In Brittany, France, roofs are made of slates (ardoises). They used to be nailed down, now they are held by hooks (crochets).
I had to take a photo of the public toilets when I visited in Pont Aven (Brittany, France).
They seemed suspended in the air over the river!
The French government is very strict about polluting the ground and rivers. I wonder if the sewage goes straight to the river?!
In the 19th century, Pont-Aven was a small commercial town famous for its mills and its port. It has always inspired artists and painters.
Pont-Aven is baout 2 hours drive from our Gite in Evran.
For more details about Pont-Aven, see this link here.
This cider press was built in the cellar by the previous owner of our house in Brittany.
As it was taking too much room, we decided to get rid of it. It was not a pretty feature and as we don’t drink cider, it was not useful to us.
Many people in Brittany still make their own cider, but as the press was built in concrete, it could not be lifted and given away. Unfortunately! It was about 2 m x 2 m.
We had to hire a Jack-hammer from a hire shop in Dinan. A Jack-hammer is called a ‘Marteau-piqueur’ or ‘brise béton’ in French. The hire shop had various sizes and after we explained what we needed it for, advised us to hire this one – a 23 kg one.
Well, after 30 hours of intense work, the cider press was demolished!! What looked like a small job was actually a big job!
Thankfully 2 friends came to help Chris. The cider press was made with reinforced concrete. Whoever poured the concrete 30 or 40 years ago added all sorts of bits of iron: old rakes, forks, etc!
A weekend of fun!
I am going through some photos we took last summer and found this one, taken in October (2011). It shows Cancale oyster beds.
At the end of the port in Cancale (Brittany, France) you can find a few stalls selling mussels (moules) and oysters (huîtres). You can eat the oysters on the beach – the sellers will open the oysters for you - or take them home. You can’t get fresher oysters! The oysters beds are only a few metres away from the stalls!
Most tourists eat them there and the beach is covered with shells!
Cancale is famous for its oysters, but also for fish and sea food.
It is about 40 min from our gite in Evran.
A few English people have asked me this question: why can’t I find some Zovirax in France?
The answer is easy!
It is not called ‘Zovirax’ in France but ‘Activir’!
You can get it from any chemist in France.
The packaging looks the same as its English version.
Cold sore is ‘bouton de fièvre’ in French.
Sorry about the poor quality of the photo. I will try to take a better picture soon!
I have been asked this question several times lately by my English clients who have a holiday home in France.
As the exchange rate is not good, they don’t come as often as they used to and wonder if they can get a discount in their Taxe d’habitation.
The answer is NO unfortunately.
The taxman has already taken into consideration that your place is a holiday home and not your main residence. At the back of your tax, it says S for ‘Secondaire’.
Do you have a television in your French holiday home? If you don’t, let the tax office know so you won’t get charged for it. It is just under €130.
It is added to the Taxe d’habitation.
If you require assistance with dealing with the tax office, please contact me here. I will be pleased to help.
