Chimney sweeping

If you own a property in France, you need to ensure the chimney is swept once a year. In case of fire, your insurance company may refuse to cover if you can’t prove the chimney had been swept.

Chimney sweeping in France is done by roofers. You will find one in the yellow pages here under couvreur.

Chimney sweeping is called “Ramonage” in French. It is usually done in October just before the weather gets cold.

Photo: typical Brittany stone fire place!

What is a gîte?

The word “gîte” is French. It is a holiday home in France that one can rent for self-catering holiday.

Gîtes are fully furnished and equipped so guests can prepare their own meals, sleep there and use the facilities (swimming pool, swings, garden furniture and BBQ, etc).

Some gîtes are basic, others have all the modern cons (DVD players, dishwashers, etc).

Choose your gîte according to your requirements! Near the coast, near Dinan in Brittany, in the Alps for some skiing holiday, etc.

Compare facilities (Sky TV, internet connection, pool, etc).

Here are a couple of gîtes in Brittany I can recommend.

Gîtes with swimming pool.
Gîte with spacious enclosed garden catered for families

Recycling in France

If you are renting out a gîte in France this summer or if you are an expat living in France, you may wonder what to do with your waste.

In villages, towns and cities in France, you will find 3 containers usually next to each other.

An orange, a bleu and a green container:

What to put in the orange container:

Plastic bottles (water, shampoo, milk, conditioner, ketchup, juice, cleaning product, etc).

Tins, sprays, cartons,

Cardboard packaging (cereal boxes, yogurts, etc)

What to put in the blue container:

Newspapers, magazines, white papers and white envelopes, leaflets.

Put wrapping paper and brown envelope in normal bin.

Also take the leaflet from its plastic wrapping (Super U always use this plastic wrapping). Put the plastic in the normal bin.

What to put in the green bin:

Glass bottles, glass jars. Put corks and tops in the normal bin.

If you are unsure about what to put in containers, see the images on each container, they show what you can put it.

Whatever you recycle has to be clean. Ie don’t put a tin of baked beans if the tin is covered with tomato sauce! Rinse it first. Same for the plastic bottles otherwise they will be rejected when they get recycled!

Squash the plastic bottles if possible so they don’t take too much room in the containers. The less room they take, the less often the containers will have to be emptied. That way it will save trips from lorries so it will reduce petrol consumption. We will all save money in the long run! Mairies earn money from our rubbish as it get sold so the more we recycle the more the mairie will earn so our tax will be reduced.

Here are some items that you can’t recycle so therefore have to place in the ‘Normal’ bin:

Light bulbs

Plastic or cardboard plates

Plastic carrier bags

Polystyrene packaging

Yogurt pots

You should find the containers with no trouble. In our small town of Evran in Brittany (France), you will find them in 10 different areas! Each time you live home, you pass one so it is very easy to clear your rubbish on a regular basis.

See my future post about the déchetterie.

Déclaration commune des revenus des professions indépendantes

If you are self-employed as ‘indépendant’, you have probably received a form called “Déclaration commune des revenus des professions indépendantes” this week.

Although it has to be returned by 6th May 2011, I always fill my form straight-away as I don’t like to see paperwork on my desk! It has to be done so you may as well do it now!

If you have never done it online before as your French is not that good, follow my instructions:

Visit this web site

Click on ‘inscrivez-vous’
Enter your Siret number
Your name
Your first name
Your phone number
And your email address
Click on “Valider”

You will have to create a password.

You can then go to ‘identifiez-vous’ on the main page. All the above information will be required (siret number, name, password) each time you connect.

Click on “accèder à la déclaration”, click on ‘commencer’ (red writing).
Once you have entered the figures (turn over, etc), you will be able to print (imprimer) or save (enregistrer) the information.

It is best to print it so you have a proof that you have filled the form on time.

If you are unsure about the form, it is best to contact an accountant.

Recipe for Far Breton

Moving to Brittany made me discover a new culture. Although I am French, Brittany was completely new to me. I had spent several long weekends in Brittany, but I didn’t really know much about it.

During my several stays in Brittany, I always looked for a bakery and ordered some tasty Far Breton. I have now found a great recipe and, even my Breton friends, think it is the best Far they’ve ever had. Well, they might just be polite, but I love it so that is what matters!

If you do a search for a recipe for Far Breton you will probably found several. The one I found is – in my opinion – the best one!

Here is the recipe I follow:

Mix 4 eggs, with 150 g of sugar, 200 g of plain flour, vanilla essence and add 1 liter of fresh milk. I also add a drop of Rhum. Although I don’t drink much, I think alcohol in cooking always brings the ‘je ne sais quoi’ and makes the difference!

Cover a lasagna dish with prunes and pour the mixture. Bake the Far for 45 minutes at 190 degrees.

The Far tastes better the day after.

I have to say using great ingredients is very important.

I am lucky to have free-range eggs from our little chickens and fresh milk from the farm down the road which is very creamy. I have tried to bake the Far with semi-skimmed milk but it is not as nice.

Enjoy a slice of Bar Breton with a cup of tea!

Plant exchange in Lanvallay in Brittany

Each year I take part of Lanvallay plant exchange also called “Troc plantes”. Organised by a few local French people – keen gardeners -, it takes place twice a year, the last Sunday of October and March. It always falls the same day as when we put the clocks forwards and backwards so it is easy to remember!

How does it work?

Just bring your “unwanted” plants, cuttings, seeds, bulbs, etc and in exchange, you will take different plants home. At the beginning, 4 years ago, I used to leave with more than you came with. Now it is the opposite, I go there with a whole boot full of plants (perennials, flowers and herbs). It is a great way to get free and healthy plants!

If you wish to take part, just come along, you don’t have to book. You will find us on the car park opposite the church in Lanvallay between 10 am and 12 pm.
Lanvallay in near Dinan and Evran in Brittany (France).

Free entrance.

If you are a keen gardener, you might also be interested of the plant sale which will take place on Easter Sunday this year. Here is the post about it.

See you there!

How to convert grams to ounces or ounces to grams

It is always annoying to have a recipe that you can’t precisely follow because the measurements are in kilograms and your scale is showing ounces and pounds!

For accurate weight conversion, I use this useful conversion calculator.

Most my recipes for chutneys were given to me by English friends so are in ounces. I now have them in grams.

Shopping at Ikea in Rennes in Brittany last week, my friend Debbie found a scale showing both grams and ounces. I am waiting for her to use her new scale to bake a delicious cake and invite me round for a cuppa!