Birthday preparations. Friday 3rd Jult 2009.

After some fun in the sun and splashing in the pool, some secret shopping had to be done in preparation for John’s big day tomorrow. AJ and I came home with a stash of surprises and sent John out in the late afternoon light to take some photos; he was not allowed back home until 8pm. Alex and I busied ourselves with baking the birthday cake. I do hope I have bought the right flour, trying to decipher specific ingredients in French can be tricky. We managed to convert the centilitres into millilitres and our rich, chocolate cake slowly rose in the oven. We gently melted dark chocolate and added pure cream to make the ganache to decorate it; it shone like a mirror.

As soon as the cake came out of the oven, Alex and I jumped in the pool to cool off, John joined us when he came home. There was no mistaking the birthday baking had been done, the smell was unmistakable but John went along with things pretending not to know. We made a quick pasta sauce for dinner, laced with garlic, onions and ruby red tomatoes and ate it by the pool, it is always so relaxing eating outside.

John and Alex went out the front for a bash of cricket, the ball was lost in the long grass before the first over was bowled. They joined the family across the road for a game of badminton and had a great time. I cheered on between hanging out the washing. After the Papas grew tired, and Alex and Laura (14) had reigned supreme, Bruno invited us in for drinks. We all had a great time; it was Bruno and Anthony, his 10 year old son’s, birthday. They also have a little girl of about five named Lucie, Mum’s name is Tatiana.

We all came home smiling after having met them, another fine example of French hospitality and friendliness. Our next rendezvous is on Sunday night when we will all play petanque in the local park – should be a hoot!

Beautiful Bourgogne. Thursday 2nd July 2009.

Our little village of Combertault is so tiny it does not even have a Boulanger. Neither does the neighbouring village of Bourguignon. They are oh so pretty, just as I had always imagined French villages to be. Tumble-down farmhouses line the narrow roads, along with golden wheat fields interspersed with fields of sunflowers in full bloom, all facing one direction at once, dodging the perfect photo.

Beaune is only five minutes drive in the car. It is quite an event being the capital of the Bourgogne region and is home to the famous Hotel Dieu.

The night time market was on tonight in Beaune so we ventured into town to browse. Of course we came home with some goodies; beaufort cheese made by a lady near to our old home town Lyon, Alex chose a pure-pork saucisson to take home as a treat, while John and I were captivated by the locally produced Blackcurrant liquor. It was sweet and syrupy and a splash of it is often added to white wine. John said that it will be great to dress up a bottle of local cat’s piss! Spoken like a true Aussie.


Our first impressions of Beaune are all good. It is very pretty, neat and clean, charming as charming can be. There is a wine specialist on every corner and on every other one is a restaurant – they must have been expecting us!

Settling In. Wednesday 1st July 2009.

I sat outside this morning while the boys slept soundly. The pool sparkled and twinkled almost too brightly in the morning sun, the sky was a palette of pure blue, unadorned by even one cloud. The village church bells chimed with no rhyme or reason, sometimes with the right amount of chimes to correspond with the hour, sometimes not, and sometimes to be repeated again at any moment. Pink roses in full bloom are neighbours to sprays of lavender, edible nasturtiums, geraniums in the boldest red, and deep yellow flowers which look like buttercups. Beyond our fence line, two fat and happy Charolais cows graze in the long grass with a scant smattering of wild poppies; you can see their brightly coloured orange flowers stretching just above the golden grass. The birds are singing and I think our five weeks here will be just bliss.

John and I played childlike games in the pool, close your eyes and imagine the both of us balancing on an inflatable killer whale (I can hear you laughing), surprisingly Alex didn’t join us. His discovery of the entire collection of Harry Potter books in English is enough to keep him glued to the poolside sunlounge or the sofa inside. It has been so long since he has had books to read in English and he is so excited.

Time to hit the supermarche for supplies so off we go in our tiny Peugeot 107 in fire engine red. Alex finds John’s favourite Bouchee chocolates and hides them for John’s birthday in a few days time. We stock up on our favourite French butter, saucissions, Comte and Brillat Savarin fromage, dark chocolate to make truffles, and all the necessities for the days to come.

We all love it here in our new home; I think we will stay a while.

So Long, Farewell Nantes, It Has Been A Pleasure. Tuesday 30th June 2009.

Our train departs at 1pm today. I will be sad to leave. Our exchange in Nantes has been a great one and we have loved living in Dom and Claire’s home, it has been a haven of tranquillity. I am happy to say we are leaving with all fish fed and fully accounted for, and all plants in the indoor garden are brimming with good health. Julie said I would kill them with kindness but I didn’t.
We all got up early and played our part in cleaning the house, the boys had done the car last night. Alex went into village Zola himself to get the lunch-time supplies of fresh baguette. By the time we were ready to leave, our home in Nantes shone from top to bottom. By now Dom, Claire and family will have left our home and will be on their way to Cairns in a mobile home, what fun.

The train trip was interesting to say the least. Across the aisle was a lady with a very pampered pooch. On their arrival to the train carriage, Madame Pooch trotted out all kinds of accessories, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she pulled an X-Box out of her bag to keep her little darling occupied. First she brought out a comfy bed and placed it on the seat next to her, that had to be moved when a young man came to sit beside Madame. After the bed, came the squeaky toy, the fluffy toy, and of course a biscuit and a bone for pooch to enjoy. Sitting opposite Madame was a very intolerant new mother with her fussed over little baby, each shot daggers at the other, words were exchanged – I don’t think the new Mummy was at all impressed to have a dog as a travelling companion. You know the type, ‘My baby is the most precious thing on Earth Mummy’. Anyway, we all ended up on Madame Pooch’s side as the new Mummy was rude to everyone. The pampered pooch was so well behaved, obviously used to long train journeys. Madame took pooch out for a quick lap of the train stations as we stopped, preventing any nasty toilet incidents inside the carriage.

A quick change of train in our old home town of Lyon, Alex wanted to dash outside the station for a quick run up and down Rue Republique, there was no time for that we assured him. Before long we pulled into Beaune, Timothy and Pauline were there to meet us, Pauline would be staying in our home in a few weeks time. Annie (Timothy’s Mum) was waiting our arrival at Combertault, our new exchange and home for the next five weeks. Our home is in a little enclave of about a dozen houses, we are at the end of a wee village road, pretty and serene.

White Gold In Guerande. Monday 29th June 2009.

Alex remains the undisputed fooz-ball champion of Nantes. We had our best game so far this morning. It went down to the wire, nine all. He won again, we laughed and laughed it was such a great game.

Not all medieval villages are alike and medieval Guerande stands apart from many others we have visited. Its cobbled rues own fanciful names like ‘Rue du Beau Soleil’, rue of the Golden Sun. Every street inside Guerande’s fortress walls are clean and full of old-world character.





We had booked a tour at 'Les Maison des Paludiers' in Saille, Guerande at 2.30pm. A palaudier, (salt worker) with ten years experience, met us before the tour and answered all of our questions about his industry. We joined the tour and listened to him share the secrets of the Guerande salt trade explaining how the salt-pans work, then we watched a film. We were all enthralled and learned so much. Our guide was excited to learn that I have been using Guerande sea-salt at home for over ten years, he was amazed.

Just after 4pm we drove out amongst the salt-pans, this is the time many palaudiers return to work after siesta, to harvest their white gold. First, the surface of the salt-pans are cleared of the most precious salt, the fleur de sel. The salt bloom lies on the surface of the pools, shimmering in the light and tinged with a soft pink hue. The palaudiers were only too happy to show us their trade, some boasted wheel-barrows filled with fleur de sel, others scooped the crystals into bags along the narrow clay walls dividing one pool from the next. After the harvest of fleur de sel is finished, attention is turned to the gross sel that lies on the clay bottoms of the salt pan, this is the grey tinged Guerande salt we know at home.

We were happy as pigs in mud driving on the narrow roads of the Marais Salants, with salt-pans on either side. One of the palaudiers we all thought looked like Papa, his mannerisms were the same too. With my hand on my heart, I told him he looked so much like my Papa, he smiled and invited us to follow him through his little maze of clay walls as he worked happily, chatting away.
The paludiers sell the products of their labour roadside, Fleur de Sel, Gros Sel, Salicorne – the weed that is plucked from the salt-pan walls and is only good when green. We saw it growing in green and red, we watched a paludier pluck the red weed from his salt-pan, place it in a bucket and throw it out. He waved a finger at us , shaking his head, “it’s no good in rouge, only vert” he said.

Like every artisan or person who works with their hands, part of them is in the end product. This, along with the sun, the wind, the moon, and the tides all play their part in making Guerande salt a very special and precious commodity.

We could have stayed forever in this world where white gold is produced entirely by hand and such pride is taken in a good days work but we had to return home. We leave Nantes tomorrow and we have so much to do to get ready for our 1pm departure.

People That Warm Your Heart. Sunday 28th June 2009.

Sleep evaded us last night. The neighbours behind us had a party. They had knocked on our door and warned us but we had no idea they would have the music pumping until 6.30 am! We dragged ourselves out of bed feeling as though we had been hit by a truck. To soften the blow, the neighbours invited us for drinks on Monday night at 8.

Etienne, who we had met at the fete yesterday, arrived to pick us up at 6pm with a face full of smiles. He drove us via the new home he and his family would move into in 3 months time. We arrived at his apartment, Morgane was there and their three young kids.

The champagne corks popped and before long Vincent and Annie were ringing the door bell. What a great time we had.

Etienne had lived in Australia years before, he fell in love with it and was preparing to move down under permanently when he met Morgane. Now, three kids later, part of his heart still belongs down under. His little girl Julliette Sydney, was named after the city he has such fond memories of.

After our visit I received this email...
“Thank you for your visit to our little home. It is always a pleasure to share moments with people that nothing should meet. (Australia is so far) You allowed my memories back to my brain. This will further motivate us to organize a trip in my second country in the heart. You will always be welcome. Bon voyage and see you soon.”

Meeting families like Vincent, Annie’s, Ettiene and Morgane’s will remain a very special piece of our home-exchange in Nantes.

We look forward to seeing you all in Oz!

Fete de L'Ecole. Saturday 27th June 2009.

Happy Birthday Bugs! I had sent Julie home with a birthday card on her departure from Nantes and last night I had emailed and sent Skype messages so she would wake up to Happy Birthday greetings. I hope Collingwood won for you Bugs!

We met Vincent and Annie at the fete, Annie was on the patisserie stall which I gotta say left the Aussie cake stalls for dead! Vincent introduced us to Morgane and Etienne, Etienne had lived in Australia years before and had so many tales to tell, so before long we had an invitation for drinks on Sunday night, Etienne will pick us up at 6.

We saw the class room of Tristan, the boy of the family we are home-exchanging with. The kids put on a concert, there were games and stalls. Alex hooked up with Vincent and Annie’s eldest girl, Clemonce, and he and her group of friends hung out together.

The French administration bamboozled us again, this time at a school fete. We lined up and ordered 2 cafes, they were made for us but we had not understood that we needed a ticket to purchase coffee. Luckily Annie was nearby and explained we were Aussie tourists and she would look after it. We worked it all out, went and bought our two tickets, and paid our debt.

Alex was invited to Vincent and Annie’s for dinner and to hang out, he was so happy about that. He went over at 7 and Vincent delivered him home at about 11, they had pizza for dinner, and Alex and the girls went to the movies together. JR and I jumped on a tram into the city and had dinner together which was lovely. I am so happy Alex has had another batch of kids to be with. He came home beaming.