NOZ - the bargain shop!

I discovered this shop called NOZ last year in Saint Malo. Since then, a new shop opened in Dinan near the cinema, a lot smaller but still interesting to visit on a regular basis. They have ‘stuff’ arriving twice a week and you never know what you will find there!

Food and drink, clothing for all the family, accessories, games/toys, cleaning products, books, CDs/DVDs, etc.

If you find a bargain, go for it as things seem to disappear very quickly! And once it is gone, they won’t sell it again. I bought some really cheap French wine last summer. Only €1.45 a bottle. My friends loved it and couldn’t believe the price. When I went back to buy some more bottles a few days later, they were all gone.

NOZ sells end-of-line, with huge discounts and price cuts. Looking at the packages, things seem to come from various European countries.

Before Christmas to my amazement i found Mr Kipling’s Mince pies! I didn’t share them!

I also found some thick mattress protectors for €3.50. Very handy for our gite in Brittany (self-cartering accommodation).

To find your nearest NOZ, visit this web site here.

Decathlon recently opened in Dinan

A new Decathlon (sports shop) has recently opened in Dinan. It is in Taden to be precised.

For the ones who can’t read a map and have a GPS, here is the address!!

La Ville Haussan
22100 TADEN

You can also follow this link here.

It is perfect for us as it is just 15 min away from our place. The nearest Decathlon was in Béton (the biggest in Brittany) or Saint Jouan des Guérets near St Malo.

Fête des remparts in Dinan – July 2012

Dinan Fête des Remparts is every other year. This year it falls on Saturday 21^st and Sunday 22^nd July 2012.

If you are planning to visit Dinan this summer, be aware accommodation will be tricky to find at the last minute. Thousands of tourists will come from all over Europe to take part or attend this medieval weekend.

So book your accommodation now!

Our gite is only 10 min away from Dinan.

For more information regarding the Fête des remparts, visit this web site here.

Dinan is in Brittany, France.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year or BONNE ANNEE as we say in France!

Our New Year started with a trip to the bakery, buying some lovely French croissants, pains au chocolat, pains aux raisins and a nice brioche.

Nice start of the Year! We will start the diet another day! ;o)

If you holiday in France, you have to try the croissants from the bakery. If you go early - around 9am - they are still warm. I bet you won't wait to get to your gite to eat them!

All supermarkets sell the croissants and other viennoiseries too (chocolate croissants (pains au chocolat) and Danish pastries (pains aux raisins) but for a proper one, visit the local bakery! They will taste so much different.
Supermarket croissants are often made with oil rather than butter. Yes better for your diet you may think, but not as tasty! I rather eat the 'proper' stuff.

Some of my English friends tend to cut them in half and fill them with butter and jam. I like mine plain. I have never seen any French people eating the croissants with jam. But then again, i don't know everyone in France! ;o)

In Evran, a small town of 1600 inhabitants, we have 2 bakeries. The third one closed down a few months ago. One is near the church and one near the bridge. You have to visit both and try their bread and viennoiserie. They both offer different produces. Another baker sells bread made with organic flour. He can be found at the local markets.

Bread can also be found at our local supermarket Huit à 8. It comes from our local bakeries. So as you can see, you will never be short of bread in France!

Harvesting walnuts

October is a busy month for harvesting fruit and nuts. I have been picking walnuts for over a month now. I have to be quicker than birds and squirrels!

Nuts drop naturally when their husks soften around September/October time. This year they were about 2 weeks early because of the hot weather we have had in Brittany.

You don’t actually pick them from the trees! If some nuts are on the floor still in their husk, use gloves otherwise you will get black fingers and nails for days!

My neighbour’s walnuts are huge!! See the above photo!

I will post recipes with walnuts on this blog soon.

Fresh quails eggs

When you live in the countryside in France, you always end up swapping excess fruit and veg or other things with your neighbours !

Last week, we got a dozen of fresh quails eggs (oeufs de caille). Our neighbours just had new additions to the farm, a couple of quails! A few days earlier we had goose eggs. Not quite the same size!

I served the quails eggs with other nibbles with the aperitif. I simmered the eggs for 5 minutes and they were perfect – that is what the guests said as I didn’t get a chance to taste them! They disappeared very quickly!

No doubt, I will get more from my neighbours very soon so if you have interesting recipes with quails eggs, please feel free to add them to this blog.

Evran car boot sale today

Evran is having a braderie all day today. Mainly children cloths, toys, books, etc, but you will also find anything there!

I bought a few books and DVDs for a few euros.

I will have to organise another film night with the girls!

Evran is 10 min South of Dinan in Brittany.