Out and about the Normandy countryside.
Living in the middle of rural Normandy has its benefits. We get to go on walks along lanes like this. We rarely meet other cars or people. Even when passing farms there is no one to be seen! We know people are around as hay is collected, cows are in fields, houses look lived in! It is very difficult to get to know your neighbours when you rarely see them.
The farmer who rents the land around us we know. He and his wife will always stop for a chat which we like. I often meet up with him first thing when I am letting the birds out he has come to check his cows. As I am usually in my dressing gown and wellies (a very fetching look) he pretends he hasn't seen me!
On the whole driving here is great as the roads are mainly empty. Unless you are out at two minutes to twelve when everyone heads home for lunch. It is usual here to have a full three course meal at lunchtime. Which is why they have two hour lunch breaks. I lost count of how often I ate a sandwich in the car rushing to the next meeting.
Only in France would the police threaten to go on strike when it was suggested they stop their glass of wine with lunch! The police won by the way and they still have wine with lunch.
Food is revered here, maybe due to the many lean times France has had to endure. It is considered an insult to eat standing up!
Coming home through our village one summer evening I saw a lorry park by the side of the road. A couple got out and set up a table and chairs on the pavement, laid it and sat down to eat! Who says there are no cultural differences?
Often I am taken aback driving here by the sheer beauty of the countryside. It just rolls all around you. The sky is very big here! I will take a few photos next time I go out.
Amidst all this fantastic countryside it is easy to understand why I became interested in a sustainable life. It is worth protecting.
The farmer who rents the land around us we know. He and his wife will always stop for a chat which we like. I often meet up with him first thing when I am letting the birds out he has come to check his cows. As I am usually in my dressing gown and wellies (a very fetching look) he pretends he hasn't seen me!
On the whole driving here is great as the roads are mainly empty. Unless you are out at two minutes to twelve when everyone heads home for lunch. It is usual here to have a full three course meal at lunchtime. Which is why they have two hour lunch breaks. I lost count of how often I ate a sandwich in the car rushing to the next meeting.
Only in France would the police threaten to go on strike when it was suggested they stop their glass of wine with lunch! The police won by the way and they still have wine with lunch.
Food is revered here, maybe due to the many lean times France has had to endure. It is considered an insult to eat standing up!
Coming home through our village one summer evening I saw a lorry park by the side of the road. A couple got out and set up a table and chairs on the pavement, laid it and sat down to eat! Who says there are no cultural differences?
Often I am taken aback driving here by the sheer beauty of the countryside. It just rolls all around you. The sky is very big here! I will take a few photos next time I go out.
Amidst all this fantastic countryside it is easy to understand why I became interested in a sustainable life. It is worth protecting.