La Vie en Foussais is a record of the trials and tribulations of us, the Barley family, as we make a new life for ourselves here in the Vendée region of western France.
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The village of Nieul-sur-l’Autise is steeped in history, and they certainly make the most of it when putting on events. Last year we witnessed the spectacular Village de Lumière, an occasion that we hope will be repeated this year, and recently we visited the Fete de la Meuniere, celebrating rural village life from the turn of the century.
The main village square was scattered with stalls selling traditional products, giving demonstrations of traditional rural activities, musicians, food and drink opportunities… and everyone was in traditional dress. The historic village really transported us back and wecould easily imagine what life was like in Nieul at that time.
Nathalie grew up in Nieul, where her father was the village baker, so she was naturally involved in the event. We made out way through the village to the water mill at the centre of the village, where, upstairs, we found Nathalie and the boys demonstrating lace-making.
Luckily it was time for them to have a break, so we all went off to explore the village together. Thierry, as a modern-day farmer, explained that, although the machinery may now be a lot more modern, most of the farming methods on display were still used today.
There was a traditional “wedding” taking place, which ended up in the wedding party enjoying a folk dance, with the customary “dance of the brioche” as the centre-piece. This involves the happy couple holding a huge circular brioche loaf at arms-length while the rest dance around them.
After the wedding Nathalie returned to her lace-making duties, so Thierry and the boys joined us as we explored the rest of the village.
One of the highlights had to be a boat trip along the Autise river. It was a beautiful hot day and so a relaxing ride along the river under the dappled shade of the trees was very much welcome.
Flitting over the surface of the water were a mutitude of blue dragonflies.
“Qu’est-ce que ça en français?” we asked Thierry.
“C’est un libellule,” he explained.
Lisa then spent the the rest of the day trying, and mainly failing, to say Thierry’s tongue-twister “Nous avons vu les belles libellules bleu”… highly amusing
As part of our initiation into the traditions of la Vendée, Thierry insisted we try mijet, a kind of cold soup made from bread, red wine and sugar. Well as you know, I’m always one to try new things, so I was willing to give it a go. To be honest, it wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever tasted, but it certainly beat my bush-tucker trial from last year! Lisa wasn’t impressed, but I managed to get through half of it, which I felt was a reasonable effort considering
After taking in the rest of the stalls and activities around the village (including a great steam engine from Lincoln!), we headed for the village boulangerie where they were baking a fresh batch. Here we met Nathalie’s mum, who was also helping with the event and looked tres jolie in her traditional costume.
As we awaited our bread, Nathalie and Thierry headed off for the meal that was being served. We decided not to stay, but enjoyed eating our freshly-baked bread in the car on the way home.
It had been another lovely day and so good to see everyone from the village getting completely involved. This village spirit is something that was certainly lacking when we lived in Englqnd, with more energy being put into one-upmanship and forming the right cliques than actually coming together and enjoying a community celebration.
Here in Foussais we have this same feeling of community, and at recent events we have certainly started to feel that now we are an integral part of the proceedings rather than invited guests. Just what we wanted from our new life in France.
Posted on May 18, 2009 by Richard in People, Places
Sunday morning was a dull grey affair, with the sun only just breaking through at lunchtime. We were resigned to an afternoon in the cinema (“17 Again” with Zac Effron – in French!…Whoopee!) until we got the call from Kevin - “We’re on Ile de Re and it’s sunny!”
So, never ones to pass up the opportunity for an afternoon on the beach, we threw some things in a bag and scooted off to our favourite island.
The closer we got to La Rochelle, the cloudier it became.
By the time we reached the bridge to the island, it was pouring down. Pedestrians and cyclists alike were taking shelter under trees and cafe parasols.
A call to Kevin established that where they were, in St Martin de Re, was indeed sunny and dry – obviously a small patch of sunshine in the midst of a sky full of black clouds. So we headed for the town with the beautiful harbour, where we would find the fabled ice cream shop, subject of many a “you have to try this…” conversation with the Dixies.
And for a while, once united with the folks from La Rochelle, we were indeed in a little bubble of sunshine. We ordered huge ice creams from the famous shop, which were delicious as promised. Some said I obviously have a big mouth, as mine was the only ice cream to not melt and run all down my hand. I prefer to think that it was my superior ice-cream-licking skills that prevented me from losing any of my white chocolate and “crumble” flavoured heaven from my italian-style cornet.
I allowed myself a little smugness
Sadly, our ice-cream-fuelled frivolity was not to last much longer as the wind whipped up and the clouds surrounded us. So, we jumped in the cars and headed off in the direction of the last remaining patch of blue sky towards Les Portes en Re.
Once there we took a stroll along the beach, a stone/shingle combination with lots of seaweed, that Sylvie had great fun popping underfoot. Kevin, ever the hunter-gatherer, decided he was going to attempt to catch some fish, so we split up with Molly and I laughing at accompanying Kevin, and the others exploring the beach-side forest.
Unsurprisingly the fish were outwitting Kevin once again, though it wasn’t his fault, or course But it was a very pleasant day, with the small patch of blue sky having expanded into a vast cloudless swathe of blue as far as the eye could see.
As the sun started to dip we headed back to the cars, not taking with us anything vaguely resembling a fish (unless you count the rubber “bait” in Kevin’s fishing box-of-tricks….), but certainly taking some happy memories of another great day out.
With the summer setting in, we look forward to many more such days. This is why we love it here and why we will always will.
Great weather, beautiful places, special friends and happy times.
The Dixies [Kevin & Sylvie] came to visit yesterday and although the weather was just too bad to head out to the forest, we did go for a stroll around the Foussais countryside.
Earlier in the day Kevin and I had been surveying the roof to once again try to spot the source of the leak in Rosie’s room. Having given up on that due the the somewhat inclement weather, I gave him a tour of our soon-to-be vegetable-plot. His eyes lit up when he looked down at the rocky ground still there at the moment and saw a fossil in one of the stones!
Apparently, just like me (spooky!) he had always harboured dreams of being an archaeologist. Like me, I think the low pay, hard work and stack of necessary qualifications probably put him off. But this was like a dream come true. Taking my hammer he set about discovering as many fossils as he could – and he found quite a haul! Here he is recreating an episode of Time Team in our back garden – see how he delicately chisels away the rock…
Most were Ammonites [wikipedia] which were marine animals, begging the question “what were they doing here, an hours drive from the coast?”.
However they got here, they certainly came in numbers. Now we are tasked with discovering how many more ancient sea creatures lie in wait, before Michel comes along with his JCB to clear them all away!
