Home » Fiona Alderman blogging from The Salignac Foundation France » Fiona Alderman: A Quarter of a Century

Fiona Alderman: A Quarter of a Century

This month will be 25 years of living in France. Where has the time gone ? I have spent longer living here than anywhere else. I still remember Barry walking up this hill, past the Chateau, one early morning in February, and it was quite warm; we sat in the cafe to discuss all the possibilities of having a house in Salignac Eyvigues, and Barry got a bit sunburned on his head !! The die was cast, and we went for it. No regrets then or now at all. I am still quite happy here and have many friends and good neighbours. I do find the hill gets steeper each year though.

Fiona’s front door

My last month’s rant was having no Internet nor phone, plus no cooker. A friend gave me a hardly used cooker belonging to her partner and that, plus new pipes connecting it to the gas, were all installed by my neighbour. Everyone tries to help each other around here I have noticed. Maybe more so since Barry died?
There have been lots of changes in the village over the years: the local commerce; the restaurant and bars changing hands; a new supermarket planned and medical practitioners continuing to develop their practices. All to the good. The local Mairie still has some problems to maintain control, with certain factions disagreeing with local policies, but it is all very French and is usually resolved. ‘Normalement’, as they say , meaning usually !

The fibre optic installation is top news now. I had a visit from the technician recently, to see if it could be done. Three hours it took, to tell me ‘Non’. There is a blockage outside my door underground, where the cables lie, so I have to find someone else to unblock it ! Not easy. I am not the only one though it seems, when talking to others. We also feel we are obliged to do it. They are cutting the ADSL completely in France, within the next five years and there will be no more copper pipes.

I know so many nationalities of people here.: Belgian, Dutch, Portuguese, German, Scottish ( just one family ) English, Irish and French of course … Watching the 6 Nations Rugby at the local Cafe, Ireland was playing Scotland , I thought it was lovely to be surrounded by them all and even having a good-natured laugh against us les ” étrangers” – 25 years later, I have come a long way . Merci Barry !!!

The man behind the painting

Aristide Bruant Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

I think we all had at some time a poster depicting a man in a black cape, wide brimmed black hat and a bright red scarf . This was the writer/singer Aristide Bruant, as depicted by Toulouse Lautrec in 1892 in Paris. I didn’t know then who he was when I was a student;  I just loved the colours and the style of painting.

Bruant was quite a character, growing up, he had a way with words and with songs, writing them in a new adventurous way, using the current language of the people of that time.

He worked in small clubs at first , graduating to bigger named Cafe – Concerts in Paris, culminating in Le Chat Noir, which was a very fashionable Cabaret in Montmartre.

This is where he dressed in a black jacket, trousers and huge black cape with a jaunty wide brimmed hat . Topped off with a huge red scarf – it is now instantly recognizable. His friend, Toulouse Lautrec, sketched him there, at different angles. Bruant later commissioned him to do the now famous posters

He would open his own Cabaret called Le Mirliton, which became very successful and attracting big names. By 1885 he would also be the director of a magazine called Le Mirliton, handsomely illustrated and including his songs. He would become and owned a Chateau in Le Loiret (North Central France ); far from his beginnings in Montmartre. He would retire from singing but continue to write and put on some shows. He died in 1925, but his work lives on through other singers recording his songs.

In the Moment with Missy

We have had many cats come to live with us throughout the years. It started 25 years ago with Gemma, who I brought from Scotland, through to Fifi and her three kittens, to Mo and her three kittens and now Missy. All have settled here well and lived to a good age, Some though are buried in a neighbour’s garden , as I don’t have one so I can go and visit them sometimes. It isn’t too sad but peaceful .

My little Missy was adopted by us 6 years ago. She came to find us, not liking her own home too much with its barking dogs and screaming children. She is a very contented little cat now and is my daily companion. Curious and sweet natured, they are called Calico cats, with their unique markings.

Well, that’s it for another month. Up and coming is A Legacy. Barry Paton 1944 – 2022. Coming Home. A diary of photos.

February 2025. Fifi’s stories from rural France.

This section: Fiona Alderman blogging from The Salignac Foundation France