February 2024 Week 5

 Hello!

Did you know that the Catholic holiday of Candlemas, on 2 February, is a feast to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus. In France, this holiday is called la Chandeleur, Fête de la Lumière, or jour des crêpes.

Not only do the French eat a lot of crêpes on Chandeleur, but they also do a bit of fortune telling while making them. It is traditional to hold a coin in your writing hand and a crêpe pan in the other, and flip the crêpe into the air. If you manage to catch the crêpe in the pan, your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year.  There is also a train of thought that suggests you should keep this well flipped pancake on the top of the wardrobe for the year to doubly ensure good fortune…

Enjoy your pancakes and whatever you do this week in the Gironde and Dordogne regions – keep warm and safe and have a great week.

Best wishes,

Helen

notjustfortheholidays@orange.fr

 

 

February 2024

Week 5

Coming up...

And finally...

We're making St Valentine's hearts in the studio on Saturday 3 February.  Create your own hearts, decorate them with flowers and textures, then add a name if you wish and choose a colour for the glaze.

Contact me if you'd like to join in the hour long sessions - 📞06 30 89 85 36

Week 22 2022

 Hello!

Last weekend was Mother's Day in France. Here are some of the beautiful pottery roses the potters made in the studio in Sauveterre de Guyenne.

There's a busy weekend coming up... you'll need to get up early to fit everything in!

Please don't hesitate to keep sending your contributions.  Also, if you're making a special journey, sometimes it's worth checking that the event is actually going ahead, or that I've put it on the right date. I know I've made mistakes!😬

Whatever you do this weekend in the Gironde and Dordogne regions - have a great week, and we have another bank holiday coming up on Monday.

Best wishes,

Helen

notjustfortheholidays@orange.fr

Week 22

2 June

3 June

4 June

5 June

Brocante at Civrac-sur-Dordogne

                    Eymet

                    Juillac

 

Coming up...

Monday 6 June - Lundi de Pentecôte

Pentecost Monday, or Whit Monday, is the day after Pentecost. Many Christians believe that on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus Christ's disciples. Pentecost Monday was a public holiday in France until 2005 and again from 2008. The holiday was reintroduced after about 15,000 elderly people died in a heatwave in the summer of 2003. The French government made a commitment to financially support the elderly and people with disabilities by deciding that Pentecost Monday would no longer be a public holiday from 2005 onwards.
The public holiday was replaced with the Day of Solidarity. On this day people worked for no pay. Their wages were collected to assist the elderly and persons with disabilities. However, there were demonstrations and Pentecost Monday became a public holiday again in 2008. The French government introduced other fiscal measures to raise money to support the elderly and persons with disabilities.  See more about Pentecote in France here

and also...

And finally...

From pottery roses, to the real thing from the garden.

They smell divine...