Author Archives: candawalley

Summer is on its way!

Posted on 11 May, 2024 by candawalley

In a rather uneven fashion, spring here is slipping into summer. We’ve finally opened our pool but it’s going to be some days before it’s warm enough to enjoyably swim in. After the prolonged wet winter and spring, our robotic … Continue reading →

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Poitiers

Posted on 4 May, 2024 by candawalley

At last it seems we are slowly it seems edging out of the rainiest winter in memory. And we realise that this is our 500th blog. A couple of weeks ago on a wet Saturday we took the train to … Continue reading →

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An early summer walk 2

Posted on 27 April, 2024 by candawalley

This is the continuation of last week’s blog about the walk we did from Rochebeaucourt. Much of the second part was across pleasant if unspectacular countryside. One notable feature was the presence of a number of tiny communes/hamlets (hameaux) of … Continue reading →

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An early summer walk 1

Posted on 20 April, 2024 by candawalley

As with much of Europe, the weather has been very curious here in Charente. We’ve had two short spells of very warm weather (touching nearly 30C), but also extended cold patches, and indeed with something of a frost yesterday. We … Continue reading →

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Lille (part 2)

Posted on 13 April, 2024 by candawalley

One of the virtues of rail travel is that you end up breaking your journey in city centres rather than windswept airports miles from anywhere. As we mentioned last week we had something of an 8-hour stopover in Lille city … Continue reading →

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Lille (Part 1)

Posted on 6 April, 2024 by candawalley

As we mentioned two weeks ago, we took the train on our most recent visit to the UK. We deliberately chose to avoid changing trains in Paris because we have not yet mastered the fiendish intricacies of the Metro, which … Continue reading →

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Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques !

Posted on 30 March, 2024 by candawalley

Yes we said we’d post photos of Lille this week, but we’d forgotten that this blog will be published on Easter Saturday. In the photo below from our church the crosses are empty but the stone is still over the … Continue reading →

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A premature summer?

Posted on 23 March, 2024 by candawalley

We went to the UK for six days recently to visit some of the family. A high point was seeing our second grandson Joseph playing clarinet in his wind band. (His brother used to be in the same band but … Continue reading →

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Saint Savinien

Posted on 16 March, 2024 by candawalley

First, we’d like to thank all those who sent congratulations for our new French nationality status! Having spent some happy hours in Saint Jean d’Angèly (see previous posts) and found a good restaurant, we headed westward. We’d been told that … Continue reading →

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An announcement etc etc

Posted on 9 March, 2024 by candawalley

One of the bulwarks of the French state is the Journal Officiel. It comes out on line every three or four days and lists in precise detail new governmental decrees, rules and a seemingly infinite amount of detailed bureaucracy. It … Continue reading →

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