I’ve a strong liking for big rocks, I’ve a strong liking for old postcards, so I was thrilled when I found some old postcards featuring a big rock that I knew well. The Roc Branlant, or the wobbly rock, (no sniggering at the back there, you school boy French speakers) is not far from us, in […]
People often ask me, “Bob, what the hell is that?” pointing to my Sovamag TC10. (Pictured above). Well, I say, back in the 1960s there was this French car builder called André Morin who produced a nice little line in beautifully formed 2-seater sports cars under the brand name Sovam which is an acronym for […]
People often ask me, “Bob, what on earth happened to Russian men of conscription age who were living in Britain during the First World War?” My response is always the same; After the revolution in 1917, Russia withdrew from the war, which meant that any Russian men of a certain age living in Britain suddenly […]
Go out anyway, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. Go to the caves! There’s no such thing as weather in a cave – except the dark, drippy kind. Get out the watercolours and splodge some colour on paper. There’s no such thing as bad art and often rain can help matters. […]
Our region is dotted with many thousands of lakes which, in turn, are home to millions of frogs and toads. At this time of year we are serenaded by them each night. I am not fluent in Frog, so I don’t know exactly what they’re singing about but it’s undoubtedly something about sex and/or property […]
When we first acquired the woods that surround Woodsman’s cabin there were no bluebells growing at all, or rather there might have been, but their blooms would have been hidden under a spiky carpet of chest-high brambles and so, remained unseen. Only once the beastly brambles had been mown out, and then mown out again, and […]
We found ourselves going way back in time today when we took a stroll to a nearby menhir. Nestled in a patch of pleasant woodland, just off one of the local footpaths, it stands 2.5 metres high and is said to date, rather inaccurately, from between 2 & 5 thousand BC. Our Neolithic ancestors were […]
Yes, today’s mystery tool is a Spoon Auger, and it is used for boring holes in solid wood… These tools were also used in the production of Sabots which is the French word for clog (which probably derives from Savate from the Arabi Sabbat for shoe and bot, for boots). These ‘shoe-boots’ or sabots were […]
We tend to think of Coca-Cola as the all-american drink but actually, in a roundabout way, the French may lay claim to having had a hand in its invention. It all started when, in around 1863, Corsican chemist Angelo Mariani invented his ‘Vin Mariani, French Tonic Wine’, a brilliant concoction of Bordeaux wine and coca […]
Nah, let’s not talk about croissants…let’s talk about pancakes! Here in France the 2nd of February is Fete des Chandelles, (candles). It’s Pancake Day, but not quite as we know it. As is often the case, it’s a religous festival with its roots buried deep in a pagan one. For pagans it was all about […]
