One of the first French words we learn in school is ‘bic’, for ballpoint pen.(Qu’est ce qu’il y a dans ta trousse?)
Havaneres Named after the capital town of Cuba, La Habana (Havana), these sea shanties were brought back from Cuba by soldiers, sailors and expats in the 19th Century, originally to the coastal towns…
Notaire’s fees are payable on all property purchases in France. What are they and how can you work out how much they will be?
The 15th August is the festival of l’Assomption – a jour férié (public holiday) celebrated by Catholics throughout France and commemorating the departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven.
The mosquito, (‘little fly’ in Spanish) has been around for more than 30 million years.
An anonymous 12th century sculptor, the Master of Cabestany was not recognised until the 1930s when a Romanesque-style tympanum was unearthed during renovation work at the parish church of Cabestany.
Le chassé-croisé des juillettistes et des aoûtiens’ describes the traffic chaos on the roads of France late July/early August as the whole world and his wife heads off to or home from their hols, and the end of both months when the hols are over.
A whole host of interesting facts about the region and further afield for your reading pleasure. So, did you know…?
British residents in France must now have a carte de séjour but this is not a substitute for a passport.
Pétanque actually comes from the term ‘pès tancats’ or ‘pieds tanqués’, Marseilles dialect meaning literally ‘feet anchored’ as the feet must remain close together.