Blog

Buildings: amazing places to visit in the Charente Maritime

Places for you to visit, not far from us at Rochebonne, Charente Maritime. The French sometimes call it “le 17” as the number of the departement.  The following are an easy drive.  www.domainederochebonne.com  Brouage, about 10 mins in the car. The wiggeldy road leading all the way to it across the marshlands was built with […]

Posted 6 years ago

La Saint-Valentin

Saint Valentine, officially Saint Valentine of Rome, was a widely recognized 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Christianity on February 14. Since the Middle Ages he is associated with a tradition of courtly love.  In French it is La Saint-Valentin, and is almost as widely celebrated as it is in the UK.  St Valentine of Terni […]

Posted 6 years ago

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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 7 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 7 years ago

Books now available on Amazon:

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