France

April Frost and Three Saints known as Lune Rousse and Saints de Glace in France

April Frost – Lune Rousse

In France April Frost is known as Lune Rousse (Ginger Moon). It corresponds to the New Moon that starts after Easter, generally between April 5 and May 5, and lasts of course for the entire cycle of the moon. In 2012 April Frost will last from April 21 to May 20!

Night frost and cold winds are normally paired with this phase which is bad news for gardeners as new shoots get frost –damaged if not protected at night.

The name of Lune Rousse – Ginger Moon doesn’t reflect the colour of the moon but the fact that all young shoots turn into a rusty colour under the effect of frost!

Any gardener will tell you that days without clouds and with a north-east gentle breeze are the worst as the temperatures can severely drop overnight!

Three Saints – Saints de Glace

In France April Frost is also associated with the Saints de Glace – Three Saints!

France is a Roman Catholic country; each day of the calendar corresponds to a patron saint that is still widely celebrated by those bearing the saint’s name. In fact it is more an occasion of offering a bouquet of flowers and a greeting card as the religious meaning is fading.

The Three Saints – Saints de Glace corresponds to St Mamert, St Pancrace, St Servais on whose name days – May11-12-13- late frost occurs. Eastern France celebrates a fourth patron on May 25, St Urbain, who might also bring the last frost of the year in that region.

French names have evolved, so has the French calendar and you will find that since 1960 Mamert, Pancrace and Servais, which have become such obsolete names, have been replaced by Ste Estelle, St Achille and Ste Rolande.

This year Ste Rolande has been overlooked and replaced with Fête Jeanne d’Arc, a traditional celebration that is always celebrated on a Sunday.

The dates though always remain the same… so mind the frost on May 11-12-13!

 

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May 1st, Labor Day and May Day in France

May 1st (May Day) is known worldwide as Labor Day, but in France it is also May Day - Fête du Muguet (Lily of the Valley) when the French greet each other with a sprig (or a small bouquet) of lily of the valley, a flower that is considered a lucky charm.

The tradition dates back to the beginning of the century when unemployed people (the unemployment benefits did not exist and people had to finding ways of making ends meet) went into the woods that were still found in the big cities ‘suburbs to pick lilies of the valley.

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From our contributors: week of April 23

Let our contributors take you on a journey to France, USA, India and the Czech Republic. Have a look at what they wrote this week on their blogs. You’ll be amazed!

DeeBee, our contributor from France, continues her series called The Colours of Spring. In the Camelia Red post, DeeBee writes about this beautiful flower, so popular in France, its importance in French culture and its ties to French literature.

“The Lady of the Camellias – La Dame aux Camélias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas Jr that was published in 1848, and later adapted for the stage. The source of inspiration for the creation of Marguerite Gautier, the novel’s main character, was Rose Alphonsine Plessis known as Marie Duplessis a beautiful young woman born into poverty in a little town of Normandy in Western France.”

 

Mike, our contributor from Japan, posted a bucolic photo of deer in the forest near Lake New York.

 

Anu, our contributor from India, published a photo essay on the birds of Sewri (South Mumbai).

“In my earlier post, I wrote about the flamingos we saw at Sewri. They are, after all, the main reason people flock to Sewri these days at low tide! However, there are also scores of other birds which arrive at Sewri for the insects which populate the mud flats. This post is about some of them”

 

Sandra, our contributor from Portugal, published a photo essay of the city of Prague.

 

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From our contributors: week of April 2

From our contributors: week of March 19

From our contributors: week of March 6

Picture Postcards: Street art in Paris

This week’s “anything you want” photo come from DeeBee in Paris who loves the street art in her European city.

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Windmills in France
Laguiole, a prestigious folding knife
The Bouquinistes, book sellers along the Seine River

Wind energy industry in France

Long gone is the time when farmers used windmills to grind their grain and pump water.  They certainly didn’t know they could use the power of wind to generate electricity for the whole country. Many of the disused mills that have not been left to fall to ruins have been converted into houses, a fun way of protecting them and finding them a new lease of life.

Traditional windmills have been replaced by wind turbines to produce electricity by using wind which is a clean source of renewable energy!

The cherry on the cake is that wind is free! The only cost, and I know it is quite significant, is the erection of the turbines, but it is a medium term investment that is good for our planet!

Wind energy industry is in full expansion in France and you will notice more and more turbines as you travel through the country. Many ridges and hilltops or windy flat areas are crowned with turbines as municipalities invest for the future as they get tax reduction for doing so.

For example the Midi-Pyrénées Region and especially the Aveyron (south of France) have invested in renewable energy and already produce about 5% of national energy; this places the wind turbine production in 3rd place after nuclear and hydroelectric production.

The Aveyron windmill farm produces about 50MW and is currently the largest windmill farm in France.

French wind farming is run by Electricité de France and is rated third in Europe after Germany and the UK.

We have grown used to the turbines’ gigantic white silhouettes and I find that they often blend into their surroundings or at least don’t deface the landscape as long as they are not too many of them.

The last thing we want is hundreds of them lined up on our hills despite the fact that mass production considerably reduces the running costs; and wind farming has got many detractors as you can imagine!

They think that turbines are ugly and noisy and are a threat to the environment and wide life as many birds get caught in their blades. I agree with this but have to point out that electric cables have exactly the same disastrous effects.

I am neither in favour nor against wind farming; I just think that it is a brilliant concept as long as it is developed under strict control and respect the environment and the beauty of the landscape as France is the number one tourist destination.

The downside of wind farming, though, is that you need wind… and sometimes there is none!

 

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Most French people will tell you that bread is a basic food, that they won’t go a day without it… our milling industry has therefore always been thriving!

For many centuries, women painfully ground grains by hand to obtain the precious flour but this was a very tedious and time consuming exercise.

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