French la Vie https://www.frenchlavie.com French la Vie Sat, 07 Nov 2026 19:02:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://www.frenchlavie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/poppy-1-150x150.png French la Vie https://www.frenchlavie.com 32 32 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/11/07/harvesting-olives/ Harvesting Olives https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972575483/0/tongueincheek~Harvesting-Olives/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972575483/0/tongueincheek~Harvesting-Olives/#respond Sat, 07 Nov 2026 11:00:52 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87106 So far 40 kilos plus, from three little olive trees]]>

So far 40 kilos plus, from three little olive trees

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972575483/0/tongueincheek~Harvesting-Olives/feed/ 0 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/11/06/a-peek-at-the-pickles-french-schoolcafeteria-menu/ A Peek at the Pickles French SchoolCafeteria Menu https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972506852/0/tongueincheek~A-Peek-at-the-Pickles-French-SchoolCafeteria-Menu/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972506852/0/tongueincheek~A-Peek-at-the-Pickles-French-SchoolCafeteria-Menu/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:00:33 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87097 School Menu for the week of 2–6 November 2026 Monday 2 November 2026 Tuesday 3 November 2026 Thursday 5 November 2026 – Vegetarian Meal Friday 6 November 2026 Menu for the week of 9–13 November 2026 Monday 9 November 2026 Tuesday 10 November 2026 Wednesday 11 November 2026 Holiday Thursday 12 November 2026 – Vegetarian […]]]>

School Menu for the week of 2–6 November 2026

Monday 2 November 2026

  • Grated carrots
  • Fish fillet (MSC certified)
  • Curry sauce
  • Potato noisettes (small crispy potato balls)
  • Yoghurt (Organic)

Tuesday 3 November 2026

  • Green salad
  • Lasagne
  • Cream dessert (Organic)

Thursday 5 November 2026 – Vegetarian Meal

  • Wheat salad with small vegetables
  • Quenelles with Aurora sauce
  • Steamed carrots
  • Cheese (Organic)
  • Fruit

Friday 6 November 2026

  • Grated beetroot
  • Roast pork
  • Peas
  • Petit Suisse

Menu for the week of 9–13 November 2026

Monday 9 November 2026

  • Coleslaw
  • Calamari in tomato sauce
  • Trio of rice 
  • Organic yogurt

Tuesday 10 November 2026

  • Green bean salad
  • Sautéed pork
  • Steamed potatoes
  • Cheese 

Wednesday 11 November 2026

Holiday

Thursday 12 November 2026 – Vegetarian Meal

  • Pasta salad
  • Omelette
  • Zucchini with parsley
  • Cheese (Organic)
  • Fruit

Friday 13 November 2026

  • Green salad
  • Shepherd’s pie
  • Dessert cream (Organic)

And always bread, and water ( no soda, frozen or sweets.) The meals are prepared from scratch in the school kitchen. The bread and fruits are bought at the local bakery and Fruit and Vegetable shop.

Allergy information (applies to the menus):There may be traces of gluten-containing cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soya, milk and dairy products, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame and sulphites due to food preparation in the kitchens.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972506852/0/tongueincheek~A-Peek-at-the-Pickles-French-SchoolCafeteria-Menu/feed/ 7 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/11/05/the-baguette/ The Baguette https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972411065/0/tongueincheek~The-Baguette/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972411065/0/tongueincheek~The-Baguette/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:00:53 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87067 The baguette — perhaps one of the most iconic symbols of France. Questionable given France has a treasure chest full of landmarks. But, the baguette is certainly up there in the top ten. Or should the croissant take the lead? Then, of course, there’s the cheese, followed by the wine- red, white and rose. And […]]]>

The baguette — perhaps one of the most iconic symbols of France. Questionable given France has a treasure chest full of landmarks. But, the baguette is certainly up there in the top ten. Or should the croissant take the lead? Then, of course, there’s the cheese, followed by the wine- red, white and rose. And let’s not forget that rather tall structure the Eiffel Tower.

So many French symbols, and funny how most of them seem to revolve around food.

You know you can enjoy a wonderful meal at the Eiffel Tower itself? And there you have it… I’ve connected all the dots! A little French culture, and a little gastronomy. 

But let’s return to the baguette. Since 1993, the government has had rules governing what can be called a traditional French bread. The ingredients are strictly defined: flour, water, salt and yeast or sourdough. No additives, and no freezing during production. A baguette is as hard as a rock if it lasts to the next day. The French take their bread very seriously, no « Wonder «  bread here. In fact, in 2022, UNESCO recognised the baguette and its traditional craftsmanship as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972411065/0/tongueincheek~The-Baguette/feed/ 3 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/11/04/shades-of-blue/ Shades of Blue https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972337178/0/tongueincheek~Shades-of-Blue/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972337178/0/tongueincheek~Shades-of-Blue/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:00:19 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87079 A shift is in the tide.A different shade on the horizon. Voices carrying shape and sizeVoices heard in various ancestral language And somewhere,in these shades of blue,a rise in the deep, natural, healing, current. A wave can change the shoreline.But it doesn’t reshape it overnight. What has begun must keep flowing. The momentum must continue […]]]>

A shift is in the tide.
A different shade on the horizon.

Voices carrying shape and size
Voices heard in various ancestral language

And somewhere,
in these shades of blue,
a rise in the deep, natural, healing, current.

A wave can change the shoreline.
But it doesn’t reshape it overnight.

What has begun must keep flowing. The momentum must continue through Energy. Courage. Commitment.

And those now holding power
have the rising voices leading them
to turn the need to change to reality.

For now,
let’s witness this tsunami.

To feel the shift.
To see the blue.
To believe it is possible.

The most beautiful shade of blue
is not the one we see today.

It’s the one we have to stir with steady diligence.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972337178/0/tongueincheek~Shades-of-Blue/feed/ 12 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/11/03/a-donkey-and-an-elephant/ A Donkey and an Elephant https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972270668/0/tongueincheek~A-Donkey-and-an-Elephant/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972270668/0/tongueincheek~A-Donkey-and-an-Elephant/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2026 11:00:12 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87073 An elephant and a donkey (1900s) that I found at the brocante, part of the French crèche (nativity set in French.)  Aren’t they adorable? Oh symbolism: “An artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.” Via the Dictionary. Will they, or do they, […]]]>

An elephant and a donkey (1900s) that I found at the brocante, part of the French crèche (nativity set in French.)

 Aren’t they adorable?

Oh symbolism:

“An artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.” Via the Dictionary.

Will they, or do they, ever get along? Both from another world of opinion. Who stands in between the two, a snake, a rabbit, a rat, a saint?

Did they ever see eye to eye? 

Have they ever disagreed more?

They want the same thing, don’t they? Is it that they follow different paths to reach the same point? I use to believe that, or at least hoped that were true, that we sought love, peace, courage, understanding and acceptance, and much more. Maybe I was naive, or a snowflake as I have heard. 

How hard it is for me to accept that, “love is love”, is not love to some.

And so they stand,

Uncomfortable,

on the same ground and sing,

“…This land is your land, this land is my land…”

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972270668/0/tongueincheek~A-Donkey-and-an-Elephant/feed/ 2 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/11/02/a-little-french-tuiles-history/ A Little French Tuiles- History https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972202211/0/tongueincheek~A-Little-French-Tuiles-History/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972202211/0/tongueincheek~A-Little-French-Tuiles-History/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2026 11:00:07 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87046 Did you know how many tiles (tuiles, carreaux, malons, pottery…) my village produced in a year? Give a wild guess. A wilder guess! It is so shocking, that my exaggerating storytelling habits do not need to be expressed. I still can’t believe it myself. If you walk around our village, you can still see the […]]]>

Did you know how many tiles (tuiles, carreaux, malons, pottery…) my village produced in a year? Give a wild guess. A wilder guess! It is so shocking, that my exaggerating storytelling habits do not need to be expressed.

I still can’t believe it myself. If you walk around our village, you can still see the huge 4 old kilns. They stop producing many years ago, but they stand as massive evidence of how much tile was actually made here.

They say—and I absolutely love to tell this story—that these curved tuiles (tuiles  are also the name of a cookie sold in French bakeries- they are shaped as a roof tile.., The myth stems from the sensual French nickname for the cookies, cuisses de nymphe), were originally shaped by molding clay over women’s thighs. But when you find out the real numbers, well you know that couldn’t be true. But it adds a charming twist go history.

(Though I always say that if any tiles were made on my thighs, they’d be incredibly valuable because I have such a chunky little thigh €€€€🤣🤭!)

The actual truth is that our village was turning out a mind-blowing 15 million tiles every single year!

Imagine trying to make 15 million tiles on human thighs—they wouldn’t have had any skin left. Instead, these millions of tiles were packed up, sent to the port of Marseille, where they were loaded onto ships as ballast, helping keep the vessels stable on long sea voyages before ending up on rooftops as far away as Mexico

The kilns are cold now but there was a time when my village was a rooftop of the world.

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