Greetings from Normandy, France.

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Biker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I'm an ex-pat from Kent UK living in Basse Normande and wondered if there were any others around the area interested in this sort of thing. I'm not expert by any means but I'm willing to have a go. Can get by in French but rely on hand signals a lot

I live about 40kms south of Caen. 5kms west of Condé Sur Noireau.

Drop me a PM some time.

Hmmm why does this posting read like some desperate virgin at a dating website? :eek: I'm happily living with my partner Alison, so no single women need reply... unless you're Kylie Minogue, then I might consider a tumble if you play your cards right. :D

Man oh man I'm tempted to just delete this and start again but I can't be bothered.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeee

Aaron
 

mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
LOL I used to own a house in Athis, we sadly had to let it go when the wife almost died from cancer, couldnt cope.....we were about to spend £50 grand on a full refurb, oh well.....Nice part of the worlld round there though
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,135
2,873
66
Pembrokeshire
Hello and welcome!
Kylie? - a bit bony and noisy for my tastes......now, a certain J Lumley is more my cup of tea (and age range) - inteligent, good looking (OK it takes her longer in the mornings to look that good these days - but hey my looks have slipped over the years as well!), done a bit of survival and is interested in stuff like seeing the Northern Lights.... as well as having the sexiest voice EVER!
I bet you cannot do a drawing that does JL justice! :D
 

Alexlebrit

Tenderfoot
Dec 22, 2009
90
0
France
Hi Aaron, I'm a bit far from you (central brittany) but you never know. How long have you been over here? I've been in France for 13 years now, and still no parole

Oh, and I've got first refusal on Kylie, you can have Danni.
 

Biker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Whoa I thought this thread would be like a Tom Hanks on his desert island!

Thanks for the replies.

Right...

Mr Dazzler, yep know Athis very well I buy a lot of building stuff from Prod Homme there, better than most of the other local building suppliers. Sorry to hear about your wife. My partner Alison went through the same dreaded cancer thing, oddly enough it's what motivated us to leave the UK and come to France. Sold up lock, stock and barrel to make a new start for oursleves. Hope your missus is well past that horror now. Alison's been clear now for about 7 years, minus certain body parts, but no regrets based on the other option.

Martin, thanks mate, already feel at home here.

Jack, thanks! I promise I'll be gentle with my consideration of her.

Shewie. Hmmm Maddave's lost twin? I think I need to hit the members directory and seek him out. I think I also need to make a phone call to my Mother, she'd be the one to know for sure :lmao:

John. I know what you mean about Kylie, back in the day I was a big fan of Miss Lumley too, sitting there on a Thursday evening jaw hanging slack watching her in New Avengers wishing she'd kick my a$$ too! As for drawing her tis' simplicity itself. (he says confidently...ulp :eek:) As for her voice, we're on the same page there mate! I saw that docu on her seeing the Northern lights, I missed out on the desert Island one though. Game girl putting it mildly.

Alexlebrit. Bonjour de Aaron, le Rosbif! Well our paths may cross one day, you're not that far from me. At least there's no channel between me and you to worry about. I've always been meaning to have a nose around Brittany. We've been here in Pontécoulant since August '04. Converted the loft of our house into 3 bedrooms and a bathroom working on it together with the intention of opening a B&B business, but found after my artwork and the odd carpentry job rolled in we didn't have to. So now we rattle around in a 5 bedroom house wondering what the hell to do with it.

Come the summer I'll fire up my old Kawasaki and roll down your way... perhaps. How hard core into Bushcraft are you? I own a rucksack and a sleeping bag, so I'm almost there :lmao:. Actually I did a lot of camping at various biker rallies (try not to picture scenes of me wearing a feather boa and singing along to Madonna's Vogue when I say "camping" :eek:) I also toured Scotland twice and Wales once on my bike. I'm just very rusty and would like to change that. Being here has already given me that motivation.

I'll rassle ya for Kylie.. though losing and getting Danni ain't too shabby a consolation.

Thanks for replying fellas. Thanks too for the warm welcome.

Aaron.
 
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John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,135
2,873
66
Pembrokeshire
When I met the girl who later became my wife (35 years ago!) she was sporting a "Purdy" hairstyle...I wonder if that is why I fancied her?
She no longer wears her hair that way but we are still together.....
Oh and although we are both British we met in Belgium and both speak French as a second language....
 

Biker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
35 years is impressive John. I wish I could say the same, sadly my own marriage went pear-shaped, though not through lust for another. I've been with Alison mnow for pushing 9 years but it feels like less. Strange that.

As for French, I wish I knew it better but I get by now, it's just that working from home I don't interact with the locals as much as I could, any carpentry work I do is for brits mostly, so I'm snookered again.

It's lovely over here though, heavy woodland just 10mins walk from me with streams etc a bushcrafters paradise. I live with so much potential and only now can see it through a wannabe bushcrafters eyes. I hope it's not too late to learn new skills. I just need to get out and do.

All the best for the next 35 years. I'm sure she's used to that lingering woodsmoke scent about you by now :lmao: Let's hope my Alison get used to it too. I can't see her roughing it in the woods though.
 
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MartinK9

Life Member
Dec 4, 2008
6,548
526
Leicestershire
35 years is impressive John. I wish I could say the same, sadly my own marriage went pear-shaped, though not through lust for another. I've been with Alison mnow for pushing 9 years but it feels like less. Strange that.

As for French, I wihs I knew it more but I get by now, it's just that working from home I don't interact with the ,locals as much as I could, any carpentry work I do is for brits mostly, so I'm snookered again.

It's lovely over here though, heavy woodland just 10mins walk from me with streams etc a bushcrafters paradise. I live with so much potential and only now can see it through a wannabe bushcrafters eyes. I hope it's not too late to learn new skills. I just need to get out and do.

All the best for the next 35 years. I'm sure she's used to that lingering woodsmoke scent about you by now :lmao: Let's hope my Alison get used to it too. I can't see her roughing it in the woods though.

Now you've gone and done it:pokenest::lmao::lmao:
 

Alexlebrit

Tenderfoot
Dec 22, 2009
90
0
France
Salut, you're not a member of Bike Club France are you by any chance? Just seemed to remember someone registered there being in your area. Not used it in ages though and I seem to have forgotten my username so I can't log in to look.

As for bushcrafting, no I'm a real amateur, I drifted into it from canoeing, then canoe camping, then a fascination with woodstoves and that feeling of wanting to create stuff myself. I think probably I'm into the crafting part of it as much if not more than the bush part of it. Then again it's peeing down here, not really the weather for getting out and about.
 

Biker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Hey Alex,
Yup, I'm a member of Bike club France, that's me up here, I was one of the earliest members I think. I met up with Faulksie soon after he got the club off the ground. Nice bunch but a bit too "Motorcycle enthusiast" rather than "biker" No disrespect intended. :eek:
But like you I haven't been to the site in months. I went on a couple of ride outs, the memorable one was to that meal at the restaurant south of Mont St Michel in 2008. The one the local newspaper did a photoshoot of. I rode the urban cammoflaged Kawasaki. Had a good day but it wasn't so much a ride out as a race, too much for my old GPz against some of those plastic fantastics crotch rockets.

Maybe we even met that day? Small world if so eh?

I didn't go to the rally but I did make those piston trophies they presented.

Sounds like we're on the same page about bushcrafting, though I really would like to learn woodlore, and I too have a fascination with making stuff the traditional way. That Monty Don programme the other week (BBC2 Friday night) on greenwood fired up my interest again. This week's on blacksmithing, can't wait!

We have got to meet up sometime this spring/summer, but no pressure. you don't know me from Adam. ;)

Aaron
 
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Biker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Fenna
When are you hosting a Meet?
I will come solo as the Mrs is not the outdoor sort......

Excellent question! I could pick you up on the way past


John and Adze,

Me and my bog mouth! :eek:

Let me bounce it off the missus first, maybe we can come to some mutually beneficial arrangement. Just so long as you let me tag along for a couple of days and nights and learn how best to cook coprolites and how not to chop my thumb off :lmao:.

I'm pretty friendly with the village Mayor so let me make some enquieries about the bylaws of kipping and having fires in the local woods etc.

I'll get back to you about this later OK?

Just to give you some idea of my surroundings and please DON'T think I'm gloating, I'd hate for you to think that of me. This is the view out of my bathrom window looking just West of North. The dark patch on the horizon is the woods I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. I'll let you pick your preferred season. :)

The region is known as Swiss Normandy, lots of hills and valleys. Run a google map search for Pontécoulant, Normandy, France. We even have a trout lake about 15mins walk from us. Just scroll the map north and you'll see it south of the Chateau.

Aaron.

Hmmm why do I feel hesitant about hitting submit reply? I guess I really don't want you thinking I am gloating. We wanted to live in the country and found oursleves in a position to do so, so I refuse to feel guilty about it.


Bathroomwindow1.jpg


Bathroomwindow2.jpg


Bathroomwindow3.jpg
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,135
2,873
66
Pembrokeshire
Now that looks good!
To be honest though - its a bit far for me to travel...I even have trouble getting to Swyns Meets.....
Have fun though!
 

mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
Mr Dazzler, yep know Athis very well I buy a lot of building stuff from Prod Homme there, better than most of the other local building suppliers.

I used a builders merchant there, cant remember the name if its the same one, but the guy was shortish, quite fattish and loved sanglier hunting, he wanted me to get into that activity, which I would of loved to....:)
 

nickg

Settler
May 4, 2005
890
5
69
Chatham
guys

A tad off topic BUT (long story)

My Dad was a normandy vet, parachuted in to normandy on 6th june 44 with the 6th Airborne Div and was in part responsible for the destruction of a couple of bridges on the british left flank at a town called Bures-sur-Dives.
He passed away in 2008 and last year I went over to Bures to sprinkle his ashes around the aforementioned bridge there - called Juckes Bridge after his OC Capt Tim Juckes MC who died 3 weeks later from a morter.
The Maire of Bures very kindly accepted a small bronze plaque with dads details which he promised to have fixed on to the side of the Stele by the bridge.
I am told that its now there but I would love to have a piccy of it in situ to show the family, grandkids etc.

SOOOOOOOOO

If ever any of you Franglaise should be running around the Troarn - Caen area would care to find the bridge and its monument and snap a shot of it for me I would be ever so grateful. Its not too hard to find - there are two monuments in the town - one in the middle for 8th Bn Para Regt and another 1/2 km away by the river bridge - I can supply google maps details etc if needed. There is a small grassed picnic area there which is beautiful to sit & have a bite of lunch - very peaceful - and the old boy would enjoy the company.

Thanks

Nick
 

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