Blog Archives – Bienvenue - Our House in France

1st February 20241st February 2024

2023 Our First New Year Stay

We have owned the house in France for over 10 years and until this year we had not stayed there in the winter months. This year though it seemed that everyone was keen to go over and stay SO Jean booked the overnight ferry together with the cabins and 4 of us set off from Rochdale to Reading where we were to collect Chris and then continue down to Portsmouth where we would catch the 8:15pm ferry to St Malo.
The car was cramped. We had 5 adults plus luggage. The journey went as planned and was uneventful in the main. The ferry was there as it always is and our transition through passport control and onto the boat was again just smooth, plain sailing you could say.
Once onboard we all went for some dinner and then we went to the cabaret area where we participated in the ships general knowledge quiz and WE WON.
The next morning we were off to breakfast early then into the car and off the boat. We had an hour and a half’s drive and we were at the house.
For the week the weather was sunny(ish) and raining also and it was cold. I lit a fire every day around 4pm or 5pm and did warm up the house. I think I learned how to master the fire better and I also took some logs bought from B&Q which really helped to start the fire each night ( I will be getting some more of those next time).
During the week we did some of the things that we normally do when we go in the summer and we tried to show Chris what its like. It will be good for Chris to see the area in summer also and he will then be able to contrast the quiet, cold winter France with the hotter, bussier summer.
( I have some pics and I will get them in here )

1st February 20241st February 2024

2023 Maintenance Week ( Just Me, Myself, I )

Its a well known fact that like everything else, ALL properties need some form of maintenance. Whether it’s decorating , plumbing , a leaky roof they all need something from time to time.
So last year I decided to out to our house in France for a week , on my own and do some house jobs which included sorting out the garden, painting the outside window frames, and generally dusting off the cobwebs and spiders. Rather than go in the car though I decided to fly from Manchester to Nantes where I would hire a car and then drive to Rohan.

The Journey

Well the flight was great and I then hired a French car which was great apart from the fact that everything was on the wrong hand but after a while you kind of get used to that. Driving on the wrong side of the road was fine, I don’t know you know normally when I get to France in my car a switch just trips in my head and suddenly I drive like a native ( just not that close though ). I hate it when some French or German guy sits on your bumper, especially when you are already above the speed limit and you are bombing down one of their super smooth dual carriageways BUT you have just got to take a deep breath, make them wait and be patient and in time you just pull over and let them pass.

Cleaning up the garden before/after

The Drive

Anyway I drove for about 2 hours or 140km from Nantes back to the house and opened the house up, brought all of my gear in form the car and then I started to perform our startup procedure for the house. I opened all of the windows and doors, made a cup of tea, put out some garden furniture in the rear and just chilled for a while.

The Shopping

Even though the house is in a rural area we still have shops. Ok, you have to travel a little. On this trip I found out that there is a Lidl in Pontivy and I also found a great way of getting there from M Leclercs which is also in Pontivy. So Pontivy is 10Km form the house and its along one very straight road. At the end of the road is M. LeClerks which is a massive supermarket. You can get almost everything from LeClercs, all your staples like milk,bread,water,wine,beer,meat,fish etc.\\\\nI do like shopping at Lidl here in the UK so finding a Lidl in Pontivy is also great and there is even a MacDonalds Now I mention MacDonalds because there is Wifi and its really good to just go and get a coffee and then sit there downloading emails and catching up with the rest of the world if and when you dont have internet access ( our house does not currently have wifi – its not the end of the world I promise ).

New Bolt for the Back Door

The back door lock has never been great and so on this visit I decided that I would go nout shopping and I would try to find a bolt or two. There is a Point Vert shop quite close at Brehan and I decided to go and take a look there. To my surprise they did sell bolts so I bought 2 for about 12 euros. One of the bolts I screwed very securely with 6 large screws to the top section of the back door ( see image below) we just need to ensure that when we leave and lock up that both the door lock and the bolt are secured. I was also in the market for a sythe and I was agauin surprised by the number and types of sythes that they had in the Point Vert shop.

Cleaned and tidied the down stairs area

When I arrived there were the usual spiders webs, spiders and a series of dead flies and these all had to be cleared. The house is in the country and that normally means that there are the odd dead insect, spider and mice to contend with but normally this is not a big deal and within a short time the down stairs living area was gleaming like a pin.

Back to the Beach ( La Plage - Mendu )

We always like a trip to the beach or two. On this trip I went to both Mendu and Berger where I had a great ( but short ) walk.

Abrief trip to the market at Josselyn

Josselyn market is held every Saturday morning, Its a great place for both locals and ex pats. On this occasion the weather was really warm so I decided to go and get myself a galette and coffee and I spent a while just viewing the products that were on sale and I think I may have bought some bread and vegetables.

21st August 202013th December 2021

2020 Covid Holiday in Rohan

Despite the global onset of Covid 19 we were still able to get over to France for a short break.

It seems like an eternity since we were last in France. Covid 19 became a global pandemic in January 2020 and the ordered, stable world that we have known changed almost overnight. Face masks and a ‘stay-at-home’ order had meant that most people have stayed indoors, working from home (home-working) but we are not going to rant on about Covid in this blog because we are going to stick to the subject in hand which is our holiday in Rohan and what we were and were not able to do.

As usual we took some photographs and I will inlay them into this blog.

Wow - What a Roof

Over the course of the time that we have owned the house we have had a couple of problems with the house. One of those main problems has been the roof. From time to time tiles have slid from the roof and we have had to have work done (which has generally been patching). A year or so ago we decided that the roof required replacement. We obtained a few quotes and then we decided to have the roof replaced by Mr Stephen Fishlock ( http://www.roofersinbrittany.com/en/ ). The roof was replaced last November and by all accounts the weather was really wet and windy but despite the elements Mr Fishloch still did a first class job. New galvanized drainpipes were provided together with some new galvanized guttering. All of the edges of the roof and the exposed roof beams were covered with tiles. Galvanized tile pins were used (so this should help with the longevity of the roof ) and the apex of the roof was covered with terracotta ridging. A new velux window was also introduced which it was hoped would bring some much needed light into the house.

So much more than a little illumination.

Even though the roof has made the house look much smarter and has provided vital protection for the building against the elements it is in the inside of the house that the roof has made the biggest difference due to the introduction of a reasonably small Velux window which has turned the once dark and uninviting staircase landing into a really well illuminated space. The photographs below show just how much light is now pouring into the house form the roof area and exposes the beautiful wooden (original) floor and the stone wall.

New Fridge - What New Fridge

Yes, we had to buy a new fridge. It was’nt that the old fridge was old and clapped out but it had gone a funny kind of yellow since someone had left some food in for a few months or so ( yuk ). A new, bigger fridge with a larger freezer section wsa purchased and Eddie and myself collected it with E&L installing it and made the necessary adjustments to the kitchen.

Lazy Days in the Garden

Having a holiday means that if you wish to do nothing then you can do just that. We had several days where we just enjoyed the sunshine and the countryside together with some good food and wine.

Visit to Our Favourite Pizza Restaurant

No visit to Rohan is complete without at least one trip to our favourite pizza restaurant ‘Le Petit Tonneau’ . Even under Covid 19 conditions the restaurant thrives. Its absolutely necessary to book and we did witness peopole being turned away. As always the pizzas were great and the house red is fine and reasonably inexpensive.

The restaurant is suituated on the bank of the Nantes-Brest canal so on this occasion we were able to watch a craine bird strutting around together with an otter. Normally boats do pass as they go down the canal and there are normally some fishermen trying their luck

Back to the Beach ( La Plage - Mendu )

We always like a trip to the beach or two. On this trip we went to both Mendu and Berger where we had a great ( but short ) walk.

Lazy Alex and No Jamie

This year James decided that he would not come with us but would stay at his new base in Durham and complete his work for Laid Law. I think that it was the first time that we have been to France without the four of us ( disciounting the early days when Alex was not with us of course ), we did of course call Jamie up on the interweb so althouh he was not physically present he was not forgotten.

With his long, long break from school Alex has changed his daytime hours and instead of getting up at say 7 am for school he has now adopted a more casual approach to living and generally rises sometime after 11:30 am. On holiday this gets extended further to maybe 12 or 12:30

Warm and Wet on Lac De Duc

Alex , Jean and myself decided that we should go and pay a visit to Lac Du Duc. Lac Du Duc is a 30 minute drive from the house and it is a great area for water sports, table tennis, walking and it is just a pleasant area to be in. On the day we went it was really hot. Alex and I decided that we would lile to go kyaking for an hour, this is something that I have not done for quite a while and the last time I went was with Jamie on the Nantes-Brest canal near Josselyn where I struggled to make headway but was great at spinning round. But on this occasion with Alex we were able to paddle all over the top section of the lake, avoiding the water skiiers and the pedallos. It was great, we both jousted with each other and we came back really wet but because of the heat we soon dried – it was great. I think that the next time we go we will have to do a 2 hour stint (rather than just the hour ) and venture further down lake. Once we finished we of course met up with Jean then back home in time for afternoon tea.

Another visit to the outdoor art gallery that is 'La Gacilly'

It seems that every time we go and visit Brittany we go to ‘La Gacilly’. La Gacilly is a small town that opens its doors to visitors all year round by turning itself into an open air photographic gallery. Usually there is a theme OR there are views of the world taken by a series of talented photographers both old and new.

This year we were most impreseeed with the images that were captures of Gold Miners in Brazilia. Normally we would not re-photograph a photograph but this year we just could not help but try and recapture what we viewed at the exhibition.

The Journey Home

LEven though wewere only in France for 2 weeks it was a really refreshing break. The weather had been great with long warm sunny days. Most days the temperature was in the hig 20’s though on one occasion it did reach 35 Centigrade.

We were to depart form the house at 7:00 am but with the final jobs that we had to do we eventually setoff at 7:20. We had to be at the port early due to Covid 19 restrictions and changes.

As can be seen from the images below the sea was calm and the day was hot, the ship seemed to be deserted. I spent some of the time at the rear of the ship on deck 7 just looking out to sea and admiring the view which was beautiful, blue and calm ( it was like being on a Carribean cruise ).

Then back to Blighty and Home

This holiday break was unlike any other in some cases and even though there were the Covid 19 restrictions and even though people had to wear masks and socially distance themselves form each other, apart from the ferry crossing ( where the ship was like the Mary Celest ) the holiday was more or less what we would have on a 2 week trip. Border control at Portsmouth seemed to be checking everyones car ( for illegal immigrants ) but we even avoided that and the car journey home was ( apart form the 2 turnings that i missed ) was reasonably uneventful so it was a good end to a good trip.

6th August 201813th December 2021

Great Start to Our Summer Break – But Boy Is It HOT !

So far we have been here 3 full days and the weather has been very,very hot. No.
Its been really hot. Infact we have not really ventured from the garden not because its been too hot but its actually been really nice.

Yesterday we did venture out. We ventured about 10 minutes down the road to Ludiac to visit Aquarev.
To put it into context Ludiac is not that scenic BUT we have discovered a new place on the outskirts of Ludiac and is really scenic and very pretty.

I will include series of photographs and I will add more to this once we are back in England.

Today we went to an Organ recital in Josselyn and it turned out to be really good though we did not stay right to the end, mainly because
we were with an eleven year old who I believe got a bit ‘bored’.

Tomorrow will be yet another hot day and the forcast for the next week is HOT.

Just a small selection of the ones taken.

1st August 201813th December 2021

2018 2 Week Summer Break a Rohan.

Soon we will be going back to France for a 2 week break. Jamie needs a break and Alex definately needs a break
and I am afraid that I also need a break. It also looks like its going to be hot. Forcasts are for the 30’s which to be honest
we have seen before in the height of summer. No doubt the town will be quiet, though I still expect that there will
be the normal Saturday morning market in Josselyn.

This trip will be slightly different than normal. We are meeting our Dave for tea en route near Portsmouth for a start and
E&L will be over to greet us and hopefully will have everything ship shape at the house when we arrive.

We may decide to go down to LaRochelle on this trip, I know that we have said ts before but I think that this time there is
a will to explore further south.

I am looking forwards to some great food and wine. I am also looking forwards to going and getting some Atlantic Julienne from
Mr Le Clerks which will go down nicely with some fresh French vegetables and some white wine. Jamie will do us a
BBQ , I am sure.

L&E have made contact with some new neighbours, apparently they were given some eggs. Hopefully we will also be able
to meet these people.

3rd July 20186th July 2018

July 3rd – Grass Is Under Control

The last time that we visited France we had one really BIG problem – GRASS.It was all our fault really because we had lost the last 2 people who used to look after the grass for us and we (I) had not managed to replace them. The grass was very high and it prevented us from making the most of the garden, something that we had almost taken fro granted but our next visit will be different and we will hopefully have things back under control. I have placed some photographs Here which show the grass after the last cut.

1st June 20186th July 2018

May 2018 Good Week in France

One Week in May

So we decided to have just a week at the house. We had not been for 9 months so we expected the house to be dusty and maybe the odd dead insect. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by how clean things were. Once fully opened and aired the house was just as if we had not left, that was until James noticed that we had a water leak near the hot water boiler.

Trouble with the Water Works

The leak was coming from the cold manifold and it took me the best part of 2 days to resolve in-fact I spent so much time in the boiler cupboard that people started to nick name me “Harry Potter”. After the leak we then found that we had no hot water ( 🙁 ). I examined the boiler and read all online material but nothing, there were several calls between myself and Eddie at home but again nothing. I called a friend in called Craig and we both stood and watched and debated what could be wrong but to no avail.Finally, during another phone conversation with Eddie hot water started to flow and it appears that we had an air lock which caused the issue. We all celebrated by having a long overdue hot shower. ( 🙂 )

Long Grass

In the past we have had someone tend the garden and the grass used to be cut twice a month but recently this has not happened and the garden had become wild. We had asked a tree surgeon if it would be possible to cut the grass for us ( at a charge ) prior to our arrival and we believed that this had been done

Brief Visit to Trinite Sur Mer

We decided to go down to the beach at Le Menu Du and on the way we dropped in on Trinite and had a bit of a walk around.

Visit to La Plage at Le Men Du

Along the coast of southern Brittany there are lots of good, sandy beaches. The one that we like to visit on a regular basis is called “Le Men Du”. Men Du has a large expanse of sand where you can enjoy kite flying or beach games. There are also toilets adjacent to the beach. There is a sandy peninsular which is good for walking round and for walking over. When the tide is out the sandy peninsular rises out of the sea but when the tide comes in only small areas of the peninsula can be seen though it is still possible to walk along to the end to watch the crashing waves. The expanse of sand is great for small children as it creates rock pools which are ideal for crabbing and shrimp fishing and for the more adventurous it is possible to walk down towards the open sea where one can sail , canoe or just swim.

Nice Meal Out At Credin

Now its fair to say that we have not been to ‘La Clauchette’ in Credin for some time. I had tried to call ‘La Gavotte’ but I was unable to get through to make a reservation and so I thought I would try La Clauchette at Credin where we were able to book at table for 4 @ 7:30. The restaurant was busy but not quite full. Most of the customers were English or at least English speaking. The restaurant is run and owned by a couple from the UK who desired a change in lifestyle … etc.

Day out at Isle Aux Moins

We always like to isit Ilse Aux Moins as it’s a small island that provides for the renting of ‘Velos’ . Last year I rode a tandem for the first time and we had hoped to repeat the experience but … etc.

Visited Ludiac to a New Park (with fishing)

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4th July 20176th July 2018

Where is the house ?

The house is situated in rural Brittany. It is just outside of the pretty town of Rohan which is situated on the Nantes to Brest canal. The area is very beautiful with large areas of woodlands, ponds and open spaces.

The people of the area speak French but with their own Breton dielect. If you are looking for somewhere to practice your french then this is the place to be.