Jolie Laide - Beautiful Ugly. Remembering Our Life in France

This afternoon I've been thinking about our old life in the South of France, probably because we enjoyed lots of lovely sunny days there, and here today (in the North of England) it is dull, wet, and windy. Summer 2015!

France was one of our favourite places we've lived

And then for an unknown reason the words Jolie Laide came into my mind.
Jolie Laide translates from French into English as, Beautiful Ugly. 

Montpellier

I think of it as something like, if you shine within, then you'll be beautiful on the outside.......
Although beauty is a nonsensical thing, all in the eye of the beholder etc.
And what is beauty? I know we are programmed by the media to see certain places, people, things, as 'beautiful', but does that mean they really are?
Oops, rambing!

Decorative drainpipe in Fitou

So, yeah, Jolie Laide, it means Beautiful Ugly. 
It just randomly came into my mind, and I liked it, so I'm sharing it with you. You're welcome! Hehehe!

Wild boar feet nailed to a neighbours door

Well, that's all pretty random isn't it? Hahaha!
No idea why I suddenly remembered those two words, or why I felt like blogging about it - but if nothing else it's a good excuse to share some photos of France - not that I ever need an excuse to reminisce about our old life.......

It could be worse, I could have added even more photos to this blog post, I think we have about 50,000 that we shot in France.

Hmm, I just realised that I've uploaded four photos, and as I don't like even numbers - here's another one.

Wine? Yes! Yes! Yes!

I wish I was in the South of France now, or anywhere that's nice and warm and sunny.

I'm not complaining though, I'm very grateful that I can see the sea from every room in our house. 

Sadly it's not the Mediterranean Sea - it's the North Sea. Ha!

It's beautiful to be living right by the sea, but ugly that it's not somewhere warmer.......

What's your favourite type of view?

Do you love sea views?

Or do you prefer a countryside view?

Or something else?

Chanel N°5 Bath Gel

I can't remember the last time I had a bath.
Yes, I am a soap dodger, but that's not the reason I can't remember when I last had a lovely warm relaxing bubble bath. The reason for that is because I prefer to shower.
Actually, that's not entirely true, it's more that showering in our current house is easier than having a bath - because the hot tap in the bath is a tricky bugger, and it never seems to stay hot enough for long enough to fill the bath.
Our shower is much better behaved, it's perfect; hot, powerful, and once I'm in there I never want to get out - despite being a soap dodger. ;)

Anyway, my lack of lounging in a bath of lovely warm bubbly water is why I hadn't opened my bottle of Chanel N°5 bath gel, apart from to smell it, for years. That's only a slight exaggeration.
I love the smell of Chanel N°5, mainly because it always reminds me of my mum. Chanel N°5 is her favourite perfume, and she loves the other products in the range too, including the bath gel.
It's wonderful how breathing in the perfumed scent of this bath gel evokes such good memories of my mum, who always smells very lovely.

Unfortunately, as I've had this bottle of Chanel N°5 bath gel for a long long long time, I'm pretty sure it's gone off, so it's going in the bin - not that there's much left in the bottle, thankfully.
Do you like Chanel N°5?
Do you wear Chanel N°5 perfume?
Or are there other Chanel beauty products that you love?

France - Most Depressed Country in the World

According to an article I read online, the French are the most depressed people in the World.
The French are reportedly taking a lot of antidepressants, 21% of the population if you believe the reported figures. That's a lot of  depressed people.

Cathedral, Narbonne, France 

As with all of these stories, I doubt the 21% is an accurate figure. Obviously there could be more people who are depressed, but not taking any pills, or less people; they may have been prescribed pills but then felt they didn't need them.
Statistics never reveal the complete picture.

But, I guess it's true to say that there are a lot of French people who are depressed.
I wonder why?
As a Brit, I know that many British people would love to live in France, as a nation we love visiting France, and not just because it's close to us, but also for the food, the history and the country itself etc.

Vineyard in the Corbieres, France

I think I may know why the French are feeling depressed.
Breakfast!
They do not, as is often the misconception, eat deliciously buttery croissants every day for breakfast. The majority of them eat a small pot of cold yoghurt, and nothing more.
So you see that's why I think they may be feeling blue. They're hungry.
They should treat themselves and tuck-in to a proper hearty breakfast; maybe a British style fry-up?
I'm certain that would help them feel less depressed.

Road sign, Durban Corbieres, France

As I sit hunched over the table tapping away on the keyboard, slightly shivering, I am eating my breakfast.
What am I having?
A traditional full English breakfast? No, I am eating a bowl of Greek yoghurt, topped with sultanas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, banana, and lashings of maple syrup.
Despite leaving my breakfast bowl in front of the fire for a while before I began to eat it, it is seriously cold. The yoghurt is so cold it's numbing my teeth.
I am enjoying my breakfast, but it is not exactly making me feel happy.
Maybe I should take my own advice and eat a proper breakfast - a lovely full English.

Breakfast, cold North of England

What do you like to eat for breakfast?
Something hearty, or healthy?