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COVID-19 Vendée

While there are no official changes in the status of the rules, the numbers are going up again just slightly due to new variants and increased travel. Do stay vigilant. Wear a mask when in close proximity to others, wash and disinfect your hands, keep your distance. Unless there are significant changes announced by the government or department, this article will not be updated.  We invite you to follow included links for the latest official updates. Have a great summer! Current measures The “vaccination pass” has been suspended Wearing of a mask remains necessary in healthcare facilities, retirement homes, establishments for people with disabilities. when around people who are at high risk of developing serious illness around people who have tested positive and contact cases The mask is no longer compulsory in closed places but remains required in all manner of public passenger transport until May 16th.  Use your best …

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Why oyster shells should be recycled

Do you enjoy a meal of oysters on the half-shell at your favourite restaurant or at home? Recycling programs in coastal regions world-wide, including the Vendée, are popping up just about everywhere to ensure the shells are redeployed as a vital natural resource. Oyster shells provide the best material… to rebuild oyster reefs. As an oyster lover, contributing your household shells back to the reefs is probably the most responsible way to recycle them, but it’s certainly not the only way in which oyster shells can be re-used.What is an oyster shell recycling program – Oyster are a fundamental species for water filtration to maintain estuaries and healthy coastal ecosystems. As a result, oysters are also used to gather information on the overall health of the surrounding ecosystem. Healthy coastlines mean more tourism and water sports, which suggests that oyster reefs provide not only ecological, but also economical and recreational benefits …

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New Dutch owners at Base de Loisirs La Tardière! An interview

After years of exploring Europe by motorcycle and camping in a small tent, Dutch couple Leonoor and Arno decided it was time to run their own campground… To offer the friendly hospitality they had always experienced, to others. Their search for the perfect place, the campsite that “spoke to them” took years and finally brought them to the Vendée. At inthevendee.com, we extend a warm welcome to them, and we hope that YOU will take advantage of their excellent facilities at the Base de Loisirs in La Tardière, whether you want to camp or spend a pleasant family afternoon by the lake with a cup of coffee or a drink on the terrace. With this interview we’d like to introduce you to our new Dutch neighbors!Welcome to the Vendée! Introduce yourselves. Who are you, what is your background, where do you come from? Hello! We are Leonoor and Arno. It …

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Business opportunity!

Actual image of portion of our stockIf you are looking to set up a business in France, this could be the opportunity for you. Due to impending retirement we are selling our stock of 15,000+ second-hand books in English. The stock includes everything from classics, novels and bestsellers, biographies and memoirs, self-help, cookbooks, children’s books etc. Note: the image left is a portion of the actual stock.  The shop has been open since 2015 and is currently based in an outbuilding on our property. For further info, please do not hesitate to contact Cindy via email – cindy.allen@hotmail.fr Until then, it’s business as usual and everybody is welcome to browse and purchase books! (Please note: the main image is generic and not representative of the inventory that is for sale.)Share this Post

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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 …