France Tales » France

Les Soldes begin in France, Sales start this week

Owen — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:56:31 +0000

There are 2 sales seasons in France per year by law. One in the winter and one in the summer. Sales in France are regulated so you may get a few special promo prices throughout the year, but you will not see deep discounts except at this time of the year. You can save 50% on the first markdown and 50% more on each following markdown. Check this link below to see the dates of this years sales and the future year’s sales as well.

This summer the sales in France begin June 24th, in Toulouse most stores will open at 8AM to begin the sales, and there will be lines. Happy shopping at les soldes en France..

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English in Toulouse- Friday Afternoons (3)
English in Toulouse (1)
Figeac France pictures, photos, and images (4)
Montcuq, France (2)
Tour de France 2008 videos (4)
Tour de France route in France and in Toulouse (1)
The Sales in France begin (3)
St Jean de Luz, France (3)
Bayonne, France (14)
Deodorant in France (7)

English in Toulouse- Friday Afternoons

Owen — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:32:46 +0000

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Bapz Tea House

Do you want to practice your English? Are you a native English speaker looking to connect socially with other English speakers? Whatever your reasons are, come to English in Toulouse on Friday afternoons at Bapz Tea House from 4-7. Each Friday English in Toulouse meets informally at Bapz. No registration is required, just come and hang out. Coffee, tea, pastries, etc are all served at Bapz. We are the big table to the right against the wall in the middle when you walk in. It will make sense when you get there. We don’t wear signs.

English in Toulouse site

Don’t get lost! Here’s a map to help you.

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English in Toulouse

Owen — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:59:28 +0000

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English in Toulouse is a group that is totally bilingual in French and English. They are located in Toulouse, France. Before we moved here Jean-Jacques went to a French Fridays meeting. He met some really great people and had a very nice time. They try to strive for a group that has a high level of fluency in both languages so you can practice one or the other and not get bogged down with beginners. For some reason we didn’t manage to go back to the group until some 7 months after we lived here. Visit the website here. They held a picnic at a park in the Jolimont neighborhood of Toulouse, See picture below. If you live in Toulouse and want to practice either English or French sign up for French Fridays here. It is a very nice group of people. This picnic was called Christmas in July. It is based on the idea that in the southern hemisphere Christmas falls in the summer time so the whole snow motif doesn’t make sense, so in July in the southern hemisphere there is snow, if at all, and the typical “Christmas” weather. It was a hot day in Toulouse though.

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Figeac France pictures, photos, and images

Owen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:22:44 +0000

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WE took many pictures, photos, and images during our stay in Figeac France. We were visiting a friend in Figeac but the Tour de France happened to be passing through Figeac at the same time. Figeac was a little busier than usual. Not all pictures were from Figeac, but they are all from the surrounding area of Figeac.

Here a SimpleViewer Flash gallery should be displayed. Click here to open the post in your browser to see the gallery.

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Montcuq, France

Owen — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:08:00 +0000

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Montcuq is a beautiful village in France in the Quercy. Thanks to a recent reader comment regarding funny or bad translations, I found a collection of videos about Montcuq on Youtube. Sorry to the non-French speakers, the video about Montcuq is only in French. I could have the Montcuq video subtitled on dotsub but even translated it wouldn’t be that funny. For now, enjoy Montcuq:

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Tour de France 2008 videos

Owen — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:24:30 +0000

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The Tour de France 2008 is coming to Toulouse soon. Of course I won’t be able to have Tour de France 2008 videos from Toulouse as it hasn’t come yet, but I can put other Tour de France 2008 videos here.

Tour de France 2008 videos:
Here are some videos that are great, well produced, and in English, but they cannot be embedded so you have to follow the link.

Daily Motion Videos

Parcours Tour de France 2008
envoyé par TaiGer

Tour de France 2008 – étape 5
envoyé par GrimpeurRouleur

Youtube Videos
In English

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Tour de France route in France and in Toulouse

Owen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:12:44 +0000

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The tour de France is in full swing. As you go around in France you see the signs indicating which days highways or exits will be closed, or even which surface streets inside a city will be closed for the Tour de France. Here in Toulouse the Tour de France will pas through on Sunday, July 13th. Here is the entire route for the Tour de France but also the route through the Toulouse region.

Tour de France route

Tour de France route: Figeac to Toulouse

Tour de France route Toulouse to Bagnères de Bigorre

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St Jean de Luz, France

Owen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:34:37 +0000

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St Jean de Luz is a small resort like village in the Southwest of France. It is located in the department Pyrenees Atlantique. It is on the Atlantic coast and in the Basque country. St Jean de Luz is located south of Biarritz but just before crossing the border into Spain.

It is a fishing village and now a famous resort. It is known for its architecture. Many of the houses and buildings are painted white and a certain shade of maroonish red. The red is said to be for the blood of the bulls. The whole region is known for bullfighting. It is also known for the quality of its light. Famous artists have gone there to paint. The Bay has a very soft sand and, if the weather had coorperated, I’m sure it would have been wonderful to go for a swim there. There is a large main street shopping area. In the rain we darted from store to store and even found a store offering soldes, please don’t call the soldes police. The French are only allowed to have sales in stores 2 times per year, see this post for a recap.

If I had closed my eyes and was taken to St Jean de Luz and told to open my eyes, I would not know I was in France. It is a cute coastal town a little on the resort-ish side but not as extravagent as Biarritz. It is much smaller than the other places we visited and had less to do but go to the ocean and shop but I did find a website that told a lot about its activities:

You can go scuba diving, parasailing, and hang gliding
You can visit the botannical garden
There are a few historic homes that you can tour
There is a Basque museum

I would go back but with the intention of spending the day at the beach. It is located in a small bay so the strong current of the Atlantic Ocean is dampened. I like big waves but for a break it would be nice to spend the afternoon here. I’d like to find out if there is a decent art museum there. If so many artists went there to paint in its famous ight you’d think there would be some museum showing their work. More research to do.

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Bayonne, France

Owen — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:12:24 +0000

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Bayonne is located in the South Western part of France near the Atlantic Coast. It is in the Pyrenees Atlantique and in the heart of the French Basque country. Even more so than in Biarritz, reminders of the Basque heritage were everywhere in Bayonne, street signs, business signs, directions, conversations heard on the street, everywhere oozed Basque. Txlzzchi, just kidding but that is really how it looked to me.

The Nive and the Adour Rivers come together in the center of Bayonne making it a very picturesque city on water. It is also about 5 minutes from the Atlantic Coast so it has a very coastal feel to it. The Nive divides Bayonne into Grand Bayonne and Petit Bayonne. There are five bridges between the two parts of the city. Indeed the Nive is more like a main street, with many restaurants, squares and the covered market on its quays or river banks. We ate one evening at a typical Basque restaurant right on the banks of the Nive. A wide variety of fish dishes with Espelette, a regional spicy mix like a more refined cayenne, can be ordered. In fact fish is the staple food of this regional, right after pork. Jambon de Bayonne is served all over France and western Europe and it does indeed come from here. We stuck to the fish however.

Grand Bayonne is the commercial and civic hub, with small pedestrian only streets packed with shops, the large cathedral and Hôtel de Ville. The Cathédrale Sainte-Marie is an imposing Gothic building, rising over the houses, glimpsed along the narrow streets. It was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. Nearby is the Château-Vieux, some of which dates back to the 12th century, where the governors of the city were based, including the English Black Prince. This side had a more French feel to it, although the Basque influence was always apparent.

Petit Bayonne is lively with Basque bars and restaurants more reminiscent of cities the other side of the Pyrenees, in Spain. There are two important museums here. The Musée Basque is an ethnographic museum of the entire Basque Country. It opened in 1922 but has been closed for a decade recently for refurbishment. It now has special exhibitions on Basque agriculture, seafaring and pelota, handicrafts and Basque history and way of life. The Musée Bonnat began with a large collection bequeathed by the local-born painter Léon Bonnat. The museum is one of the best galleries in south west France and has paintings by Degas, El Greco, Botticelli and Goya among others. At the back of Petit-Bayonne is the Château-Neuf, among the ramparts. Now an exhibition space, it was started by the newly-arrived French in 1460 to control the city. The walls nearby have been opened to visitors. They are important for plantlife now and Bayonne’s botanic gardens adjoin the walls on both sides of the Nive.

Bayonne has always been a refuge for persecuted people. During the Spanish Inquisition Jews fled Spain to Bayonne and also during Franco’s reign Spanish leftists fled to nearby cities in France like Toulouse and also Bayonne. It is a small city of about 40,000 people but it was a surprising treat to discover. There is no shortage of things to do and is highly worth visiting. Some things to do or interesting side notes are:

Bull fighting is big here and there is still a yearly festival.
Mayonnaise is said to have come from here but was misspelled and mispronounced over the years, it was originally called Bayonnaise. Now Bayonniase can be ordered but it is like mayonnaise with the spice Espelette in it.
The Bayonet comes from here
It is a stop on the Santiago de Compostela/St Jacques de Compostel pilgrimmage
There is a Bayonne Ham Festival during Holy Week
Stilts were originally made by Basque artisans here
Basque pottery from this city is very known throughout Europe

Bayonne is a great place to visit. It is very different from many cities and villages in the Southwest of France. We highly recommend going there.

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Deodorant in France

Owen — Sat, 17 May 2008 06:05:11 +0000

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There is a longstanding stereotype about the French that they don’t like to wear deodorant and hence they tend to smell. While it is probably an oversimplification, it is not entirely untrue. As the weather warms up going to the gym can be a bit of an ordeal.

Now all gyms smell a bit, but on warmer days I swear Euforie, our gym, smells like a hot day at the zoo. It could be due to ventilation, sweat, heat, or lack of deodorant, all are possibly true. There is however, the unmistakable scent of bodies not modified by deodorant. I rarely hear English in the gym but the other day someone walked in with a friend and I overheard their conversation, it started out with “Is someone making crystal meth in here?” I am assuming they said this because of the smell, so I am not alone in feeling this way.

Which brings me to my lovely doctor. I really like my doctor who was referred to us by friends. Going to the doctor in France is a treat because you are not rushed through in 15 minutes or less, you can get all the tests you need done with very little worry about cost, and you feel it is focused on your health and not managing a patient caseload.

However, . . . I have a lot of allergies. I used to use the crystal deodorant you could buy in Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. It did not cause skin rashes for me, it did not have a fake flower smell, and it kept my odor at bay. It also lasts about a year before it stops working. Mine recently stopped working so I tried cheaper regular deodorants. All of which caused terrible rashes under my arms and then when going to the gym and sweating, the rash would get irritated to no end. So I stopped using them but the rash persisted.

Last visit to the doctor I showed him the rashes and asked him what to do. I explained to him about the deodorant but he also had me do a thyroid test and some other test to make sure there was not some other issue. No other issue. He said this is easy to solve, stop wearing deodorant. I told him that I have very strong body odor and stopping was not an option. He looked at me quite quizzically and with a wave of the hand told me then to get a nice eau de toilet to cover it up. Nice. So while I think the French don’t smell as much as they used to there is a cultural norm that says body odor is not that bad, well trust me, mine is.

So today I tasked myself with finding one of those crystal deodorants. I went to a variety of health food type stores and was able to find them but at a whopping 18€, that’s nearly $28, for one small crystal deodorant. I was walking by Galleries de Lafayette on Rue d’Alsace Lorraine and saw there was a big spa/cream section. I went in an asked around and no one knew what I was talking about, but a customer overheard and she showed the employees where they were located, French employees in big department stores-that’s another thread. So there they were and these were only 11€. Getting better. The woman also said you can get them at the pharmacy. I left and went to the closest pharmacy, where a slightly larger size one was and for only 10€ about $15, still expensive compared to $5.49 at Trader Joe’s, but I was desperate so I bought one.

At those prices no wonder some French don’t want to wear deodorant. So if any readers are racked with guilt for having missed my birthday on May 7th the perfect gift would be some crystal deodorant. Any summer visitors that are looking to stay here must bring crystal deodorant.