A letter from France

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Is France really that attractive /  - Here's a recent letter from an Anglophile?

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Hello xxxxxxx,


Many thanks for your response,we have been "blacked out" as far as external communications are concerned for three day's,this is something which is becoming a more regular occurrence with more people (buying houses down here) using the computer system,it just can't cope!

The "Ox Cart" postal system is the name we give the the French Post Office,this appears to operate on a system more akin to bush Africa than to 21 St Century Europe, as with many things we were told about France when we lived in UK,they are not as good as the media would have you believe,this ,in some cases is a relief,we did not move down here to live in a modern World! But we were more than surprised when some of the food was of very marginal aceptance,the Beef,for example,is so tough it takes for ever to chew!! That is due to the way the animal is processed after slaughter,apparently it is not hung for a certain time as it is in UK ,we had some very dear friends visiting just after we moved here 4 years ago,Jacquie cooked a dish with chunks of Beef in it for them to enjoy after their long drive down,it cooked away for 5 hours! Imagine our surprise when instead of tender,almost dissintergrating meat,we had to chew beef like leather,we have tried since,but always with the same result! We now stick to mincing it up! The Wild Boar is a bit tough also,depending how old the beast is.

The weather!!! If you can imagine sitting inside an oven,with the air circulation turned on,that is what we have had for the past week! Nothing is flying,no birds,no bugs,no butterflies,it has been 45 Degs C,at that temperature,it is too hot to do very much,and as we have been replacing the windows in the house,and have the old windows out,it is over 45 Degs in the house as well,there is also a 25 MPH wind blowing,which dries everything to a crisp,which does mean I do not have to cut the grass.yesterday I had a Wasp hit me on the head,it had died on the wing,and dropped onto me! But we plod along,getting things ready for the winter,last winter the temperature dropped to minus 18 C!! Our water froze up for a week! Luckily we has a spring which emerges from the rock face (that was at 18 Degs C)so we were able to get water from there .In all it is paradise if you are of an independent nature, as we are, we have friends visit from UK ,which gives us a break,as well as them,and when the Internet is working,that gives us a window on the world.

The best time to visit France depends on what you are looking for,if it is warm sunshine and long lazy days,July is normally the time,this year the weather was not very stable!But now,in August it is too hot for most people,and France is on holiday, that is only a problem if you are trying to work on your house as most supplies are limited,but on holiday it is not a problem.The traffic is very light,we drove into Cahors(the county prefecture)and saw only three cars in the 20 miles,unlike my drive to Bromley,Kent,which took 1 hour to cover 8 miles!!

Kind Regards   xxxxx   Uhmm very interesting !