Ugly lines across the bocage

The THT lines are not only creating a stir amongst the people who will be living along and in the corridor planned through Normandy but one local artist made his comment at an exhibition in one of the small hamlets which will be affected by the power lines when they are built.

Painting some pretty watercolours of the local village and farms the artist then destroyed the work by drawing in thick black felt pen the power line onto the painting, thereby showing the devastation to the area and the damage that will be done. With a petiton against the THT lines to sign, in front of the paintings, the exhibit generated a lot of interest and showed locals  just what kind of damage will be done by these lines to this lovely region. 

Signing the petition

If you are looking for something different to do during the summer then why not try some wild cookery here in Normandy at Sinéad Allart's Wilde Kitchen.

Below is a review from one of Sineads previous American clients...

"Starting our lesson at the market in Les Pieux, we sampled new, interesting foods and a met a new, fablous friend with a passion for Cuisine Francaise!  Sinead Allart's joie de vivre fills the day and her kitchen.  Everyone who meets her will enjoy a once in a lifetime lesson in food and fun.
 
Local vendors at the morning market invited us to taste regional specialties like torgue--a Norman rice pudding, plus hand crafted breads and cheeses.  Selecting all fresh ingredients to prepare for our evening meal, there was still time for a cafe in the local bar and a drive along the dramatic coastline of La Manche before the cooking lesson began.
 
Greeted at the Wilde Kitchen, by Sinead and her family, she was kind to show us their Eighteenth Century working farm, including the original bake house, which makes La Blonderie so unique.
 
Reviewing the dinner menu, it was time to get to work.  Dessert first!  Mousse au Chocolate!  Created with farm fresh eggs and a special flavoring of local orange liquor--44!  Dark and milk chocolate mousse served in vitrines.
 
Olive tapanade introduced the culinary novice to creating easy hors-dovers with the convenience of the food processor.  The first addition to the appliance shopping list for the kitchen at home.
 
The main course, Poule Calvados, combined all the flavors of Normandy--apple liquor, local apples, mushrooms and walnuts.  Browned in butter and oil, flambe with calvados and simmered in cider, the chicken fell off the bone as it was served with mashed potatoes.  A good Irish cook Sinead served boiled potatoes, but with a french twist!  She added hazelnut oil for a delightful flavor.
 
Camembert, the favorite cheese of Normandy, was uniquely prepared.  Removing the cheese from the wooden box, Sinead soaked the box in water, and then replaced the cheese and set the box in the embers of the coals of the fire.  The cheese was softened, warmed and easily dipped with endive and crostini.  Ooh, la la!
 
The pleasant evening finished with Mousse au Chocolate and Barry's tea!  A perfect finish to a wonderful day.  New foods, new recipes, new friends and new memories of France!"

You can contact Sinéad on +33 233525216

I am a farmer what am I going to do?

I live in a hamlet with small children, how will they be affected?

I care but my neighbours are not bothered who do I complain to?

My Maire isn’t really bothered what do I do?

These were all questions raised by many locals at the last meeting held in the salle de fêtes at St Laurent du Cuves last week.
It was mainly an anti-nuclear meeting, France has a large number of reactors currently one for every million inhabitants. Only 17% of the electricity generated is actually used by the domestic market.  Points were made on health and environmental concerns, but when the meeting ended and the floor was open for questions many people at the meeting were not interested in an anti-nuclear debate, but were more troubled by the power lines that are going to be built over their heads shortly.
No one had any real answers as it looks like it is a foregone conclusion that the lines will be built it is just a matter of where they will finally go and the only course of action is to publicly protest.
As l left, I was handed a letter which could be sent to the local Marie to protest against the lines.  There was also a petition to sign for those who have not signed already.

If you are concerned and would like to write to your Mairie click here for a downloadable pdf copy of the letter.

I can never stress the importance of renewing or revamping your gite or B&B websites.

Take for instance this recent story of a site for a B&B that went terribly wrong.

In a tiny hamlet in Normandy a French couple had successfully ran a B&B for many years. They had a website whose domain name was the same as the small hamlet they lived in. A year or so ago they sold their property to an English family, who did not take on the website and domain name and allowed it to expire. The new owners moved in, timed passed and the new owners began to make lots of changes to the property.

Throughout this period the website was totally forgotten about by everyone, until very recently that is, when an elderly farmer who lived in the hamlet, had a new computer for Christmas and decided to search for the hamlet on line.

To his horror the name of the hamlet came up on the search engines but not quite as he expected, instead of a website for a B&B, it was an advertisement for porn and gambling. What had happened to the original B&B site that the previous owners of the property had? What were the new English owners planning to do at their new house? After all they were having lots of building work done and were expanding the property considerably.. were they opening up some sort of gaming house or worse in this quiet hamlet?

The elderly neighbour rushed to tell the mayor's office and demanded to know what was going on at the 'maison anglaise', however, the Mayor knew nothing, after all no plans had gone in for any construction work... and the owners of the house who were blissfully unaware in England would have some difficult questions to answer on their return....

The unwanted website had been bought for the value of its residual traffic.

The moral of this story, keep the mayor informed and if you have purchased the domain for the hamlet, perhaps offer it to them.