Simply Living France, Easter Edtion

FOR THE LOVE OF FRANCE WORLDWIDE

Month Year | Issue 6

Simply Living France SIMPLY LIVING

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FRANCE We stand with Ukraine

Ukrainian kulich Cake recipe, Simon talks about Carcassonne and Reg tells us all about Station F

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Bumper Easter Edition

For The Community By The Community, Home & Abroad

Editors Welcome

SIMPLY LIVING FRANCE

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This month It’s all about Easter

W

ith spring firmly in the air, we’re making no apologies that this issue is a celebration of all things Easter!

I look around my garden and see spring flowers blooming and blossom trees coming to life, birds tweeting and looking for new homes for their eggs, and it warms my heart, and I am hopeful that the better weather is coming. But as I take in nature and all the pretty colours, I can’t help feeling a little lost with what is going on in the world.

So, in this month’s edition, we have brought colour to life. Easter is all about being with the family and friends and we have some great kids’ activities and spring cocktails, fabulous recipes, and wine pairings to die for, to help you make the most of this long weekend.

Sit back, relax, and let us help you make Easter weekend this year an enjoyable experience with your family and friends and any new additions you have opened your home to.

Tia

Tia Malcolm Editor

Simply Living France, Company Reg:- 13738420 contactus@simplylivingfrance.com

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Contents Page

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Contents

SIMPLY LIVING FRANCE

Contents Lifestyle 6 8 10 12 14 18 20 24 26 28 30

Spotlight on Carcassonne French Porcelain Station F Friends are worth their weight in gold Hotel Inspector How to say NO Retirement in France Parenting Diaries What is a Hallmark Expat life Will it remain a dream

Home & Garden 32 34 36 37 38 40 42

Clare’s French country diary Plant a bee friendly garden A guide to utensils Flatware Mirrors, options, designs Going green Madame bucket

Charity 42 43

Dirty money Hope & Home for children

Health & Beauty 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 58

My collagen journey Getting summer feet ready The very common cold Beauty trends for summer 2022 Skin care trends for summer 2022 Hair care trends for summer 2022 Training for a marathon The Big M

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April 2022 Fashion 60

Which came first, the Fedora or the Trilby?

Easter 66 68 70 76 78 80 82 86 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

Easter Traditions in France Easter décor Easter Treats Pairing Wine & Chocolate Simply delicious Easter menu April fool Languedoc-Roussillon Easter on a budget Mini egg Easter cheesecake Tiramisu cake Gluten free hot cross buns Tiramisu cake Easter lemon custard Traditional kulich 3 Easy dishes Easter bunny cakes Easter cookies

Easter Kids 96 105 106 107 108

Easterkids corner Salt dough ornaments Making chocolate easter eggs Painting easter eggs Easter crafts

Business 110 112 113 114 116

French Mortgages Q&A With Tia More bang for your buck Leggett Property Editors property pick

Contents

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8 6

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Spotlight on Carcassonne

By Simon Kellow-Bingham

F

amous for its citadel and rich history, Carcassonne is a must-see for the medieval history enthusiast. It sits on the main road from Toulouse to Beziers on the Mediterranean, flanked by mountains and the famous Canal du Midi and is a fabulous base for exploring the region. South of the city are the Pyrenees mountains, littered with Cathar castles, and to the North, there are deep caverns.

The jewel in the crown is undoubtedly the citadel with its 53 towers dotted around the walls, some of which date back to the Roman founders of the town. Amongst his other crimes, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered that Carcassonne be demolished in 1849 because the fortress had fallen into terrible disrepair. The citadel was saved by a public campaign led by the mayor and the writer Prosper Mérimée.

The narrow streets now host nougat shops and souvenir stalls as soon as you get through the main gate, the Porte Narbonnaise, but there are better prospects further in. Take a left turn into the Place Marcou and you will be spoilt for choice with the range of restaurants.

The local dish, cassoulet, is a firm favourite, and particularly good at the Place du Grand Puits close to the Chateau. Your meal may be disrupted however by the slamming doors and occasional screams emanating from the nearby haunted house attraction.

While it is true that Carcassonne derives a lot of its income from tourism, it has not been taken to extremes and there are parts untouched

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by the drive to lighten the wallets of visitors. In the Rue St Louis, between the Chateau and the Basilica, you will find some of the best ice cream outside of Italy. The organic pistachio, made from Sicilian nuts, is incredible.

Outside the walls of the citadel, through the Porte St Nazaire, there is a daily display of jousting andhorsemanship. In France it seems that no castle is complete without staginga joust at least once a year.

There is also a tourist train that will take you on a vertiginous tour around the outer walls of the citadel and down into the old town on the banks of the river Aude. You can plug a set of headphones in and listen to a guide in your own language describe the history of Carcassonne.

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After dark, there is a lightshow on the battlements and musicians and dancers busk for your entertainment. Don’t worry if you forgot to buy that postcard, as the souvenir shops are the last to close.

The glorious medieval citadel used to be home to over a thousand souls but today there are only a hundred or so listed residents.

You can join them, either staying at one of the chain hotels or boutique establishments. Around and about there are apartments and holiday rentals available in the quieter villages, but be warned, some churches in this region feel the need to repeat their chimes in case you didn’t hear them the first time!

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French Porcelain

F

ounded in 1773

by Jean-Baptiste Locre, Porcelaine de Paris was one of the first manufacturers to use the Chinese secret of porcelain.

It immediately aimed for the luxury trade, selling to the Royal Courts of Europe. But even then, a part of its production was utilitarian: such as wine coolers, fruit baskets, vases etc.

French porcelain has a history spanning a period from the 17th century to the present. The French were heavily involved in the early European efforts to discover the secrets of making the hard-paste porcelain known from Chinese and Japanese exports. They succeeded in

developing soft-paste porcelain, but Meissen porcelain was the first to make true hard-paste, around 1710, and the French took over 50 years to catch up with Meissen and the other German factories.

But by the 1760s, kaolin had been discovered near Limoges, and the relocated, royal-owned Sèvres factory took the lead in European porcelain design as rococo turned into what is broadly known as the Louis XVI style

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and then the Empire style. French styles were soon being limitated in porcelain in Germany, England, and as far afield as Russia. They were also imitated in the cheaper French faience and in other materials elsewhere. This dominance lasted until at least 1830.

Before the French Revolution in 1789, French production was complicated by various royal patents and monopolies, restricting the production of various types of wares.

This could sometimes be circumvented by obtaining the ‘protection’ of a member of the royal family or senior courtier; this might or might not involve ownership by them.

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Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, France had a vigorous faience industry, making high-quality, tin-glazed earthenware that remained in touch with artistic fashion. At least before 1800, this catered to the lower end of the market very successfully, so that porcelain factories concentrated on the top end, in France and elsewhere. Compared to other European countries, French manufacturers have generally concentrated on tableware and decorative vessels rather than figures, with Mennecy-Villeroy porcelain being something of an exception.

Where figures and groups were produced, these were most often in the French invention of unglazed biscuit porcelain.

Donna

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Station F: A technology campus that actually has class

I

was surprised by my reaction to Station F, the world’s biggest start-up campus, a mammoth almost 54,000–square-foot structure in Paris. This sucker is huge. It is slightly longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall. I’ve seen a lot of technology-focused buildings in Southern California, and they generally have about as much charm as a suburban hospital.

Would Paris come up with something that lame? Thank God, no! This thing really grabbed me. It has a long history of being a home to innovation. The entrepreneur who created Station F, Xavier Niel, intended to build a facility for the innovators who will

create the future, while paying homage to an innovator of the past. And I think he succeeded.

The original building was a railway freight terminal called La Halle Freyssinet, named after structural and civil engineer Eugene Freyssinet who designed it in the 1920s.

Freyssinet employed many techniques that were viewed as innovative in his day. After it ceased to be used as a freight terminal, there were times when it might have been demolished but the structure is now protected as a national monument.

The renovation to turn La Halle Freyssinet into Station F, shows genuine respect for the original industrial character of the space and you can feel it. The low-key nod to Freyssinet is even subtly reflected in the cafe out front, the Anticafe, with its exposed steel structural members and industrial-style lighting.

I spent some time in the Anticafe to see if the vibe there was about the same as what I have sensed in the cafes where tech workers set up their laptops in San Francisco and San Jose. Yes, it was.

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Many people thought that there may not even be 1,000 start-ups in the whole of France to begin with. Yet, during our first year, we amassed some 11,000 start-up applications from around the world.”

The Anticafe charges for your time there because it encourages it’s use as an incredibly informal co-working space.

I bought 15 minutes and an espresso. I overstayed my 15 minutes to see what would happen. Nothing happened. The barista was quite accommodating.

Within the historic walls of Station F, there are more than 1,000 start-up businesses.

About a third of them are from outside France and 40% of these companies were founded by women. Station F is working hard to encourage and support female startup founders and I’m glad to see that.

It has always seemed to me that trying to pull off something like Station F was a gutsy play. As it turns out, the people who launched it were quite aware of the possibility that this adventure might turn out to be a costly train wreck.

Station F’s director, Roxanne Varza, recalls what it was like in the beginning. “When we launched Station F in 2017, filling our space with 1,000 start-ups seemed like an objective that was borderline ridiculous.

Years later, France is really ‘on a roll’ in it’s effort to become a ‘start-up nation’. One of the first things French President Emmanuel Macron did after taking office, was to fly to California and speak to a gathering of venture capital and technology investors.

He made it clear that France is putting out the welcome mat for start-ups and venture capital.

Not long after that, Macron established a goal for France to have 25 home-grown ‘unicorns’, start-ups with valuations of $1 billion or more, by 2025. This January, the French warehouse robotics start-up, Exotec, raised $335 million of new capital and achieved a valuation of $2 billion.

Macron announced that France had its 25th ‘unicorn’ – three years early.

The venture capital researcher, PitchBook, informs me that in January, venture capital investors put more money into start-ups in France than in Germany, which is Europe’s biggest economy. Things are looking good for start-ups in France. Station F in Paris could be on it’s way to becoming the beating heart of innovation in Europe.

Reg

Lifestyle

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FRIENDS ARE WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD

often say, “friends are worth their weight in gold” and it’s so true. True friends are the ones for whatever reason we might go for weeks, months or even years without seeing or contacting each other, but when we do, the conversation flows from the minute we begin.

I have many ‘friends’, ex colleagues, former neighbours, uni-friends, relatives etc but I can literally count on my fingers the number of ‘true’ friends I have. The ones I know without a shadow of doubt I can call on, day or night, for help. They are the ones who would drop anything to help, who know without being told exactly is needed.

Social media leads us all to believe we have lots of friends, some people number these ‘friends’ in the hundreds and for some it’s a race to see how many of these so-called friends they can acquire.

It boosts their self-esteem and gives them an air of importance. But are they ‘real’ friends? I somehow very much doubt it.

I have an old friend, who excitedly informed me he had nearly three hundred friends, yet when he was really down on his luck recently how many offered help? Only a few, and they were his true friends, a lesson he learned the hard way. We had been friends for over thirty years, seeing each other off and on as his mental health issues prevented more regular contact, he would ostracise himself from social situations, change addresses and then out of the blue he would call.

He popped up just as COVID started to rear its head, he was frightened and very keen to reignite the friendship. He uses a bank near our house despite living a short journey away, I offered to bake him a cake which he could pick up in a socially distanced way (from the doorstep), we chatted at a safe distance and tried to alleviate his concerns and calm his fears. We encouraged him to get out walking, and once the restrictions reduced, we invited him into our garden for a socially distanced lunch in the sunshine.

He would text to say he was coming to town,

I would bake a cake, he would pop in and all seemed well, then suddenly his mental health issues flared up. I received a nasty message and after I replied asking exactly what he meant, he cut off all contact. Sadly, I don’t have a current address for him, and he has blocked my number on his phone, but I am sure he knows he can reignite the contact when he needs to. It’s his choice now.

Now don’t get me wrong FB can be amazing at linking old friends up once more, I am now in touch with someone I went to grammar school within London back in the early 60’s. My family moved to Hampshire when I was 11 and we lost touch (no social media in those days and very few families had a telephone) then suddenly out of the blue I received a friend request. The years melted away when we met for a coffee, we chattered away for a couple of hours, coffee going cold. In an even stranger twist of fate her sister lives about a hundred and fifty yards away from my house, how’s that for coincidence? We meet up each time she is in Winchester, she still lives in SE London but has a holiday home in Cornwall. Here we are enjoying that very first cup of coffee.

My true friends are few, one I have known since I was 17, I was there when she got engaged, got married, had children and now I hope to be able to see her in person really soon, she has terminal cancer. The pandemic has prevented me from vis-

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iting her but every 6-8 weeks I send her a silly gift or card or flowers just so she knows I am thinking of her and her family. I don’t like to ring as I know she finds it distressing to talk on the phone, so an email or text is our means of communication. It can be several weeks before she replies but the joy I feel when I spot her name on my phone or email is uplifting for me and I really hope we will get to meet up once more before cancer gets her. Here she is with her grandchildren.

We moved to a main road in a city just over twenty years ago, and to our utter amazement made ‘friends’ extremely quickly with our immediate neighbours. We share meals, birthday treats etc.

We aren’t in each other’s houses all the time, but we know we can rely on someone to water the garden when we are away, take in a parcel or pull in the bin. We used to have safari suppers, especially on New Year’s Eve, the men would dress in their dinner suits and we ladies would done our finery, great fun had by all. They are our ‘social’ friends.

Joining a group on FB can sometimes lead to friendships, proper ones, not flaky ones. I joined the Very Unfrench Wives group a few years ago and have progressed to being a member of the Team, now known as Simply French Living. I was uncertain when first asked to become a moderator, what was involved, what did it mean, how would I, a retired teacher fit in? But I needn’t have worried I quickly realised that the Team are very friendly, and our mutual love of France binds us together.

I don’t live in France, but here in the UK in Hampshire, as a family we love holidaying in France and have done for many years, and we are already booked for this summer too. Like many new friends, as a group we have had our

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ups and downs, several folks have left for a variety of reasons, but the core members of the Team always pull together, watching each other’s backs and working to resolve any issues. We now have a fabulous online magazine that was launched last Autumn, and so I am learning even more new skills to go alongside the blogging I have done too.

Life begins at 69+ ha-ha Sometimes you make new friends through old friendships, an ex-colleague introduced me via FB to a mutual friend, we finally met up all together and what a friendship that has started. We share a love for France and also for excellent gin. You know you have found that extra special friend when they send you gin through the post! Here we are when we met in person, conversation flowed and great food was enjoyed, if only she lived nearer!

But my very best friend of all is my long-suffering husband, he has supported me over the last 48 years, we met and married within a year.

We share a love of fast cars, and have had quite a few over the years, most recently he sold his beloved Porsche 996 turbo as he felt ‘too old’ for it. He supported me when I was teaching, then when my parents died within a few years of each other, when I changed careers not once, but twice and finally when I retired shortly before he did.

One thing I have learned over the years is that friends often become the family we can choose, the ones who just know what to do or say in difficult times, the ones who don’t expect anything in return. Treat your friends like precious jewels because they are truly worth their weight in gold.

Di xx

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Welcome to The Hotel Inspector

A Good Night’s Sleep

A

t your service to answer all your queries about running a gite or B&B in France.

One of the attractions of a life in France is more for less. You suddenly have a larger than average spread or indeed an out building or two, ripe for conversion. You also have the means to make a bit extra or go all-out and make it a complex for holidaymakers, sounds very simple doesn’t it?

Build it and they will come? Of course, ah but maybe not! Is it that easy? Do you know what you are doing? Are you wasting your money?

In this new series, we will endeavour to lighten the load and offer you tips and real-time advice on how to make it pay or when to walk away!

We will cover all areas. Nothing is off limits finances, marketing, cleaning, maintenance, interiors, exteriors, social media and how to make your business sing!

Today, we chat about beds and answer a ‘help me’ question about a gite that isn’t getting bookings.

That is all the average holidaymaker wants, right? Right. So, how do you make that happen, I mean, we are all built differently aren’t we?

Here are our tips for ensuring your guests get all the shuteye they need: 1. Buy big strong frames. Your guests can be, height-wise between 5’2 or 6’7 and weigh anything from 50 kg upwards!

2. Avoid footboards if you can, as tall people will struggle.

3. Think very carefully before buying an upholstered head-board. Think about body fluids and cleaning!

4. Buy as big as you can. Depending on your market, Americans, Canadians and Australians like big beds.

5. Buy hotel-quality mattresses in medium to firm. People with back and neck issues, which is half the population over 45, will not thank you for a very soft bed!

6. To make sure your mattress lasts, you can buy a firm mattress and add a topper to soften the blow.

7. Make sure you buy hypoallergenic bedding.

Always use white bedding which looks clean or grey, there is no in between. Do buy your quilt one size bigger than needed.

This makes sure everyone gets a bit of the quilt.

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Buy several pillows as some people like feather or foam and its nice to have a choice.

8. Always use mattress protectors and pillow protectors but don’t use latex or water-proof ones.

9. Regularly vacuum and air your mattresses.

Watch out for bed bugs!

Why white bedding? Depends on if you are going to use a laundry service or not, but it is easier to spot damage and stains. White bedding looks fresh and clean. I personally don’t think coloured bedding looks clean enough or photographs well enough, unless you are purposely making the bedroom part of a theme.

Also, coloured bedding is more likely to be not to everyone’s taste. Instead, add colour with throws and pillows which you can change to suit the season. Do make sure you launder cushions and throws regularly. Next time, we will look at the rest of the bedroom.

Change your bed linen to white. You can add colour with changeable throws and cushions.

Your cushions are flat. Replace the inners.

The tv looks like it belongs in a museum. You don’t need a tv but you do need good Wi-Fi, as most families carry laptops or tablets with them.

Honestly, I’m not a fan of sofas covered with blankets. What are you hiding? Leave a basket of blankets for your guests, and dog blankets if dog-friendly. Your house your rules, but most decent families will cover the sofa if pets are sofa-surfers. Have some extra covers made for your sofa to make sure you can deal with accidental spills.

Your kitchen is solid but old. You could get a decorator in to spray-paint it and you could add modern handles.

Q. My gite isn’t renting, why?

A. Hi, I’ve had a look at the photos and can immediately see some of the improvements you can make: You have simply too much brown or orange furniture. Most of it has seen better days. Why don’t you upgrade some of it? Some may need replacing and some you can give a paint makeover. I don’t recommend second hand mattresses or sofas but you can buy some incredible pieces of furniture second-hand to help with costs.

Most people will eat at the table if you make it inviting and comfortable. Make sure you leave drink and place-mats out. Leave some games out for families.

Service your appliances regularly. Run cleaners through the washing machine and dishwasher.

Your mattresses look lumpy. One thing you should never skimp on is a mattress, always opt for medium/firm but keep a softer topper just in case. Make sure you have a few different pillows in a cupboard and offer a pillow menu. Do make sure you use mattress and pillow protectors but not plastic please! continued Page 16

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Why don’t your walls have any art work on them? Beg, borrow, make it yourself or go shop at the local brocante. Your gite has zero personality at the moment.

Your pool area is fabulous but there is no s ummer colour in your garden and the deck furniture is cheap and plastic. Consider making an outdoor kitchen. Remember, most people spend a lot of time outdoors, make it welcoming and friendly. Clean your gite within an inch of its life! Make sure you air the place between guests.

Leave a welcome tray, fact sheets and any other pertinent info but don’t make tourist leaflets a big feature.

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Do make sure you have installed smoke and carbon monoxide alarms as well as a fire hose.

Test everything, even how long the hot water lasts!

A welcome tray is a nice to have but I do think the basics of coffee pods, dishwasher tablets etc are key to offering your clients a real getaway, there’s nothing worse than arriving in France on a Sunday afternoon and there’s nothing open.

Work the costs into your business plan, buy bulk and buy smart.

Once you are satisfied with the condition, look and feel of your gite, get some professional photographs taken. Do a trial run with friends.

Look at what extras you can offer and charge for.

Finally, make sure your website and booking system is up to scratch. Your website should be easy to navigate and offer lots of local information from where to visit to how to phone the emergency services. Also, don’t forget to crunch the numbers to make sure you will make a profit.

Remember, the first thing people want on arrival is the Wi-Fi code!

“The four most important words in the English language are, ‘What do you think?’

Listen to your people and learn.”

J.W. “Bill” Marriott

The Hotel Inspector Make sure you have a maintenance plan and ensure you touch up paint as you go. Your gite should look homely, welcoming but bright, airy and clean, not shabby and in need of an update.

My advice to all gite owners is, please do spend a couple of nights in your own gite to make sure it works! Live as you would in your own home and you’ll soon have it running perfectly!

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Tips for choosing a mattress The Hotel Company

hink back to your best night’s sleep. Plump pillows, white bed linen, and an incredibly comfy mattress. The chances are that your perfect night’s sleep was in a luxury hotel bed. Ultimate comfort doesn’t have to be a treat reserved only for hotel stays. Use our easy guide on how to replicate a luscious hotel bed experience at home. They’re our top tips for enjoying blissful slumber, night after night.

Find the perfect bed base

Build the foundations of your dream bed with the right bed base. Look for superior materials and skilled workmanship. Our divan bases are handcrafted from solid wood and the finest upholstery. They’re built to industry standard and are made to last. You can even add all-important storage with a choice of two or four drawers. We provide a selection of sumptuous fabrics in a wide range of opulent colours. Your new bed will be expertly tailor-made to blend seamlessly into your home.

Sink into your dream mattress

There are so many options that it can seem daunting when choosing the best hotel mattresses. Our collection of premium mattresses are favourites of many London and luxury boutique hotels. You can expect only the best materials. Selecting a mattress with multiple layers of quality fillings, such as wool, cashmere and pocketed springs, will ensure your optimum comfort.

Pile on the pillows

Accessorising your bed with the best pillows, duvet and toppers is the key to creating an indulgent and relaxing sleeping environment. Create your own pillow menu with our choice of bedding accessories. Our hotel-grade selection includes a variety of fillings; duck and goose feather down, Tencel and innovative recycled plastics. Mix and match your pillow sizes to recreate that exclusive 5-star feel.

http://www.thehotelbedcompany.com

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Watch out when replying to a text. Using exclamation marks can make you seem frustrated and angry!!!!!!!

Not long ago, I was asked a personal financial question at a dinner party! I’d known this person exactly five seconds, I mean, how impertinent!

We’d all been drinking and so my guard was very much down and I struggled to answer. I really shouldn’t have felt the need to answer but I also didn’t quite understand the question.

How To Say NO and Mean It! ‘No’ is THE perfect word for setting an immediate boundary, although of course you can follow it up with an explanation if it makes you feel more comfortable. No is also the word we have the most difficulty using and/or driving home!

It’s very important to be able to say no, so we feel empowered while still maintaining our relationships with others. We need to practice saying no without rancour so that we can cope when people in a position of power request we do something we don’t want to or cannot do.

How should I have replied? I could have asked her why she wanted to know and then I could have said that I don’t discuss my personal finances with anyone, except with my bank manager, no exceptions. This could have been said with a smile and I could have got on with eating my meal.

Just giving my brain a few seconds to process her question would have helped me feel more in control of the answer. Instead, I felt rather aggrieved with my response which whilst still vague, was a little silly! Also, I will now clearly avoid this person in future.

Saying no helps us to establish healthy boundaries and enables others to have clarity about what they can expect from us.

Many people struggle to say no and others fail to understand no, so how do we enforce it?

Saying no in person is a whole body, face and speech thing. If you say no with your arms crossed and an angry expression on your face, the die is cast and often an argument will ensue.

Drop your shoulders and relax, it’s okay to say no! It’s okay! No crime has been committed.

Also, do try to give your mind a minute or two to process a request and if necessary, tell the person asking to give you time and follow up with them later.

How do we say no and mean it?

Here’s a few ways to say no and feel fine about it: No. I’m sorry, I have way too much work on right now, but I hope you find some help.

No. I have to pick up my daughter from school and can’t be late.

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question a hint that you may be open to it. Start with a firm no and you have control.

No. You must not do this, it’s dangerous/illegal/ damaging and here’s the reason why……

No. You are entitled to your opinion, but I respectfully disagree and must get on with my day.

No. I’m sorry, I don’t answer deeply personal questions especially financial ones.

No. I simply can’t afford to invest/buy this right now. Ask me again next year.

No. Thanks for inviting me to get involved, I’m honoured, but sadly I won’t be taking on any more work this year.

No. You or your child already have one or something like it. You don’t need another one and also, you could think about sorting your toys out to give to children less fortunate than you.

No. Thanks for asking me for an article, but I’m only accepting paid commissions at this time.

You absolutely don’t have to offer an explanation, but if you do, make sure it’s a closed statement rather than prelude to an open conversation, which may have you suddenly feeling brow-beaten and saying yes!

If you find yourself in the position of your answer not being accepted, keep your cool. Say no again firmly and move away. You’ve already given your answer and now you need to back it up with a positive action by leaving the scene.

No. Thanks for the offer but that’s not the sort of thing I get involved in. Good luck with it all though.

No. Sorry I can’t afford to work for free or less.

I, like all businesses, have costs to meet and a living to earn.

No. Sorry I can’t offer you a donation right now as I already make a private donation to a charity every year.

“If you want more time, freedom, and energy, start saying no.”

Anonymous If you start to answer a request with ‘Ummmmmm’ instead of a clear yes or no, you’ve already given the person asking the

Saying no is all about setting your boundaries.

People react to you based on the responses that you give them. Saying no doesn’t have to be confrontational, but watch out when texting or emailing, be very clear in your answers.

Donna

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Retirement in France

A

t some point in our lives, we have all sat back and had the “what would I do if I won the lottery?” thought. Dreams of holidays, cars, not having to worry about paying bills, sometimes not even having to think about what to cook every day, the possibilities are endless.

As we get a little further into the ageing process, those thoughts may drift to “what will I do when I retire?” For some, this may open up almost as many possibilities as the lottery dream, for others the question may raise worries of what to do with your days, previously spent at work.

My dream was to live in France, in the house we had bought as a holiday home over 27 years ago.

I had planned on retiring aged 50 but the twists and turns of life that we all have, meant that for me, my plans were put back to age 60.

I had the idyllic view of pottering around my garden, planting, weeding, growing veg and spending my days doing all those crafty projects I’d never had time to do while I was working. I’d make my own bread, cook delicious meals made from fresh produce from local markets and the potager. It sounds all too Disney, doesn’t it?

Needless to say, I was ready for retirement. Not because I was tired and exhausted but because for me, the possibilities were endless. My hubby on the other hand, was apprehensive. He had worked for the same company for 43 years, starting as an apprentice aged 16 after leaving school. It was all he’d known, working hard, pro-

viding for his family, grabbing overtime when he could. He had worked his way up the company ladder and held a senior position with heavy responsibilities.

We had discussed the issue of his retirement several times on the run up to my retirement and for all his denial, I could tell he was apprehensive. We were making two very big lifestyle changes by retiring and moving to another country. What would he do to fill his days? He wasn’t keen on gardening, there were renovations in the house to turn it from holiday home to forever home, but when all that was done, what would he do? How would he adjust to being in the house all day? How would I adjust to having someone in the house all day?

We knew we loved holidays in our French house, but would living there be so very much different?

The truth be told, I was a little worried about him because he had headed a large team and was used to telling people what to do. I, on the other hand, don’t really like being told what to do.

It was going to be interesting either way.

Covid and of course Brexit turned our plans completely upside down. We were not the only ones, I know. Many of you will have similar tales of ferry crossings with removal vans, moved, postponed and rebooked. I had to leave Him Indoors in the UK so at least one of us was in France before 31st December 2020 to ensure our UK withdrawal residency rights. Hubby was to follow, hopefully by November 2020 with the remaining furniture, travel restrictions allowing.

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I left the UK in September 2020 and suddenly my big French adventure had begun. My job was to start sorting the house, removing the items that were ok for holidays but wouldn’t stand up to use every day.

my previous marriage certificate in both English and French, copies of P60s, driving licenses, passports, NHS numbers, NI numbers and all the above were in both paper and digital forms.

I’m so glad I did all of that. If you are a divorced and remarried lady, you will need a name change trail from birth to present. In France, a lady is always known by her birth surname on official documents.

Also, I had to start making sure we had all the administration in place to ensure we were legally resident in France. I knew that France was famed for its love of paperwork, you only have to look at the stapled receipts you get when buying anything, but I admit I underestimated the sheer amount of paperwork needed to get our residency permits, healthcare, insurances, mutuelle, income tax and our car registered from UK plates to French plates. Driving licenses were a whole world of pain and uncertainty as there was no agreement between the UK and France, on what was required following Brexit!

The rumours and misinformation were frankly alarming at the time.

Getting Settled In

Before leaving the UK, I had researched what paperwork we would need to complete the above and whilst on furlough (seen as a practice run for retirement) I set about compiling our dossier.

If you haven’t made the move yet or have only just made the move, I advise an A4 artists display book, as there are see through document pockets and no punch holes to rip out. I made sure that we had new copy birth certificates in both English and French, our marriage certificate (original and copies in English and French), our previous divorce papers only in English,

Our dossiers were underway.

My first port of call was our village Mairie. I knew the secretary and knew she spoke some English, which would be handy if I got stuck, but wanted to try my best in French. I’m living here now and I need to make the effort. I met with the Maire and informed them that I was now a permanent resident of the village and that I wanted to be an active member of the community. Also, that hubby would be f ollowing on by Christmas so we registered him at the same time.

The next item on the list was trying to get the car changed onto French plates. There are Facebook groups that deal with this and I fell upon a good one. The recommendation was that I used a ‘hand holder’ as you need a French social security number to access the ANTS system (French driver and vehicle licensing system). I couldn’t get an SS number until I had my Carte Vitale (medical card) and as we had to wait three months in permanent residence before I could apply for a CV, Continued Page 22

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it seemed like the sensible thing to do. I looked on the FB group list of hand holders and contacted the one nearest to us.

This was a good choice as she also helped with our residency permit applications and our Carte Vitale applications. Using a hand holder certainly smoothed the process out and the same lady also helped with our first tax return in France.

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Our first year Our first year was busy, even allowing for covid restrictions. By May 2021 we had residency permits, a Carte Vitale each, a mutuelle each, car insurance, house insurance, bank accounts and a tax return made. We had even bought a French car. I was particularly proud of this because I’d done it all in French, even asking for a discount as we had no part-exchange vehicle. I don’t even know if that is a thing here, but I asked and I received. So far, so good. We had survived the first five months of retirement and hardly a cross word.

By the time hubby and the furniture arrived, we were well on the way to being sorted. As we were under confinement and curfew, we spent a very quiet first Christmas, just us two. It wasn’t so bad, because even if we had stayed in the UK, we wouldn’t have been able to see family, so better to be settling in on our new adventure together.

Although the above paragraphs make the transition sound very straightforward, I don’t want to bore you with the sleepless nights caused by changing covid travel restrictions, one of us in each country, getting stressed over can we, will we, is that allowed, is that the right thing to do?

Conversations. The tears from us both as hubby stood on an empty train platform in Crewe, his train was delayed due to line works and he had one chance to get to London for the Eurostar as his flights had been cancelled.

Then there’s all the drama of the ‘out of curfew drive’ to Poitiers, to collect him because his TGV had been cancelled and the tears from me on New Years Eve because I’d broken a tooth and didn’t know how to get a dentist.

We’d had the roof replaced on the garage and outbuildings, a new gas boiler installed and with the wood salvaged from the old roof supports, hubby had made some raised beds for veg.

For the full story of these, see magazine issue one. We were adjusting well, we agreed.

Hubby had, to the astonishment of us both, found a liking for veg growing, something we could do together. He had ample opportunity to expand his love of photography whilst I joined a sketching group, so things we could do separately or together. I would sketch and he would take photos of some of the lovely villages and glorious coastline we lived near to and could now enjoy whenever we wanted. Breakfasts of fresh croissants, lovely butter, homemade jam and rich coffee, taken outside on the patio nearly every day was an added bonus for two retirees brought up in NW England. We didn’t need to rush off anywhere and it was wonderful.

‘Market day’, ‘bin day’ and ‘the day the boulangerie doesn’t deliver’ marked the days.

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One of the added bonuses of being retired is that you don’t need to go to places over a weekend. Leave that for the families and workers, we can take advantage of the quieter times. In our area, that’s not Wednesday afternoons as the schools tend to be closed and places get busy.

We glory in exploring, finding lovely villages, cafes with a view or a history; we don’t even need to travel far.

We found that train travel is cheaper for people aged 60+, so a trip to Paris was made by TGV. No stress, no searching for a hotel with parking and the long-stay car parking at the train station was free, even for five days. We will be exploring more by train this year.

We had, with the guidance of a neighbour, found a doctor who was taking on patients and registered with him. Again I was pleased because I was able to conduct the conversation in French.

I have no doubt my accent and pronunciation was abysmally funny to him, but he managed to keep a straight face, to his credit. He sent us for blood tests, mammogram (me not hubby) we had colorectal tests and I have a letter for some other general girly tests. We are both triple vaccinated. Fortunately we haven’t had to put much of the French health service to the test, but so far so good. We feel safe and cared for.

Going Forward So we begin year two. We are beginning to get into a routine. We understand more of French life. The language we are using is turning from the holiday French phrases to the everyday words we need, but it’s happening so subtly that I’m not noticing. It’s only when we went to celebrate Epiphany, January 6th, Galette des Rois, with our lovely neighbours that we realised.

We were invited at 4pm and left at 7pm having

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held conversations all afternoon with no awkward moments. There was even à risqué joke!

This spring, we are making further renovations to the house interior. Hubby loves to project manage and mostly I’m the apprentice. Do we argue? Of course we do! However, we are not as confrontational as we could be, considering we are together mostly 24/7. We have learned to speak out if something doesn’t sound right, to ask, to apologise and to understand.

Did we do the right thing? Oh yes. For us, so far, it really has been the right decision.

Do we miss family? Very much so. Thank goodness for technology allowing video calls over the internet, but you just can’t give hugs over Face Time. I did return to the UK in December to see the grandchildren I’ve missed so much. Hubby worried that I’d reconnect with the things, people and places I’d missed and wouldn’t want to come back. Oh it was lovely giving those hugs for real but I couldn’t wait to get home to France.

One thing I still haven’t managed yet, is to carry out the long term married telepathic instructions, such pass me a thingy (which thingy exactly)?

Nor have I quite managed to do as I’m told!

Footnote: If you are reading this as a spring chicken, thinking you have years to sort out your retirement, my one piece of advice is look into starting a personal pension. It’s never too early to start and if it means a few bottles of wine less a month now, you could be thankful later.

Doe Xx

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PARENTING DIARIES Pregnancy In France part 4

Tia Malcolm

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ur first day together. Everyone gave me the advice to ‘sleep when the baby is sleeping’ but I couldn’t, not because it was noisy, quite the opposite. I had my own room, TV and internet, it was quite plush but all I kept doing was looking at him. ’I created him’ was all I could think, and he was utterly perfect.

I was all fingers and thumbs on the first day. I didn’t want to hurt him, after all he was so tiny and when it came to the first nappy change, which I will never forget, it was hilarious! He was on the baby changing unit, I leaned over and he pee’d straight into my ear! Quite the awakening!

What the midwives had neglected to tell me in the parenting books, is that when I change a little boy’s nappy, keep the nappy until I have everything ready to go because his aim is amazing!

Over the course of the next couple of days, I had a steady stream of friends coming to see Alfie, which was lovely and it broke the long post partum days up. I was in hospital for almost a week from

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start to finish and it was lovely while I was there, it was almost like a safety blanket. I would have the midwife checking on me each day and the paediatric nurse looking after Alfie, it was ultimately up to her whether I was ready to go home. I just could not believe the service I was getting.

Three course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I felt really looked after.

The day finally came to go home, and I didn’t want to go! It was all very daunting and a little scary if I’m honest. The day before, the paediatric nurse came in and inspected the car seat and the clothing

he would be going home in and she was mightily disappointed in Stuart’s choice of clothes for Alfie! She asked Stuart if we had any knitted clothes and if we did, then he needed to bring them in tomorrow and we would be allowed to go home.

Home time loomed and off we went, saying goodbye to the nurses at the hospital and everyone we passed congratulated us on the arrival of our new baby.

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It was odd, because even when we were out shopping, it would take forever with everyone congratulating us but lovely to see people’s faces light up because there was a new-born about.

A couple of days into being back at the chateau with Alfie and feeding time came around again. Only this time, it was around 3am and I just remember being extremely cold and shaking, so I grabbed the duvet and threw it over the both of us to try and heat us up! I was quite disturbed by it, and it took a few minutes to calm down. I asked the midwife the next day what that was and she said it was exhaustion! I needed more sleep! Still, it was a good excuse to have a nap in the afternoons and I was supposed to be on maternity leave, but I will save that for next addition of the mag !

Tia

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What is a Hallmark?

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So, with a bit of trepidation, I applied for my sponsor’s mark. There are only four Assay offices in the UK; London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Sheffield, and every maker’s sponsor mark is unique for identification purposes.

A hallmark basically explains the ‘who, ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘when’. The five components represent: sponsors mark, traditional fineness mark, millesimal fineness mark, the Assay Office mark and the date mark.

If you look at your precious jewellery, you should see the little symbols which make up the hallmark. You may have to squint to see it as the size of the hallmark is often adjusted to fit the size of the piece.

After I’d been making jewellery for a year or so, I felt ready to start selling it, but as silver and gold are regulated it’s not as simple as setting up a site and selling, as you risk the wrath of trading standards and a very hefty fine!

Legally, in the UK, silver jewellery weighing 7.78g or above must be hallmarked. Gold and palladium pieces must be hallmarked if over 1g and platinum pieces if they weigh over 0.5g. This is because it isn’t always possible to guarantee by looking at a piece of jewellery that it is in fact sterling silver or 18ct gold. The Assay office ‘assays’ (analyses) the piece to ascertain it is what you claim it is. Usually, x-rays are used to check the purity but occasionally a minute sample of the metal is removed.

The practice of hallmarking started in 1238 when Henry III made the first attempt at regulating the standard of gold and silver, and in 1327 a charter was passed. Goldsmiths Hall in London would ‘mark’ the metal to prove its provenance and finesse – hence ‘Hall Mark’

My hallmark, above, identifies this bangle as being made my me (MTT in a shield), fabricated in sterling silver, with a fineness of 925/1000, hallmark applied at London Assay Office and struck in 2021.

Traditional fineness mark – from left, Sterling silver, Britannia silver, Gold, Palladium and Platinum

Millesimal fineness mark – this is used to tell you how fine, or what quality, the metal is, and the shape of the shield indicates the metal type. It shows the precious metal content expressed in parts per thousand.

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So, sterling silver is 925/1000 (or 92.5%) pure silver and the remaining 75/1000 (7.5%) is an alloy or mix, usually mainly copper.

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International Convention Marks

The Convention Hallmark can be applied to an item allowing it to be sold between countries who are members of the Convention, which removes the need to go through the Assay process again and allows sales of precious metal items within countries which are part of the Hallmarking Convention.

A lesser-known consequence of Brexit is that since 1 January 2021, the UK’s obligations to recognise other EU countries hallmarks has Assay Office mark - this identifies where the ended, and likewise, EU members’ obligations article was tested and marked; from left Lon- to recognise UK hallmarks has ended. don, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.

Hallmarking in France: France is credited for having the most complex system of hallmarks known to the world!

Date mark - not compulsory but is included in the traditional hallmark. Each year is identified by a letter within a shield and at the end of that year the stamp is ceremoniously destroyed. The letter for 2022 is X.

Historically, commemorative marks have been added to the regular hallmark to mark special events, such as the coronation and the Queen’s various jubilees. For the Platinum jubilee, an orb with her initials and 70 is used.

• French marks are based on symbolism using abstract forms of animals, people, insects and birds. All these symbols together indicate the fineness of the metal and the place of manufacturing.

• An eagle’s head indicates a gold purity of at least 18ct. French law requires all gold jewellery to have a minimum purity of 18ct, items that are intended for export may be marked with the pictorial marks for 9 and 14ct.

• The mark of the maker needs to be in a lozenge shield with the initials of the maker incorporated in it • French sterling silver hallmarks and maker’s marks were not as systematic as their British counterparts, but they have quite an extensive history. When French silversmiths first began marking their pieces, they used “maison commune” marks, which indicated the product’s town of origin.

orns, h T e l e h c i M hele c i M y b r e v Sil

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EXPAT LIFE

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hould I stay or should I go now?

You move lock, stock, and two smoking barrels to France. Maybe you are of retirement age or retiring early. You start to tick all the boxes in becoming ‘at one’ with France and living your best life as a married couple or committed partnership, it’s all good, but have you spoken about what would happen, if one of you became critically ill or suddenly died?

For the purpose of this editorial, say your other half, love of your life suddenly passed away. Ask yourself, would you stay in France?

Got you thinking hasn’t it?

We never really want to think about it, do we? Death is horribly final, no coming back from that. However, discussing death and illness is a grown-up thing to do, we can only ignore it for so long. My husband and

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I have had many conversations about this recently. One, because I had a breast cancer scare last year and suddenly found myself thinking the worst and two, France hasn’t quite become my home and we are still very much a work-in-progress, France and I. Anyway, thinking I was staring death in the face, I immediately said that despite the health care in France being absolutely amazing, I wouldn’t want to die in France. I was very sure of that, but then we still haven’t found our forever home, nor are we of full-time, settled status in France.

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I guess my feelings could change over time.

Luckily, I quickly got the all clear but it did make us look at putting our house in order.

Another reason we discussed dying in France lately was because we were updating our wills, trying to find new life insurance post Brexit and investigating changing our marital regime with the Notaire.

Inheritance laws are rather complex in France and should you want your other half to inherit absolutely, then you should get advice on how to make that happen. Even the regime under how you bought or own your joint home will affect who inherits what, so make sure you both know what’s what, don’t bury your head in the sand until its too late to change the outcome.

I still don’t know at 53 whether I would stay in France, if my husband died. I do know that he feels very much at home in France and would more than likely stay in France happily with or without me. I guess it also depends on whose dream it was to live in France?

I, like many women, feel a constant pull back to my family and I can only imagine that pull would win, if I were facing life on my own in France? Who knows, but we do discuss these sensitive subjects openly now.

We are almost both in our mid fifties, middle aged if you like, no longer young but not old yet! That said, it’s only ten years give or take a few to 65 and we will definitely be at least semi-retired by then. There’s a lot to think about and plan.

Recently, I’ve met several couples where the male partners have already been critically ill and this fast-forwarded their escape to France. When talking to the ladies, I got the distinct feeling that they would both return to the UK should the worst happen. These ladies have already had to deal with the real possibility of loosing their life partners and they are more realistic than most. They both felt they would definitely be drawn back to their families in the UK, whatever that looked like, absolutely no doubts.

My advice? Talk it out, look at all the options, plan and don’t leave these decisions on the back burner for too long, because ‘time flies whilst you are having fun’ wherever you are in the world!

Donna Xx

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Will it remain a dream?

Or will our dream become a reality?

The thought of our dream becoming a reality had crossed our minds for quite some time.

Like so many, we often spent our camping holidays in France. At first with a tent and then when we had our children, we went with a caravan. We explored many regions of France as a family, but the beautiful weather and the surrounding area of the Languedoc, proved to be our favourite region.

We could often be found near Anduze, a beautiful town on the edge of the Cevennes.

The ruggedness of nature and the ease and the geographical location appealed to us enormously. An hour and a half drive from the south coast with it’s beautiful beaches, but also beautiful cities such as Nimes and Avignon are easily accessible.

Fortunately, I speak reasonable French and at home in the far north of the Netherlands, we started making business decisions.

Financially it had to be possible. We even secretly started looking in the shop windows of our local estate agents. But that was a step too far. We spoke with a lot with French people living in the region, asked about possibilities, toured a lot, looking for ‘à vendre’ signs. We basically rang doorbells and knocked on doors. Finally, we saw a house on Le Bon Coin which really appealed to us.

We are good at DIY andwe can spot an opportunity, as long as the foundation of a house is good. We rang the owner and we were able to view the property. A family member had a key, and basically the house sold itself as we became overjoyed and excited about the prospect of owning this ‘maison’. And so, we became the owners of a house with a lovely garden in a town near Alès in the Gard. It ticked all of our boxes.

We knew the region well and all amenities were within a good travel distance, including supermarkets, several bakeries, Do It Yourself stores, nice markets and the local wine cave, very important.

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So, in the summer of 2018, we bought our dream home. We decided to use a solicitor for all the paperwork as the purchase of a house works very differently than in the Netherlands, and we were able to exchange contracts in December 2018.

Our ‘maison secondaire’ is located 1350 km from our house in the Netherlands.A lot had to be renovated and with our caravan in a nearby garage, it was put in the garden and became our overnight stay. We managed to get a lot done in four days.

The exchange went well, we had water and electricity, a French bank account, so all the formalities were successful. And perhaps more importantly, we built a friendship with the former owner and dear neighbours that we became acquainted with. Having good neighbours is very important because we live so far away. A lot of the renovation work has been done, so it is now a matter of maintaining, decorating and enjoying all the beautiful things that come our way.

I am really passionate about cooking. In our French garden we now also do have a kamado. A kamado is a barbeque with a ceramic inner pot. You don’t see many of these yet in France but for me, it is the ultimate way to prepare delicious dishes. You can grill on it, but it is also ideal for simmering and slow dishes. Enjoying it in the open air, with a glass of wine, what more would you want? The stack of French

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cooking magazines is steadily growing.

I basically cook and bake with original French ingredients and produce. My other passion is ‘brocante’, so I am often found visiting flea markets, thrift stores and vintage shops. Sometimes I am lucky and I can strike a good deal with a vendor. I also enjoy the story behind my purchase.

La France...it is a way of life. Our dream has really become a reality!

Our hope is to be able to visit our little slice of France as often as we can!

I also look for French cookbooks on the vide-greniers and I often make a purchase.

And who knows, maybe in the now superbly restored classic 2CV AK 400 car?

Bisous Julia

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Clare’s French Country Diary

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ell, Spring is almost upon us as I write this. Although, it has been the weather I call ‘4 seasons in one day’ for the last few days! Sleet showers, then brilliant sunshine plus a howling gale then minus temperatures overnight.

I find the stirrings of springtime quite magical, the earth is waking up here in the northern hemisphere and nature knows what to do!

Glimpses of snowdrops are closely followed by the ‘tete a tete’ mini daffodils, then my taller daffodils join the yellow party in the front garden.

When we moved into the house, there was no front garden, just quite a bit of land, with nothing but grass, (well nettles in large amounts!) so we added the fence across from the shed and garage, to join onto the house and create the front garden, with the help of friends Suze and Ed. Shortly after, gates were added too. Friends Martin and Kerry built the stone pillars and then the wooden gates, found second hand at the local charity Emmaus, were finally hung into place. After that of course, I wasted no time in digging out and planting three new borders. A lot of bulbs were added, and irises too, as they come into their own in May in our area and are such amazing vivid colours.

A wise friend once told me to add plants in each season, so you will then have plants which flower all year around. Clever that, so if you are in the garden centre in April and there are cherry trees in blossom, you can more or less say, each April your cherry trees will blossom for you.

Talking of blossom, our Mirabelle tree (a type of small plum) started her first blossoms on 19 February this year, just missing Martin’s birthday. I really hope the flowers don’t catch the early morning frost, as the last 2 years this has resulted in zero mirabelles from our tree. It is too big a tree to protect with fleece so there is

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meet new friends, sharing a love of gardens and plants. I mentioned at our last meeting about organising a Spring wreath-making workshop, which was met with some confused faces! I feel a door wreath or swag for outside or inside adds a cheery welcome whatever the season, and is a fun way to get people together to add some colour to their homes. I cut lots of our wisteria back in the autumn, and have been creating mostly round shapes with the long, wispy, easyto-bend wisteria prunings. Eco-friendly and it saves me putting them through my new garden shredder machine!

nothing I can do apart from hope and cross my fingers for fruit in the summer. It makes a delicious jam and they are also lovely eaten straight from the tree.

So, Easter falls in April this year, I was thinking back two years, to the first lockdown we all went through in March to May 2020. Our house front window is straight onto the road, so people walk past on their way to the boulangerie opposite us.

I decided to create an Easter window display, as we couldn’t go anywhere or see anyone in person.

I have quite a few Easter chicks and created a hanging display and added bunnies and ribbons and anything I could find around the house that was remotely spring-looking and cheerful. It certainly cheered me up each morning to look at it and we had a few comments that the children liked to look at the bunnies! Of course, in France it is the bells who bring the chocolate back from Rome and not the bunnies, but they forgave my English ways.

Our new gardening group is meeting up soon for a ‘swap shop’ to share seeds, cuttings etc and I think there will be lots of baking to eat, with tea or coffee. Its proving a lovely way for people to

I have started the tidy-out of the mini greenhouse, and sorted out the seeds, although I did buy some sweet peas romantically titled ‘April in Paris’ and ‘champagne bubbles’, how could I resist those? My friend has one packet and we will be having a grow-along together, although we live apart, we will catch up on sweet pea progress!

I hope you enjoy your Springtime and a little sunshine on your face too, make the most of the garden at this wonderful time of year.

See you in June

e r a Cl

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Plant a Bee Friendly Garden

Plant a Bee Friendly Garden

What flowers are bee friendly and why should we bother?

Put simply, bees pollinate our plants, which means they carry pollen between plants of different sexes to fertilise them, or even between different parts of the same plant, which help plants reproduce. Bees even help plants survive by preventing inbreeding, helping to produce one third of our food supply, giving us countless fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

Plants provide half of the world’s oils, fibres (such as the cotton used to make clothes), and other raw materials. If bees disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live. That line is usually attributed to Einstein, and it seems plausible enough. After all, Einstein knew a lot about science and nature, and bees help us produce food.

When thinking about bees in your home garden, think wild! Appreciate the beauty of weeds. Dandelions, clovers, loosestrife, milkweed, goldenrod and other flowering weeds are very important food sources for bees. In areas filled with green sprawling lawns, dandelions and clovers are vital plants for a bee’s survival.

Don’t forget the fruit and veg!

Watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers,

pumpkins, aubergine, hot peppers and gourds all must have bees to pollinate them. Tomatoes, while self-pollinating, will have better fruit and seed set (Important to gardeners who collect their own heirloom tomato seeds) when their flowers are vibrated by visiting bees.

Also, whilst thinking about bees, don’t forget the birds! Try perennials like red or purple hollyhocks, pink or red coral-bells, bee balm, summer phlox or sage. Annuals that attract hummingbirds include begonias, cosmos, geraniums and petunias. Don’t forget shrubs and vines like hibiscus, honeysuckle and flowering currant.

If you are thinking about keeping bees and making the best tasting honey, plant sunflowers!

Other plants that are attractive to bees and produce high quality honey are the flowers of blackberries, fruit and citrus trees, herbs (like rosemary, borage and sage), flowering bushes, clover and other wild flowers or, in the case of Monte-Bellaria, lavender.

You can buy ready-made bee flower bombs from the garden centre, just chose a patch of lawn you won’t use, throw the bomb and over the coming months you will find your lawn is a ‘hive’ of activity (get it?)!

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Giverny, Monet’s Garden in Spring

Monet’s gardens at Giverny will reopen April 1st, 2022.

Magazine section Home & Garden

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A Guide To Utensils When setting up home for the first time, or refurnishing a property, it may shock you to find out how much kitchen equipment can set you back these days. If you buy with a bit of common sense, scrutiny and some insider knowledge, you can reduce your costs considerably. Food writer and chef, Ingrid Burling, shares trade secrets to help you find the best equipment.

A typical plastic utensil and a poor performer by all accounts. This is barely a year old.

This looks good, but the glue at the join is a design flaw – it will invariably wear away.

An ideal purchase: costing £5 - a fortune in 1989 - but it is 33 years old and still going strong. It was worth every penny.

In the 1980s, when I was a student, kitting out my digs, the biggest mistake I made was to buy cheap plastic utensils in a ready-made set from my local supermarket. They were always either burning or bending, melting or disintegrating, and never lasted long. In later years, when I got married and we bought our tiny little flat, the best investment I ever made was to start replacing them with catering grade items. Built to be terrorised, many of them have a 25-year guarantee.

For me, ironmongers, haberdashers and kitchen shops are like treasure troves. In those days I frequented Leon Jaeggi in Tottenham Court Road, dreaming of buying everything in the place, whilst the reality was that I could not afford it. I bought one item at a time, building up some wonderful utensils, some of which I have now had for over 30 years and will never need to replace. They are of rock-solid construction, undentable – even when dropped on a hard stone floor – and still deliver a stellar performance.

When buying utensils, there are only three things to pay attention to: Firstly, choose a utensil that is made entirely of stainless steel because it is super robust and hygienic. Secondly, buy utensils that are made from a single piece of metal, rather than being made of two parts, joined together where the tool meets the handle. This latter involves glue or paste, and this will disintegrate in the dishwasher or during washing up, and so will shorten the lifespan of the item. Thirdly, buy utensils with holes in the handles or hooks at the end, so you can hang them up to free up counter-space.

See the pictures below.

Ingrid

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Choosing Flatware

Cutlery can make an important statement on any table setting. If you are in the business of hospitality you will need an extensive range of high-quality, expertly designed stainless steel catering cutlery sets from world leading brands such as Olympia, Amefa, Abert and Elia, ideal for use in establishments such as restaurants, hotels and cafés, as well as at home. These stainless steel cutlery collections offer a style and shape to suit all levels of food service, whether you wish to add a touch of class to your fine dining establishment or provide hardwearing canteen cutlery for a more casual dining experience.

When determining a set of cutlery/flatware’s quality, you’ll want to look at the chromium and nickel percentages, the latter of which adds luster and provides resistance to corrosion.

Stainless steel flatware sets are labeled with one of three ratios indicating the amount of chromium and nickel: 18/10, 18/8, or 18/0.

High quality cutlery should have a good feel of weight and balance when held in your hand.

The piece should also give a glowing, mirrored surface. Low quality cutlery on the other hand may feel light in weight, lack feeling of balance, and lack shine.

2022 will see a continuation of this nostalgic trend as memories of loved ones are evoked through use of Granny’s best crockery. This wistful return to the past is super comforting and best of all, vintage and vintage-style tablewares are affordable, eco-friendly, and if looked after well, will last for ages.

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Mir

Options, designs the What do you look for?

I love the drama that mirrors can achieve and here in small, classic, modern - all those decisions! Never disc

In my experience, over the many years of renovating m generally have a number of mirrors in varying sizes and somewhere. In France, I’ve found many wonderful ex

I always tap the frame on vintage mirrors, as I love gilt heavy to hang, unless you are going to stand them on t away from a piece with some ‘ghosting’ as it denotes ag

Whilst always practical, mirrors provide gorgeous refle versation. I have painted, gilt, wood and plaster mirror fantastic at the top of stairs on a landing, or group sma A mirror’s perfection is in its imperfection.

Images of mirrors courtesy of Rene Edith Antiques, C

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Home & Garden

rrors

s, where to place em.

France, we are most certainly spoiled for choice. Big, count size, shape or colour.

my own homes or consulting on design projects, I d shapes floating around that eventually get used xamples.

t on wood rather than metal, as they are often too the floor. Bevelling is always a plus and I never walk ge, and in my opinion, provides interest.

ected light into a space and are often a topic of conrs, large and small. Grand, over-mantle mirrors look aller mirrors together like picture frames.

Chaillac.

Jules

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Going Green H

ere, in my part of rural France, I’m very blessed to be surrounded by greenery. Being immersed in the natural world makes for a serene, calm setting and it’s easy to extend that verdant vibe from the outside, inside, and incorporate it into an interior scheme. But before leaping for the Chartreuse, the Mint, or the Racing Green, here are a few of my observations along with some fascinating history regarding the hidden meanings of the colour green.

For those living in urban settings, divorced from nature and with the fast pace of modern life, green has been a growing colour trend to offset stress. Interiors have had a flourish of all shades of green as we seek to find balance and harmony in our busy lives.

Indeed, our need and concern for nature has seen green turn into a verb in recent years. Many of us are going green and using green to express our desire and support for sustainability. It is something multinational companies have noticed too. In particular, energy suppliers and fast-food chains are changing their branding colours to incorporate green and other natural hues, to suggest they are environmentally aware and sensitive.

The associations and effects of the colour green however, are not just psychological. The mechanics of the eye are such, that seeing green uses fewer muscles than seeing red and with green being the opposite of red on the colour wheel. Surgeons wear greens to ensure that the eyes remain restful yet sharp whilst conducting hours of delicate work, involving lots of fatiguing red.

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The darker side of green Even with green being natural and abundant, going back 250 years, green was extremely difficult to create.

Natural, widely available dyes and pigments tended to be earthy and muted, with pure colours being difficult and expensive to produce. This meant only the wealthy could access rich colour. What resulted is a colour hierarchy with green usually the preserve of merchants, bankers and gentry whilst purple and red were noble and ecclesiastical.

This all changed in 1775 with the eminent Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Almost by accident, he invented what became known as Scheele’s Green. The colour was vibrant and luscious. It was also cheap to make and went straight into the production of wallpapers and children’s toys. The key ingredient in the pigment however, was copper arsenite; a highly poisonous substance that led to many deaths, and likely contributed to the death of Napoleon Bonaparte whose bedroom wallpaper contained it. The ill health of artists such as Cézanne, and the failing sight of Monet, may also be connected to the use of toxic pigments, some of which were only banned in the 1960s and ’70s.

The negative associations of illness and green go back even further. The Greeks used both the terms pale and green to mean sickly. They also thought that jealousy was the consequence of too much bile, which resulted in the skin turning slightly green. Following the Greek’s logic, it’s not hard to see why we say we are green with envy!

With all that said, green is still the colour of life itself. It universally symbolises nature, growth, renewal and rebirth and we use it to revive and renew us. We can perceive more green tones than any other colour so there are plenty of options to find a shade that speaks positively to you.

Enjoy the benefits of going green by choosing from intense, yellow-toned citrus greens or by contrast a muddy khaki. Not for you? Try sumptuous jewel tones of emerald, malachite, jade and turquoise, or perhaps something more delicate like duck egg or soft sages. Not forgetting forest, fern or bottle green. Whatever your poison, just watch out for the arsenic.

Michelle

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Madame Bucket

M

arch was a tale of two halves, lots of organising for moi, Lady of le Manoir, just as she likes it!

The Annual General meeting came just in time to ensure we had various charitable events in place to support Ukraine, but of course, not without a little ego pushing and shoving. It’s been frantic and chaotic but we are now awaiting our first four refugee families.

There were a few tussles about the state of the houses offered by the commune!

I personally don’t believe a pile of old mouldy bricks with a sink for a kitchen

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and a good dollop of wood-wormy tatty furniture, fit only for burning, is a suitable home for a traumatised family! Sadly, I found out a little too late that the houses belonged to my now-no-longer friend, the Notaire! Oops!

Of course some of the jumble/rags that arrived at the village hall for sorting, were rather smelly. I could practically pick out M. Gerr’s cigar smoke and M. Henri’s penchant for whisky and women on their donated clothes! I believe much of the bedding and woollen clothing is now at the tip! Oh my, the smell certainly lingered for a while. Once home, I had to disinfect and spray my best pur parfum up my nose! Never fear, I’ve now organised a checking system and got the ladies and their ladies ‘that do’, sorting, washing and ironing the better blankets and jumpers.

We can pull together well to support the war effort much better than we can for a game of Bridge actually!Goffery wasn’t at all pleased that the Mairie took over his charitable fund-raising duties quite swiftly, but as an ex-accountant with a flair for cooking the books, it made sense to me!

To appease him, I offered him the much-maligned task of organising the Easter egg hunt for the village!

It’s not an easy task by any means and

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there’s definitely diplomacy needed, as the adult competition always ends up with tears and tantrums before bedtime! Who knew chocolate egg hunting could be such a sport? I’m sure he will be just fine and deal superbly with Madame Vanguard, her brandy breath and bouncing boobs!

Her friend Margot, who I believe is

old-French blue-blood, owns the Chocolate Atelier which coins it in at this time of year and so the competition starts at her till! Bigger, better, fancier and more expensive! You couldn’t make it up!

Last year, the injuries were horrific! Jess the Au Pair ended up with a broken nose and she wasn’t even taking part! Maureen the American ended up with her leg broken in three places because she decided to cheat and use an electric scooter completely shit faced and therefore ended up very awkwardly

PAGE 43

wrapped round a tree!

Poor thing! I doubt she felt much having quaffed several bottles of quaffable plonk

at the Chateau Easter lunch!

The children of course behave beautifully, cleverly ignoring their disfigured, chocolate-smeared, champagne-drenched parents, dancing naked in the village fountain!

I could tell you some tales about the Easter bonnet parade but I will save that for another day!

Mme B

a e g n a r d y H tX y d La ucke B

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Dirty Money

War! What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing.

Where is the outrage?

We know all this and yet we keep on supporting these businesses. Shame on us! Hold these businesses accountable.

We also knowingly accept the energy suppliers our own governments offer us, now leaving those supplies perilously low!

A

ctually, the invasion of Ukraine by Putin, should make us stop and think about how we spend our money, where and why?

Many of our much-loved, much-coveted brands sunk their teeth into Russia, China and beyond.

Oligarchs keep their dirty money in our own communities, hiding in plain sight! Billionaires, whose governments are well known for human rights abuses, often own the brands we love so much. Stolen money from countries where their own people don’t even have a voice! No one seemed to care where the money came from because we are greedy consumers and it is convenient not to know!

Isn’t it time we stopped supporting countries like Russia, China and the Middle East to name a few? Absolute rule, corrupts absolutely? Yes it does, but we already know this! It’s time for change. We shouldn’t be finding excuses to invest in these countries nor should we take their money.

Fast fashion? How do you think it’s made so cheaply? Children and adults working long hours, in poor conditions for just a few pence a day make them, and yet we turn a blind eye.

Check before you buy, before you unwittingly fund these thugs. Stop! Yes, you can make a difference to the world and help stop senseless wars, like the one we are sat watching in horror today.

It’s time to buy consciously. Hold yourself and others accountable.

People matter. People power works.

THINK BEFORE YOU BUY! STOP WAR

Donna Simply Living France, Company Reg:- 13738420 contactus@simplylivingfrance.com

Charity

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Hope and Homes for Children

hen the invasion, war, conflict, hostilities, combat, battle, skirmish, fighting. Yes, Putin’s ‘WAR’ started in Ukraine, like most people around the world, I was absolutely horrified.

As the early days of the war unfolded, I received a newsletter for Hope and Homes for Children to say that there was a massive crisis in the orphanages, because the workers could not get to work and look after the children and that the children had been left to fend for themselves.

I have been following Hope and Homes for Children and what they do for a number of years now, because their work in other countries to help orphans is fantastic. I even offered to adopt a couple of children myself from Ukraine to get them out of the conflict but unfortunately, they are only looking for aid and donations, so I sent a load of my boy’s toys and teddies he does not play with anymore, to bring a sense of normality to a world with too much uncertainty now, especially for children.

Hope and Homes for children work worldwide and they go into different organisations closing down orphanages and putting children in loving homes. They also work with the governments to help stop the breakdown of families and instead help them stay together. What they are working towards is the complete worldwide closure of orphanages.

The crisis in Ukraine is worsening day by day and the organisation is currently trying to trace 100,000 children from seven hundred orphanages across Ukraine. It does warm my heart seeing the good that has come from this and knowing that people are rallying around to help with absolutely no benefit to themselves, it is purely about the people and the children of Ukraine.

As I sit here and look at my boy playing with his toys, the Ukraine war seems a world away, but it is not, it is just a two-day drive.

So near but so far, it really scares me for the future of my boy, friends, family, and the world. I feel so helpless because all I can do is watch it unfold on the news.

What I can do is keep donating and if you have that bag of barely worn clothes, toys, camping equipment, anything useful that you have been meaning to donate, then pop it on the countless vans, lorries and minibuses that are going in that direction, they need all the help they can get or donate some money and or time to help out.

Just do what you can please! We all should keep doing what we can, where we can and thank you to all the volunteers, aiders and anyone else who is helping in the Ukraine, you all are amazing!

Tia https://wwwhopeandhomes.org/ https://www.hopeandhomes.org/latest-news/

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Parlez Pâques

I

Joyeuses Pâques.

Bonnes Pâques.

Happy Easter

n the French tradition, all the church bells fly to the Vatican on Maunday Thursday, leaving churches silent. They return at Easter with eggs and chocolates, and ring once again.

Le Pâques, les Pâques (f) La Pâque Le printemps Le carême La Semaine Sainte Dimanche des Rameaux Pâques fleuries Mardi gras Mercredi des Cendres Jeudi saint

Easter Passover Spring Lent Holy Week Palm Sunday

Vendredi saint Le dimanche de Pâques Le jour de Pâques Lundi de Pâques

Good Friday Easter Sunday Easter Day Easter Monday

Shrove Tuesday Ash Wednesday Maundy Thursday

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Parlez Pâques Un panier Bénir Un rameau Un lapin Un poussin Le chocolat Un œuf en chocolat Une église Une cloche Une jonquille Pascal* La gâche de Pâques La chasse aux œufs Un défilé pascal Un œuf Un jour de jeûne Voler Une cloche volante Une poule Un agneau Un repas maigre Un nid Peindre Le pape Le porc Prêtre Un lapin Sonner Une aile Palmes tressées

Basket To bless Branch Bunny Chick Chocolate Chocolate egg Church Church bell Daffodil Easter (adjective) Easter brioche Easter egg hunt Easter procession Egg Fast day To fly Flying bell Hen Lamb Meatless meal Nest To paint Pope Pork Priest Rabbit To ring, toll Wing Woven palm leaves

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My Collagen Journey When I first started my collagen journey, two months ago, I was sceptical. I mean, there is that old saying, “if it feels too good to be true … it probably is”.

All I can say is, it is odd; I cannot pinpoint one overall improvement because so far, it’s a combination of many little changes. Something that also surprised me, is that I am actually feeling all of the changes collagen purports to improve, in some form or other.

Now that I am comfortably in my 40’s, it will take longer for me to see results and on average, it takes collagen 12 weeks to properly get into the system. I suppose in the first few weeks, it is just replenishing the collagen I have lost over the years. So far so good.

The differences so far feel major though. Fine lines are disappearing, deeper lines are thinning, my skin is better all round and my hair just looks amazing! The biggest difference for me is my energy, I have bags of it and my appetite is decreasing which means that I am finally losing weight, it’s kind of a knock-on effect. Because I have more energy I am moving more, my joints feel freer which means it’s easier to move and that means the weight is coming off quicker.

What I do know is that if I stop taking the collagen, I will definitely stop feeling the benefits, so this journey is going to be a long term one for me. Like I’ve already said, it’s hard to explain, I cannot put it down to one thing, it’s a combination of everything really.

Until next month.

x X a i T

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Getting Summer Feet Ready

After spending many months with our feet wrapped up in socks, boots or slippers, our feet are often neglected, so now its time to give them some much needed TLC. This month, I am going to give you a guide to giving your feet a pamper.

Firstly, take a foot spa or bowl and fill it with 2/3 warm water. Add in your favourite bubble bath or bath oil, with a pinch of epsom salt (or any specific foot soak you may have). Soak your feet for about 10 minutes.

Use a foot scrub (or mix the following;1tbsp grapeseed oil, 2tbsp granulated sugar, 3 drops peppermint essential oil), concentrating on dry skin. If you have a foot file or pumice stone, use it with the scrub to help reduce hard skin. Rinse off.

Pat your feet dry. Give your nails a trim if needed (straight across, to minimise risk of ingrowing nails), use a nail file to eliminate any sharp edges you may have. Use a nail brush to remove any dirt from under your nails.

Using your favourite foot lotion, its time to give your feet a massage. Warm some lotion in your hands and spread over one of your feet. Starting on your big toe, gently rub from the top down, making sure to pay attention to your toenail and cuticle. Do this for each toe. Gently push your toes up and then down several times, to stretch out the tendons along your foot.

Next, move on to the ball of the foot, using your thumbs to make circular motions, and then back and forth from side to side.

Move slowly down your arch and mid-foot to your heel, using an up and down motion (if you are ticklish, you can avoid this area).

Continue with circular motions over your heel, if you have any areas of tightness here, apply pressure with your thumbs, hold for a few seconds and release. Come around the back of your heel to the achilles tendon. This can be very tight, as it gives us a lot of support, so it may be tender. If this is the case, then massage the area gently. Continue with circular movements around this area and the back of your heel.

Place your hands either side of your foot and rub up and down, do the same on the top and

bottom. Finish with a gentle squeeze. Repeat on your other foot.

If you wish to paint your nails, firstly you will need some nail polish remover on a tissue and wipe over each nail (do not use cotton wool, as this can leave fibres behind and ruin the finish of your nail polish). Remember to apply a base coat to prevent staining of your nails and follow with two coats of your chosen colour. Finish off with a top coat to seal in the colour, which will help it last longer.

If you find you have a lot of tension under your foot, take a tennis ball and roll your foot over this. If there is an area that is tender, don’t press too hard on the ball. Going barefoot, sitting on the sofa with your feet on the floor, raising your heels, all can help gently stretch out your feet too.

Your feet should now be feeling refreshed, and ready for sandals. You can repeat this weekly, however the massage you can do every day. If your nails and cuticles are dry, then apply some oil twice daily (grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil are both very good for this). If your feet are especially dry, and prone to cracking, apply a thick layer of foot lotion to your feet when you get into bed, and cover with cotton socks. This will allow it to soak in overnight and your feet will feel much softer.

x a c c e b e R

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The Very Common Cold

I

t’s about this time of year that everyone seems to be sniffling and croaking with a cold.

Masks have helped with reducing the transmission of colds for the last two years but now, as masks are becoming optional in some places, we can expect to come into contact with sniffles and snuffles.

You know the feeling, that dry scratchy irritation at the top of your nose, your head feels heavy, and your nose starts to drip like a leaky tap!

Let’s look at some of the sayings and beliefs around the common cold.

If you get cold and damp, you’ll catch a cold: As a child coming in from school on a wet day, I was always put in a warm bath to stop me getting a cold. While the steam from the bath helped clear my airways and warm me up, getting cold didn’t give me a cold. We now know it’s an airborne virus.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away:

Apples do contain pectin so they will help maintain a healthy digestive system and help boost your immune system. So, it’s not guaranteed to keep you away from the surgery, but it will help.

Feed a cold, starve a fever:

Warm drinks are especially important when you have a cold. When your nose is running, you are losing

body fluids that need to be topped up. If you have a fever and don’t feel like eating, have soup. If you’ve not been shopping, use any veg you have lurking in the fridge or freezer and a stock cube, you’re getting nutrition and liquid. As long as you stay hydrated, eat what makes you happy.

If your symptoms are above the neck, you can exercise if they’re below you should rest:

There may be some truth in this. Gentle exercise can help clear blocked airways. Remember that fluids are the key. If you have a fever and aches, then rest may be more beneficial. A gentle walk would give vitamin D and some fresh air stops you feeling stagnant.

Tea makes everything better:

A firm belief in the Unwrapped Team - and it’s true!

Black tea contains polyphenols (you can tell I’ve looked this bit up) and they have equal benefits to green tea antioxidants, so you can stop feeling guilty about drinking tea.

In the study I saw, experts said drinking 2 - 4 cups a day gave the optimum benefits.

So, get the kettle on!

Doe Xx

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Beauty Trends for Summer 2022 Since the winter is nearly a distant memory, I have been thinking about summer trends for beauty in Summer 2022.

The fashion shows this year in New York, Milan, Paris and London gave me a glimpse into what might be trending this summer. While most of the collections were editorial, there were a few wearable outfits. The neon-bright eyes and pastel cheekbones were quite a surprise as was the fact that matt lips are now out-dated but never fear, glossy lips are back! Hopefully, this will mean that we will be returning to a bright colour palette for the summer. There was also a hint of a 90’s throwback which will take me straight back to my teenage years. Yay! Here are the eye palettes and lip colours that may become part of your makeup bag this summer.

EYES TOO FACED Too Femme Ethereal Eye Shadow Palette 45€ DIOR Dior Addict 42€ Rouge À Lèvres Brillant

CHARLOTTE TILBURY

Pillow Talk Lip Kit Original 25€

SEPHORA COLLECTION Color Clash 16€99 Each

LIPS

FENTY BEAUTY

Gloss Bomb Heat 23€

TOO FACED

Lip Injection Extreme Plumped To The Max 35€

All products are avalible from Sephora https://www.sephora.fr/

MAC Art Library It’s Designer 49€90 GUERLAIN Rouge G De Guerlain 35€ double miroir

MAC

Glow Play Lip Balm 24€ Baume À Lèvres Teinté

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Skin Care Trends 2022 Skincare products can be quite tricky to choose at any time of the year but what you need to remember is, you need to buy the products that are best suited for your skin. It is important to remember that price is irrelevant when it comes to your skin care. You must find the creams and the serums best suited to your individual concerns and skin needs.

Below are some of the 2022 trends for skin care.

FENTY SKIN Start’r Set Nouvelle Edition Coffret Soin Visage 39€90

DIOR Capture Totale Coffret Sérum, Sérum Contour Des Yeux Et Crème Fermeté 111€

ESTÉE LAUDER Daywear Coffret Soin Visage Fêtes Des Mères 49€90

SHISEIDO Bio-Performance Trousse Crème Super Revitalisante Absolue 122€

LANCÔME Hydra Zen Coffret Hydratation 49€90

LA MER La Collection Regenerante Intense Coffret Soins Visage 210€

SEPHORA FAVORITES Glow Booster Box Coffret Maquillage 59€

SISLEY Duo Soin Velours Aux Fleurs De Safran Coffret Soin Visage 239€

All products are avalible from Sephora https://www.sephora.fr/

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HairCare Trends 2022 We may want to do as we please, where our hair is concerned but this often leads our hair to become damaged, dry and oily. Whoops! So, he are some products that will help us forget split ends or flyaways. Here are formulas to nourish or revitalize your hair, devices to style them, accessories to protect them, get ready to revolutionize your routine hair routine.

Below are some of the 2022 trends for hair care.

WELLA PROFESSIONALS ColorMotion+ Shampoing Protecteur De Couleur 27€

SLIP Foulard Pure Soie Léopard Sauvage 78€

BUMBLE AND BUMBLE Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Ultra Rich 31€

GHD Thin Wand Boucleur Ultra Fin 199€

MOROCCANOIL Blond Parfait Coffret Soins Cheveux 28€

STEAMPOD Steampod Edition Limitée Blue Cheveux Epais 229€

GUERLAIN Abeille Royale Huile-En-Sérum Jeunesse Cuir Chevelu Et Cheveux 139€

DYSON Dyson Airwrap Complete™ Coffret Cheveux Edition Limitée 499€

All products are avalible from Sephora https://www.sephora.fr/

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Training for a Marathon Last time, I told you about how I came to find myself signing up for the Paris Marathon. So how are my preparations going? Here are some of the things I’ve learnt so far.

Training Plans The first thing I did after signing up was a search online for marathon training plans.

This was when I got my first shock. All the plans I could find assume that you’re already running 15km at a time, which I wasn’t!

Luckily these plans were also only 12 weeks long, which meant I had a couple of months to get my butt into gear before I needed to embark on one of these plans! I created for myself a little ‘Pre Marathon-Training Training Plan’. My goal for this was to get into the habit of regularly running, at least three times a week, no matter what the weather was doing, as well as increasing my longer runs.

Most training plans have you running at least three times a week. You have an Easy Run, which is a shorter, slower paced run. A Tempo or Interval Run, where you work on your speed by adding in some faster paced intervals. And then a Long Run which is exactly as it sounds. The plan I’m using bases these on time spent running rather than overall kilometres, so long runs start off at about 60 minutes and gradually build up to about 3.5 hours.

The Right Shoes The next thing I did was chat to friends who have experience running marathons. This was my second shock; did you know that your feet swell up when you run long distances?

Or that your toenails can turn black and fall off?! That was fun to learn! I went to a running shop and, on the advice of my friends, bought myself a pair of trainers that are one and a half sizes bigger than I would usually wear. They are designed for marathon running so have more cushioning than other trainers I have had in the past and are very comfortable. Which is just as well because I could probably feed myself for a month on what they cost! The salesman must have been ecstatic, he even managed to convince me to buy a couple of pairs of anti-blister socks. (No, I’d never heard of them either, but they seem to be working).

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Support and Motivation Another thing that has surprised me shouldn’t have been surprising at all! The support I have had has been overwhelming! Not just from my friends and family, who have of course been amazing, but I often get beeped while I am out running and turn to see one of the locals cheering me on as they drive past me. I set up a Just Giving page to take donations for a charity I support in the UK called HENRY. Everyone has been so generous; I smashed my original target within a few days! This week I reached my new target and donations are still coming in which is so motivating. I feel really privileged to be surrounded by such amazing people!

At the time of writing this, I have just started the 6-week countdown to the big day! I’ve generally been very lucky with the weather. We had a cold snap at the start of the year which saw me dressing up like an Eskimo to go out running in freezing fog. It took a lot of will power to get me out when it was so warm and cosy in front of my fire at home. But we seem to be coming out of winter now, the first signs of spring are here and I’m really happy that the sun has even been shining on me this week!

Consistency Works I’ve also been surprised at the effectiveness of consistent training! I won’t lie, when I first signed up, I had my doubts about whether I would ever actually be fit or strong enough to do it. But I keep hitting new milestones. In the first week of January, I ran the equivalent of a half marathon and last week I did my longest run so far which was 27km. It really surprises me every time I get a new personal best, but it just goes to show that being consistent really does get results. Plus, these achievements are really reassuring me that I will hopefully be OK on the day!

And, I still love running! I really thought that I would get fed up or find it too hard as the runs got longer, but instead I actually look forward to them. I love seeing if I can run a little bit further or a little bit quicker. I’ll often come across squirrels or deer and when the sun is shining, and the lovely little rural roads are so quiet and peaceful, I don’t really even notice that I’m running, I’m just taking in my surroundings!

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The Importance of Recovery And finally, I’ve also learnt how important it is to look after myself and recover properly.

Taking time to stretch before and after a run really reduces the aches and pains! I’m also very happy that we just managed to get our bathtub fitted before I started training. It’s become my new best friend, there is nothing better than a nice, hot, relaxing bath after a long run for soothing aching muscles! And so far, I’ve managed to avoid any injuries (touch wood).

I’ve also had to start paying more attention to what I eat. I’ve been so much hungrier than usual because of the extra calories I’m using.

I don’t want to lose weight so I’m making sure I replace the extra calories that are being burned, but I’m making sure that I still eat a healthy, balanced diet. I’ve found myself craving carbohydrates and sugar so I’m being careful and making sure I eat lots of whole-grains and fruit and vegetables rather than biscuits and chocolate!

So, there’s my experience so far, and I have to say I’m really enjoying it! If you’ve ever thought about signing up for a marathon but self-doubt has put you off, I encourage you to give it a try, you might just surprise yourself! That being said, the marathon is on the 3rd of April, so by the time you read this I’ve probably already done it. But did I manage to finish?

You will have to wait until the next issue to find out how I got on!

Emma Penrose www.lovenutrition.co.uk Instagram – love_nutrition_2020 Facebook - lovenutrition2020

Emma Xx

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Paris Marathon Good Luck Emma

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‘The Big M’ Hello again!

I am meeting women every day now that have read my previous articles and often in my general conversations, the big M comes up, so if writing about it only helps people talk about it more, then my job here is done!

I am feeling a lot more like myself these days and that is not just my opinion! My hubby thinks so too and someone I do not see very often says that I am a lot calmer and look less tired. A good side effect of the gel I’m using is that I am sleeping much better. I still wake up every now and again but certainly a lot less than this time last year.

Our French lessons and Knitty Nora groups that meet in our bar, all end up as a bit of a therapy session, it’s good for me as I am still very much learning. It’s also good that others feel they have someone safe to discuss their most crazy

moments with and to share information on what works for them. We all seem to have a different set of symptoms; some are rare and not always seen as being part of what we see as the effects of the ‘Big M’.

My current investigations have led me to look at testosterone, ‘a male hormone’ I hear you say. Well, just because men can buy this over the counter in little blue pill form, does not mean it is exclusively for them! We women have it in our system from birth too.

For men, it is required in order to produce sperm and in women it helps with our bones and reproductive system as well as libido for both. So my next step is to go to the doctors and ask for a blood test, as testing your levels prior to taking it is important, as it is with oestrogen.

Getting both hormone levels tested is very important, as you need to ensure that your oestrogen levels are ok. This is because any testosterone added, if your levels are too low, is turned into oestrogen, making it not as effective as it could be.

I feel that I could benefit from this for all of the above reasons, my aunt suffered from osteoporosis, so this is a big concern for me.

She had both her hips replaced, one twice

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and numerous breaks, not what I want to be suffering from if I can do something about it.

You can take it several ways; it is available as a gel, topical solution, patch, or pellet (to be implanted), or as an injection or oral capsule, so plenty of options. Only take prescribed medication, buying something like this, without blood tests and from possibly unreliable sources can cause more harm than good. Delving into HRT options without blood testing can also do a lot of harm, so ensure you get tested before accepting any form of HRT.

A close friend of mine was given HRT by her doctor, without any tests being carried out. After being on it for about a year and to be honest, feeling better, calmer. She started to bleed and not just a little. So she returned to the doctor and was referred to the hospital. They did an echogram and could see shadows on her ovaries, having had problems with endometriosis in the past, the first thought was something sinister, so further tests and a possible operation was scheduled.

Her blood was tested too and it was found that she had extremely high levels of oestrogen in her body. The HRT was stopped immediately (her husband was very concerned as he had finally got his wife back and was worried how she would be without

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it). She went back to the doctors in between times and was found to be suffering from a blood clot, so it was decided that they would aspirate the clot first and were hoping to operate on her other issue, at the same time.

Clot sorted (thank goodness), another echogram was performed only to find that the shadows had disappeared. This may or may not be because the HRT had been stopped? An appointment in April, with another echogram has been scheduled. They are expecting (we are hoping) to find that the shadows have not returned. Which would lead them to believe that the shadows were due to the oestrogen overload (will keep you guys posted once my girl-pal has been back to the hospital). Once they get this resolved they will relook at what she needs on the HRT front (her husband sighs with relief).

So, seek out help, do not just go out there and buy something, anything, off the internet. Remember, your doctor has seen and dealt with much worse, they are there to help, so let them.

x x K s g Big hu

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Which Came First, The Fedora or The Trilby?

W

hich came first, the fedora or the trilby? By all accounts, the fedora was first. The word fedora comes from the title of Victorien Sardou’s 1882 play called ‘Fédora’, which was written for famed French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt. In 1889, the play was performed in the United States with Bernhardt portraying the heroine Princess Fédora Romanoff. During the play, the influential entertainer wore a centre creased, soft brimmed hat and voila! A hat star was born.

In a similar fashion, the trilby hat also boasts literary and theatrical origins. Trilby hats got their name from the stage adaptation of George du Maurier’s 1894 highly popular novel ‘Trilby’ about bohemian Paris. During the London production of the play, the lead actress wore a short-brimmed hat with a sharp rear brim. It wasn’t long after this sartorial statement hit the stage that the ‘trilby hat’ became an increasingly common style in Britain.

The Fedora Hat

While the countless material and style variations add to the ongoing confusion when it comes to the trilby vs fedora debate, the latter are marked by a few key features: a pliable mid-sized brim; an indented crown, typically with a centre crease that is pinched on both sides; and wool-felt material.

Material The first traditional fedoras were really about the fabric, which was either a fur-felt or wool-felt. However, today’s fedoras are made from any number of materials including cotton, straw, tweed, hemp, leather, and wool-synthetic blends.

Crown Shape Fedoras no longer strictly follow the centre-crease crown style of yesteryear — there are tear-drop crowns, diamond crowns, and telescope crowns, just to name a few. Plus, the pinches can be positioned in a variety of ways to suit anyone’s style.

Brim Size Size matters when it comes to brims, and it’s the primary distinction between fedoras and trilbies.

Most fedora purists will agree that the hat brim should be 2 inches or slightly bigger with the option to rock the brim snapped up or snapped down in the front, back, or all around. Wide-brim fedoras (3 inches or wider) are especially popular with women and come in a variety of styles, including floppy and raw-edge finishes.

Famous Fedoras There are many stars of cinema, music, and beyond who have immortalized the fedora, but perhaps none more than Frank Sinatra. (It’s no wonder fedoras are still sometimes referred to as the ‘Frank Sinatra hat’). Ol’ Blue Eyes epitomized the dashing style and swagger of the mid-century music scene, while Humphrey Bogart immortalized the fedora look in the 1942 Hollywood classic ‘Casablanca’.

Years later, the fedora would resurface as a style front-runner thanks to Harrison Ford in Indiana

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Jones, where he imbued the hat with a more adventurous twist. Fedoras reached their pinnacle of popularity in the 1960s, but they have made a major comeback in recent years, both as a nod to retro fashion as well as a way to express personal style and achieve a put-together look.

The Trilby Hat There’s no denying that the structure of the fedora and trilby are similar in crown shape, but the similarities stop there. The trilby has a much narrower brim, earning it the moniker ‘stingy brim’ hat, which means it measures an inch-and-a-half or less. In this regard, the trilby is actually more like a pork pie hat than a fedora.

Material Unlike the fedora, fabric isn’t a defining characteristic of the trilby. Cotton, straw, wool, and leather are just some of the materials used to make this hat.

Crown Shape At first glance, it’s easy to understand why a trilby might be mistaken for a fedora. Both have crowns with a centre indentation and pinches at either side. But trilby crowns are typically pointier than fedora crowns.

Brim Size The short brim size of the trilby is its most defining feature. This stingy brim hat is indeed among the stingiest with virtually no protection for the eyes or face.

Famous Trilbies The 1980 comedy blockbuster “The Blues Brothers” also kept trilby’s on the map. Sure, it looked a bit silly to have such a small-brimmed men’s hat on a bulging John Belushi, but it also reminded audiences of a time when men’s style was more formal and they finished their look with a top hat, Panama hat, or some other stylish topper. In more recent years, Justin Timberlake has brought the trilby back, as have Madonna and Victoria Beckham.

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Do It Your Way Now that you have a better grasp of the ongoing fedora vs trilby debate, it’s time for you to make up your own mind. If there’s one rule to remember, it’s this: A hat’s brim should be in proportion to your shoulders.

Most people are best suited for a mid-sized brim of 2 1/2 inches or bigger, I have plenty of wider brim hats for men and women. Whether your personal taste leans toward a Fedora or a Trilby.

Visit my website Kerrydelphine.com

All my hats are made and modelled by myself, (as you can see, I had some fun playing around with different poses.) I have chosen 100% wool felts for winter and spring and straws for the summer.

They are perfect for strolling around the town, taking the dog for a walk, or just relaxing in the sun. So come and visit my website and find your perfect Fedora or Trilby.

By Kerry Delphine a Milliner based in the Vienne

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Easter

SIMPLY LIVING FRANCE

iąt w Ś ch y ł o s h c y We n c o n a k Wiel

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Щасливого Великодня

s a u c s s Pa

e

Felic

en s a P kig

k

Gelu

s

e e f s a e Pa

g i k k u Gel

Joye Pâq

a o c s á P z i l e F Καλό Πάσχα

Pasg H

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Easter

euses ques

Hapus

God påske

Froh

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e Ost

ern

Hyvä

ä pää

Cáisc

siäist

shon

ä

a dui

t

Buon

a Pas

Glad

påsk

Felice Pasqua

qua

Easter

I

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Easter Traditions in France

was slightly nonplussed when asked to write about Easter in France as I have never experienced one, so guess where I turned to? Yes, good old Google. I knew the celebrations would be family orientated as the French really go to town for their celebrations. I also expected there to be lamb and lashings of chocolate, not too sure about hot cross buns but we will see what we can find out. A journey into the unknown is about to begin.

Easter is called ‘Paques’ in French, which comes from the Latin word ‘pascua’ meaning food, and ‘joyeuese Paques’ is the t raditional Easter greeting. The French don’t have an Easter bunny delivering the eggs and chocolate treats but, wait for it, flying bells.

I was quite confused, but on delving deeper I discovered the story behind the traditional flying bells. On Maundy Thursday, the bells are silenced throughout France and kept silent on Good Friday to remember Jesus being crucified and dying on the cross. The story of the flying bells was used to explain to children why the bells weren’t ringing, they are told that the bells sprouted wings to fly to Rome for the Pope to bless them. The Pope presents the bells with

chocolate eggs and on Easter Sunday the chocolate bells fly home to France, on their way home they drop chocolate treats and the children hunt for them. No self-respecting chocolatier would miss the opportunity to display their fabulous chocolate eggs, bells, fish etc. The displays are always a fabulous sight with shops vying to outdo the competition. Alongside the usual eggs would be intricately decorated chocolates, perhaps more suited for the adults.

‘Elephant ears’, yes, you did read that correctly, are a very popular Easter pastry.

They are cinnamon palmiers, also sometimes known as ‘pig’s ears’. I love a crispy palmier but have normally had cheese flavoured ones so I am definitely going to look for these when next in France. Don’t they look delicious?

Lamb is normally eaten on Easter Sunday, cooked slowly in the oven with Provençal herbs, cumin, garlic and olive oil. This can be served with oven-baked potatoes such a pommes dauphinois, green beans or flageolet beans. No mint

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sauce in sight! Asparagus is also just coming into season and might be served as an accompaniment or starter.

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each other and they toss raw eggs, ‘un oeuvre cru’, to each other, whoever drops the egg is out. The winners of ‘le lancer d’oeufs’ are the pair whose egg is still intact and folklore states they will have good luck.

Different areas of France have different delicacies on offer; in Vendee you might find ‘la gache de Paques’ an oval brioche.

In Corsica ‘une couronne’ a pastry crown with hard-boiled eggs on top, each egg has a pastry cross on it too. Charente has a biscuit shaped in a triangle with a hole in it, you might spot a pastry version filled with cream. In Provence the offering will be ‘la couve’, a sweet bird nest decorated with chicks and eggs.

Easter egg hunts or ‘chases aux oeufs’ take place in most villages, children hunting for chocolate and decorated eggs hidden by the adults. Can you imagine the sugar highs for these lucky children?

There are also egg rolling competitions where real eggs, not sure if they are raw or hard boiled, are rolled downhill or pushed over lawns with sticks, first one to the bottom of the hill or end of the lawn wins. I also read about egg dancing, everyone dances amongst raw eggs, keeping them undamaged. Sometimes the dancers might be blindfolded too, just to make the task more difficult. There is also the game of catch, two teams face

However you celebrate, whatever you eat, whatever games you play, have a ‘joyeuses Paques’.

And no, I didn’t find any references to hot cross buns sadly, or Simnel cakes. But if you know anyone called Pascal or Pascale the chances are they were born at or near Easter!

x X i D

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Easter Décor

Is fun, lets face it. None of the expense of Christmas but instead, so much chocolate everywhere and you can get busy having a little adult decorating fun! Who cares about the kids? Not me! Okay, of course we will cover the children in kid’s corner, we aren’t that mean, but for this piece, lets have some clean adult fun!

Decorating for Easter, or spring if you prefer a non-religious take on the festivities, is easy. Think baskets, stick trees hung with pretty painted eggs and bunny ear napkins! You can of course colour theme it all, right down to your Easter breakfast or lunch table. Add vases of mimosa around the house and maybe make yourself a stunning, spring door wreath. It’s so good to ring in the changes and celebrate with your loved ones.

Simply Living France, Company Reg:- 13738420 contactus@simplylivingfrance.com

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At Christmas lunch I like to spread games around the table, ready for the post-lunch slump. They get us going again and of course we have a good giggle. You can do similarly for Easter but offer bunny crafts, perhaps a little egg painting or decorating competition. Adults and kids alike can join in and in fact, why not set the bar high and ask everyone to hand make their Easter bonnet?

Such fun!

Donna X

Simply Living France, Company Reg:- 13738420 contactus@simplylivingfrance.com

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Treats

E

very year, the plan is made to organise an Easter egg hunt for the grandchildren, and every year the weather is watched extremely carefully! Too hot and the eggs melt, too cold and no-one really wants to go out and too wet, well same as before really. We have had a few very successful ones when the planets have aligned and all has been well.

I had thought that this might be the last year as granddaughter is nearly a teen and grandson is getting wise to the Easter bunny, but no, it’s my daughter who wants the hunt. Already the shops here in Blighty are full of a wide variety of eggs, but my favourites have to be the ubiquitous Cadbury cream eggs. Can someone please explain why they are so much smaller than they were and the taste I remember from my childhood just isn’t there? The only year I have ignored these mouthfuls of scrumptiousness was the year I was pregnant, I just could not eat them, the very thought made me sick. I should add, I made up for it the following year!

I also remember making my own eggs, buying a mould, painstakingly polishing it with a dry cloth, melting the chocolate over a bain marie and then painting it into the mould.

The mould was then turned upside down over greaseproof paper until it had set. Easy so far but the level of difficulty was about to escalate. Now was the time to remove said egg from the mould, it looked so easy in the pictures accompanying the recipe, suffice it to be said, I was extremely glad I had made several in case of accidents. Eventually, I had two halves intact on the work top, ready to be filled with a variety of sweets, then carefully painting more melted chocolate around the edges. The egg was then stuck together and popped into the fridge ready to be decorated in yet more melted chocolate. This was the fiddliest and most

time-consuming thing I have ever made, and sadly there are no pictures to prove it. I notice that nowadays, the moulds are silicone so I am guessing they make it easier to release the egg.

During my teaching career, we regularly made bird nests to be filled with tiny chocolate eggs, shredded wheat was the favourite to add to the melted chocolate to make the eggs, although Rice Krispies were also used. Simnel cakes were also made, using small carefully washed cans so each child would have their own cake. Can you imagine the size of the marzipan balls used to decorate them? The children would also have to design a box for their cake and decorate it appropriately. I miss those days before the dreaded National Curriculum was imposed and we teachers lost our ability to go off piste slightly.

The family have a favourite Easter recipe which we ‘borrow’ from Nigella, her rich and decadent chocolate truffle cake, there is no such thing as too much chocolate at Easter is there? Whatever you choose to do, have fun and eat chocolate responsibly.

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Easter

Easter Cocktail Hour

Spring Fling 2 oz Casamigos Blanco Tequila .5 oz fresh grapefruit juice .5 oz fresh lime juice .5 oz orgeat .5 oz simple syrup 6–8 Dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters Combine all ingredients into tin shaker, except bitters. Add ice, shake vigorously, and strain into Collins glass. Add fresh ice, top off with 6–8 dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, and garnish with 3 edible flowers in center.

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Magazine section Easter

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White Rabbit Cocktail

80 mls gin 50 mls Amaretto 50 mls Double cream 1 tsp lemon curd 1/4 tsp vanilla paste Handful of ice and edible flowers Put all ingredients, bar the flowers, into a cocktail shaker, and shake really well, strain into the glasses and decorate with the flowers.

SIMPLY LIVING FRANCE SIMPLY LIVING FRANCE

Easter Magazine section

Simnel Cake Sour 25 mls Kirsch or brandy 100 mls Amaretto Juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange 100 Madeira Ice and 50 g golden marzipan SPICED SYRUP 100 g golden caster sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp mixed spice Pinch of dried ginger Thick strip of orange zest To make the spiced syrup: put all the ingredients into a pan with 100mls water and bring to the boil gently. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Once cold sieve into a jug and chill until needed (keeps in fridge for a week) Roll marzipan into 4 balls and toast then cool Fill 4 tumblers with ice then pour the brandy, Amaretto, citrus juices, Madeira and 50ml of syrup into shaker. Shake well and strain into glasses and pop the marzipan on the top.

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Carrot Mimosa Ingredients 4 oz Rosé Sparkling wine 1 oz fresh carrot juice Carrot for garnish Add the carrot juice and Rosé All Day Sparkling slowly, avoiding any spillover. Garnish with a carrot.

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Alice’s Tea Party Punch .25 oz Chambord .25 oz St Germain 2 dashes Angostura bitters Saumur Sparkling Wine Combine all ingredients in a champagne flute and top with Saumur sparkling wine until filled.

Garnish with an orange zest.

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PAIRING WONDERFUL WINE AND CHOCOLATE B

oth charged with healthy resveratrol and the reputation of being aphrodisiacal, what’s not to like about pairing these two household staples?

There are a few rules or hints on what chocolate goes with which wine, so read on and perhaps try a chocolate and wine pairing yourselves this Easter.

In our home, its dark 85% chocolate or more that dominates, although we do, on occasion, have a white Toblerone and sometimes we are gifted with milk chocolate or truffle chocolates.

Should you do a tasting, as with other tastings across the board, I suggest going from the light to dark chocolates and wines, starting with a white chocolate and light-bodied wine ending with dark chocolate with medium-bodied or fortified wines.

Personally, I would stay away from full-bodied dry reds which could, due to the high tannins, lead to a rather unpleasant bitterness.

It is suggested to choose a wine that is slightly sweeter/fruitier than the chocolate, allowing the chocolate to be the star with the wine rounding off the taste experience, ensuring there will be no bitter or sour aftertaste. So try to match for example, like with like, a fruit and nut chocolate bar with a wine with berry, cherry or nut notes, or a wine with citrus notes could compliment a rich chocolate.

Fortified or dessert wines such as Port, Sherry, Banyuls (a fortified favourite from the South of France) or some of the Grenache and Mourvedre blends from the Roussillon region or perhaps a Merlot, all are excellent wines to pair with dark chocolate.

A Viognier, Tawny Port and a Pinot Gris from the Alsace region should be excellent with milk chocolate, so too a Gewurtztraminer and some sweeter, sparkling wines.

White chocolate calls for a Rosé or a Moscato d’Asti or perhaps an off-dry Riesling and wines on the sweeter side.

A mooch around your local cave and a chat with the sommelier will no doubt be beneficial and give you some more ideas.

Remember, although it can be too early for wine, it can never be too early in the day for chocolate, so why not arrange a small chocolate and wine pairing with your friends? Just could be a delicious and fun get-together!

Have a very happy, safe and fun-filled Easter.

m a P , s r e e h C

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Apple & Caramel tart recipe!

300 g of sweet pastry bake blind for 15 minutes 300g plain flour or gluten free flour 170g cold butter diced 1 egg beaten 1 tablespoon of icing sugar Filling 8/10 large apples peeled, cored, and cut in slices, mix these in a base of flour, cinnamon and brown or golden sugar.

Squeeze half a lemon over and mix well. Place in the pastry case in a pattern to suit. Glaze with a warmed through mix of butter, sugar, and cream. Don’t forget to add a pinch of salt!

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SIMPLY DELICIOUS EASTER MENU

S

pring lamb is traditionally served on Easter Sunday the world over. This year, we are preparing herbed spring lamb with pan-roasted vegetables, steamed green beans with toasted almonds, and garlic fondant potatoes followed by an apple and caramel tart.

O

f course, the wine is très important to compliment the celebratory meal and after a lot of tastings and much debate we settled on a Malbec. At first we thought of a Red Bordeaux, which is indeed excellent with lamb, and being a blend of predominately Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes, medium to full-bodied with a moderate acidity would go very nicely.

However, as this is a democratic household, Malbec it is!

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A

lthough the origin of Malbec is France, most people associate the wine with Argentina as almost 70% of the world’s Malbec is produced in the South American country. A big difference in the taste between the French and the Argentinian wine is due to the terroir. The same grape, Malbec, being a thin-skinned, climatically sensitive black grape, which thrives in lots of sunshine and a dry climate and limestone soil, which gives the high tannins and colour. There are notes of blackberry (young) with tobacco, coffee and even meat, on ageing.

S

o we suggest for you the Château de Gaudou Exception, which is 100% Malbec from 30 year old vines with the vineyards worked in sustainable agriculture and is in conversion to organic agriculture. The deep colour with a purple hue, a very floral nose (violet and peonies) with a fresh and fruity background, blackcurrant, blackberry and raspberry and a very pleasant freshness and aromatic balance and is recommended to drink at 1 to 2 years. Superb with the herbed spring lamb! For the non-red wine-drinking guests, we have chosen an oaked Chardonnay from Burgundy, Côté de Beaune region, Meursault Appellation, Domaine François Gaunoux Meursault Clos Des Maix Chavaux Monopole 2019. With its elegant light yellow colour, aromas and minerality and fine spicy notes this is a fabulous match for the herbed spring lamb.

I

believe the best pairing for the gorgeous and rich apple and caramel tart has to be a Saternes from Saternes region in the Graves of Bordeaux. The wine is made from Semillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle grapes that have been affected by the noble rot or Botrytis Cinerea. Always a winner with dessert. There are a number of Domains who produce this delectable wine and I suggest you go to your local cave and choose the one that takes your fancy.

Happy Easter to you all xx

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April Fool

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onions. Lovely on a slice of sourdough or thick multi-grain bread, served with a glass of rosé or Kriek, a cherry flavoured Belgian beer.

A

pril is always a special month for me…

I’m an April Fool or Poisson d’Avril but I must admit, I relish the event with less and less enthusiasm…Looking back over the past few years, we seem to have spent more time in April in France than Belgium, probably to fit in with the school holidays of the grandchildren.

Easter is a great time to visit, with sunny weather and the pool beckoning.

April 2021 we found ourselves in Belgium for a change. No doubt travel restrictions had something to do with it, but each location has its charms and it was a warm sunny spring. It’s lovely when all the tree blossoms emerge.

New seasonal radishes make their appearance, lovely and peppery, you can even make a pesto with the leaves but how we like to eat them is a Belgian treat at this time of the year…les tartines au fromage frais with radishes and spring

The new season’s lamb makes its appearance and we are lucky enough to get a lovely celtic, French-trimmed one, a treat for the Easter table!

I like to serve it with a mustard and Provençale crumb crust. I’d forgotten about this alternative to the customary three veg. It was so tasty served with pesto pasta and pine nuts and a fresh green salad. Store pesto is good, especially from the cold counter but it is so easy to make using basil or rocket, a handful of grated parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, a touch of lemon and a glug of olive oil.

For me, the star entrant to the parade is new season asparagus. I must admit it is increasingly available all year round but nothing beats locally grown. When we are in the Hérault, the local producers sell also in the supermarkets as well as in the markets and at stalls by the road. It does tend to be mainly the green but I have seen the

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white, favoured by the Belgians who can seemingly eat it by the ton load. The white is grown in the dark…hence it doesn’t produce chlorophyll which gives the green colour when grown in sunlight. They are similar in flavour, the white being slightly more delicate, the green more grassy….some people refer to the green as sparrow grass…a slight exaggeration. And of course, a favourite pastime of locals and those in the know is foraging for the wild asparagus that grows in the fields and hedgerows. We chase them off our field then go and pick it ourselves.

I can’t leave the asparagus without mentioning the recipe loved by Belgians…Asperges à la flamande. You can use the white or green variety. With the white, trim off the woody ends but you may like to peel the stems…the outer skin can be a bit tough… then steam or simmer till just tender. Dress with hard boiled eggs chopped up with an alarming amount of melted butter, seasoning and parsley and, if you want to be super extravagant, and I usually do, add grey shrimps or little pink ones or even, dare I say it, strips of smoked salmon. A feast fit for a king or queen.

Asparagus is quick and easy to cook. For the green, simply crack off those woody ends and steam till tender. It doesn’t take long. Serve simply with melted butter or a poached egg, on its own as a simple lunch or starter or, I love it with salmon or fish as an accompaniment. This salmon dish is a real favourite, en croute with a smoked salmon pâté filling, steamed asparagus, hollandaise sauce and a few new potatoes… because we’re greedy.

April in Belgium or France…lucky wherever we are. Bon appétit et joyeux Pâques à tout le monde.

x X a p p i l i h P

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LANGUEDOCROUSSILLON

R

egion of France, located in Southern France, is part of the large Mediterranean Coastal area and extends from Provence to the Pyrénées and Spanish border and is now part of Occitanie. The Languedoc makes up around 90% of the area and Roussillon makes up the other 10%. It is three times the combined areas of Bordeaux and has been, for several centuries, an important centre of wine making.

Languedoc-Roussillon is the largest wine producing region, with more than one in three French wines produced here and is the mainstay of the local economy.

This region adopted the marque for its produce, not limited to wine, ‘Sud de France’, in 2006.

Among its best-known wines are Vins de Pays d’Oc and sparkling Crémant de Limoux. Grape varietals are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The traditional Rhône grapes of Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah and Viognier also feature. The wines pair particularly well with the Mediterranean diet of olive oil, vegetables, fish, cheese and bread.

by

Pam Gagiano

A few of the best known appellations are Languedoc AOC, Corbières AOC and Minervois AOC to name a few. There are more than 500 wine cooperatives.

The vines were first planted by the Greeks and Etruscans around six centuries BCE as the climate was rightly thought to be ideal for the cultivation of vines.

In CE 92, the Emperor Domitian forbade all further vine planting in the empire and thus required half the vines in the provinces to be uprooted!

Fortunately, the Church knew the vineyards were a source of wealth and were able to save them.

Starting in the Vlll century, a large network of monasteries and abbeys were built around the vineyards, so providing protection, with many still active today!

In the 17th century, the Canal du Midi was built which connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the railway system, which was established in the 19th century, this made transporting the produce and wines from the area very much easier, which in turn created great prosperity for this region.

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Today, leading winemakers are combining traditional winemaking methods with today’s modern state-of-the art techniques to breathe new life into the region, making this house the largest percentage of bio dynamic and organic wines available in France. Languedoc has about 33% of France’s organic vineyards which makes up about 10% in the world, with more than 27% of Occitanie’s vineyards under organic practices.

With the production of white, red, rosé, sweet and sparkling wines of exceptional quality being produced in this area, with creativity, innovation and sustainability, the wines are fast becoming highly sought after world-wide.

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There are 14 AOC in Roussillon that allow the growing of 24 grape varieties along with 2 IGP désignations. Many AOC reflect the area’s sweet wine history. Roussillon produces 80% of vin doux naturels (VDN) which are fortified sweet wines which keep their natural sugars after fermentation is stopped with the addition of a spirit.

There are five AOC VDN, which are Riversaltes, Banyuls, Maury, Banyuls Grand Cru and Muscat de Riversaltes.

Both areas grow grape varieties native to the area such as Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan and Cinsault. All three varietals of Grenache, the Noir, Blanc and Gris are used in the production with the Noir for the reds and the latter two for white wine.

With the advent of Easter this month, I’ve been tasting a few wines to go with our Good Friday fish and our Easter Sunday Feast of shoulder of lamb with spring vegetables, gratin Dauphinois and salad. And I might add, it has been fun and a tad difficult to choose from all the fabulous wines available from the Languedoc-Roussillon.

It is not easy to have a favourite as there are so many, however, I’m confident you will enjoy the wines chosen, if you decide on any of them and are able to find them in your local cave!

There are 23 AOC in Languedoc which covers around 16% of production. Wines which aren’t in this tier may be classified as “Indication Géographique Protégée” or (IGP) sélections.

Indeed, if you read our February Valentine’s wine page, you may have noticed the wine we paired with our steak was from Pays d’Oc IGP. The Languedoc AOC forms the base of this wide category covering red, white and rosé wines which allows producers to blend grapes from both Languedoc and Roussillon. Further, there are 10 sub appellations and 5 commune/ village appellations, 4 sweet wine appellations, 3 sparkling wine appellations along with regional, subregional, historic and héritage désignations and finally, three additional IGP designations being Aude, Gard and Pays d’Herault.

I have selected a Picpoul de Pinet AOC, a refreshing dry white wine, made from the old Picpoul grape. This is one of the very few appellations dedicated to the production of white wine, to drink on Good Friday.

Pairing exceptionally well with a pasta carbonara, Croquettes de Brandade, fish and shellfish, having hints of preserved (salty) lemon, melon, blossoms, wet stone and white peach! Its literal translation means ‘stings the lips’, due to its acidity and can be compared to a Portuguese

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dry white wine or chilled dry sparkling wine or dry champagne.

Vinho Verde and is also an affordable alternative to a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. As a light to medium-bodied wine with an alcohol content of 13%, this ideally should be served at around 8 - 10 degrees C and is best drunk young, it pairs well with cheese and chocolate too. The bottle we have selected is an organic wine, Château Petit Roubie 2020 AOP Picpoul de Pinet. It will be a first for us, so looking forward to our Good Friday fish dish.

On Easter Sunday, we have decided to start off with a Kir as an apéritif. Such happy connotations for me of celebration, love and fun.

This typically Burgundian apéritif was invented

by Canon Felix Kir (1876 - 1968), a hero in the French Résistance and also the Mayor of Dijon from 1945 to 1968. He was a huge fan of regional products and therefore created the apéritif using the local white wine made from the Aligoté grape, which is bone dry, acidic, unoaked and with fairly neutral aromas and a jigger of Crème de Cassis, which is a blackcurrant liqueur.

Very simple and delicious. For those wanting a Kir Royale, I will also have a bottle of dry sparkling wine on hand. The ratio for both is around 1/5 Crème de Cassis to 4/5 of chilled

Thereafter, to accompany our Easter slow roasted shoulder of lamb, I have selected a red wine produced in the Languedoc-Roussillon, Pontificis 2018, IGP Pays d’Oc. With its beautiful deep purple colour, silky smooth layers and intensity of rich dark fruit and spiced plum, crushed black pepper, herbs and ripe raspberries on the nose, it will be perfect. It has an alcohol content of 13.5% and is made from a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah and produced

by Badet Clément & Cie. For the non-red wine drinking guests, I am also serving an M de Minuty Rose 2020 from the Côtés de Provence, a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, which is a fabulous crisp, dry rosé grown in St Tropez from the Château Minuty and is one of the Cru Classe des Côtes de Provence designated in 1955. It is a splendid fruity wine with orange peel and fabulous redcurrant flavours, lively and fresh on the finish and an alcohol content of 12.5%. A very special wine and a firm favourite indeed!

Once again, I hope this has given you some ideas and pointers for Easter and beyond. Which brings me to wishing you all a happy Easter and enjoy looking forward to the summer.

Cheers! Pam x

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Fortress Carcassonne

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Smart

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We all know that everything is now start for many of us, easter will be a bit trimm French recipes that will save you mo

Oeuf en Cocotte Ingredients 1 tbsp oil, or to taste 4 to 6 tbsp of finely chopped ham 2 tbsp grated Gruyere cheese, divided 150g créme fraiche salt and ground black pepper to taste 4 eggs ¼ tsp chopped fresh chives Method Preheat the oven to 190C and boil a kettle.

Grease a small lidded casserole dish with oil. Sprinkle the diced ham over the bottom and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Gruyere cheese. Pour the cream on top and season with a bit of pepper. Repeat 4 times.

Crack the eggs into the casserole dish one at a time, making sure egg yolks remain intact. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon Gruyere cheese and fresh chives. Season with salt and pepper. Cover casserole dish and place into a roasting pan. Pour in enough boiling water to reach about halfway up the casserole dish.

Bake in a preheated oven for 9 minutes with the lid on. Uncover and continue baking until the egg whites are just set but the yolks are still runny, 3 to 6 additional minutes.

Ingredients 2 tbsp oil 300g fresh spinach 100g goats cheese 1 tsp salt black pepper grated nutmeg 4 large eggs 1 tbsp of milk to glaze 2 pâte brisée

Tourte

Method In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the spinach and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and allow to cook, stirring frequently, just until the leaves become one shade darker. Don’t overcook. Let cool, cover, and pop in the fridge overnight.

The next day, combine the spinach in a

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ting to cost more and bite the purse, and med down. So here are a few traditional oney and look fabulous on any plate!

Moelleux au Chocolat Pascale

bowl with the goat cheese and another 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle with pepper and a little nutmeg.

Preheat the oven to 200C and use the baking sheet on the pastry.

Put the baking sheet with the pastry on a flat tray for ease Pop spinach filling on top of the pastry, leaving a margin of about 3 to 4 cm and create 4 little wells in the filling.

Break 1 whole egg into each of 2 wells, and put 1 egg yolk in each of the remaining wells.

Pop the lid on the pie and crimp the edges and glaze with milk Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the pie is golden brown.

Ingredients 100g chocolate about 70% cocoa 75g unsalted butter 50g icing sugar 25g flour 2 eggs Method Preheat the oven to around 200C. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain-marie.

Mix together the icing sugar and flour in a separate bowl. Then add the eggs and mix well.

Butter two ramekin dishes.

When the chocolate and butter is truly melted, pour the mixture into the flour and mix thoroughly.

Pour mixture into the ramekins about 3/4s full. Cook for approx 10mins, or until they have risen about an inch.

Serve it in the ramekin dish with some raspberry coulis.

y o j En tuart S f e Ch

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Mini Egg Easter Cheesecake!

Would it be Easter in my house without a cheesecake? The honest answer is no, I just can’t resist the onslaught of mini eggs which also happen to be conveniently Gluten Free!

To make this as easy as possible, use you favourite gluten free cookies to make the base! This is a no bake cheesecake, so go as high as you dare without or without gelatine!

For the base (make sure you use a loose bottomed well lined tin 200g of plain cookies mixed with 50g of melted butter and chopped mini eggs Freeze the base for at least 20 mins For the mix large pack of mini eggs, chop some and same some whole for decorating 3 packets of Philly 900g 1 mascarpone 200g 200 mls of thick whipped cream 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 1 shot of chocolate liquour *optional

2 table spoons of icing sugar Whip well and pile onto the base, decorate and fridge for three hours.

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Tiramisu cake We all know tiramisu, but what about this pie with a cantuccini base?

Preparation: 3 hours Cooking time: 10 minutes For 8-10 people: • 75 grams of cantuccini cookies • 75 grams of butter • 6 tablespoons of coffee liqueur • 200ml espresso • 100-150 grams of ladyfingers (sponge fingers) • 250ml whip cream stabiliser (Sahnesteif) • 70 grams of white caster sugar • 400 grams of mascarpone • 200ml eggnog • Cocoa powder • Springform pan (ø26cm) • Optional: raspberries/strawberries/blueberries to garnish

Grind the cantuccini biscuits in a food processor. If you don’t have one: put the cookies in a bag and ‘mash’ them with a rolling pin. You’ll be busy for a little longer but you’ll burn some extra calories this way…

Melt the butter and add it to the cookie crumbs. Divide the mixture over a springform pan lined with baking paper and press down well with the back of a spoon. Bake the base for 10 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius. Once it’s done, take it out and let it cool outside the oven and then let it sit in the fridge for at least 1 to 1.5 hours.

Now we can work on the filling: beat the cream with the sugar and whip cream stabiliser until stiff. You need the stabiliser to make the cake firm enough. In another bowl, mix the eggnog with the mascarpone until a nice creamy and smooth mass is formed. This is best done with a mixer to avoid any lumps. With a spatula, gently mix the whipped cream and the eggnog/mascarpone mixture.

Mix the espresso with the coffee liqueur and let it cool.

Spread half of the cream mixture on the bottom. Dip the ladyfingers with the unsweetened side into the espresso and coffee liqueur and arrange them over the cake. Spread the remaining cream mixture over the ladyfinger layer. Dust the tiramisu pie off with cocoa powder. Let the cake sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

If you want you can decorate the pie with some berries!

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GLUTEN-FREE HOT CROSS BUNS News Flash! You don’t need to miss out on the best part of the Easter celebrations because you are gluten free!

Recipe You will need • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

300ml whole milk 1 orange, zested 50g unsalted butter 1 egg, beaten 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing 500g gluten-free bread flour blend 80g caster sugar 2 x 7g sachets easy yeast ½ tsp salt 1 tbsp plain gluten-free flour ½ tsp mixed spice 100g dried mixed fruit 25g sweetened dried cranberries or sultanas (or you can add chocolate chips) 1 tbsp mixed peel (optional) 1 egg, beaten for the top glaze

Method 1.

Put the milk in a medium pan with the orange zest and butter. Gently heat until bubbles appear at the edge of the pan, then remove from the heat and leave until the butter has melted and the milk has cooled slightly. Stir. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and vegetable oil.

2.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Once the milk has cooled a little, pour into the dry ingredients, along with the egg and oil. Mix together, then divide into 9 pieces.

Lightly oil your hands, then form into 9 balls and put close together on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Cover with piece of oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until puffed up.

3.

Preheat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, fan 180°C. Brush the buns with the beaten egg. Mix the plain flour with 1 tbsp water to make a paste. Spoon into a piping bag (or use a sandwich bag) and snip off the end to make a small hole. Pipe lines down and across the buns to make the crosses. Put the buns in the oven and bake for 25 mins, until golden. Serve warm or cold.

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Easter Lemon Custard Meringue Pie My own mothers favourite, a nice tart lemon meringue pie! It shouts spring in colour alone! Again, make it super easy on yourself by buying shop bought sweet crust pastry!

You will need • 6 egg yolks (use whites for meringue below) • 3/4 cup granulated sugar or alternative • 300 mls double cream • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 2 tsp lemon zest • 2 tbsp lemon juice • In a medium-sized saucepan on a medium-high heat, heat the cream until nearly boiling, stirring frequently so it doesn’t stick or burn. Turn off heat and remove pan from the stove.

Using the whisk attachment whisk egg yolks and sugar together until sugar dissolves.

Transfer hot cream to a pourable measuring cup. With the mixer on low, slowly pour the slightly cooled cream into the egg mixture until blended.

Add vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice and mix just until blended.

Pour lemon custard into pie crust (baked blind). bake the pie in a bain-marie (bath of 3/4 water in a tray) for 45 minutes.

Meringue 6 large egg whites whipped to stiff peaks 6 tablespoons of fine sugar (add a little at a time) pinch of salt Pipe on the set cold custard and use a blow torch to brown.

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Traditional kulich

Ingredients 0.5 l milk 5-6 eggs 250 g (1/2 lb) sugar 250 g (1/2 lb) dairy butter 250 g (1/2 lb) lard (pork fat) peel of one lemon flour - by eye raisins - optionally Cooking

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients carefully, slowly, and calmly. Knead the dough (add in flour by eye). Knead until the dough no longer sticks to hands and is soft and smooth.

Leave the dough to rest for 2 hours in a warm place and let it rise. Then knead the dough again.

Arrange the dough into moulds. L Put Easter bread in the preheated oven and bake until the crust becomes golden brown.

A piece of advice.

Listen to good calm music when you cook. It’ll be even better if you listen to folk songs or favourite family songs.

Ukrainian Recipes

If you follow these simple rules, you’ll make tasty, fluffy and more importantly, magic recipes that will bring luck, goodness and family warmth to your home!

Recipe credit www.ukrainian-recipes.com et the dough rise uncovered in a warm place.

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Ukrainian Recipes

3 easy Ukrainian Easter dishes recipes

Shponder Thoroughly salt and season with pepper a long piece of shponder (belly bacon), and leave it overnight in a casserole. In the morning, bring shponder to a boil in its own juice. If you run out of juice, add a little water.

When you bring shponder to a boil, set it aside to cool.

Repeat several times.

When shponder cools for the last time, stuff shponder with garlic cloves and thoroughly season with herbs (to your taste). Wrap shponder in foil and bake in the oven over low heat for an hour. Do not remove from the foil for at least a day. Let shponder cool well in the fridge.

Poliadvytsia Thoroughly salt and pepper a long piece of pork fillet.

Leave it in the roaster overnight. Use a knife to make longitudinal holes in the fillet and insert garlic cloves there. Add a little water. Put the roaster on low heat for an hour and a half. Then put in the oven (remove the lid from the roaster), cook meat until done, and let it cool.

Beetroot dressing Boil beetroots. Peel and grate them finely. Combine beetroots with horseradish. Mix everything well and add vinegar, salt, and sugar to taste. Serve the dressing with meat dishes.

Recipe credit www.ukrainian-recipes.com

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Bunny CupCakes

Ingredients 110g softened butter 110g golden caster sugar 2 large eggs ½ tsp vanilla extract 110g self-raising flour gumdrops marshmallows black icing for whiskers and eyes

For the buttercream 150g softened butter 300g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 tbsp milk food colouring paste of your choice (optional) Heat oven to 180C and fill a 12 cupcake tray with cases.

Using an electric whisk, beat 110g softened butter and 110g golden caster sugar together until pale and fluffy, then whisk in 2 large eggs, one at a time.

Add ½ tsp vanilla extract, 110g self-raising flour and a pinch of salt, whisk until just combined, spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the buttercream, whisk 150g softened butter until super soft, add 300g icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Whisk together until smooth, do this slowly, beat in 3 tbsp milk.

Stir in the food colouring now. Spoon or pipe onto the cooled cupcakes.

While cupcakes cool, cut the marshmallows in half on the diagonal.

Use dark pink food colouring to colour inside the cut marshmallows to make bunny ears.

Decorate the face with gumdrops and black icing.

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Easter Cookies Ingredients 100g unsalted butter, softened 100g caster sugar 2 eggs 1tsp vanilla extract 30g cornflour 300g plain flour Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Next, beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla. Finally, whisk in the cornflour and plain flour until the mixture becomes a dough.

Put the dough between two pieces of baking parchment, and roll out to a 6mm thickness using a rolling pin. Chill for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C. Peel the top layer of parchment off the dough and stamp out shapes of your choice. Re-roll any offcuts and continue stamping out until all the dough is used.

Transfer the cookies to a second large baking sheet lined with baking parchment, spacing them 2cm apart (you may need two sheets).

Bake for 7-10 minutes. Leave to cool on the sheet for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For decorating, use coloured icing and/or butter icing and decorate however you want to.

Magazine section

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Easter Games Corner For Kids

Easter Bunny Join The Dots

Easter Fun For All The Family

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Simply Living France, Company Reg:- 13738420 contactus@simplylivingfrance.com

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Easter Kids

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Easter Kids

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Salt Dough Ornaments Ingredients 1 bicarbonate Soda 1/2 corn flour 3/4 cup of warm water Method

Mix dry ingredients in a pan, and add the water. Stir over medium heat while the mixture bubbles and thickens.

Keep stirring as mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot and becomes similar in consistency to thick icing.

Remove the pot from the heat, and allow the dough to cool until you can handle it.

Turn your dough out onto the counter or a cutting mat and knead it into a smooth, supple ball of dough.

To make the Ornaments

Roll your dough out to about 1/4 inch thick, and use cookie cutters or stencils to cut out your ornaments.

Make a hole in each ornament, so that can thread a cord through for hanging.

Now decorate!

Drying your Ornaments:

Transfer your ornaments to a baking rack and allow them to dry fully. You can also dry the ornaments and paint once fully dried.

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Making Chocolate Easter Eggs Oh, the shops are full of Easter eggs at this time of years but what if you fancy making your own? It’s so simple and at least you will know what goes into your egg! Also, in these commercial times, it’s very satisfying to hand make something and even better to be able to personalise it for a loved one!

Step one Buy good chocolate, melt it gently in a bain marie (over hot not boiling water)

Step Two then add it to your tin, silicone, or plastic mould. Let it set then remove it from the mould.

Step Three If it gets a little stuck warm the mould slightly and the half egg will loosen.

Step Four Don’t over handle. Next fill with treats and seal with a little melted chocolate, personalise and wrap!

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Painting Easter Eggs

EASTER EGG DECORATING SUPPLIES Acrylic paint Plastic paint palettes Permanent and paint markers Paint brushes in a variety of shapes and sizes Cups of water for rinsing brushes Tape for masking off sections of egg Scissors Ribbon and gems to stick on

Magazine Easter kidssection

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Easter Crafts

As Easter approaches, we looked at the ever-growing empty toilet paper roll pile and decided to put it to good use and make toilet paper roll Easter bunnies, rope chicks and Easter crackers.

TOILET PAPER ROLL EASTER BUNNY Toilet paper rolls Pencil Cotton wool Acrylic paints Various paintbrushes Double-sided tape Card stock – white and spring colours Scissors

TOILET PAPER ROLL EASTER CHICKS Toilet paper rolls Pencil Cord - various colours Acrylic paints Various paintbrushes Double-sided tape Card stock – white and spring colours Scissors

TOILET PAPER ROLL EASTER CRACKERS Toilet paper rolls Ribbons - various colours Acrylic paints Various paintbrushes Double-sided tape Card stock & paper – white and spring colours Scissors Glue gun

Easter kidssection Magazine

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Business

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Business French Mortgages Current French Market Conditions In February last year, it became quite challenging for British buyers to secure a mortgage, due to banks in France pausing lending because of Brexit.

Conditions have not really changed for British buyers or citizens of other countries since.

The French mortgage market is currently quite an interesting prospect because rates are at an all-time low. The reason behind this is the TEC10 Index which dictates how much the French government will pay to borrow money over a ten-year period. This fell to its lowest ever level in the summer of 2019, to -0.5% and now, with a slight increase in March 2021 it sits at -0.06%.

One of the most popular mortgages for non-residents is a 20-year fixed term rate repayment mortgage. Compared to 2011, when rates were at 4.0%, today’s rates are better at 1.80% or below, depending on the bank you choose to go with. It means that if you borrow 400,000€ you can save 105,00€ of interest, which is a about 25% over a 20-year term.

France is one of the most visited countries in Europe and is an extremely popular destination due to its appealing beaches, landscapes, and city environments. One of the main reasons French mortgages are so different to UK mortgages, is because you can fix your rate over a longer period, 15 – 25 years. Whereas in the UK it is 3 – 5 years, so non-resident buyers can get a good deal on a mortgage in France.

Unlike British banks, that offer fixed terms of 10 years or less, French banks offer longer terms so that you know that the rate will be fixed for the entire term of your mortgage. This means that the financial system and property markets both benefit from the stability and the security over the long term.

Its because of this, that when there was a downturn in the markets, France was not affected as much as Britain and Spain were and it’s another reason it is popular for investors. France is a stable destination to place your money for long term growth.

The Different Types of Mortgages Fixed Rate Mortgage

This is the one I have just been speaking about, they last for 5 – 25 years and you can fix the rate for the entirety of the mortgage.

French Fixed Payment Loans

This is supposed to give you the best of both worlds with your mortgage, the monthly payment is fixed from the start of the loan, but the rate is variable.

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French Capital and Interest Variable Rate Loan

This loan can be obtained at a cheaper rate of interest than the fixed rate and can usually be cleared in all before the end of the loan, without any charges or penalties.

French Interest Only Loans

This type of loan is not widely available in France; there are however some banks that will be happy to help you to transact this type of loan.

(A Private Finance Credit Information)

Social Media Tips!

TikTok is set to become huge this year and take top rankings over Instagram. In the past two years, TikTok has launched useful tools, like ads and business profiles, aimed specifically at businesses.

This makes TikTok not just a platform where young creators can show off their dance moves. It is on track to become the main platform that brands can use to reach millennials and Gen Z. Pinterest and Snapchat are also gaining in popularity.

According to data shared by Pinterest Business, ads on their platform can generate twice the return on the spend for retail brands, compared to other social media channels. While Snapchat is relatively small and isn’t as popular for marketing as Facebook and Instagram, it’s advertising statistics show that the potential advertising audience on Snapchat has increased notably.

When Apple announced earlier in 2021, that it would block the ability of Facebook to target a significant segment of its users, it pushed key brands to start looking at other platforms.

Source: Influencer Marketing Hub

contactus@simplylivingfrance.com @simplylivingfrance

Tia Malcolm

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What areas should one invest in?

With Tia

What made you want to become an interior designer?

My mum tells me that she could always tell when I’d had a bad day because I was rearranging my bedroom trying to make myself feel better. I’ve always loved making spaces beautiful and harmonious.

How did you Interior Design journey start?

I studied Interior Architecture at university for my BA Hons and Masters degree. I then did 6 years in the industry working for various studios and then decided to set up my own Interior Design Studio, Studio Lawson.

Where does the name Studio Lawson come from?

Lawson was my Grandfathers middle name. He was my biggest supporter and he always pushed me to dream big. I used his middle name because I didn’t think Studio Colin had the same ring.

What’s your biggest inspiration as a designer?

That’s very difficult to answer. Inspiration can come from anywhere. A conversation, an advert, a photograph, a garden, a memory, travel.

How do you begin the design process?

I gather as much inspiration as possible. Whether that’s flicking through magazines, scrolling through Pinterest or pulling out fabric samples. Most of my designs start from one item, a piece of art, an item of furniture or a piece of fabric and build from there.

What are the key things to consider when you’re planning the layout of a house?

It’s so important to think about who lives in the house and how you each use the spaces. You might want to use your living room to entertain but your teenager might want to use the same space to relax and binge watch the latest TV show. These two different uses of space will need different design decisions and it’s about marrying the two and making a space for everyone.

Paint. Please invest in your paint! Not only for the specific colour or finish but for the off - gassing and air quality the paint provides. It’s so important to think about your paint in terms of health as well as colour.

How would you describe your interiors style?

Curated cosy. I like to create beautiful spaces but ones that can be lived in too.

What are the most common mistakes people make when redecorating?

Impulse buying. The advice I always give is create a moodboard and stick to it. That headboard might be pretty but if it doesn’t work with your moodboard it won’t work as a whole.

Are you seeing any particular style requests trending amongst your clients?

Unsurprisingly after the last few years we’ve had there has been a huge increase of clients wanting a working from home area.

Bold colour or subtle neutrals?

Both, although I usually choose and neutral background with bold items on top or a bold background with neutrals on top.

What do people commonly misunderstand about being an Interior Designer?

That all I do is ‘cushions and curtains’. There is so much more to creating the perfect space.

There’s also a lot more admin then most people expect as well, it’s not glamourous all the time.

What is your favourite room to design?

I absolutely love designing kids rooms. My imagination can run wild and I can really be creative and unique in these spaces to make rooms that children can play, learn and grown in.

What are you three tips to instantly make a space feel more designed?

Add plants, feather inners to your cushions and oversized artwork. By adding these three things you’ll add life, a sense of luxury and a focal point for the eye.

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More ‘Bang for your Buck’ in France?

As a wandering Aussie, I have lived in a number of countries around the world, in essence a fantastic experience and I have lived in many genres of property.

Having a lifetime love of architecture, I’ve loved viewing, from country to country, so many differing styles and of course how far your euro, pound or dollar stretches.

So, in this issue, I’m hoping to give you a flavour of what your money can buy and also how property dwelling has evolved over the years, both in economic and cultural terms. For the purposes of this article, I’m concentrating on Australia (Melbourne & Sydney), London (Chiswick areas) and France, outside of Paris.

If we consider a Melbourne inner city area such as Carlton, the period terraced 2–3 bedroom homes have a median price of AUD 2.1-2.5 million. Lovely period homes or smaller weatherboard terraces relatively close to the city, will have you paying upwards of AUD 1million.

In Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst, you’ll need AUD 2.5m for a 2-bedroom terrace.

Apartments are around AUD 800k. It’s also interesting to note that Australians generally buy at auction, so you need to have your mortgage in place, as you will be required to pay 10% on the day if you are the successful bidder.

If we compare these to similar properties in say Barnes or Chiswick, you are going to pay GBP 900k - 1.4million.

Paris, we all know is pricey with its grand apartments rather than homes. In the 15th, you’ll pay upwards of euros 700k for a 4 bedroomed apartment or euros 1.2m for a 4-bedroom townhouse with a garden. Prices increase dramatically in the 17th, euros 2million plus for a 3-4 bedroom apartment in a period building.

Into the 8th, you’ll need a budget of euros 4 million plus. In Bordeaux, a city apartment will set you back euros 3-4million, comparable to Paris, however in the region outside the city centre a 10-bedroom villa can be purchased for euros 1.8million.

Whilst these comparisons require deep pockets, we also know there are less expensive areas. I would suggest that as more and more people are working from home, following the pandemic, it is possible to move further out of town, in order to acquire a home you love.

I have seen over the last two decades that where getting onto the property ladder is becoming more difficult, there is the option of buying a flat rather than a house, not to exclude the idea of co-sharing.

At the time of writing – 1 Euro = 1.20GBP 1 Euro = 1.55AUD

s e l u J

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