Life in a Small Village in the Sud de France

Parc de enfants

 I thought for this post, I would attempt to put in words what the daily life is like here. It is so, so, different than anything like I have experienced since growing up in very rural West Texas.

(This was actually written last year but never posted as I found it in the "Drafts" folder.)

Break of Day

Ulisse

Jake and I wake about 6am and during the week the village is already alive. This is vine (farm) country and the vigneron are getting ready for their day in the vignes. After brewing fresh café, Jake is begging for his walk. Actually, he gets me up for the walk at 7:30 on the dot.  We start our walk in various directions each day with encounters with different villagers on each route. When we head out toward the Cave, we usually meet up with Andre and his spaniel. Jake speaks enthusiastically with Andre and tolerates the spaniel. 

Further down the way or on the way back, we meet Carlos and his dog Ulysses (Ulisse). Oh, such howling commences. Jake speaks to Ulisse and flies directly into Carlos chest as if he hadn’t seen him for years. Ulisse then speaks briefly to me (good French manners) and starts the mutual sniffing with Jake. Carlos and I exchange handshakes and matin pleasantries and the dogs then follow each other wetting the nearest vegetation. It’s over and we continue our walk.(the video is only Ulisse as Carlos was not at home)  Further down the lane, Jake takes extreme delight in stirring up a couple of screeching spaniels behind a gate. Once he has them screaming, he laughs and leaves, smiling like a Cheshire cat all the way.

Throughout the village, there are unique sounds that start the day. In the old section, it is the sound of creaking shutters sans lubrication for 40 years. They don’t lubricate them so the voisin (neighbors) will know they are up and around. Or is it to wake the voisin as a common courtesy and reduce the need for alarm clocks. In the newer parts or recently renovated, the shutters are vertical electric and as you walk everyone is waking up. Old ladies take their bath rugs and beat them against the wall outside their open windows. In their jardin, night gowns are normal attire for early morning watering of the plants and picking fruit for le petit de juener.

Place de la Croix

La Eglise 

The chiming of the village bell occurs on the hour and half hour and must be tuned to internet time. It gongs the number of hours precisely on the hour. In case you missed it or missed counting the gongs, it rings again two minutes later. Then a single ding on the half hour. It emanates from the old fortress tower from the 12 ^th century as opposed to from the 9^th century Church. The church also rings out for mass, weddings and funerals. The tower sits about 70 meters from our house so we have no problems hearing it.

Tower of Fortress

Local cluckers

Throughout the village, whether center or perimeter, there is always the clucking of hens as many villagers keep their own chickens even though space is quite limited. (There are other hens that cluck early but that’s another story) strangely, not many roosters are heard just the hens for the ouefs (eggs).

Virtually everyone here has a dog and as Jake and I walk by they set up a howl. With notable exception, Jake pays them no mind except for the occasional huff and “hhrumpf”.

The birds are also atwitter early. We have Pia (magpies), hoopoes, starlings, and orioles among others. I finally saw a hoopoe up close.

Pia or Magpie

Hoopoe

Beautiful, colorful, smallish birds with a huge plume and checkered tail in flight. They migrate to Africa across the Med in the winter and return to herald the arrival of spring here in the Languedoc. The starling makes a very high-pitched noise and flies at breakneck speeds and appears to be dive bombing objects but it is just their habit. We have a small owl (Skops owl) here that makes a sound like an electronic beep and its timing is so perfect it could be mechanized. It has been compared to the sonar sound.

Skops Owl

Originally we thought it was someone’s alarm system only to find out it was a bird. I have never seen one but they chirp dawn to dark.



As we walk, the doves serenade us with their distinctive cries and the pigeons growl at each other in the trees (I wonder what that’s all about). We head down le rue des chats (cat row) aka Rue de L'amour and Jake is on his best behavior.

He has learned Village cats know no fear, especially from an American beagle.










We pass the cimetière and see our neighbor making his daily visit to the grave of la femme. He drives a classic French "Deux Chevaux" meaning 2 horsepower. (it is taxable horsepower not actual horsepower). We nod and “bonjour” and move along.

Daily sojourn a la cimiterie

Many villagers are heading into the center to get the pain du jour (daily bread) all along the way, folks stop and chatter or simply say bonjour, au revoir and bon journee or ciao. (Hello and the French equivalent of “have a good day”) On market days, they pull a small basket on wheels to bring home the loot from market which is three days of fresh veggies, meats and cheeses.

From our upstairs window

en route to marche

Toward the end of our walk, the vigneron and tractors are on the move. Smack in the center of the old part, tractors back out of small garages and head down the very narrow streets and Jake and I take refuge in doorways and 

stoops. This time of year, they are spraying the vignes for insects and fertilizing with a spray mist. If you are in the vines, stay away as the chemicals are probably toxic. The operators wear masks.

 Commerce in Alignan du Vent

We are blessed with a very complete shopping scene compared to other villages of our size. We have two boulangeries who provide a wide variety of baked goods.

Poste Boulangerie

The one by the Poste offers about 8 kinds of loaf bread (unsliced) as well as croissants, pain du chocolat, chausson de Pomme. The other baker offers less variety and is trying to compete against the bigger establishment.

We also have Luc’s, a butcher shop (boucherie) that sells meat, cheese, and a limited assortment of daily essential items.  While certainly more expensive than the supermarkets, the quality is great and Luc will cut the meat specific to your orders. He also offers “plats emporter” (plate lunches to carry out).

Le Boucherie

Plat emporter carte

He writes what he is making today just beside his door in dry erase marker. If you like the selection, you place your order before 10 heure and pick it up after 12.

Baker on the inner circle

The other boulangerie is not quite up to speed yet and while the two used to alternate days closed, the Poste is now open 7 jours.

Cafe de la Place

We have the café/bar that is mostly a bar with flaky hours. They offer pizza and on occasion will offer a traditional menu or have a repas of all one dish perhaps cous cous or Paella . Again, if you like, just get the order in. The Poste boulangerie is also offering pizza and early morning café. I am not sure how this competition will get resolved but nice to have a choice.

At the bar, the old and/or unemployed men start gathering about 8:30 and by 10:00 the pastis is the order of the day. The old women stand well away and gossip about the men. The bar closes about 2 and doesn't open again until 6p.

Next door is the Tabac. It offers tobacco, newspapers, magazines, cards, kids’ books, candy and miscellaneous items except food or drink. It also has a manual ATM as you give your card to her and tell how much "l'argent" (cash) you want and she runs the machine. It closes at 2p and reopens about 4p.





Down a couple of doors is the Phamacie and across the street is the coiffiure where Pat gets a 20 Euro full service haircut and catches up on all the village gossip. Not really as she doesn't understand the rapid-fire French Gossipers but maybe someday.

We have fresh markets on Wednesday and Saturday.  Mid-week, the cheval (horsemeat) vendor is there and sometimes the poissonnier (fish man).  The legumes (vegetables) man is there faithfully on both days. On Saturday, we have an additional meat truck that sells meat, sausage, cheese and eggs. The quality is always good although still requires watching for flaws or freshness. Buying an aubergine in the market can take some time and be a little frustrating to “type As”. The vendors serve each customer sequentially and the lovely ladies can take a long time just picking out 3 apples. Then there are 6 more things on their list. All the while the madams are chatting with every other lady that comes along. It is best to get there early or after the rush, as there is no breaking the usual sequence of buying.

Breakfasts in France

When we first started coming to France, we amazed at the scarcity of a good breakfast here.  Before coming here we traveled Ireland, Germany and Britain and all had offered substantial breakfast to start your day. In Paris, however, you might get baguette or croissant, sometimes buerre (butter) and if you insist, marmalade or confiture. A single coffee but the juice is extra. In the UK countries you get a full English, or Irish, or Scottish! This consists of 2 eggs, toast, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, black pudding  and a sausage of some type. All cooked to UK standards and very satisfying.

When we got to the Provence it was much better as our B&B hosts put out a great spread. Breads as usual, but accompanied by a selection of deli meats, cheese, fresh fruits, melon in season, fresh legumes in season, yogurts, cereals, juice or milk and coffee volonte. Occasionally we got a boiled egg (in the shell with an egg cup). Germany and Italy follow generally the same pattern for their breakfasts.

This has become our pattern here in Alignan. We really like the fresh approach and (perhaps) kid ourselves into believing it is healthier than the fully cooked in the frying pan offers from USA, UK and Ireland.

A typical breakfast for us now consists of (with daily variations)

                         Baguette or other loaf (frequently still warm from                              the boulanger's oven)

Plate of 3-5 different cheeses (cantal, compte, roquefort, leerdamer, chevre, camembert, emmental, St. Nectaire, etc.)

Plate of 2-4 meats (rosette, jambon serrano, pave poivre, ail fume, fig terrine, pate compagne, etc

                              Fresh vegetables (cucumbers, radish, tomatoes, etc.)

                              Fresh fruits of the season (abricot, poire, pomme) or dried fruits from the market

                              3 varieties of olives

                              Olive oil and/or butter

                              Honey and/or confiture

                              Orange, pampelmouse, or tomato juice
                              Coffee and tea

Seems like a lot and is but it provides a tremendous variety and no single thing gets overdone. We think the basis of freshness has to be good. Pat ate croissants and I ate pain du chocolat the first two years which are overboard in butter and more recently we are going for the breads.  Occasionally Pat tries her hand at crepes.

The only reason I showed this is that it is a long way from “scattered, smothered and covered”. We are hopeful that it is healthier although we can have the former anytime (and on occasion do), we like it and all its side benefits.

Food here is based in general on olive oil and wine in cooking. I have learned by experimentation that using wine in virtually any dish will produce richness unattainable in any other way. I believe the richness also contributes to “portion control” because it is so rich, you simply can’t eat as much of it. Claude Pottier taught me that even marinating in wine has a tremendous impact on the meat prior to cooking.

 Midi Promenade

Jake normally wants a substantial midday promenade and Pat is his walking partner during the midi,   the après midi, and the soir promenade.  Jake usually chooses which direction they start out.  They sometimes walk in the vineyards, sometimes along the vendange roads, at times they wander aimlessly around the village.  The village during the midi is very quiet.  There isn’t much traffic and there are not many pedestrians out and about.  Most everyone is home having lunch, even the kids get a two hour lunch break at home.  A few are at the bar, but not many.   When they walk in the vineyard Jake gives particular attention to the vines.  The raisins are getting plumper so the smell must be getting stronger.  Jake apparently can tell when they are ripe by sniffing them.  When they are ripe he isn’t bashful about eating a few off the vine.  (I know, I know, raisins aren't good for dogs). 

Pat tells me when they walk at nuit it sometimes feels like they are the only people in the village, especially in the winter.  In the late fall and winter all the shutters are closed and after about 9:00pm there is no traffic and the bar is long closed. The village has the look of a Hollywood set.  It almost seems like it is not real.  In the late spring and summer the village is livelier in the evening and night.  The bar is opened more often and stays open later.  The old ladies and old gentlemen sit out in front of their maisons talking, sometimes until 11:00pm or 11:30PM.  They always speak to Pat and Jake no matter how late it is.  Most of them want to give Jake a head scratch before we head on home.  One of the older gents is trying to teach Jake to shake hands!  

Also during the late Spring and Summer the shutters are open and we can hear what is on the TV when we stroll by. It has been really interesting this year with the World Cup going on.  We missed all the excitement the last two years because we were on vacation in Germany one year and Italy last year.  I have my French Flag and my USA Flag that I have been flying.  Allez Bleu!  USA! USA! USA!  I am sure my neighbors are laughing their heads off at the silly American!

 

The "ALLO, ALLO"

The village has a public address system. The Mairie blasts out anything they deem important from parking violations, street closures, or similar announcements. On Market days, they herald the arrival of each of the market vendors and specials of the day such as certain fish or meats or if a special vendor is in town. Occasionally, we have mattress sellers, hardware and clothing vendors that come thru. It is a full fledged advertisement for these vendors as it is important to the village from them to continue serving the village. They also announce, seemingly totally at random, upcoming fetes, boules matches, city and organizational meetings. the sound emanates from three sections of the village so if you are close to two sections, you get the message twice.