A Year in Villefranche sur Mer - Moving to France

Day 691 (Tuesday) 30 th April 2019 I had an early start and caught the bus into Nice; I had a nice chat with Guillaume and Anna (Guillaume in English and Anna in my poor French) before meeting Benny in the café. At the end of the morning Guillaume informed me that I don’t have to work tomorrow because it’s May 1 st and NOBODY in France works on this day or next Wednesday 8 th . I sent a text to Florence and Jeannine offering a different day but neither of them has got back to me yet. Recently I found this article in the Local.fr about French bank holidays… 'Do the viaduct': Why 2019 is a great year in France for public holidays (this photo is not mine) France can look forward to a great year for public holidays in 2019. And you'll find there is ample opportunity to 'do the viaduct'... It's a good year for public holidays in France this year, with just one falling on a weekend. The French have nine weekday public holidays l...

Day 690 (Monday) 29 th April 2019 During yesterday’s fun and games I couldn’t remember the significance of kissing Fanny’s bottom at the end of a game of boules so I looked it up again.. The Art of Kissing Fanny There’s a curious expression used in  Provence   by pétanque players. “Embrasser Fanny” or to “kiss Fanny”, is a small recompense for making a fool of oneself to put it simply. But where does this mischievous phrase originate from? Fanny was a waitress at a local café in the Savoie region or Lyon– no one seems to agree. Watching the men playing pétanque (or boules) one day, she declared that she would allow any man who lost 13-0 in pétanque, to kiss her on the cheek. As it happened, it the mayor of the local village was the one to embarrassingly not obtain a single point during his game. Fanny wasn’t fond of the mayor because of an earlier discretion. A woman’s scorn? Instead of offering her cheek, sh...