Memories of France

France

I am joining Anita at Castles crowns and cottages to take part in her link party, so pack your bags and join us in a journey to France!

 When I think of France I immediately think of delicious food,wine, fascinating people and places, beautiful language, amazing architecture and lots of artistic inspiration.

Although my first picture was of the Eiffel Tower we will leave the delights of Paris behind for others to mention and concentrate instead on places close to the sea, (did you expect anything else from me!) My first memory of France was visiting the South of France in the early 70's staying in a motel near Frejus. The sea was so warm - the photo must have faded over time as it doesn't look the Mediterranean blue that I remember ! The beach looks deserted apart from me standing at the waters edge.

Four years later we returned to the South of France, but this time rented a chalet up in the hills above Cannes. It was amazing how popular the stretch along the coast had become in just a few years. We sat in traffic jams to get to the beach, only to find everyone squashed together like sardines. For once I much preferred the attractive villages in the hills away from the crowds. There it was just the company of olive trees with the sound of crickets, and the smell of lavender. The smell of lavender even today takes me instantly back to those hillsides.....

Tourrettes-sur-Loup

A school day trip to Boulogne was my next visit where we practiced the French we had learnt at school, and bought French food to taste and take home. French baguettes, cheeses and croissants weren't common-place in England then!

My husband and children's first encounter with France was a long coach trip to Disneyland Paris, which didn't show them much of the true spirit of France.A few years later we had a chance to appreciate this in Brittany with its amazing shoreline, Celtic connections and the  traditional music all of which reminded us so much of Cornwall.

A French fisherman launching his boat in Brittany

View over Concarneau Bay

 Traditional Breton costumes

Rather than  revisit the busy South of France, we also took the children to the less crowded Languedoc region. The colours, architecture and warm climate were wonderful and also the wine from the grapes grown in the region were very good too! 

The wine from a small local wine producer  was only a short walk from where we were staying.

Collioure

France is such a huge country and there are still so many other places I long to explore... do you have any favourite places? I also enjoy reading books about France and those that have followed their dream and made a new life there, these are among my favourites :-

A year in Provence - Peter Mayle

Extreme pale rose: A very French adventure by James Ivey

Narrow dog to Carcassonne - Terry Darlington

The Olive tree - Carol Drinkwater

C'est la folie - Michael Wright

Chocolat - Joanne Harris

I have just finished reading Joanne's Harris book titled "Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure" which is a 3rd book in the triology  following her book and  the film "Chocolat". It bought back for me the scents, colours and tastes of France. I hadn't read the second book but  this did  not detract from the story. If you would  be interested in winning this book please leave me a comment mentioning it and I will pulll out a name at the end of the week.

Thank you for taking this short journey through France with me. There are many others taking  part in this journey so if you still wish to explore see other participants postings see Castles crowns and cottages. If you haven't visited Anita's blog before you will discover a wonderful world of inspiration, music and artistry  Thank you Anita for arranging this great party and allowing me to share my memories of France with you.

Sarah x

Down the lane

The weather forecast on Sunday was for rain, as it was bright and sunny after we had finished our breakfast we decided to get out before the rain appeared! Our plan had been to take a short stroll on a beach nearby but the admission charges for car parking had increased to £5 since our last visit and so our walk was only with distant sea views.

A traditional Dorset barn in the distance.

This is the etched glass window in the little wooden church close to the edge of the cliff showing the beautiful scenery around the church.

Wishing you a Happy week.

Sarah x

Linda's tree

This is Linda's tree - we planted this magnolia in our garden to remember my friend Linda who died of cancer at the age of 32, eighteen years ago. It was only a few feet high when we planted it but it has grown into a magnificent tree that brings us joy and reminds me of our friendship.

Linda is on the left  - I am on the right.

Daisy enjoyed the shade of the tree

Over the past few days the trees at the bottom of the garden have been transformed by the stunning blooming apple and cherry blossom. We only have a short way to go to appreciate their beauty.

This bulb selection I bought from Lidl back in September, for less than £3, has been flowering for over a month starting with blue hyacinths and blue anemones and has been fantastic! I hope they will be selling some more like this in the Autumn.

We have had a week of almost constant sunshine and you can almost see the plants growing before your eyes. May has to be my favourite month of the year! What is your favourite month?

Welcome to my new followers Merisi's Vienna for beginners,  Gracie Saylor,  Richard ,Blue Borage, and Moonlight that you for joining me.

Sarah x

Beach huts

Like VW camper vans I also have a love and fascination for beach huts!  Luckily with around 23,000 beach huts in the UK, I have plenty of opportunity of photographing them and maybe dreaming of owning one, one day! I recently featured some beach huts in one of my posts and from the comments received its clear I'm not alone in admiring them!

I started to wonder how long beach huts had been part of our beach scenery and this is what I discovered.....

At the end of the 18th century sea bathing became very fashionable. King George III while visiting Weymouth in the 1790's decided to take a dip in the waters of Weymouth Bay. At that time men and women swam in separate areas of the beach. Bathing machines were towed out to sea by horses. To preserve their modesty people would enter the machine, change their clothes and then enter the water on the other side. King George's dip in Weymouth Bay is still remembered in Weymouth today with his statute and a replica of the bathing machine used.

As time went by and fashions changed and in the Victorian era the shape of the hut changed from an octagonal to more of a box shape

As mixed bathing became acceptable these bathing machines were no longer required and  many were just left abandoned on the shore. The wheels were taken off and they were transformed into the first beach huts changing on the beach was still unacceptable. As the popularity of going to the seaside grew - so did the number of beach huts . New ones were built or old buildings were converted to provide not only somewhere to change, but also to have a brew up or picnic, without the sand in the sandwiches. They also provided a shelter from the rain! The views over looking the sea are always spectacular whatever the weather!

The oldest beach hut in the UK is in Bournemouth in Dorset dating back to 1909 -  it is very similar to the ones above. Bournemouth has over 200 beach chalets ans some of them have been painted in different shades of a single colour. I'm surprised they haven't been used in a paint advertisement. Do you like the different shades?

Although some beach huts are privately owned, many are still owned by councils and are rented out on a long term basis, while others can be rented or a daily or weekly basis.

Dorset used to hold the record of having the most expensive beach huts for sale, but one of these below in Shaldon in Devon has now taken the record  - it was recently for sale for £245,000 see here

More colourful beach huts at Dawlish Warren

I started this post about a week ago and then discovered that it has been a popular subject this week! I saw BBC's Countryfile last weekend featured the history of the beach hut and in the latest copy of Coast Magazine is a selection of beach huts where you can stay!

We have extended weekend with May Day bank holiday on Monday and hopefully the weather will stay dry! Wishing you a good weekend and thank you as always for all the lovely comments you leave me.

Sarah x