Music on a Monday...La Valse d'Amelie

Amelie is such a gorgeous ,colourful and vibrant film. It is one of my cosy up,comfort movies...the one I turn to when I need uplifting.
The cast are truly an eccentric bunch of characters and the film consists of little cameos of their day to day lives, both comic and tragic, in Paris.
It is the story of a young girl's flights of fancy, and ultimately a love story.
The music, composed and performed by Yann Tierson  is exquitite!
I have chosen a this particular piece but played by a very talented young man
...and how I wish I were Audry Tatou!




A bientôt
Love Maffy x

In a French Market

Viens avec moi!

Tournesols

Les Fleurs

Melons

Fraises

fruits et légumes

poisson frais

les oignons et échalotes

fruits de mer

fruits et légumes soigneusement arrangés

du pain

moules

les huîtres

paniers colorés

I hope you enjoyed this visit to market
Revenez bientôt !
Love Maffy x

Music on a Monday...Myfanwy

Myfanwy...my chosen name, means 'my dearest' or 'my lovely one'. It is in my biased opinion, one of the loveliest of Welsh names.

The music I have chosen this week for is also truly beautiful. 

I have only ever heard the choral version of this song, but this week I heard it performed acoustically and I was totally blown away by the simplicity of this adaptation

I hope you like it as much as me!

Écoutez cette belle mélodie

Revenir bientôt!
Love Maffy x

Still recovering!...Fruits de Mer, Puppies,and Friends

Should have posted this at the weekend but...was still recovering!
Had a fantastic evening with friends at their French manor house...Oh 'tis a lovely house!
We were greeted by the two new members of the family Rosie and Vincent.

Rosie and Vincent

Vincent (look at those paws)

These gorgeous little pups are Jack Russel Terriers (well Vincent is of questionable parentage!)
Aw! they are so cute!


Although July, the evening was a little chilly so the wood burner was put to use...with the soft lighting in this lovely French kitchen the atmosphere was set for a great repose.


The meal this evening...Fruits de Mer, an enticing basket of fresh crab and king prawns for dipping in garlic mayonnaise...mmm!
This was a relaxing, get your fingers dirty kind of meal, informal and full of laughter.
What more could you want? 
A perfect evening,nice food, nice wine, nice people and puppies.

It's July...really?

Fruits de Mer

bonne apetite!

un bon repas!

un joli gâteau

tired puppies

Nouveau bientôt !

Love Maffy x

Madame Butterfly...Music on a Monday

Everybody knows my Music on a Monday choice for this week
It could be one of the first pieces I ever heard.
I remember my Grandmother singing it when I was a very young girl...she didn't speak Italian, nor did she have an operatic voice but I remember it sounded beautiful!
It was  definitely the beginning of my love of opera.
This is the tragic story of Butterfly and US naval officer Pinkerton (scoundrel!)
Listening to this haunting aria never fails to make me cry and this lovely little video clip adds to its sadness.
I will leave you to watch and enjoy.


Get the tissues ready!



Veuillez revenir bientôt!
Love Maffy x

Vide Grenier...In the Rain Part 2

Guess what?

When I woke up on Sunday morning...Il pleut toujours!

Well rain doesn't really come near to describing it, pouring isn't really the right word either...It was a deluge! torrential rain just falling from the sky in huge violent drops. I thought, no chance of a vide grenier this morning, but ever the intrepid adventurer I set out to discover if this was indeed so. Mon Dieu! the French just don't stop play for a bit of rain!a full capacity vide grenier was taking place in amongst the puddles. Even better the rain stopped for my visit and plastic covers were removed for my closer inspection and treasures were revealed. Vens avec moi!

Sunday roast mmm!

a pluie a cessé...

...but dark clouds loom

fell in love with  le bateau

Ah! Chantal

Add caption

who would want this and why?

I was taken with this haughty looking chap

Lapin

très très mignons lapins

Add caption

Add caption

saucisson et chips anyone?

I love classic cars...

...and was very taken with this beauty

Stunning!

Take care u 

Love Maffy x

Les Vide Grenier ...In The Rain Part 1

When I woke on Saturday morning it was...yes you've guessed it...Il pleuvait!

But as dedication to the cause dictates I duly set of for a local Vide Grenier (empty attic) which is the French equivalent to a Brtish car boot sale.

The weather was pretty awful and I was not expecting much of a turn out of sellers but surprisingly they were there in force, battling the elements. Give the French their due they are nothing if not resilient.

Lets go have a look around shall we?

On y va!

loved this old barrow

...and this little wooden piano

I have a thing about boxes

I particularly liked this stall

a deer in the corner!

lovely little wrought iron thingy!

I also have a thing for old suitcases

ancient coffee grinders

...and old coffee pots

loved the light catching these glass decanter stoppers

...and loved the textures in the box of door knobs

aqua blue soda syphons 

...and another wooden wheelbarrow

kitsch!

don't look if you are a vegetarian

spit roast chicken

Hope you enjoyed your little excursion around this Vide Grenier ...Come back tomorrow for part 2

love Maffy x