French Life-expat France

Given that summer is here at last…I thought I’d take a look at the best ways of heating your house in France. Better late than never, and it might just help reduce the cost of fuel / oil next year - which I’d guess won’t be any less than it is now. There are now several more environmentally friendly alternatives for heating a property, which may also be cheaper, though until now I’ve been unconvinced. In this post I talk about pompes a chaleur - heat pumps.

Pompe a chaleur

The pompe a chaleur (heat pump) is a system that extracts the energy in the air or soil and uses it to heat your home. The version of the pompe a chaleur - from now on referred to as a PAC - that uses the energy ever present in the soil is commonly called a geothermal system (discussed separately below). The PAC system can be linked to your existing central heating system to provide the hot water to heat your home, or can be used to heat air which is passed around your home.

That sounds ideal don’t you think? Well, there are limitations. Although all air contains energy, the colder the air is the harder it becomes to extract the energy. And below a certain temperature it becomes more or less impossible.

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Mrs B has now returned from her Loire Valley exploration and all is returning to normal. Apparently I was supposed to have prepared a slap-up dinner for her return, not hunt in the bottom of the freezer for old fish fingers, but apart from that momentary lapse all is well.

Her most exciting discovery was this carving at Chauvigny - look at the picture again - what does go through people’s minds I wonder? Still perhaps it put the fear of God into people a few centuries ago.

The little chap getting his head bitten off doesn’t seem too bothered though.

Meanwhile back at basecamp…the (only) toilet broke in the little gite yesterday, happily during normal work hours so I could call a plumber out quickly. It did make me wonder what we would do if it happened on a Sunday evening though.

The plumbers first reaction was ‘I’ll come around tomorrow afternoon’, until I explained that it wasn’t very practical for the people in the gite to wait 36 hours before using the toilet…

Luckily it’s quite rare that ‘issues’ arise but we have had a lot of storms this week, and I always get nervous during storms that a roof will blow away. I don’t know why really, since the same roof has been there for at least 150 years without particular incident. I think it’s because I don’t have the stress of a ‘real job’ so I have to track down other things to worry about.

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A long time ago I had a good camera and took lots of ’slides’ of fascinating places. Remember slides? Little bits of plastic that you watched by projecting the picture onto a big white screen. These are now sitting in the attic going brown and spotty until I get them converted to digital photos.

But for the least few years I’ve used a cheap digital camera - not bad, but not very impressive either. Then that broke and for the last year I’ve been using Mrs B’s little portable camera - not very good at all.

So I thought it was time to sort things out and recently bought a ‘proper’ digital camera (Canon EOS 400D if I remember right, I can’t check because Mrs B has taken it to the Loire Valley with her this week).

This new camera is a whizzy SLR thing with more functions than I could ever dream of using, but also takes very good photos with little effort, which is all that matters. And it cost less than my ancient camera did four years ago.

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I just got back from my whistle-stop tour around the Camargue, Arles and Nimes, and very nice it was too. I saw everything I wanted to see, ate all alone in restaurants while others sat in happy family groups, and generally rushed about with an “it’s Tuesday so this must be Nimes” type visit.

There is one thing that troubles me about Provence which I haven’t come across anywhere else in France and that is the commitment to depriving tourists of their hard earned cash, and more importantly the impact it has on the places concerned.

Larger towns like Nimes or Arles escape the problem, despite attracting loads of tourists - they are big enough to need other industries I suppose, and keep their unique charm. But then we get to the pretty villages.

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Let’s try and keep our spirits up. Petrol prices mean that everyone needs to stay at home, petrol shortages mean that we can’t go anywhere anyway…and I’ve hired a car starting this evening so I can go and do research on the Nimes region.

So either I won’t be able to set off, or I’ll set off and won’t be able to get back, or the trip will cost so much that I’ll have to sell the children into slavery to pay for it.

In any event the timing is looking a bit dodgy - the weather has been pretty chaotic recently with floodings and storms breaking through the sunshine with alarming frequency, so I’ll probably be hit by lightening as I stand on the Pont du Gard even if I do manage to get over there.

Still I’m sure I’ll enjoy myself as long as I can hang on to my umbrella.

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Much as in other countries, the choice of schools in France occupies a great deal of time and effort. It is currently occupying our household although I think we are over the worst of it now!

Broadly speaking, primary school (ages 4 - 11) and college (11 - 14 years old) are not a big issue, because most children simply go the school nearest them. There are exceptions - international schools and private schools among them - but these affect a very small number of children. College finishes with the ‘brevet’ exam. The final score in the brevet includes results of work during the year and also the results in the final exams.

The only subjects currently examined in the final brevet exams are French, Geography / History, and Maths (so English, although taught in all schools, is not examined).

The brevet qualification is then followed by three years at a lycée, which leads to the baccalauréat - usually referred to simply as the ‘bac’. (This is broadly equivalent to A’levels in the UK or a high school diploma in the US). The bac is less standardised than the brevet and students can opt for a general, technological or professional bac, or options more focussed on particular trades.

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The region around us in the valley of the Dropt River was little developed during centuries gone by, which helps explain its natural beauty. This lack of development was in part because of the natural character of the soil - there is typically a 30 centimetre layer of soil on top of a dense thick layer of clay.

When it rains this means that water can saturate the topsoil and go no further, so instead it flows through the soil across the surface of the clay until it settles in the nearest valley. This can create a slightly disturbing sound as you walk across a field as you can literally hear the water rushing underfoot, but you can’t see it.

In the past these soil conditions meant that tracks and roads frequently became impassable due to flooding, which hindered transport and hence industrial development. Even the most enthusiastic horse and cart struggles to get through 30cm of mud. As it turned out this lack of development was a good thing from a tourism point of view!

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I love this time of year in the south of France. Apart from the occasional storm, the weather is usually bright and sunny, the countryside is looking at its best, there are flowers everywhere, and the roads haven’t yet been taken over by tourists.

It’s warm enough to enjoy cycling or walking, but not so hot that you have to go out before 6am to avoid sunstroke. If I didn’t live here all year round this is when I would visit the region - either May and June or perhaps September.

Yesterday we set off to see a village called Puy l’Eveque, in the Lot Valley a little way east of here, and last week we popped up to Molieres in the Dordogne. Next week I’m spending a few days doing ‘field research’ down on the Mediterranean coast near the border with Spain - nice work if you can get it, I hope you’re jealous!

The problem with France is that it is just so big! We can’t just pop over and drive along the Alsace wine route, or spend the afternoon exploring the more remote Alpine villages, since just getting to these places takes many hours. So our research trips take a lot of planning, to be sure we see lots of interesting places and don’t spend all day in the car.

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OK it’s not just a France problem, it’s everyone, but I thought I’d grumble about the price of petrol.

I have every sympathy with people in the USA who complain that they are paying $4 a gallon - about 50 euro cents a litre. Well, we are paying 1.45 euros a litre, three times as much as you. And of course I have enormous sympathy for everyone who has bought an enormous leisure / four wheel drive vehicle for no good reason at all apart from showing off to the neighbours and now finds they can’t afford to actually drive it.

But meanwhile for a lot of people the price of petrol in France is a real issue. France is a big, largely rural, country and lots of people do live a long way from facilities and have little choice except driving when they need to go shopping or need to get to work. Many people in France are on minimum wage and the cost of petrol is rapidly becoming prohibitive.

So what to do? Well every big black cloud has a tiny glint of something silvery inside it so let’s look for positive suggestions. Read the rest of this entry »

In France the first important school exam is the brevet, which takes place at the end of years in college - that is, when children are about 14 years old.

As part of the run-up to the actual exam, which is in June, two ‘brevet blancs’ are held - essentially practice runs at the exam. Our eldest daughter is currently sitting the second of these

She is calmer than us about such things, and claims that she is the only person she knows who is working for these exams (under our iron rule), while everyone else takes things as they come. She is probably right to some extent. It is a largely agricultural community around here, and the ‘work hard at school’ idea sometimes takes second place to the ‘who cares, you’re going to be a farmer’ idea.

Not for everyone of course but it does sometimes leave us wondering how well prepared they will be when up against sophisticated and intelligent city kids. Hopefully the advantage of being bilingual outweighs the disadvantage - that was the principle when we came, at least. I’m pretty confident that lycée next year will be more work-focussed so we’re not overly concerned for the moment.
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Are you thinking of returning to the UK? I’ve got just the thing for you! You can get a ‘free trial’ return to see if all is as rosy as you remember it.

I’m tempted to apply myself, just to get a free holiday, but a free holiday in the UK with a television crew wasn’t quite what I was looking for. Anyway, if you are thinking about it, read on…I received the following email and you can contact the email address given if you are interested:

ARE YOU A BRIT LIVING ABROAD BUT THINKING ABOUT COMING HOME TO THE UK?

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS?

ITV1 are making the second series of ‘No Place Like Home?’ about British Ex-Pats who are considering moving back to the UK.

We’re keen to hear from Brits who are living abroad, but who are now thinking about returning permanently to Britain.

Perhaps you miss your family and friends, maybe you are struggling with the language, or very simply you yearn for a bit of British culture.

However you don’t want to move back and realize you’ve made a mistake.

We will fly you back to the UK and give you the opportunity to ‘test-run’ the reality of living in the UK. We’ll give you the information you’ll need to make an informed decision about whether to remain an expat or come home for good

If this sounds like you, or anyone you know, please contact Angie.

Email: angie.cox@fevermedia.co.uk

Or call 00 44 (0) 20 7428 5751

This is part 2 of the not entirely serious look at the important things to know about France. (See HERE for part 1)

N is for…Napoloen Bonaparte. What is there to say about the most famous French leader in the history of the Republic that has not already been said? Born in Ajjacio,Corsica in 1769 he has arguably been the biggest influence on modern European history, and his civic Napoleonic Code has formed the basis of civil law in countless countries besides France since its inception in 1804.

O is for… Occitan, the ancient name given to the stretch of land which covers 31 departments in southern France from Limousin down to Gascony, and as far eastward as the Languedoc (whose people spoke the ‘langue’ or language of the Occ). Interest in the Languedoc region has been revived following the publication of several novels involving the Knights Templar and the Cathars , notably Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’.

P is for… Paris. City of love, city of light, Paris has probably been mentioned in more songs, novels and poems than any other city in the world, and no matter how many times you may go there, in whatever season of the year, it still has a magic all of its own.

Q is for… Quasimodo. The tragic hero in Victor Hugos’ 1831 novel ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ is forever associated with Paris and the cathedral of Notre Dame. The story of the deformed Quasimodo and his unrequited love for the gipsy Esmeralda has been portrayed in no less than 6 movies, from a silent version in 1923, to a Disney adaptation in 1996.

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For those of you who have never visited France, or are planning a first trip, here is a light-hearted but handy alphabetical run-down of trivia that it might be useful to know.

A is for….Asterix the Gaul, a pugnacious little fellow who completely encapsulates the French personality. Created as a cartoon character by Albert Uderzo nearly fifty years ago, his ongoing battles with the Roman Army in 50 BC have entertained a generation of readers world- wide.

B is for …boules, a game played mostly by men, in dusty village squares the length and breadth of the country. Played with heavy metal balls, the rules to a non-French bystander are pretty obscure but don’t let this alarm you as you will rarely be invited to join in.

C is for… cassoulet, a type of bean stew found in multitudinous restaurants in the southwest of the country. The ingredients can vary from town to town, but Toulouse sausage is a vital part of the dish, along with ‘lingot’ beans ( a dried bean of the haricot variety, grown around Tarbes). Duck, lamb or pork is added depending on which town it is being served in.

D is for… De Gaulle, the famous wartime leader who directed the Free French from exile in London, and returned to become France’s first post- WW2 president. Equally famous for persistently saying ‘Non’ to Britain’s application to join the EU (or Common Market as it was then) in the 1950’s.

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Every year the gite business brings new challenges, and staying ahead of the game is not always easy. This becomes especially apparent in a year like this one where some potential holidaymakers are having financial difficulties and the overall level of holidays being booked is down.

I don’t know if there is over-supply of gites, perhaps there is in some areas, but there are always rental properties that get rented out for many weeks each year, and others that barely get the main summer weeks booked. And the well booked gites are usually the nicest…

…but not always though. There are other reasons why a gite may not be well booked, including being new. A well established gite will tend to have people that come back each year or recommend it to their friends and family, so it gets more bookings, but new gites don’t have this benefit.

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I wake up early in the morning - usually between 5am and 6am, and long before anybody else. No idea why, I’ve been the same since I was young. But it does leave me with a challenge. What should someone do for two-three quiet hours every morning?

Typically I drink too much coffee, answer lots of emails, check what’s happening on a couple of forums etc and try to catch up on things I intended to do the day before. Happily there are always lots of these, so it is never a problem amusing myself, and I often get more achieved in those three hours than I do in the rest of the day.

But it does leave a nagging suspicion that I should be doing something more exciting than work at such an unearthly hour. Learn Japanese, teach myself to paint, chop some wood, or take up yoga perhaps?

An alternative is, well, not to wake up early. This is what Mrs B and the children and the rest of the world think is the sensible solution, but is harder to do than you would think. When I go to bed, as soon as I close my eyes I go to sleep - literally, within 60 seconds. While much of the rest of the world apparently tosses and turns and struggles to get to sleep, I have no such problem.

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