My Diary
Welcome to my diary
This is just a little weekly (or, occasionally, daily), diary which I hope will show you what is going on in the locality and perhaps give you some ideas for your next holiday over here.
With my little diary, I hope to be able to give you a feel for this place - the place that I love and the place that I love to welcome visitors to (both new and old friends) - please feel free to comment, should you have any comments to make.
Please call back soon or subscribe to the site (see sidebar on the right of the screen) to get a weekly email which will detail any changes to this site.
A quick update - 14th August 2008
Today Joshy and I along with hundreds of spectators, went to see the Annual cavalcade of motorbikes called La Madone des Motards pass through LA GACILLY.
The "Madone des Motards" is a blessing of the bikers by the priest of Porcaro, it started in 1978 with a few bikers and has grown over the years to attracts up to 20,000, from all over France, making it the biggest concentration of bikes outside of race meetings in France.
It is always held on the French bank holiday of the 15th August, the blessing is in the morning and after lunch is the 80 km ride out amongst 20,000 like minded people through the local area and ending up in Ploermel where the bike loving French line the route to slap your hand and wish you 'bonne route'.
If you have a chance to holiday in this area next year you really must see it -Its something else!
I have put a gallery of photos that I took on Image Gallery
I have also put two videos that I took on Video Gallery
Please click on any of the photos to see them at a higher resolution, click on the X in the top right hand corner of the larger photo in order to return here.
A quick update - 21st July 2008
Just a quick update to let you know that we've added a sitemap to the site. This is help you find your way around what is becoming a very busy little site.
You'll find the sitemap by clicking on the Index tab of the tab bar or, by going direct to Site Map.
We've also added some more images to the site; these can be found at... General Brittany and France Image Gallery. These are to help you get into the ambience of the place, prior to your visit to La Maison des Fleurs.
Oh, one last thing, when Joshy woke up this morning, he shouted out... "it's my birthday, tomorrow!" As if I didn't know!
Changes to the site - 20th July 2008
Well it's been a very, very busy time for Joshy and me. I recently started a new job in Josselin and am making lots of new friends.
Joshy is off school now and busy insect hunting (isn't it strange why young boys are so into insects?)
He's also counting down the days to his birthday (next Tuesday).
Please click on any of the photos to see them at a higher resolution, click on the X in the top right hand corner of the larger photo in order to return here.
As if that weren't enough, my partner (Keith) and I have been busy updating this site and adding lots of new features.
We have created an on-line photo gallery - the Farmhouse Gites Gallery.
We have added a local weather display on the sidebar (to the right of the screen) and a new resources page - why don't you take a look at it... Additional Resources Page.
Finally (although I'm sure thats there's lots more for us to do), we have included a French Word a Day service on the main Home Page.
Should you wish to contact me about my diary, please feel free to send me a mail to Contact. I'll be only too happy to hear from you.
And, to cap it all, my vegetable garden has started going mad (it must be all this sunshine) - it certainly keeps me busy, though!
Long term rentals, at greatly discounted prices (e.g. 250 to 600 Euros per month), are now available on all three Gites... Read More About Long Term Rentals of any of the Three Farmhouse Gites.
These might be suitable for anyone who needs a base whilst searching over here for their perfect property in France.
Well, back to gardening duties! I will say hello again soon.
Bastille Day at Josselin - 14th July 2008
Today Keith, Josh and I went into Josselin for the medieval festival. It was mind-blowingly good!
I've attached 3 of the many photos that we took... The first one shows that the Josselin branch of Mensa out having fun. These guys were supposed to be sweeping up all the horse droppings in the streets - however, they studiously avoided each and every pile (and there were quite a few!)
Please click on any of the photos to see them at a higher resolution, click on the X in the top right hand corner of the larger photo in order to return here.
All the locals were dressed up - bars had popped up everywhere (serving traditional food) - there were jugglers, Street Artists, Archery Competitions, Dancing and loads more!
The chap in the second picture was carrying around a head in his net!
This didn't affect our appetites and we had a nice traditional meal sitting at an outside table at one of the many packed restaurants. Later we stopped off for a well deserved beer and ice cream!
Apparently, there were 10,000 visitors to Josselin on Monday (for a small town of only 1,000 locals) - it certainly felt like that!
Josselin was packed (mainly by English) and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun.
There were Fireworks and a canon kept going off and Le Duc opened up the gardens to the chateau for us to wander round.
A wonderful (but ultimately, very tiring), great day out.
But, as you can see - I even made some new friends!
For more photos of Bastille Day at Josselin - take a look at my new Farmhouse Gites Gallery.
A Wander through Lanouee Forest - 11th February 2008
After dropping my son off at school in La Gacilly at 9am, Keith and I decided that, as the weather was again so beautiful, to drive off to the Forest of Lanouee (which is near to Josselin), for a morning ramble (only about 40 minutes from my Gites.)
We walked, hand in hand, through the forest... following tracks made by other walkers and animals, we stumbled upon recent imprints of Biche (deer) and what we suspect were Sanglier (wild boar), you, yourself, will have much more chance to see the deer and perhaps wild boar in the months of March to October
We walked along with dappled sunshine streaming through the trees; the quietness of the Forest was truly magic - turning around now and again to take in the beauty of the forest, wondering what that noise was we just heard, was it a deer or even the wild boar?
If you are lucky enough, you may even find some mushrooms for your breakfast! now that would be a great find!
Even though, in February, they are very few and far apart - but possible, the best time for mushrooming really is the Autumn. Take a look at MushroomDiary.com to further your knowledge of the thousands of types of mushrooms available, and expert advice as to what to pick and what not to pick!
We finished up about 3 hours later sitting in the sunshine at a local bar in Lanouee with a well deserved beer!
A Walk across the valley - 10th February 2008
We woke up to a beautiful morning, had breakfast, and Keith and I decided to go for a leisurely walk to see our neighbours over the hill.
Joshy came along as well, feeling very proud riding his shiny new Xmas present
This took us a good half hour or so, perhaps a bit longer as we stopped often to soak in the panoramic views in the sunshine.
We arrived to be greeted by the ever increasing menagerie: 5 dogs, 3 cats, 2 goats, turkeys, ducks and chickens and this really handsome majestic cockerel! See the picture just above (or, the equally gorgeous one to your right!)
We sat round the garden table with beers, wine etc. taking in the lovely views... if you look closely you can see Maison des Fleurs to your right in the distance; and chatting away to our great friends - what a fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Our good friend and gracious (and generous), host - Paul.
Paul and his wonderfully lovely wife Roz, escaped from the U.K. (with their two sons, Mike and Dan) , a few years ago, in order to start a new life and chase their dream
From the smiles on their faces, I think they've already succeeded in acheiving all their goals!
Gardening
Well I have been busy preparing the seed trays ready for sowing my seeds, for the garden, now this is a mammoth task as you can imagine, after all my place isn't called 'Maison des Fleurs' for nothing!.
I have now sewn lots of different flower seeds and what with the warmer days now they are coming up a treat, it is hard work but - secretly - I do enjoy it! There's just not enough hours in the day though!
Another thing I really enjoy in my garden is cutting the grass with my sit on lawn mower, you know the type with two compartments by your side, one for your bottle of beer and one for your phone! I enjoy this in the early evening when it is 'aperitif' time I call it my 'thinking' time, I love it - you can just chug along gently and empty your head of everything - brilliant!!
Jill Harrison - 11th February 2008
Copyright © 2008 Jill Harrison.
Long term rentals
Long term rentals, at greatly discounted prices (e.g. 250 to 600 Euros per month), are available on all three Gites... Read More.
These might be suitable for anyone who needs a base whilst searching over here for their perfect property in France.
Local Weather
My Diary by Jill Harrison
I keep a little diary on www.farmhousegites.com that details what has been happening in my little part of South West Brittany, France.
To find out what I've been up to and what has been going on... Read more.
About Me
Welcome, I'm Jill Harrison and this is my Gites Rentals website. I like to take this opportnuity to tell you a little bit about myself and how I ended up living where I do now.
To find out more about me, please... Read on.
Additional Resources
For details on Exchange Rates, French News and more, please take a look at the... Resources Page.
Josh's Page
Josh is my 11 year old son, and this is his page where he details his adventures from a young person's point of view - essential reading for your children, should you have any.
For the real crucial gossip, please... Take a look at Josh's page...
Other information?
For a different view of this information, please click on...
www.holidaylettings.co.uk
Or, for another view, please click on...
www.ChooseFrance.com
What's On?
This is a list of what's happening in the area, throughout the year.
For a list of Fetes, Market Days and Events, please... Take a look here...
Subscribe
If you would like to receive an weekly email informing you of what changes have occured on the site during the past week, please click here to Subscribe - Your email address is safe with me - I'll never forward it on.
This will save you having to check in on a website that, by its very nature, may not be updated regularly, all year round.
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My contact details are as follows....
Email me at Contact
Phone - From outside France 0033 299 91 73 15 - Within France 0299 91 73 15
Mobile - From outside France 0033 688 64 70 66 - Within France 0688 64 70 66
Address - Jill Harrison - La Coudrais, Bains-sur-Oust, 35600 Nr. Redon, Southern Brittany, France.