Last Word LOCAL

Last Word LOCAL KNOWLEDGE YOU CAN TRUST chalet villa château farmhouse apartment vineyard gîte cottage coast country city French philosopher Albert Camus once said, ‘autumn is like a second spring when every leaf is a flower.’ And as I walk the dogs along the narrow roads in my little corner of rural France, the hedges are festooned with plum-hued berries and plump rose hips, and the leaves of the trees are turning every colour of the autumnal rainbow – from chartreuse to flamboyant fiery crimson and burnished copper… Mushrooms flourish, sprouting from tree trunks and forest floors, and lurking under hedges. Wandering through the woods, we encounter basket-carrying neighbours, foraging for fungi – chestnut coloured, flashy yellow and coral and polka-dotted like something out of a fairy tale, girolles, chanterelles and cèpes. If any are not sure whether their haul is safe to sauté, there are plenty of experts in the village. Paul, who is a noted mushroom specialist, Stefan who claims to be one, or the local pharmacy. The only time I have foraged was with a friend. We went to Stefan as we knew no better. He held up our bounty and compared the varieties to barely legible, badly drawn images in a book published in 1896. “Yep, they’re all good, delicious cooked in butter” and he kissed his fingers and closed his eyes, enraptured at the thought. Just to be sure, we popped to the pharmacy. The chemist put on his little round glasses and examined the piles in our baskets. He picked each mushroom up, popped some to one side and placed others back in the basket. At the end, he’d put all the mushrooms in the basket except for our prize jumbo-sized, pointy hatted specimen “Are you married” he asked. We nodded. “Happily married?” he said. “Yes” we assured him “why do you ask?” “Well, if you love your husbands, you should not feed them this one” “Would it kill my husband if I had given him that one” asked my friend, turning a ghostly shade of pale at the thought of it. “No” said the pharmacist snickered, “but he would shit for a week!” Janine Janine Marsh lives in France with her husband and 72 animals. Her latest book, Toujours la France: Living the Dream in Rural France, is out now on Amazon and all good book shops. 118 | The Good Life France EXCLUSIVE Provençal Style Drôme €695,000 Ref: A14811 - Beautiful 4 bedroom villa with excellent view, garden and pool. Agency fees paid by seller. Mayenne €249,000 Ref: A15134 - Former 1868 presbytery with scope to expand. Agency fees paid by seller. EXCLUSIVE Sought after Location Maine-et-Loire €149,875 Ref: A14058 - Pretty 18th century 2 bedroom cottage with garden, in a village. 9% agency fees included paid by the buyer. Vienne €199,800 Ref: A14112 - Pretty 4 bedroom maison de maître surrounded by fields. 8% agency fees included paid by the buyer. EXCLUSIVE Superb Property Morbihan €230,050 Ref: A15421 - 3 Bedroom house with gardens and room for a granny annexe. 7% agency fees included paid by the buyer. Paris 75010 €549,000 Ref: A13934 - 2 Bedroom 55m² apartment with a 10m² terrace. Agency fees paid by seller. EXCLUSIVE Ideal Holiday Home Haute-Vienne €149,000 Ref: A14008 - Partially renovated 3 bedroom 3 bathroom town property. 8% agency fees included paid by the buyer. Lot €275,000 Ref: A14025 - 4 Bedroom house and barn on the edge of the Quercy regional park. 5% agency fees included paid by the buyer. EXCLUSIVE Sitting Pretty Creuse €125,350 Ref: A07373 - 3 Bedroom traditional cottage with pool, in a quaint village. 9% agency fees included paid by the buyer. Start your property search today! +33 (0)5 53 60 84 88 leggettfrance.com info@leggett.fr The Good Life France | 119