Aug
28
2008
As it’s the end of the summer (if you can call it that after this year’s soggy effort), I’ve been thinking about my holiday last year, which took us to the Dordogne area of France, specifically the Vallée de la Vézère.
It was our first time in this part of France and we stayed in a gîte in the hamlet of Le Moustier, about half way between Les Eyzies and Montignac. We were really pleased we went there; it’s a beautiful place and less touristy than the main Dordogne river valley.
There’s plenty to do in the area, although with only a week, we didn’t manage to do as much as we hoped, needing time to relax too, but if you’re one for outdoor activities, kayaking on the river is really popular. There are loads of businesses offering kayak hire and you get dropped off or collected to wherever you want to kayak to or from.
Other places to visit include Lascaux for the famous cave paintings, St. Léon sur Vézère which is one of the prettiest villages along the valley, Montignac itself, which is a small market town with some good brocantes. We also visited the Château de Losse (see image above), Le Bugue on market day, which was well worth going to & the pretty village of Limeuil where the Vézère & Dordogne rivers meet.
Other highlights included La Roque Gageac (one of the ‘plus beaux villages’ of France), although we found Sarlat to be rather touristy.
If you fancy visiting the area, here’s a link to the accommodation we stayed in, reasonably priced and beautifully furnished (with lots of English antiques!).
Aug
08
2008
Faux amis are the bain of anyone learning French, including myself! I’ve been victim to them over the years, ‘actuellement’ probably being one of the ones whose trap I often manage to fall into, but continually manage to forget.
So what’s the difference between ‘actuellement’ and ‘actually’. Well, actually it’s quite a big difference! ‘Actually’ as we know is used when stating a fact, or ‘in fact’. ‘Actuellement’ is used to mean at this moment in time, e.g ‘actuellement j’écoute à la radio’ - I’m listening to the radio at the moment (which I’m doing as I type this). If you wanted to use ‘actually’ as ‘in fact’, you would say ‘en fait’, e.g ‘en fait je vais en vacances demain’ - actually, I’m going on holiday tomorrow (I really am!).
If you’ve been victim to the French faux amis, let me know and I’ll be posting more of them!
Aug
05
2008
In a bid to reduce the number of obese people in France, the French are considering imposing a higher VAT rate on fatty / high sugar foods, according to Le Figaro today (in French). As with many western nations, more and more people are becoming obese due to diets containing a lot of refined foods, the temptation to buy fast & ready made meals and of course not forgetting our more sedentary lifestyles as so many people now work in desk/office jobs.
Despite the French being very proud of their culinary history, they’re not immune to the changing diets and lifestyles of so many modern nations. The rate of obesity isn’t as high as it is in the UK or USA, but I imagine they want to put measures in place before it is and puts a strain on the healthcare system.
Due to the increase in food prices recently it’s unlikely this increased tax will happen overnight, but seems it could be on the agenda for sometime next year!
