The Good Life France newsletter from Fontainebleau castle

Bonjour,

I hope that you and yours are well.

I’m sending you this newsletter from the Chateau de Fontainebleau! And no, I have not decided to move here from my little farmhouse – especially now we have finished renovating after 22 years with our bare hands doing everything from building walls, laying floors and putting on a new roof! I am in fact here researching for articles which I’ll be writing for The Good Life France Magazine (it’s free – click here to read and subscribe). I’m exploring the Ile de France – Paris, Fontainebleau, Monet’s Garden, Moret-sur-Loing (a beautiful town where artist Rosa Bonheur used to live, and the chateau of Roche-Guyon just over the border in Picardy. And I’m visiting them all by paddlewheel ship with CroisiEurope! Join me on Instagram where I’ll share photos and videos as I go…

Meanwhile back home, Joan Collins, Kim Kardachicken and Taylor Swift have been hogging the chicken coop sitting on eggs for weeks. I have to say, I didn’t really want more chickens, but then a cockerel we now call Serge Gainsbourg turned up out of the blue in the pen. I mean seriously, I don’t know how he got there. One minute I was thinking it was a bit sad that some of the girls were sitting on unfertilised eggs every day, wanting babies, and maybe I should get them a husband, then Serge just turned up (and yes, I am going to do the lottery this year after I have thought long and hard about winning!). Mark, my other half, is giving me updates each day on the progress in chicken world, but there are no little chirps so far!

Last week a giant parrot suddenly appeared outside the townhall in the village. And I mean giant – its wingspan was about 10 feet, and its head was the size of a large bucket. It could only mean one thing – the straw sculpture contest was looming. On Saturday, the village and surrounding valleys were buzzing with visitors from as far afield as Belgium. They went from village to village to admire the locals’ efforts with a bit of straw. It’s an art that’s as old as the hills but I doubt that the ancients made anything like our parrot which had a Prussian blue face and rather doleful eyes and a pointed beak that looked positively dangerous.

The other big lure of the day (possibly more of an enticement even than a parrot, trains and other frankly strange things made from straw) are the pop-up restaurants and bars that each village lays on for the event. The enticing aroma of mussels simmering in white wine with garlic, and fresh fries bubbling in great steaming vats, filled the air along with the sound of disco music and the inevitable warbling of the late great Johnny Hallyday (AKA “rockeur national” – France’s answer to Elvis Presley) who will never be forgotten in this village.

As I always say, never a dull moment here!

Bisous from Fontainebleau,
Janine
Editor

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