LIVING, Recipes, baking-in-france, baking-in-the-vendee, bread and hot chocolate, bread. home-made bread, European style milk bread ingredients, home made bread, homemade bread, how do I make bread, how to bake bread, how to bake brioche style bread, I-love-baking, is milk bread just brioche, milk bread, why is milk bread so good, wintery bread
The history of May First in France
The first of May has been a day of symbolism in France and other countries for centuries. To those of us in the workforce it means a day off, the first of many in the month of May here in France, a reason to rejoice and something to look forward to after months with only one long weekend to give us a little breathing room. But why is May 1st so special and why are lilies of the valley such a big part of the tradition? The Legend & symbolism of the Lily of the ValleyVIth Century folklore In a French legend dating back to the 6th Century, Saint Leonard -Leonard of Noblac- who was a friend of King Clovis, lived the Vienne Valley, near Limoges. Both Leonard and the King were converted to Christianity at Christmas 496AD. Following this event, Leonard wanted to spend the rest of his life as a …
National holidays, Celebrations, and Cultural Events Calendar in France 2021
France counts many national holidays, wonderful cultural events organised nationwide, and just like any other country in the world celebrates mothersday, fathersday, grandparents etc. Summer months on French motorways are also quite notorious! As a resident of France or as a tourist, it’s difficult to keep it all straight! That’s why at inthevendee.com we have created a handy **PRINTABLE** guide to those important days you want to be aware of. You needed this in your life, didn’t you? We did!National holidays, Celebrations, and Cultural Events Calendar in France 2021 DATE DAY 2021 EVENT IN FRENCH WHAT IT MEANS JANUARY 1 Jan Friday New Year’s Day Nouvel An Public holiday FEBRUARY 14 Feb Sunday Valentine’s Day St Valentin 16 Feb Tuesday Fat Tuesday Mardis Gras Carnival MARCH 7 Mar Sunday Grandmother’s Day Fête des Grands-mères Celebration 20 Mar Saturday March Equinox L’équinoxe de mars / Printemps Spring Season begins 28 Mar …
Adopt, foster & volunteer with Galia
Association Galia was formed in August 2008 in response to the ever-growing numbers of dogs, cats and kittens being found as strays or abandoned for various reasons. Galia is a small, independent French refuge, a charity, that rehomes around 300 dogs every year. Dogs that may not have otherwise survived. With a “no kill” policy, even the sickest dogs are cared for (often with one of our volunteer foster families) and given every chance to recover. All dogs are microchipped, sterilised, flea treated, wormed, and have the necessary jabs ready to be rehomed. Galia takes in dogs from local pounds (where law states that they must be euthanised if not claimed/ rehomed within 8 day) as well as street dogs in kill centres in Romania, Serbia. Dogs arrive with us for so many different reasons – owners divorcing, moving home, owners going into retirement home or hospital long term, a …
Out of the pan into the pan-demic
The sun shines through my window overlooking views of the picturesque medieval town of Fontenay-le-Comte. The warm weather of the summer recently passed and is replaced by a crisp autumn sky. I’ve been here one month now and, on my way to fully integrating myself in the ‘vie français’. Let me introduce myself; my name is Liam, I am 28 years old and, like many of us, have taken the somewhat brave decision to leave my native land, family and friends, job security, house, and pub, in favour of new life in the Vendée. After completing my degree and PGCE in music I joined the teaching profession and taught in secondary schools in Buckinghamshire. I ran choirs, rang bells, joined a band, whilst keeping the thought of moving to France in the back of mind for a later date. Fast forward to the 23rd June 2016: 52% of the country …
Choosing a Kiss. A memoir of racism in the life of a naïve immigrant
Since the murder of George Floyd, I have been painfully aware that blacking out my profile against racism is easy. Finding words to help in the fight, not so much. But give me a minute, I have a life-story to tell. I remember well the first Algerian family that moved into my grandmother’s neighborhood in the city. I must have been around 10 or 11 and could not understand why everybody called them “Turks”. They were not from Turkey. They were Algerian. The blanket term to cover all Middle Eastern and African families that moved in after the EU opened its borders was my earliest confrontation with racism. Born in ’69, I grew up quite sheltered in the Flanders countryside. I was a shy kid, but also curious. While the people … ‘some people’ … around me grumbled and spat about the influx of migrants in our little country, I …
Expatriate in lock-down France
In recent years, the thought has crossed my mind many times that if anything could keep me from my mother in Belgium, it might be World War III. Never had I considered a virus-related near-global quarantine. But the very first day of lock down in France my worst nightmare as an expat and as an only child, delivered a punch in the face: my mother, who lives independently, took a nasty tumble down the stairs in the middle of the night. It was the third time she would be in hospital this year, and the eighth time since my husband and I moved to Europe from the US after announcing she didn’t want to fly anymore, anywhere, let alone across the ocean. But when I think back in my expat life of twenty-eight years, it is only the third time that I have experienced a roller-coaster of stress as extreme …
Ode to the miracle of my parents
Cour du Miracle. Translated to English, it means ‘Miracle Court’. The legend has been told since the early 18th Century, a part of Vouvant’s history, if you will. Today, however, I am sharing my very own, personal story of the ‘Miracle Court’, and the café that occupies it: Café Cour du Miracle. I am the eldest child of its new owners, Sue and Dean Richards, and the 20th of October, 2019 marked eight months since Mum and Dad left Perth, Western Australia to start a new chapter in Vouvant, so I feel it is only fitting to reflect on their decision to migrate to France. Our family have called Perth home for the past 26 years, though whether Perth or another city, being lucky enough to have a family as close as ours, home could have been anywhere in the world. We immigrated from England to Australia in 1993 as …
Journées Régionales de la Visite d’Entreprise – Open Door Days Vendée
For the fourth time since its inception, the public is offered a chance to go behind the scenes of small, medium and large companies spread throughout Pays de la Loire’s departments, including our own beloved Vendée. From October 24th through 26th, sectors such as industry, craft industry, agribusinesses, building, environment, oenology, fashion, transport, services and more open their doors to the public.What are the Journées Régionales de la Visite d’Entreprise ? Over the course of 3 days, the group Visitez nos Entreprises and participating businesses bring the visitor to the heart of their production workshops, manufacturing laboratories, farms and factories to showcase the quality and diversity of products created or grown in Pays de la Loire and thus, also in the Vendée. The open doors are a unique opportunity to allow young and old, families and schoolchildren, job seekers or the curious, to discover company histories, to get an idea of the …