Real Lives In The Quercy
CONTENTS
Real Life Stories from the Lot and Quercy
Real life stories from people living in the Lot, Lot et Garonne and Tarn et Garonne departments in south west france.What's the Weather Really Like?
Doctors and Dentists
How to find medical help
Local Restaurants
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Real Lives
Real life stories from the Lot and Quercy region Here we present a collection of real life stories from people living in the region and feature some of our local businesses.We are very grateful to our contributors and advertisers, without whom this page would be blank! If you have a story you would like to share, we would be delighted to hear from you. See our contributors' guide for more details.
La Troupe d’Acteurs du Quercy
The Show Goes On
Since I last wrote a few words about my exploits with La Troupe d’Acteurs du Quercy things have moved on. Well, they do don’t they? The sands of time and all that. From a personal point of view I have really enjoyed the opportunity to murder a few people...
The show goes on...
Chats Du Quercy
Cat Rescue And Rehoming Centre
The purpose of Chats du Quercy is to find permanent, safe homes for homeless cats and kittens with responsible and caring owners. We aim to provide quality, short term housing in a safe, disease-free and stimulating environment...
Chats Du Quercy...
Solar Panels Becoming More Affordable
Latest US developments bringing savings
Despite the fact that silicon is actually the industry standard semiconductor in the majority of electronic units, which includes the pv cells that photo voltaic panels utilize to convert ...
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Learning First Aid in France
Find out about the services of the Croix Blanche
We were recently contacted by Beckie Roques, who works with the Croix Blanche association that provides first aid assistance across France and first aid training courses to individuals and groups. Beckie will soon be qualifying as a first aid teacher and will be offering first aid training courses in English and French.
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Ex-Pats In France Making Ends Meet
Coping with the effects of the weak pound
Carole Gumbleton explains how fluctuations in the GBPEUR exchange rate affected her life in France. My husband Ron and I moved from Bristol in the UK to France 12 years ago and bought a farmhouse in Charente. We still live in Charente and have been enjoying life in France...Ex-Pats In France Making Ends Meet
Getting Married in France
Some helpful advice for those taking the plunge...
Get married in France? Isn’t that difficult, people will ask, mindful of French bureaucracy? Well, I got married myself here eight years ago, I have just organised my stepdaughter’s – much bigger – wedding and I have helped various friends with the paperwork in the intervening years. So here’s how to do it! I am writing this from the point of view of British nationals, though I believe it will equally apply to other nationalities...Getting Married in France...
Adopt A Dog From Les Chiens de Figeac
Give a senior dog a chance
I volunteer at my local refuge in Figeac and although I always have a fun time playing with the puppies, I am always more bowled over by the grandpas and grandmas that make up most of our shelter’s population. They are just as loving but in a calmer more dignified manner and they are quite happy to sit with you for hours. The benefits of adopting a senior dog are numerous...
Adopt a dog from the Figeac dog refuge...
Les Amis Des Chats
10th Anniversary Celebration
"Les amis des chats" has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. Since this cat welfare charity was founded in Roquecor, Tarn-et-Garonne in March 2000 it has helped over 5,000 cats, and plans to help even more in the years to come. It began by starting a "Trap-Neuter-Return" programme in its home village of Roquecor, the charity has expanded so that today it has...
Les amis des chats
Overcoming The Language Barrier
My decision to teach French happened by accident really. I had a call from a friend who had artisans on site and both sides were having trouble understanding what was required. I was happy to help but after I’d gone I was flattered to find the builder thought I was French. When my friend understood this, he said ‘Why don’t you teach it? It would really help me and I can think of several other people who would really value it too’. And that's how it all started...
The Language Barrier...
Motorcyling in the Quercy
A change of scene
Like a good many of us who plunge straight into moving lock, stock and barrel to France, never having had a holiday home here, we underestimated the challenge of living in a foreign country...
Motorcycling in the Quercy...
We're Working in the UK, but France is Still Our Home
From the UK to France and Back Again
Following the sale of our UK house, we realised that the French experience was now a reality. Little did we realise just how many changes were to come when we moved to Puy L’Eveque in 2003! ...
UK to France and Back Again...
Learning English with Les Amis des Chats
The children of Touffailles primary school have really been enjoying their english lessons lately. Over the past four weeks they have been improving their English using ‘Anglais avec les chats’, a unique education programme initiated by the cat charity Les Amis Des Chats...more...
Musical Marmite in the Lot and Quercy
An association of multi-cultural musicians
Anyone who’s spent a significant chunk of their lives in England and later moved abroad will, at some point, find themselves trying to explain Marmite to their new neighbours. Whether you wake up at 3 in the morning with an insatiable craving for a thick slice of hot buttered toast and Marmite or gag at the very thought...
Musical Marmite...
Dog Refuge in Figeac - Les Chiens de Figeac
Taking care of dogs in the Lot
Les Chiens de Figeac is a charity association that has been helping homeless dogs in the Lot region for 20 years. When Nicci HALTON and her partner moved to France in 2002, they decided to get involved...
Les Chiens de Figeac...
Horses in the Quercy
Moving house, they say, is the third most stressful thing after death and divorce, I disagree, moving one’s beloved horses to a foreign country far eclipses merely moving some sticks of furniture and a load of boxes from one house to another.We moved from Scotland to France in October 2003, we drove out two 4x4’s pulling heavily burdened trailers... Horses in the Quercy...
A Blacksmith, A Wood Turner and A Stone Mason
La Semaine Créative in the Lot
It was June 2008 & it was after a couple of afternoons of frantic work in order to create something to display in the gallery at the Hotel Le Grézalide in Grezes, that the idea for ‘La Semaine Créative’ (creative week) was born.David Low, a decorative wrought ironworker, along with Frédéric Grousset, a wood turner, had frequently collaborated on projects A Creative Week...
Cancer Support France - Lot and Dordogne
Cancer Support France Dordogne East and Lot branch recently completed a second training course and are proud to announce that we now have a total of eighteen Active Listeners. There is a further training course scheduled for 2009, which will increase the availability of Active Listeners to twenty two.
2008 - Not a Good Year for Sheep Farming
Blue Tongue outbreak in the Lot
Regular contributor Tessa Collier gives us an update on life in the Lot over the last 12 months. For many people, 2008 has been a difficult year, but this has mostly been due to the "credit crunch". Tessa's problems came from a more unlikely but more deadly source - a mosquito from Belgium...
Blue Tongue Outbreak...
Dog Walking with Les Chiens de Figeac
A day out with man's best friend
I started volunteering at the Figeac dog refuge not long ago. I hesitated before getting in contact with them as I was worried about the old ‘tugging at the heart strings’ syndrome. With two dogs and two cats already, I know my limits but was afraid that I would end up bringing another young scamp home...
A day out at the Figeac dog refuge...
TeenxPats - A Community for Expat Teenagers
So, you wake up one morning and find yourself in another country and your parents think it will be ‘fun’. And you think that it will not perhaps be quite as easy as that...
TeenxPats...
Dog of the Month
Adorable dogs seeking new homes
With huge thanks to all of you, the Dogs that have previously been fetaured as Dogs Of The Month have all been successfully rehomed. To see the latest dogs for adoption please visit theAnimals and Pets Section of our Community Forum. Dog of the Month...
Options for Heating your House in France
A wood burning stove could be a good choice
Lot resident Tim Atkins shares some of his research and experiences of trying to decide the best and cheapest way to heat his French home. With tax credits of 50% now being offered on wood burning stoves, together with reduced TVA rates of 5.5% instead of the normal 19.6%, they could be an attractive option…
heating options...
Reading Groups in the Lot and Quercy
The Books and Company Book Club
We recently caught up with Nicole Killick at Books and Company in Gourdon and she told us about their popular and expanding reading groups and the Christmas social event in the shop which has the added bonus of a 5% discount on any books purchased.
Books and Company...
Running a New Business in South West France
“We wish we’d left the UK years ago” - Evolution Motorhomes
This month we feature an interview with Jason and Michelle Aplin creators and owners of Evolution Motorhomes – a motorhome rental business, based in the Lot et Garonne. After two years of research and careful planning they now have a thriving family business...
We should have done it years ago...
Living the Good Life in the Lot
House rentals, sheep farming and sculpture
Having first written an article for FrenchEntrée-LotandQuercy two years ago, Tessa Collier gives us an update on what's has been happening recently - changes in the rental market, sheep farming and her talent for sculpture...
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Les Amis des Chats Joins Blue Cross
The charity Les amis des chats, situated in Roquecor in Tarn et Garonne (82) and bordering the Lot and Garonne and the Lot, has become the fifth Companion Animal Welfare Associate for the Blue Cross Charity, and the second in Europe.
Les Amis des Chats...
Training Guide Dogs for the Blind in France
Puppies in the Lot
Helping to train guide dogs for the blind can be a very rewarding experience. If you love dogs, bringing up a puppy to be well-behaved and good company is a pleasure. It's fascinating to see how they respond to kind, patient training...
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The Pet Passport Scheme
What you need to know
The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) allows the entry of pets from certain countries into the UK, without passing through quarantine, using an EU Pet Passport. To obtain an EU Passport your pet must
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Car Insurance in France
Are you properly covered?
Lot resident Martin Gilliam was recently involved in a car accident which resulted in him discovering what his French car insurance really covered - and what it didn't! A valuable lesson for everyone who thinks "Tous Risques" covers everything...
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Ken Hom Selling up in Catus
Chef Ken Hom is selling his 14th-century French house — lock, stock and barrel. "Gordon Ramsay would be very happy to have my kitchen,” boasts Ken Hom, television chef and one of the world’s leading authorities on Asian cookery...
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Moving to France
Dublin to Cahors, the adventure so far...
In 2004, Niall and Karri Carroll decided to give up their house, car and well-paid jobs in Dublin and head south for new adventures in France. In the first of two articles they describe the difficulties they faced in getting to the southwest and finding somewhere to live...
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Running Your Own Business in France
Interview with Books and Company, Gourdon.
Books and Company is an English bookshop in the charming town of Gourdon in the Lot. Hugues Teulat and his partner Nicole Killick offer a range of Greeting Cards and Stationery as well as a wide selection of Books, Maps and Guides. We interviewed them to find out more about their experience of running their own business over the last two years...
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Sheep and Cattle Farming in the Lot
Looking back on the last year by Tessa Collier
It has now been a year since I first submitted a piece for this site . A lot has happened during the year. My father-in-law’s house, that we were trying to sell for him, finally sold to a young Dutch couple...
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School Life in France
By Alexander, age 13
To start with we came over and lived in the holiday house that we bought 6 years ago, and (with an estate agent) drove around aimlessly looking for a for a good house. But we were choosey and all wanted the house to have...
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Cat Rehoming by Les Amis des Chats
Bazil's Story
Belle, Buster, Bazil and Nounours arrived on 27th April 2006 from Lascabanes in the Lot department. The four kittens were just 1 week old and had been found in a field by a farmer who would have cut them to shreds had he not seen them...
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Starting a New Life and Business in France
Setting up a Chambre d’Hôte
As our first year of starting a new life in France is complete we can look back with a sense of satisfaction. Fiona and I wondered how we would get on working as a team and living with our work day in, day out. Fortunately it has worked out very well. It is hard work and at times can be stressful...
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Getting to Grips with the French Language
Going back to school
Learning the language is an essential step for anyone moving permanently to France. Sarah Weston tells us about her French language lessons which resulted in her father being "expelled" from the class...
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Les Chats du Quercy – Quercy Cats
Rural France is a perfect place to live but life for a country cat can be difficult. In many villages there is an over population of strays which are fed by well-intentioned residents but not managed...
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Installing a Telephone in a French Holiday Home
How hard can it be?
We wanted to get a telephone installed in our holiday home, expecting to move there full-time one day. We selected France Telecom on the basis they have an office in Cahors where you can talk to people ...
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Starting a Business in France
Dublin to Cahors, the adventure continues...In 2004, Niall and Karri Carroll decided to give up their house, car and well-paid jobs in Dublin and head south for new adventures in France. In the second of two articles they talk about bank accounts, car registration and starting a new business...
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Caring for Cats and Kittens in the Tarn et Garonne
Les Amis Des Chats Charity Association
The Tarn-et-Garonne based cat charity association Les Amis des Chats has launched a brand new web site in both English and French. www.les-amis-des-chats.com offers a wide range of cat health and welfare information ...
more...
Buying a Dream Home in France
The pleasures and pitfalls
My heart pounded so loudly when we signed the “Compromis de Vente" I thought that everyone could hear it, I was excited, but so scared. We had just just signed to say that we were buying our dream home in the small village of Carlucet, 12 kms south of Rocamadour...
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Cats of the Month
Quercy cats for adoption
These three siamese type kittens where about to be shot. They are totally delightful, adorable, cuddly 4 month old kittens, two brothers, Bobbie and Bertie, with their sister, Georgie..
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My life in France
By Georgina (Age 10)
After moving to France in August last year with her parents and eleven year old brother, Georgina has had to work hard to make new friends and get to grips with a new language. She tells her story...
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Tornado Devastation in the Tarn-et-Garonne
Worst storm since records began hits the region
When the phone rang unexpectedly at 6.30 a.m. my husband Paul answered it. I could tell that he was talking to Richard, the incumbent 'locataire' at our house near Caylus in Tarn-et-Garonne, and that there'd been some sort of problem, but I couldn't tell what...
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The Sporting Life in France
The importance of being a good sport
Sport is something the French take very seriously. It’s not only the taking part and the strong competitive spirit, but also the whole ethos of what you’re going to wear. The ‘sporty’ Frenchman chooses his wardrobe for every sport...
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La Belle Vie en France?
In search of the good life
When David Low and Lindsay Nixon bought a semi-derelict barn in the Lot during the summer of 2003, they had visions of sunny days spent gradually renovating their dream home. Eighteen months on and despite several setbacks they are now hard at work turning the dream into reality.
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Running a Small Business in France
A day in the life of a market trader
After living here in France for nearly 4 years building up our gîte business, the time had come to look for another opportunity, but what? We needed something flexible enough to fit in with the gîtes but still give us the quality of life we had come here for...
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The Secret of our Success in France
How we turned into junkies (brocanteurs!)
Kevin Lowe & Sandra Milne left their home in Leicester in 2001 and set off in search of adventure and a new life in France, with only a vague idea of where they were going or what they were going to do when they got there...
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Registering a Car in France
How hard can it be?
We moved to France in August 2004, bringing our trusty VW Passat with us. It was taxed in the UK until the end of the year and knowing that we were allowed to use it in France for the first six months, re-registering was not top of the priority list...
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Rescuing Stray Dogs in France
A waggy dog story
There are three kinds of dogs in France. Firstly there are the upper classes, the pampered and protected pooches, coiffured within an inch of their lives that trot obediently beside their mistresses in the elegant city streets. Then there are their country cousins, farm dogs and family pets living the outdoor, rough and tumble life on vast tracts of agricultural land in and around the little villages and hamlets. But it’s the third kind that are probably the most vulnerable...
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The World Through a Wine Glass
Tasting notes from the London International Wine Trade Fair Lot resident Patrick Kelly is the owner of Le Courrier du Vin, a wine merchant in Maroux – here he gives us his impressions of the recent wine trade fair in London – where French producers are not shown in a good light... more...Sheep Farming in the Lot
Well this was quite a summer, our elder son left us to go to university in England, our flock has, at long last, started to produce lambs and our magical holiday home is for sale ...
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Domaine du Garinet Cahors Wine
Wine making in the Lot valley
Mike and Sue Spring came to live in France in 1994 when they bought a small vineyard (Domaine du Garinet) in the village of Le Boulvé of some 200 inhabitants in the département of the Lot. This is their story...
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The Winegrower’s Year
The annual cycle of a Cahors wine vineyard
After four years of research, Mike and Sue Spring made the move to France in 1994 and bought a vineyard in the Lot valley near Montcuq. Here they describe the work involved in a winegrower’s year...more...
A Foreigner in the Quercy Blanc
Vive la difference!
To live in the Lot is to be immediately overwhelmed by the sense of space, both public and private. Space to live and breathe and bring up a family; space to listen to music without upsetting the neighbours; space to see the weather before it arrives ...
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Does Your Dream Home Have a Pigeonnier?
Ours didn’t – so we built one!
To many English people, the perfect Lot and Quercy home is an old stone farmhouse with a nice view and a Pigeonnier. When Michael and Eileen Fawcett came to the Lot eight years ago, they found a wonderful house – but no Pigeonnier! Unperturbed by this, they proceeded to build one of their own – and not for keeping pigeons. Eileen takes up the story...
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Registering a Car in France
A 46er at last!
I had been told that patience is required when registering English cars in France but, even so, there have been times recently when I've stamped my size six foot in sheer frustration...
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Winemaking in the South of France
A little Quercy vineyard
Many people would love to own a property in the beautiful South of France. Most hanker after a little stone cottage; but there are some who are satisfied with nothing less than their own vineyard ...
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A Home in the Lot
Peter and Zoe Scott decided to make their home in Mondounet, near Montcuq in the Lot valley. Fifteen years on, they look back on the choice as one of the best decisions they ever made
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Ten Years of Living in the Lot
Mint sauce anyone?
Tessa and Stephen Collier first bought a house in the Lot in 1983, initially as a holiday home. By 1995, and with two young children, they had decided to make a permanent move. And now, with children about to leave school, they are planning to take up sheep farming! Tessa takes up the story...
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Food for Thought
A visit to the weekly market
A trip to the weekly market is an essential part of life in France; a chance to shop, chat and soak up the atmosphere. Local photographer Michele Ch'i takes us with her...
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The Dramatic Side of Life in South West France
Murder, pantomime and farce in Montaigu de Quercy
Roger Lee is often asked what he does all day now that he has retired to the sunny south. He used to say "Oh, you know, a bit of this and a bit of that" - he felt a bit lazy to admit how easy it is to fill the day doing absolutely nothing. But, that was before something dramatic happened ...more...
Starting a Business in France
Galerie Tomás King in Saint Antonin Noble Val
When my husband and I decided to come to France for a year in September 1999, we had no idea that five years later we would have a Galerie de Peinture, in Saint Antonin Noble Val, and that Tom would have a book published in English & French ... more...
Independent Local Radio in the Lot
Britdock Radio - 88.1 or 89 FM
Did you know that the Lot has its own, English speaking, local radio station? Part of the Antenne d’Oc network, Britdock is broadcast live every Thursday afternoon from 4 till 7pm. One of the founders and veteran of five years broadcasting, Mike Gardiner takes up the story...
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From Biarritz to Puy L’Eveque
How the colour of a car changed our lives
Our move here was based on the colour of a car, totally unexpected and unplanned, and yet it changed our lives. We had had a turbulent year, moving from Tunbridge Wells ...
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Chateau Sitting in the Lot
An opportunity for reflection and self-discovery
I know this is going to sound like a tired well- worn cliché, but I really do wonder at how quickly the last year has flown. I’m sitting here overlooking the river Dordogne, gleaming like a mirror in this stunningly beautiful environment...
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Commuting from France
How far would you go?
After setting up his own Internet mapping company, Justin Saunders decided that adding a few extra miles on the commute for a better life would be worth the effort; although this commute was to be from France! Here he describes the experience of buying and living in France...
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What’s On
If you know of, or are organising an interesting event in the region, why not contribute an article about it and we'll feature it here.
Beautiful Villages of the Quercy
AutoireAuvillar
Bruniquel
Cardaillac
Carennac
Lacapelle Marival
Lauzerte
Loubressac
Montflanquin
Poujols le Haut
St. Cirq Lapopie
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