Monthly Archives: June 2009

Our noisy new neighbours

Posted on by Richard
Reply

I have said before how much we enjoy the wildlife around us here. We are literally surrounded by birds and beasts of all variety and we love it.

However, there are some new creatures in the neighbourhood who are causing a bit of a stir….two owls.

At first we thought there was just one, but last night we saw both of them together. They fly around the square of our hamlet hopping from the telegraph pole to the fence-post to the roof and back again.

We viewed them with a certain fascination and wonder at first. How lucky we are to have such beautiful birds living so close. But it seems the new neighbours are getting quite settled and are claiming the territory as their own….much to the annoyance of Charlie and Lola (our cats)!

The owls are now taking to sitting on their loft perch and screeching at the top of their voices at the cats below. And the poor kitties, being such soft creatures, are scared out of their wits and come running inside!

Here’s a video of one of the hoodlums. Its a little shaky as I didn’t have time to grab the tripod.

Anyone know what kind of owl it is? And how to persuade it to make friends with Charlie and Lola? :)

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_a4nboYjw

A gentleman of (almost) leisure

Posted on by Richard
Reply

As you will know if you’ve been following my exploits over the last few months, I have recently been forced into commuting to Maidenhead in the UK each week. Clearly this was not an ideal long-term arrangement.

This difficult situation was further compounded by the fact that I had not enjoyed my job for well over a year and recent changes in the organisation had made it very difficult for this to change.

So, against a background of job losses, cutbacks and belt-tightening, I found myself in the position where I was offered a “way out”. That this approach was open to me was entirely down to me being employed under a French contract. And thank goodness for that, as without it my “way out” may well have been through the back door with a bit of loose change in my pocket.

As it was, though, the security offered to me under French employment law thankfully put me in a much better position than others in the organisation.

Thus I have now left my job with RightNow Technologies, where I have worked for over 4 years, and find myself with a little time to relax and enjoy the summer with the family, before embarking on the search for a new job.

I am very happy with this arrangement. At last I can take control of my life and my future career, and hopefully take it into a new and exciting direction.

But for now I’m loving being a gentleman of (almost) leisure – and with the sun shining in a bright blue sky every day, who wouldn’t?

Another day of history at Nieul-sur-l’Autize

Posted on by Richard
Reply

The village of Nieul-sur-l’Autise is steeped in history, and they certainly make the most of it when putting on events. Last year we witnessed the spectacular Village de Lumière, an occasion that we hope will be repeated this year, and recently we visited the Fete de la Meuniere, celebrating rural village life from the turn of the century.

The main village square was scattered with stalls selling traditional products, giving demonstrations of traditional rural activities, musicians, food and drink opportunities… and everyone was in traditional dress. The historic village really transported us back and wecould easily imagine what life was like in Nieul at that time.

Nathalie grew up in Nieul, where her father was the village baker, so she was naturally involved in the event. We made out way through the village to the water mill at the centre of the village, where, upstairs, we found Nathalie and the boys demonstrating lace-making.

Luckily it was time for them to have a break, so we all went off to explore the village together. Thierry, as a modern-day farmer, explained that, although the machinery may now be a lot more modern, most of the farming methods on display were still used today.

There was a traditional “wedding” taking place, which ended up in the wedding party enjoying a folk dance, with the customary “dance of the brioche” as the centre-piece. This involves the happy couple holding a huge circular brioche loaf at arms-length while the rest dance around them.

After the wedding Nathalie returned to her lace-making duties, so Thierry and the boys joined us as we explored the rest of the village.

One of the highlights had to be a boat trip along the Autise river. It was a beautiful hot day and so a relaxing ride along the river under the dappled shade of the trees was very much welcome.

Flitting over the surface of the water were a mutitude of blue dragonflies.

“Qu’est-ce que ça en français?” we asked Thierry.

“C’est un libellule,” he explained.

Lisa then spent the the rest of the day trying, and mainly failing, to say Thierry’s tongue-twister “Nous avons vu les belles libellules bleu”… highly amusing :)

As part of our initiation into the traditions of la Vendée, Thierry insisted we try mijet, a kind of cold soup made from bread, red wine and sugar. Well as you know, I’m always one to try new things, so I was willing to give it a go. To be honest, it wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever tasted, but it certainly beat my bush-tucker trial from last year! Lisa wasn’t impressed, but I managed to get through half of it, which I felt was a reasonable effort considering :)

After taking in the rest of the stalls and activities around the village (including a great steam engine from Lincoln!), we headed for the village boulangerie where they were baking a fresh batch. Here we met Nathalie’s mum, who was also helping with the event and looked tres jolie in her traditional costume.

As we awaited our bread, Nathalie and Thierry headed off for the meal that was being served. We decided not to stay, but enjoyed eating our freshly-baked bread in the car on the way home.

It had been another lovely day and so good to see everyone from the village getting completely involved. This village spirit is something that was certainly lacking when we lived in Englqnd, with more energy being put into one-upmanship and forming the right cliques than actually coming together and enjoying a community celebration.

Here in Foussais we have this same feeling of community, and at recent events we have certainly started to feel that now we are an integral part of the proceedings rather than invited guests. Just what we wanted from our new life in France.

A spectacular celebration at Les Sables

Posted on by Richard
Reply

Recently we had one of the longest, but most enjoyable, days we have had for a long time.

It was a day of three halves, so to speak :)

The Storm and the Slow Start

It was another hot and humid start which could only mean one thing – thunderstorm!

No “raindrops on roses” moment here though, as Lisa and I both slept through it :)

So it was a slow beginning to the day. The weather forecast showed storms all down the west coast for most of the day, and our excitement about a day at Les Sables d’Olonne was starting to fade. We had visions of trailing round trying to find shelter from the rain, not something that we relished.

We had our elevenses of coffee and croissant and assessed the situation. The sky in Foussais was clearing and with the blue sky our hopes for a decent day returned, so we bit the bullet, packed up our picnic, gathered the beach gear and set out for Les Sables.

Baking on the Beach

After a leisurely lunch in a local restaurant (mmm…I love anchovies on my pizzas :) ) we trekked back to the car and gathered our bags for a lengthy stay on the beach. It was certainly very busy – the busiest French beach we have seen for a long time. We are used to being only one of a handful of families on the sand and the bank-holiday crowds were quite a surprise.

But still we were able to find a spot to set out our pitch. The sun by this time was blisteringly hot, so Molly and Joe took to the sea on their body-boards, while Lisa, Rosie and I soaked up the rays.

And there we stayed for a good few hours. The sea was warm, as I can confirm having ventured out into it to play with the kids! We watched the tide come in to within a few feet of our toes, but luckily we had Joe on hand to dig us a trench which he assured us wold stop the advance of the Atlantic, should it dare to come any closer!

And as the tide went out, so the sun began to dip in the sky. As we were all starting to feel a bit fried, we decided to pack up and head back to the car for something to eat.

Tea was a picnic eaten in the car park, for our day wasn’t finished yet. We were fuelling ourselves for a long night ahead at the main attraction of the day – the Vendee Globe celebrations.

A Fabulous Feu d’Artifice

From the car we trekked the full length of the beach to get to the stage area that had been set up at the far end. Here was where the presentations would take place of the prizes for the skippers in theis year’s Vendee Globe.  Huge inflatable screens had been erected to show the proceedings to the massed crowds. all surrounding the spectacular stage.

As night eventually fell, the proceedings started with the dignitaries and celebrities filing past up to the stage. Sadly we didn’t have a clue who most of them were (apart from a couple of the skippers that we recognised) so we could have actually seen someone really famous!

Then the show began with a huge firework display for 5 minutes. This really took us by surprise and was a great start to the occasion. As the sparks faded in the sky the stage lit up with an amazing projected wave effect. Out stepped the presenter for the evening (not sure who he was!) to introduce the night’s programme.

The evening continued with the skippers coming on stage in groups of 4 (for the lower-placed finishers) and then individually, to receive their trophies and be interviewed. Most skippers told of how hard it had been, but what a great experience.

As each skipper came out, the screen behind the stage was filled with their photo, and the screen to the side showed the details of their boat.

In betwen the interviews, short films showing highlights from the race were shown on the big screens. On this scale we really understood the extreme harsh conditions the skippers had to endure as part of the race. The size of some of the waves made it look more like a Hollywood movie – rather scary to think that it was all real.

Of course we saved big cheers for the British skippers Dee Caffari and Sam Davies (who are, incidentally, soon heading off on a record-breaking attempt around Britain). We noted that although they both spoke very good French, their accents were terrible, so there’s hope for us yet! :)

As we got to the top 6 skippers, the entrance of each one was heralded by a short volley of fireworks, each getting more and more impressive as we approached 1st place.

And so, as the winner, Michel Desjoyeux, stepped out onto the stage, the sky errupted with an enormous explosion of fireworks, accompanied by a stirring soundtrack that thrilled the 120,000-strong crowd gathered on the beach.

It was an incredible experience. Just knowing what these skippers had gone through over the three months that they were sailing round the world made their presence there that night a real privilege. It was very special for us too to see the excitement on Joe’s face as the night wore on. He had studied the race at school and it really captured his imagination. He knew everything there was to know about the race and the skippers. He was so thrilled to see it all culminating in this amazing celebration.

And rounding off the evening was another spectacular firework display, which, combined with the music, lights and huge crowd, made for an astonishing end to an amazing day.
http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

Check out all the photos from the day here

Qualifying the French way to get back in the classroom

Posted on by Richard
Reply


There are very few things I miss from living in England.

Of course family and friends are greatly missed, but I miss my job more than I thought I would. Having trained as a Nursery Nurse after leaving school, I spent the last four years in England working at our local Primary school as a Teaching Assistant. The last three of which were spent in the Foundation stage (ages 3-5).
This is a job I loved.

While there I toyed with the idea of fulfilling my ambition to become a teacher. The forms were sent for and terms agreed with the Head teacher. Just at the point of sending them back, Richard was offered his present job and with it our chance to move to France. My teaching plans were put on the back burner again. Instead I took my HLTA ( Higher Level Teaching Assistant) qualification which only took three months as opposed to three years of teacher training.

A year ago, having lived in France for about six months, I had been chatting with Nathalie, Joe’s teacher at that time, when she asked me to go in and read a story to her class in English. This has since developed into weekly visits and the planning of lessons and sourcing resources. Another chat with a parent of one of Molly’s friends has lead to another regular visit into a school to help with English.

After a year of this, I felt it was time to take it further, perhaps make it more official. The school in Foussais-Payré approached me about three months ago to see if I would like to sit for “l’Habilitation en Langue Vivante”, an official qualification that recognises the candidate’s ability to teach a foreign language in primary schools. This comprises of an interview and a class observation. It is hoped that anyone who wishes to teach English in any primary school in France will have passed this.

In March I went along with Nathalie to the meeting where we would find out what exactly would be involved. Nathalie isn’t ready to take the habilitation yet, but came along anyway. Moral support was definitely needed by me!

Expecting to find a room full of English and a few French I was shocked to find just one other person – a French teacher who, like Nathalie, wasn’t ready to take it, but just wanted to see what standard of English she would need to reach. So that left me!

On 20th May I went for my interview with much trepidation. The English side of the interview, of course, held few concerns. I had to be able to understand a short conversation after listening to it twice, and to be able to give a précis of the information given. The second part was to read a short story, with understanding and good accent! No problems. The third part was to know about the country and some of its history and cultures. All good so far.

Then came the fourth, and for me, the most worrying part. I had to be able to talk about the teaching of English and the curriculum, in French! I know my French has improved but I am still at the point where, if someone talks to me too fast or with a different accent, I tend to freeze and my eyes glaze over. I had a real fear that I would fail this part. I had been told it was important to have a good understanding of French or I could not pass.

Half an hour later it was all over, nerves still intact. Luckily Franck Graveleau and Françoise Aujard had been kind and allowed some chat in English amongst the French. I could not believe I had actually been to an interview in French!

A week later I received the excellent news I had passed this part and gained my Habilitation Provisoire. The next part will be my class observation which will take place during the next school year.

I’ll keep you posted!!

Lisa