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Cleo de Merode. Snippets of French history.

  Cleo de Merode (1875 – 1966) was a famous French-Austrian actress, model and glamour icon and was hailed as one of the most beautiful women of her time. She was born in Paris in 1875, possibly the daughter of Austrian landscape artist Carl Freiherr von Merode (1853–1909). No letters to or from her survive and […]

Posted 2 years ago

Cycling and hiking when you stay at Rochebonne

There are 3600 kms of cycle paths in the Charentes and 5000 kms of walks, much of it near us at Rochebonne (www.seasidefrance.com).    www.seasidefrance.com More and more people either hire bikes or bring their own, for this area is flat and there are cycle paths criss-crossing the countryside.  You can cycle, almost car-free, all […]

Posted 2 years ago

Your family pet and staying at Rochebonne.

We used to have a Great Dane, George.  He was eleven years old when he died – very old for a ‘Dane!  So we are happy to accept dogs at Rochebonne, but in the cottages  we can do so only during April, May, June, the first week of July, and September.  In cottage 1 and […]

Posted 2 years ago

Vineyards to visit in our part of France.

    www.seasidefrance.com The Charente-Maritime and Charente “departments” (like counties or areas) are situated in south-west France, and boast a wonderful climate, especially close to the coast.  Indeed, the weather can sometimes change quite dramatically once you are 12 kms inland, with beautiful sunshine near the coast and bucketing rain further in. Traditionally, they are […]

Posted 2 years ago

A Tall Boy in Australia by Catherine Broughton

#memoir #Australia Between the years 1942 and 1982 the Australian government operated a “populate or perish” scheme which encouraged migrants, mostly from the UK, to settle in Australia. The 1960s were the boom years for this scheme, and among the many thousands who moved to Australia was a tall Sussex lad called Bruce … Bruce […]

Posted 3 years ago

Rochebonne – holiday rentals, France

There are several places called Rochebonne in France. It means “good rock”, and properties built on rock, as is our own, are regularly called Rochebonne. I have been prompted in to mentioning it because I received the following e-mail last night: “I have googled you and I see your property is really a ruin and […]

Posted 3 years ago

The French in Egypt … bite-size!

I was recently in Cairo, and was surprised by what a large French influence there was.  Shops, hotels and restaurants had French names almost as regularly as English or Arab ones.   The British were there from 1882 to 1956, so one can understand the names in English – plus, of course, English being an international […]

Posted 3 years ago

Marie Antoinette’s children.

  Marie-Therese of France (1778-1851) was the only one of Marie Antoinette’s four children to survive in to adulthood. She was born a few days before Christmas at the Palace of Versailles. As was the custom of the day the room was crowded with witnesses and the windows kept shut in case of evil air. As […]

Posted 3 years ago

French heroines of WWI

As we approach the centenary of the First World War, I thought it would be interesting to have a look at the roles of some of the French women during that time.  Women combatants, sometimes called she-soldiers, were far more common that one would think, though we always refer to the lads, our boys, our […]

Posted 3 years ago

Cote d’Ivoire: snippets of French history

In the Chateau there is an old trunk with an equally old Cote d’Ivoire shipping tag glued to it.  It made me want to look up about the French in Africa. Like so many places, trade was the first point of contact between “the white man” and his black counterpart.  Ships from Europe called in […]

Posted 3 years ago

Books now available on Amazon:

A Call From France
French Sand
Kefani: An African Childhood
The Man With Green Fingers
Saying Nothing