France This Way...the blog!!

The last Saturday in August is a strange day when you live somewhere popular with tourists. It is the day when the towns start to regain their ‘normal’ personalities, the roads become quieter, and the numerous events, fairs, medieval days and street parties that carry on through the summer come to an abrupt end.

This gives the whole region – perhaps much of France – a slight ‘end of the party’ feeling – everyone’s had a great time but they have to go home eventually.

I imagine it is especially the case for estate agents – despite what you might hear there are many visitors who are still interested in buying a place in France, and during high-summer when you see a great crowd gathered it is as likely to be caused by people peering in an estate agent window as gathered around a busker or market stall.

One thing I won’t miss about ‘the height of summer’ is being overtaken by large ‘people carrier’ vehicles when I’m cycling along – lots of holidaymakers are apparently in such a rush to get nowhere in particular that they will overtake on a dangerous corner and push me into the verge rather than wait ten seconds to overtake sensibly. (I get the same all year round, but from September to May the roads are only dangerous from 12.00 to 12.15 and 1.45 to 2.00 pm as hungry artisans drive at breakneck speed to get to their lunch, then back to work again two hours later.)

On the other hand it is actually quite nice to see joggers, cyclists and hikers on the quiet country roads that I usually have all to myself. It makes a nice change from the usual squirrels and deer, which seem to retreat into the woods at the start of July and wait for summer to pass before re-emerging in the autumn to sit happily in the middle of the road again.

I will also miss the entertainment I get from watching holidaymakers on their hire bikes. Cycling around here is very popular with visitors and perhaps 75% of our own visitors either bring bikes or hire them when they are here. The entertainment comes from seeing couples out together: typically the husband cycles a constant 20 metres ahead of his wife (its a boy thing!) but it’s only when you pass from the opposite direction that you can see that the husband is suffering horribly to stay ahead, bright red and puffing and panting, while the lady is tootling along behind, smiling and enjoying the scenery.

But don’t worry if you are visiting France in the next few weeks, you’re going to have a great time! There are less ‘special events’ and perhaps you won’t get the chance to dress as a medieval knight or listen to traditional French accordion playing at an evening market, but September is often the best time to visit and to appreciate the ‘real’ France. (It is also the month when we do a lot of our own travelling in France).

You might even get a table at the local restaurant without being surrounded by hordes of noisy children ‘discussing’ whose ice-cream has the most smarties sprinkled on top!