Life in a small French village for an old American

[An Ankoù]

Stay here, would be my advice. But your place in the hills near the Mexican border sounds quite bearable.
Come to think of it, have you ever thought of passing the winter in the south of France? The climate (and the culture, and cuisine) is quite different. Well worth a visit, I'd say.

 

[corkybstewart]

Stay here, would be my advice. But your place in the hills near the Mexican border sounds quite bearable.
Come to think of it, have you ever thought of passing the winter in the south of France? The climate (and the culture, and cuisine) is quite different. Well worth a visit, I'd say.

As a retired person on a fixed income who already has 2 houses, renting a third to avoid crappy weather doesn't make financial sense to me. In New Mexico we are very active in the rock and mineral collecting community, I am the club field trip guide and so we spend a lot of time tracking down mines that were abandoned around the start of WWII-lots of beautiful specimens can be found in our area. In fact it's a primary reason we moved there 7 years ago. That kind of activity is prohibited in France, all access to collecting sites is pretty much forbidden. My wife and her dad used to collect rocks around here back in the 60's, so we have a pile in the old cow barn to go through, but it's not the same as spending a weekend looking for a mine that is mapped in 3 different places on different maps. Rockhounding is our essential sanity balancing activity, out in the wild by ourselves, beautiful sky above, no cell phone connection.

 

[An Ankoù]

When you mentioned mines and WWII, I immediately thought of land mines and why would anyone want to collect them. Then I thought "hang on a minute, this isn't a war zone".
Fascinating account.
2 questions if you're patient enough to bear with me:
Why do you look for mines abandoned 80 years ago? Aren't they very dangerous to explore?
And,
What, exactly, is it that's prohibited in France? Not being a minerologist I wouldn't have thought to inquire.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Our daughter lives outside of Phoenix, summer days often hit 50. Even their pool has a chilling system. When my son in law gets off work at the nuclear power plant at 3 PM, he has to walk 3/4 of a mile across the parking lot, through 3 security checkpoints, to get to his car. I can't imagine the temperature of the parking lot.
When we lived in Carlsbad 40 was an exceptionally jot day. Now they start having 40 temps in early May.

That whole southern stretch has brutal summer heat. I spent a work week in Paris Texas. It was104 every day, evenings got down to 85. That was too much heat for this Midwest guy.

I can relate to the long journey across a hot parking lot. Heavy cotton pants and shirt, steel toed boots plus carrying my other safety gear and laptop, then getting to the car, turning on the AC full blast. Ya, I hate that kind of heat too!

 

[corkybstewart]

When you mentioned mines and WWII, I immediately thought of land mines and why would anyone want to collect them. Then I thought "hang on a minute, this isn't a war zone".
Fascinating account.
2 questions if you're patient enough to bear with me:
Why do you look for mines abandoned 80 years ago? Aren't they very dangerous to explore?
And,
What, exactly, is it that's prohibited in France? Not being a minerologist I wouldn't have thought to inquire.

The French government requires backfilling all abandoned/closed mines and the land is reclaimed.
In our part of New Mexico there are hundreds of small copper and fluorite mines that were closed when all the men went to war, and for the most part they never reopened. I never enter an abandoned, I didn't get this old being stupid. Actually I did, in spite of being occasionally stupid. But there's still a lot of collecting opportunities. There are lots of very colorful veins of fluorite that can dug, and around the copper mines we find colorful minerals like turquoise, malachite and azurite. We also have a mining claim for very colorful agate, and we've found another place to file a claim when we get back. We have the equipment to cut and polish stones to make jewelry and other things that can be sold. Here in France we find colorful flint that I take back to cut and polish, every year I take 10 kilos of French minerals home in my suitcase. I am a retired geologist so this attraction to rocks is a lifelong pursuit.

 

[corkybstewart]

That whole southern stretch has brutal summer heat. I spent a work week in Paris Texas. It was104 every day, evenings got down to 85. That was too much heat for this Midwest guy.

I can relate to the long journey across a hot parking lot. Heavy cotton pants and shirt, steel toed boots plus carrying my other safety gear and laptop, then getting to the car, turning on the AC full blast. Ya, I hate that kind of heat too!

You have the added luxury of humidity, at least it's crackling dry outside of Phoenix. It's very humid in our area of France 80F here is more miserable than 95F in New Mexico. What kind of work do you do?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

You have the added luxury of humidity, at least it's crackling dry outside of Phoenix. It's very humid in our area of France 80F here is more miserable than 95F in New Mexico. What kind of work do you do?

The humidity here in Wisconsin isn't terrible, there's days where it's miserable but still able to do limited activities outdoors. Drinking is best in those days, stay hydrated with home brew. Having four actual seasons is very nice.

I'm retired from engineering, power and controls. I spent most of my time at paper mills in Michigan but when I transferred to Wisconsin it was in converting ( tissue, paper towels & personal care). Before switching my career I painted helicopters, trains and vehicles.

 

[Snuffy]

The French government requires backfilling all abandoned/closed mines and the land is reclaimed.
In our part of New Mexico there are hundreds of small copper and fluorite mines that were closed when all the men went to war, and for the most part they never reopened. I never enter an abandoned, I didn't get this old being stupid. Actually I did, in spite of being occasionally stupid. But there's still a lot of collecting opportunities. There are lots of very colorful veins of fluorite that can dug, and around the copper mines we find colorful minerals like turquoise, malachite and azurite. We also have a mining claim for very colorful agate, and we've found another place to file a claim when we get back. We have the equipment to cut and polish stones to make jewelry and other things that can be sold. Here in France we find colorful flint that I take back to cut and polish, every year I take 10 kilos of French minerals home in my suitcase. I am a retired geologist so this attraction to rocks is a lifelong pursuit.

In this part of the world, we have mostly the remnants of the kind of mining described by John Prine in "Paradise". The environment got classified as "overburden" and then the forest was logged and the hills removed by huge dozers and draglines to uncover the coal seam. What is left is shale piles and "strip pits" that usually contain deep, cold, green tinted water with "high walls" that generated much of the "hold my beer" lore around here. As a kid, we would ride for miles thru rough, moon-like landscapes on whatever motorcycle or pickup was available and then spend the day jumping 40 or 50 feet into the pit as many times as you dared. It was the kind of thing that would give your mom an anxiety heart attack if she only knew. The shale piles were great for finding fossils. Usually large fern-like trees and occasionally shells.
These areas have begun to be "reclaimed" as well. The last time I went looking for the old strip pit at Pea Ridge, we were shocked to find it completely missing. It had been filled in and was a rolling grassy hill that was fenced off for lease by some hunting club.

 

[corkybstewart]

Last night we went to dinner at an ex brother in law's house for his 80th birthday. He and my wife's sister divorced at least 30 years ago but he's remained an important and loved part of the family. The dinner itself was a cardiologist's wet dream, the promise of future riches. It started with duck liver mousse on bread, salami with hazelnuts(looked great but I'm possible allergic to hazelnet so I skipped that artery plugger), then came the rillettes(shredded meat cooked in a metric ton of fat and served as a spread): pork, salmon, and chicken. There was a pork/veal liver pate, plates of chicken wings, and then came the main course. Homemade rillons, basically porkbelly cut into chunks and slow roasted. it's to be eaten completely, fat, cartilage and the meat, . All of this was of course washed down with a variety of wines, Lucien is one of the family connoisseurs of the local wines. Dessert was a strawberry tart made by another brother who is a retired chef. The closest thing to a vegetable were the potato chips served with the wings. We were at the table for 5 hours enjoying this finely balance meal.

 

[corkybstewart]

The humidity here in Wisconsin isn't terrible, there's days where it's miserable but still able to do limited activities outdoors. Drinking is best in those days, stay hydrated with home brew. Having four actual seasons is very nice.

I'm retired from engineering, power and controls. I spent most of my time at paper mills in Michigan but when I transferred to Wisconsin it was in converting ( tissue, paper towels & personal care). Before switching my career I painted helicopters, trains and vehicles.

When I was 12 my parents put me on an airplane by myself in Mobile Alabama to Milwaukee, with a change at O'Hare. Somehow I arrived alive and then I spent 3 weeks at Camp Manitowish in northern Wisconsin, a YMCA camp focused on canoe adventures. It was a wonderful, eye opening experience to be so far from anything I had ever experienced and from everyone I knew.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

When I was 12 my parents put me on an airplane by myself in Mobile Alabama to Milwaukee, with a change at O'Hare. Somehow I arrived alive and then I spent 3 weeks at Camp Manitowish in northern Wisconsin, a YMCA camp focused on canoe adventures. It was a wonderful, eye opening experience to be so far from anything I had ever experienced and from everyone I knew.

I'm going to that camp area next week. A friend has a very remote cabin near there. It's gated property, he owns a hundred or so acres and it borders DNR land. Very wooded, a beautiful river, and no people! Very much off grid living.

I couldn't live long like that, but three days will be very relaxing.

 

[Snuffy]

Last night we went to dinner at an ex brother in law's house for his 80th birthday. He and my wife's sister divorced at least 30 years ago but he's remained an important and loved part of the family. The dinner itself was a cardiologist's wet dream, the promise of future riches. It started with duck liver mousse on bread, salami with hazelnuts(looked great but I'm possible allergic to hazelnet so I skipped that artery plugger), then came the rillettes(shredded meat cooked in a metric ton of fat and served as a spread): pork, salmon, and chicken. There was a pork/veal liver pate, plates of chicken wings, and then came the main course. Homemade rillons, basically porkbelly cut into chunks and slow roasted. it's to be eaten completely, fat, cartilage and the meat, . All of this was of course washed down with a variety of wines, Lucien is one of the family connoisseurs of the local wines. Dessert was a strawberry tart made by another brother who is a retired chef. The closest thing to a vegetable were the potato chips served with the wings. We were at the table for 5 hours enjoying this finely balance meal.

The fact that you were celebrating Lucien's 80th says a lot about the health benefits of wine.

 

[corkybstewart]

Yesterday we had lunch next door. My wife's youngest brother had a heart attack at age 40 so he doesn't drink at all, but he keeps a solid variety of refreshments in the house for his wife and guests. So the wives polished off a bottle of bubbly to start, as always, and then the 3 of us had the traditional 2 bottles of red wine with the meal. Drinking with the sister inlaw is always a crapshoot, she can be the most fun person in the family or the worst. Yesterday she had watched videos of the celebration in Paris after a futbol win, 2 people died. Her rant was that nobody in the crowd was a real Frenchman, they were all violent Muslims and the deaths were more proof that its time for France to banish Muslims. Headscarves and burkhinis really trigger her. They have no place in a secular country like France. She sees no irony in the fact that ever Catholic holiday is a state holiday and the country shuts down. Thursday everything was closed for Ascencion Day, this week it will be shut down for Pentecost. And of course my wife was sufficiently likkerred up that she took offense and it was game on. After a few minutes the brother and I went outside for a serious discussion about the health of our rose bushes. When the shouting subsided we went back in, the women were laughing about something so we all went outside to the picnic table and had another bottle of red. Good times.

 

[An Ankoù]

The fact that you were celebrating Lucien's 80th says a lot about the health benefits of wine.

You say that, but if he'd been drinking stout all his life they might have been celebrating his 90th!

 

[corkybstewart]

You say that, but if he'd been drinking stout all his life they might have been celebrating his 90th!

We'll get there..

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Yesterday we had lunch next door. My wife's youngest brother had a heart attack at age 40 so he doesn't drink at all, but he keeps a solid variety of refreshments in the house for his wife and guests. So the wives polished off a bottle of bubbly to start, as always, and then the 3 of us had the traditional 2 bottles of red wine with the meal. Drinking with the sister inlaw is always a crapshoot, she can be the most fun person in the family or the worst. Yesterday she had watched videos of the celebration in Paris after a futbol win, 2 people died. Her rant was that nobody in the crowd was a real Frenchman, they were all violent Muslims and the deaths were more proof that its time for France to banish Muslims. Headscarves and burkhinis really trigger her. They have no place in a secular country like France. She sees no irony in the fact that ever Catholic holiday is a state holiday and the country shuts down. Thursday everything was closed for Ascencion Day, this week it will be shut down for Pentecost. And of course my wife was sufficiently likkerred up that she took offense and it was game on. After a few minutes the brother and I went outside for a serious discussion about the health of our rose bushes. When the shouting subsided we went back in, the women were laughing about something so we all went outside to the picnic table and had another bottle of red. Good times.

Sounds like many a conversation when you get more than two people together especially mixed with alcohol. Talking about rose bushes is a lot more productive and meaningful.

Sad there's so much hatred around us.

 

[An Ankoù]

Sounds like many a conversation when you get more than two people together especially mixed with alcohol. Talking about rose bushes is a lot more productive and meaningful.

Sad there's so much hatred around us.

Reminds me of the folk who go abroad on holiday and then complain that "It was OK, but there were too many foreigners"!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Reminds me of the folk who go abroad on holiday and then complain that "It was OK, but there were too many foreigners"!

I hear that a lot from my friends that travel outside of the US. A good reason to stay home, lots to see within our own borders too.

 

[An Ankoù]

I hear that a lot from my friends that travel outside of the US. A good reason to stay home, lots to see within our own borders too.

Perhaps, but that wasn't my point. How stupid do you have to be to go on holiday in, say, Spain and then complain that the place was full of Spaniards!

And even worse, they don't speak English!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Perhaps, but that wasn't my point. How stupid do you have to be to go on holiday in, say, Spain and then complain that the place was full of Spaniards!

And even worse, they don't speak English!

I new what your point was just a bad comparison on my part.

 

[corkybstewart]

Sounds like many a conversation when you get more than two people together especially mixed with alcohol. Talking about rose bushes is a lot more productive and meaningful.

Sad there's so much hatred around us.

There's always political conversations going on when we get together, this sister in law is the only person I know here who starts angry, drinking or not. She and my wife definitely have a love/hate relationship, Annie has not recovered from us buying the house when she thought her husband had already bought it. He had a deadline to send us the money, and a couple of weeks after we thought he had bought it he called and asked if we would all lower the price because renovations were gonna be very expensive an the bank wouldn't loan him the full amount needed. We checked with the notaire, he assured us the loan was in place and it was a stunt to pay less. We wired the notaire cash and on Monday morning we owned the house. Annie had great plans for the house, and I'm not sure if she knows the truth about why she isn't the owner.
When we are around rude Americans we will speak either French or Spanish to each other so as to not tip them off we're American. We see way too many tourists who want to live their American lifestyle while visiting exotic places. A prime example is ice in a drink. At McDonalds there's no ice in their sodas-you can ask for ice and maybe get two ice cubes, maybe not. My Alabama BIL has an absolute meltdown because he "has to have a cup full of ice" and McDOO didn't have ice. We see lot of Americans ordering iced tea; you can get Lipton canned iced tea, but it's peach flavored and served at room temp, no ice(I made that mistake exactly once).

 

[An Ankoù]

When we are around rude Americans we will speak either French or Spanish to each other so as to not tip them off we're American. We see way too many tourists who want to live their American lifestyle while visiting exotic places. A prime example is ice in a drink. At McDonalds there's no ice in their sodas-you can ask for ice and maybe get two ice cubes, maybe not. My Alabama BIL has an absolute meltdown because he "has to have a cup full of ice" and McDOO didn't have ice. We see lot of Americans ordering iced tea; you can get Lipton canned iced tea, but it's peach flavored and served at room temp, no ice(I made that mistake exactly once).

I (don't know about anyone else) am a bit lost here. Are you saying that American tourists come to Chinon to eat American food at McDo, which they expect to taste exactly the same as it does at home. Why do they come? Why don't they just stay at home? I really, really really, miss a skinful of decent (or even poor) English cask bitter, but I don't expect to find it in any bar in France. I get it that cafés don't sell iced tea, but I don't understand why a punter in Mcdo can't have as many glaçons as he wants in his drink. If I go to a bar I can get diabolo with ice, why can't an American chain, cater for American tourists.
Yes. I believe you. I just don't get it.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

There's always political conversations going on when we get together, this sister in law is the only person I know here who starts angry, drinking or not. She and my wife definitely have a love/hate relationship, Annie has not recovered from us buying the house when she thought her husband had already bought it. He had a deadline to send us the money, and a couple of weeks after we thought he had bought it he called and asked if we would all lower the price because renovations were gonna be very expensive an the bank wouldn't loan him the full amount needed. We checked with the notaire, he assured us the loan was in place and it was a stunt to pay less. We wired the notaire cash and on Monday morning we owned the house. Annie had great plans for the house, and I'm not sure if she knows the truth about why she isn't the owner.
When we are around rude Americans we will speak either French or Spanish to each other so as to not tip them off we're American. We see way too many tourists who want to live their American lifestyle while visiting exotic places. A prime example is ice in a drink. At McDonalds there's no ice in their sodas-you can ask for ice and maybe get two ice cubes, maybe not. My Alabama BIL has an absolute meltdown because he "has to have a cup full of ice" and McDOO didn't have ice. We see lot of Americans ordering iced tea; you can get Lipton canned iced tea, but it's peach flavored and served at room temp, no ice(I made that mistake exactly once).

I'm glad I don't leave the Midwest anymore. Life is very simple and nice right here.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I (don't know about anyone else) am a bit lost here. Are you saying that American tourists come to Chinon to eat American food at McDo, which they expect to taste exactly the same as it does at home. Why do they come? Why don't they just stay at home? I really, really really, miss a skinful of decent (or even poor) English cask bitter, but I don't expect to find it in any bar in France. I get it that cafés don't sell iced tea, but I don't understand why a punter in Mcdo can't have as many glaçons as he wants in his drink. If I go to a bar I can get diabolo with ice, why can't an American chain, cater for American tourists.
Yes. I believe you. I just don't get it.

I don't get it either and I'm an American! There's a lot of arrogant people here, like everywhere else.

 

[corkybstewart]

I (don't know about anyone else) am a bit lost here. Are you saying that American tourists come to Chinon to eat American food at McDo, which they expect to taste exactly the same as it does at home. Why do they come? Why don't they just stay at home? I really, really really, miss a skinful of decent (or even poor) English cask bitter, but I don't expect to find it in any bar in France. I get it that cafés don't sell iced tea, but I don't understand why a punter in Mcdo can't have as many glaçons as he wants in his drink. If I go to a bar I can get diabolo with ice, why can't an American chain, cater for American tourists.
Yes. I believe you. I just don't get it.

The meal at McDo was a last resort-we had been at the beach and were on our way home on a Sunday afternoon, when I'm sure you've noticed there are no real restaurants open. As such the place was absolutely packed and maybe the staff just didn't have time to surrender to the demands of one semi deranged American. We ate at a McDo in Freiburg Germany once, it was actually a nice change from the heavy meat/sausage dishes we'd been eating for 2 weeks. Plus their fries were incredible and they serve beer.

 

[DuncB]

@An Ankoù

You are looking for one of these.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...DGkgTnxK&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

 

[An Ankoù]

The meal at McDo was a last resort-we had been at the beach and were on our way home on a Sunday afternoon, when I'm sure you've noticed there are no real restaurants open. As such the place was absolutely packed and maybe the staff just didn't have time to surrender to the demands of one semi deranged American.

I think I've been harsh, in retrospect. In the unlikely event that I did find an "English" pub, I think it would not be unreasonable to hope to find a proper pint. So how can I find fault with the American tourist and his Mcdonalds?
But you have touched a sore point: the French indifference to any sense of commerce. If I had a restaurant or a cafe, I'd keep it open as long as there were people clamouring to be fed. Too often we've been turned away because the place was full and then closed precisely at 2 or whatever time they say they close. This is just one example, which you've noticed, too, and I could go on for a proper rant. Seasonal businesses, in tourists resorts should want to make hay while the sun shines. It no longer inconveniences me as I'm not a tourist, but I still can't help shaking my head at the waste of opportunity. I had thought it might be local bye-laws, but the exception that proves the rule is a family business, which manages to stay open from midday until late evening, is a family business and serves the best food in Rochefort-en-Terre, they're always full to bursting,
but their many competitors don't seem to have caught on or just can't be bothered.

 

[An Ankoù]

@An Ankoù

You are looking for one of these.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009062080300.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4330KqXiKqXiKr&algo_pvid=f55fe4cd-47f3-4731-8f36-2d054d9b73d1&algo_exp_id=f55fe4cd-47f3-4731-8f36-2d054d9b73d1-0&pdp_ext_f={"order":"4","eval":"1"}&pdp_npi=4@dis!NZD!129.50!38.85!!!549.68!164.90!@2103244b17491005021288868e95f6!12000047778335664!sea!NZ!1963044316!X&curPageLogUid=YQgWDGkgTnxK&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

Thanks, @DuncB , I am indeed l am, indeed still looking. Thats a great little had heater, too. I need one with longer handles, though, as I will be using it with on a wood fire/barbecue. I've sent this research project to my eldest against an upcoming birthday.

 

[corkybstewart]

I think I've been harsh, in retrospect. In the unlikely event that I did find an "English" pub, I think it would not be unreasonable to hope to find a proper pint. So how can I find fault with the American tourist and his Mcdonalds?
But you have touched a sore point: the French indifference to any sense of commerce. If I had a restaurant or a cafe, I'd keep it open as long as there were people clamouring to be fed. Too often we've been turned away because the place was full and then closed precisely at 2 or whatever time they say they close. This is just one example, which you've noticed, too, and I could go on for a proper rant. Seasonal businesses, in tourists resorts should want to make hay while the sun shines. It no longer inconveniences me as I'm not a tourist, but I still can't help shaking my head at the waste of opportunity. I had thought it might be local bye-laws, but the exception that proves the rule is a family business, which manages to stay open from midday until late evening, is a family business and serves the best food in Rochefort-en-Terre, they're always full to bursting,
but their many competitors don't seem to have caught on or just can't be bothered.

It takes a while to get used to everything being closed on Mondays, the incessant shutting down for yet another Catholic holiday nobody understands, 2 hour shut down for lunch, etc. We were turned away at a restaurant at 1:45 pm because the staff goes home at 2:01and they didn't want to have to wait on us to finish. In the beach town my sister in law has a house, the population of 2500 swells to 25,000 for July and August, that's when the local businesses bring in most of their annual incomes yet they make no changes to their routines.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Hitting the road tomorrow morning for camp, the cabin in the woods. It's a two hour drive north west with a couple brew pubs along the way. One time it took five hours to get there.