All our best wishes for the festive season from Clare, Sue and the whole team at Chateau Colombier to all our clients past, present and future!
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Written on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Santons at Seguret
Written on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Santons is derived from the provencal and means little saint. They are small terracotta figures dressed in traditional costumes produced in Provence.
Each year Seguret hosts one of the largest displays of santons over the Christmas period. Since 1970 the ‘Amis de Seguret’ have been hosting the display at the chapel of St Thecle. This year the display is open until January 8th and costs 2 euros for adults, free to children. The santons are mainly figures connected to the nativity but also include characters from the village: baker,butcher etc. There is also a display of the Christmas table, the ’Gros Souper’ and the 13 desserts traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve.
Seguret itself is well worth visiting at any time of year, its houses clustered together, precariouly perched on a hillside overlooking vineyards. There is a guided walk around the village with panneaux(signs) providing interesting information about the buildings and local traditions. There is also a good restaurant ‘La Table du Comtat’ which I haven’t yet tried (hard to believe, I know) but which has a wonderful view from its terrace.
I-Spy book of unusual animals
Written on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 11:05 am
One of the fascinating things about this area is the wide variety of flora and fauna that can be seen – many of which you just don’t see in the UK.
My latest viewing (as mentioned in a previous post) is a wolf which was pretty exciting. I have seen boar on several occasions. They seem to travel in pairs or groups and as they look round in the headlights have the expression of naughty schoolboys caught careering home after an illicit night out on the town.
For a while a badger used to hang around at night in the drainage channel outside my front gate. He looked very cross at being woken by the car and walked across the road very slowly glaring at me! He obviously used to visit the garden quite often judging from the ‘presents’ he left behind. In fact on that delicate subject, I must recommend a book which makes an ideal stocking filler for anyone interested in wildlife – Who Sh.t that? - a vital aid for identification purposes!
Not many rabbits (all in the pot perhaps?) but the occasional deer in the garden. We’ve also had a mysterious animal visitor seen by both my son and me during the day. Our best guess after consulting various books is a pine marten.
We get lots of visiting toads and lizards – one of the toads was so friendly it used to lurk around the front door and knock to come in – I kid you not. One of the most fascinating insects is the praying mantis – they are a hugesize in France and I often find them on doorframes.
The animals here seem to be rather accident prone and several times we’ve had to come to the rescue. A cute French dormouse had fallen into a bucket of water and had to be dried off and a stunning black and yellow striped salamander fell into the pool skimmer. My son rinsed off the chlorine water, put him in the sun to dry and collected dead insects as sustenance for him during his convalescence.
Watch out Doctor Doolittle – your job is under threat!