Clé France

The story of Sir Lancelot of the Round Table is well known to us all, but in general our history talks of his exploits with the English king Arthur and the beautiful Guinevere. He was, however, according to local history, French and born in the little village of Banvou. He spent his childhood and youth in the southern Orne and northern Mayenne areas and particularly in the Bagnoles-de-l'Orne area. It was here that he was knighted before he started on his exploits and the area is known locally as Pays de Lancelot du Lac. There is even a trail you can follow named after him.

The area is described as one full of fairies, miracles, abbeys, enchanted woods, knights, hermits and places of extraordinary beauty. You can certainly enjoy wonderful examples of French medieval art, and understand why many medieval poets got their inspiration from the area.

Starting at Bagnoles-de-l'Orne one can see the Hermitage d'Oritair, a monk whose exploits were well intertwined with the Arthurian legends. Then on through the forest d'Andaines, a massive and ancient forest still roamed by wild boar and herds of deer. Next to the Mont Charlamagne which dominates the region of Houlme. On to Banvou where Lancelot's father Ban de Banoic had his castle. At St Bomer le Forges you find the sarcophagus of Ban's great friend King Bandemagus.

At Domfront there's a Roman church still in existence and a charming old medieval centre of the town on top of a hill. Here too, you will find Eleanor of Aquitaine's castle as this was the the capital of the Plantagenets domain for a time.

On the way south over Mont Margantin is the ancient refuge of the last practising witches in France. Stop off at St Fraimbault-de-Lassay where it is held locally that Lancelot was buried. On to Carrouges where the châteaux was started in the 14th century by a local governor who was the personal secretary of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou. He was the founder of the Plantagenet dynasty.

The châteaux was owned by the same family till 1937 and was so impregnable it's defences were never overrun (till the Germans invaded!). Now owned by the state it is beautifully maintained and contains most of the original furniture, mainly from the renaissance and restoration periods.

If you want more? then follow the links above, in the images, where you can buy Fraser's published books.

Fraser Blake, 70, author of 'Dear Chips' and 'A Rant Too Far?' grew up in Africa, was at school in Scotland, and worked for the British South Africa Police in Southern Rhodesia. He has taught English in Saudi Arabia and sold and renovated hundreds of properties in Northern France.

In 1998 Fraser was selling houses in the Mayenne department of the Pays de la Loire region and so was the obvious choice, when Cle France was started, to be their first agent on the ground in France. In retirement he writes, blogs, cooks, drinks wine, and hosts to dinner unlimited numbers of ex-pats.

Always on hand with a viewpoint, Fraser is going to share his views on France, the French and the British, and other people who buy in France. Sometimes informative, sometimes funny, painfully true, outrageously opinionated but always entertaining so we hope it adds a slightly different dimension to the usual normality of searching through the fantastic properties for sale on the Cle France website.

Watch out for more rants and opinion next week or buy the book today for a rollicking good read.

If you really want to learn French, you need to know a few French expressions...

Si tu veux vraiment apprendre le Français, il faut connaître quelques expressions Françaises!

Fewer things are more revealing of a person’s familiarity with a language than utilising expressions to convey an idea. Unlike expletives, which many people use to add emphasis to a statement, a thoughtfully used expression is la meilleure façon (the best way) to convey your understanding of French that might surprise, and even impress, the unassuming listener.

Here are few more tournures de phrases (turns of phrase) worth adding to your repertoire. For previous posts on French expressions, see part 1, part 2 and part 3 by scrolling back in the blog pages.

NOTE: Phrase in parentheses is the literal translation, or as close to it as possible.

Peigner la giraffe (Painting the giraffe) – Not doing anything useful.

Battre la semelle (Beating the sole) – Walking and waiting.

Filer à l’anglaise (Getting away at the english) – Leaving without saying goodbye or without telling anyone.

L’habit ne fait pas le moine (The garment does not make the monk) – Appearances can be deceiving.

Faire un four (Doing an oven) – Being a failure at something.

Rouler quelqu’un dans la farine (Rolling someone in flour) – Lying to someone.

Avoir le cœur sur la main (Having the heart on the hand) – Being generous.

Tirer sur l’ambulance (Pulling on the ambulance) – Burdening someone who is already going through a difficult situation.

Couper les ponts (Cutting the bridges) – Severing relationships (similar to the expression “Burning one’s bridges”).

Salut vieille branche! (Hey old branch!) – You can use this expression with someone you’ve known a long time.

Tête de nœud (Head of knots) – Dummy/fool.

Tenir les murs (Holding the walls) – Not doing anything.

Au doigt mouillé (At the wet finger) – Imprecisely or only approximately.

Sur le fil du rasoir (On the string of the razor) – In a dangerous or unstable situation (similar to the English expression “On the razor’s edge”).

La tentation de Venise (The temptation of Venice) – Tempted to devote your time to something else, to change vocations.

Faire flanelle (Doing flannel) – Not purchasing or consuming anything.

Le diable est dans les détails (The devil is in the details) – Remembering that details are important and not to disregard them (this expression is found in the English language and is very common).

Couper la poire en deux (Cutting the pear in two) – Splitting something equally or compromising.

La loi de la jungle (The law of the jungle) – The law of the strongest.

Rester sur l’estomac (Staying on the stomach) – Referring to something that is difficult to digest.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Hi David,

The house is really magical, we were really pleased with the way everything was handled, Sharon and your agents on the ground were always on hand to help, they were all really great, and patient with us, Sharon was fantastic.

Many many thanks to them all, would recommend to anybody.

best, Adele and Gary.

Only just yesterday Adele and Gary took ownership of their very own house in France, a lovely place in the Manche department of Lower Normandy and we wish them many happy long quiet rural days exploring the countryside and attractions of Normandy and that of France beyond.

1. You have an urgent message from your friendly neighbour that your 'CAVE' might be damp.

2. Your evening class French teacher insists on some practical work at least once a month.

3. The cave needs restocking and it's bargain time at the supermarket [all the year round].

4.The grapevine over your front door is in desperate need of pruning.

5. The fruit in your garden needs picking, and the neighbours are away on holiday.

6. You've run out of coffee beans and the only one's you have ever liked are available only in the little epicerie in your local village.

7. As a keen photographer you want to catch all the wildlife on your little 5 acre plot at it's best in spring/summer/autumn or indeed winter [delete the inappropriate].

8. Your neighbour, the farmer, needs a bit of extra grazing and has asked you to mark off a couple of acres of your garden where you wouldn't mind his sheep feeding.

9. Your neighbour has just offered you a redundant barn next to your property for £200, and you feel obliged to go and have a look at it even though you don't really want it.

10. You're having the devil's own time trying to communicate with your French neighbour over

the telephone, so you'd better go out and see her for yourself.

11. Tesco's cheese counter was a great disappointment this week, so you really must nip over to

replenish your cheese stock.

12. AND FINALLY, this year you have decided to give French foods and drinks as Christmas gifts!

If you want more? then follow the links above, in the images, where you can buy Fraser's published books.

Fraser Blake, 70, author of 'Dear Chips' and 'A Rant Too Far?' grew up in Africa, was at school in Scotland, and worked for the British South Africa Police in Southern Rhodesia. He has taught English in Saudi Arabia and sold and renovated hundreds of properties in Northern France.

In 1998 Fraser was selling houses in the Mayenne department of the Pays de la Loire region and so was the obvious choice, when Cle France was started, to be their first agent on the ground in France. In retirement he writes, blogs, cooks, drinks wine, and hosts to dinner unlimited numbers of ex-pats.

Always on hand with a viewpoint, Fraser is going to share his views on France, the French and the British, and other people who buy in France. Sometimes informative, sometimes funny, painfully true, outrageously opinionated but always entertaining so we hope it adds a slightly different dimension to the usual normality of searching through the fantastic properties for sale on the Cle France website.

Watch out for more rants and opinion next week or buy the book today for a rollicking good read.

Hi Sharon, you certainly know how to make my evening - I sense another glass of wine coming up!

Thank you so much - we have been on tenter hooks all day waiting for you to confirm. Will await further details and will expect contact from your currency partner, who I think has already rung, and Franck.

Have a splendid evening, many thanks, Linda.

Sharon gave Linda the good news that her offer had been accepted and she is on the way to being a French property owner in the Manche department of Lower Normandy.