbols next to them are false friends; they look like cognates, but actually have a different meaning.

à – in, at, to.

accepter – to accept

accompagner – to accompany, go with

accord – an accord, agreement

acheter – to buy

action – action

actuel – present, current 😈

addition – check, bill in restaurant 😈

adieu – goodbye

adresse – address

Honfleur; City of Painters

In amongst all the decluttering I’ve only just found the time to write this post on our Christmas visit to beautiful Honfleur. La Marraine and some other friends where here over the New Year; such wonderful guests! I really enjoyed their company and it was so sad when they went.

Honfleur is not too far from where we live here in Normandy. It is on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine and its inhabitants are called Honfleurais.

It is charming. It’s especially known for its old port and has been painted many times, including by such famous artists as Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind. This école de Honfleur, including Eugène Boudin, contributed to the Impressionist Movement. No wonder it’s called the city of painters! Here are just a few of the works the town has inspired.

Claude Monet, Mouth of the Seinne at Honfleur

Claude Monet, Boats in the Port de Honfleur

Eugène Boudin; Festival in the Harbour of Honfleur

It’s amazing to see, looking at these paintings, how little the bones of the place has changed.

The first written record of Honfleur is a reference by Richard III, Duke of Normandy, in 1027. By the middle of the 12th century, the city was a trade route from Rouen to England.

With a safe harbour Honfleur was regarded as a strategic position from the start of the Hundred Years’ War. The town’s defences were strengthened by Charles V from attacks from the English. However, Honfleur was taken and occupied by the English in 1357 and from 1419 to 1450. When under French control, raiding parties often set out from the port to ransack the English coasts. I know that French, Castilian and Genoese pirates attacked my home town of Southampton in 1338; I wonder if some of them came from here?

At the end of the Hundred Years’ War trade could flow freely again and Honfleur benefited from this until the end of the 18th century.

One of these trades was the slave trade. As Honfleur traded regularly with not only Canada, but the West Indies, the African coasts and the Azores the town became one of the five principal ports for the slave trade in France.

In connection with Canada, the port saw the departure of a number of explorers including one organised by Samuel de Champlain. In 1608 the city of Quebec in modern-day Canada was founded as a result.

The Sainte-Catherine church is the largest church made out of wood in France. It’s set within beautiful buildings beside the port.

The wars of the French revolution and the First Empire caused Honfleur to be largely ruined as a port, with it only partially recovering during the 19th century – trading wood from northern Europe. It is Le Havre that has that crown now.

For the WW2 buffs…

The port was was liberated together by the British and Belgian forces, as well as the Canadian army during the Second World War.

The beauty that remains here, in spite of the need for its Libération, is as a result of its location and reduced significance as a port. As it was some 60 kilometers from Sword Beach Honfleur didn’t play a role in the Normandy beach landings. As a result the city was hardly damaged during WWII and was also spared from the bombings, which was not the case for its neighbor, Le Havre.

Across the other side of the estuary and heavily bombed, Le Havre was known as a ‘martyr city’. Out of 160 000 inhabitants, 5 000 were killed and 80 000 rendered homeless; the whole 150 hectares of the historic centre were devastated, with 12 500 buildings destroyed.

This was largely as a result of the strategic importance of Le Havre, being the second largest port in France. Following the Allied beach landings on June 6, 1944, the German navy Kriegsmarine took on a suicidal mission. Volunteer soldiers boarded speedboats that transported 300 kilos worth of explosives. Only one of these boats would accomplish its mission however.

Due to their location the ports of Honfleur and Le Havre represented an easy opportunity to get to Paris. Consequently for many historians the liberation of Le Havre on September 12, 1944, marked the end of the Battle at Normandy.

Find out about the artists school that contributed to the #impressionistmovement #Honfleur itself, along with its #medeivalhistory and it’s #liberation in #WW2

The Piron Brigade, named as such for its Colonel Jean-Baptiste Piron, had previously liberated Honfleur from German occupation on August 25, 1944. The following day, power was transferred to the 49th British Division. The Belgian military unit was not only present during the Battle at Normandy but also fought alongside the Allied forces for the liberation of Belgium and Holland.

If you’re here in France it’s a wonderful place to visit – even on a freezing cold day.