Tag Archives: Lou Messugo

French customs

Great Things about Christmas in France

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Phoebe from Lou Messugo –  traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins near Nice where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia – has come up with the brilliant idea this year of asking other bloggers what they like about Christmas in France.

photo_350_santa_window

The result is a post called 24 Reasons to Love Christmas in France that I’m sure you’ll enjoy immensely. Here’s a little introduction.

Christmas in France, what’s it all about, is it any different to elsewhere and is there anything special to enjoy?  I’ve written about it previously describing how the build up is slow and calm even under normal circumstances, but this year we’ve had to contend with tragic terrorist attacks in Paris, the resulting state of emergency nationwide and potentially worrying regional election results as well, meaning it hasn’t been the most festive of times recently.  Add to this a sense amongst many expats that Christmas is “better” at “home” surrounded by familiar traditions, sights and sounds and rather than feel happy and excited many find themselves feeling low and missing home. Read more.

France, French customs, Weekly Blogger Round-Up

Weekly Blogger Round-Up – All About France with Lou Messugo

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You are all familiar with Phoebe from Lou Messugo who lives in Nice and has often been featured in this weekly blogger round-up.

Today, she is beginning a new monthly link-up focussing on posts about France from bloggers across the glob. I’ve contributed my post on the Ten Top Châteaux in the Loire Valley. As I’m writing she already has 16 other participants, including such diverse subjects as the 2CV, the tooth fairy, how to talk to your Muslim kids about Charlie Hebdo and the beautiful Alsatian village of Colmar. Enjoy!

All About France #1

by Phoebe from Lou Messugo, a traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia.

AllAboutFranceBadge_bisWelcome to the first All About France blog linky (and my first time hosting a link-up).   I’ve been thinking about starting this for a few months now and keep getting side tracked, but there’s no time like the present….So if you write or have written about France in any shape or form then please join in.  You don’t have to write regularly about France, an old post about a holiday is perfectly appropriate, for example. Feel free to link old or new posts, as long as they’re about France or French they’re welcome. Read more.

Food, France, Italy, Sightseeing

Annecy Adventures – Tapenade – The Shores of Lake Como

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A little late this week, but here is this Wednesday’s Bloggers Round-up, with an all Australian cast. Jill from Gigi’s French Window takes us to the beautiful town of Annecy in the foothills of the French Alps; Phoebe from Lou Messugo, who lives in Provence, tells us all about tapenade; while Andrea from Rear View Mirror, brings us some stunning photos of Lake Como in Italy. Enjoy!

Annecy adventures / Les aventures d’Annecy

by Jill from Gigi’s French Window, French ponderings from an Australian who must have been French in another life

pretty annecyA few years back, I spent 3 seasons in Annecy, France…yep, that’s right,
3 seasons, but it only took 3 days to do it….:).

It’s a gorgeous, ancient city, near the Swiss Alps, that I just fell for.

We stayed in Hotel Au Faisan Dore… which was a pleasant surprise when it came to  space, after all the prior shoe boxes.  Oohhh  sooo warm, as well, which turned out to be a lifesaver! Read more

Tapenade – a Provençal classic

by Phoebe from Lou Messugo, a traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia

olives__tapenadeWalk around any market in Provence or the Côte d’Azur and you will see stalls heaped with glistening olive pastes and tapenades, usually next to an enormous array of different olives and other pickles.

Tapenade is a typically southern dish made with olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil, chopped finely or blended together into a paste.  Its name comes from the Provençal word for capers, “tapenas“. Read more

The Shores of Lake Como

by Andrea from Rear View Mirror and Destination Europe, a fellow Australian who, after 6 years of living in France, has given up herParis apartment to live a nomadic life slowing travelling around Europe, experiencing each destination like a local

lake-como-1I should know better than to book a popular tourist destination for mid-summer. I find it hard to get a feel for a place when there are crowds and few locals around and I usually end up being disappointed. Bellagio, Varenna and Como in Italy are massively popular destinations in July and August. Of course they are popular with tourists for a reason, I get that. They are beautiful cities surrounded by imposing mountains on the shores of Lake Como. Personally I’d much rather visit in the off-season but on this occasion I was meeting friends from Australia which made all the difference. Read more

French customs, Paris, Restaurants

A fishy start to April – True French dining experience for a savvy traveller

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Wednesday’s bloggers round-up this week features two Australians whom you already know: Phoebe from Lou Messugo, who explains the history and customs of the French version of April Fool’s Day or poisson d’avril, and Jo Karnagan from Frugal First Class Travel, guest posting on My French Life, who explains how to have really good French food in Paris without paying the earth. Enjoy!

A fishy start to April

by Phoebe from Lou Messugo, a traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia

poisson_davrilToday is the 1st of April and just like in many countries around the world, it’s the day of jokes, hoaxes and pranks.  Newspapers and other media publish fake stories but the real speciality in France is the Poisson d’avril.  This consists of sticking a paper fish on someone’s back and seeing how long they go without realising it.  Once the fish is discovered you shout “Poisson d’avril”!  Children adore trying to catch out their teachers if it falls on a school day or their parents when it’s a day at home.  My elder son has been sporting a fine specimen for a couple of hours as I write this, stuck on his back by his little brother completely unbeknownst to him. Read more

True French dining experience for a savvy traveller

by Frugal First Class Travel, an Australian who loves to travel – especially in Europe – and who has gradually learned how to have a First Class trip on an economy budget, without missing out on anything!

This post was published by My French Life, a global community of French and francophiles connecting like-minded people in English & French 

frugalista_restaurantI love eating really good French food. But, like a lot of visitors to Paris, I’m put off by the €200 plus prices of the grand eateries –  just not within my budget. Therefore, on a recent trip to Paris, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to savour really good classic French food served in the formal European style at a relatively bargain price. Read more

Architecture, Art, Food, France, Loire Valley, Paris, Sightseeing

Chateauneuf, my secret hill village – La Charcuterie – Musée Nissim de Camodo, Paris

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Some more Australian connections for this Wednesday’s Bloggers’ Round-up, starting with Phoebe from Lou Messugo, who takes us on a visit to Châteauneuf in the south of France; Susan from Days on the Claise who describes her local charcuterie in Touraine and Carolyn from My Sydney Paris Life who gives us a very moving description of the beautiful Nissim de Camondo museum in Paris. Enjoy!

Châteauneuf, my secret hill village

by Phoebe from Lou Messugo, a traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia.

chateauneufThe Alpes-Maritimes is bursting with a multitude of pretty hill villages, called “villages perchés” in French, built during the middle ages in strategic spots on mountain tops and hill sides. There are at least 15 within half an hour’s drive of Lou Messugo, all with their own charm and more or less renovated/developed for tourists or left in an authentic untouched state. But there is one so close and yet so hidden that many people visiting the area wouldn’t even realise it exists. (I’d be prepared to bet a significant amount of local residents don’t realise there’s a medieval “perched” bit either). I’m talking about the village of Châteauneuf de Grasse on the outskirts of its famous neighbour, Grasse. Read more

La Charcuterie

by Susan from Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history, and running Loire Valley Time Travel.

charcuterie1The charcuterie in Preuilly is well patronised and they have a good range of products. Most are made in house, some brought in. French charcuteries focus mainly on value added pork products — often cured, but sometimes simply cooked and ready to eat. They also do salads and prepared dishes. This is because many of them, like the one in Preuilly, are also traiteurs (caterers). Read more

A Legacy of Beauty and Remembrance: Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris

by Carolyn Barnabo from My Sydney Paris Life, writing about global families and change and life in special geographic places that have captured her heart

nissim_museumEarlier this week, Clive and I visited Paris’s Musée Nissim de Camondo. In the days since then, we’ve often found ourselves returning to the story of the family whose sad, horrific history shaped our experience of spending time in what was once their home.

The first time I read about Musée Nissim de Camondo was in Edmund White’s ‘The Flâneur’ (2001). I know little about ‘decorative arts’ and tire quickly of stately homes brimming with historic furniture and all manner of objects — I’d rather explore the gardens and grounds outside. But White’s recounting of the de Camondos’ personal story grabbed me and I’ve had this museum on my Paris to-do list ever since. Read more

 

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