Life in France through the eyes of an American Pipemaker

In 2002, Talbert Pipes moved from our comfortable existence in North Carolina, USA, to an entirely new life in Brittany, France in search of adventure. It was an enormously difficult transition in every way. Here, for the benefit of our families and friends from around the world, we present a little travelogue of our life in Brittany - the people we have met, the places we have seen, and occasionally an adventure or two.

News!

November 25th, 2003 -I've redone the pics of our retail shop, since it has progressed greatly since the last shots were taken. Check HERE.
November 2nd, 2003 -I've just posted a new page in the "Adventures" area - Halloween in Herbignac! This one is even complete with a short video slideshow.
October 19th, 2003 -One tiny little addition - a new link in the "Places" page to "Other locations in France", in English. It's a handy site that centralizes links to a lot of interesting locations all over France.
July 24th, 2003 -Lots of new pics and stuff. I've added 3 new locations to the "Places" area - new entries are marked in red and, combined with some updates to other areas, there are a lot of new pictures to see. Also, there are two new pages added to the "Adventures" area - one for the Herbignac July 14th fireworks celebration, and another which tells the (long) story of Emily's (funny, in a frightening sort of way) driver's license acquisition.
July 8th, 2003 -We went exploring more of the coastline last weekend and found the beautiful little hidden beaches at Quimiac. It's a tiny little seaside village that's far-removed from the tourist areas and ideal for a peaceful afternoon's ramble. I've added a new page for Quimiac to the "Places" area. We finished our day by driving down to the also-new-to-us seaside town of Piriac-sur-Mer, which is a little bigger and more tourist-oriented, though still small and cozy. They have a very nice dockside area with several restaurants, fair-like vending booths (candied apples!), and lots to explore. Unfortunately, we also had our very first encounter with the US/France spat fallout here - we found a great little restaurant where we intended to have dinner, but were startled to encounter a bold sign out front proudly stating, "No American Products in Our House". I found this fairly offensive and we assumed that if they didn't want anything American inside then they certainly wouldn't want my American money, so we found another place to have dinner. It left rather a bad impression of the whole town of Piriac for me, trivial though it might seem, and I had to reflect on the silliness of the whole thing. Obviously it wasn't any more rude to me than the "freedom fries" antics would be to a French person, but at the same time I'm certainly not going to spend my money with anyone who's making public relations points by denigrating my country.
June 27th, 2003 -Spring is here in Herbignac and the temperature has climbed to a very pleasant 75-82 degrees, making it really nice outside and perfect for visiting the beach without being miserably hot (though, amusingly, the locals are complaining that this is a very hot summer... I need to take them down to south Georgia!) I've added a small pile of new pictures to the Herbignac section on the "Places" menu. Herbignac has all their flowers out now and the whole town is decorated. Also, we finally have some sunshine for me to get some bright outdoor town pics!
June 17th, 2003 -I've added a new page to the "Places" listing for Pénestin, a beautiful little beach near here where we've been having our lunches. They're big pictures but it's nice to finally have some Brittany pics that we were able to take in bright sunshine rather than grey rain!
June 10th, 2003 -I've been adding to, and revising, my "One Year On" essay for the past week, sticking in little extra bits where I thought of something new or adding other parts where I thought the original writing wasn't clear. I wrote the first version after a couple of days of no sleep so it was a bit wandery, and since then I've had time to remember a lot of other bits I meant to mention. It's a lot longer now.
June 2nd, 2003 -It has been a long time since our last update, and we've had a whole war in-between. I've added two new pages to the "Adventures" area. One is dedicated to Herbignac's "Marché de Potiers", a festival celebrating pottery in all its forms, and the other is a long and rambling pile of thoughts on the anniversary of our first year in France.
March 21, 2003 -Unfortunately, French & US relations continue to deteriorate thanks to stubborness and poor diplomacy on both sides of the pond. It has made our situation here more difficult, especially due to the uncomfortable sensation of being torn between conflicting loyalties and expectations - old friends and family in the US expect us to be pro-US and anti-French while new friends locally are mostly opposed to the war, and the locals continue to be confused by the hostility of the American people towards them. I've found that the majority of the French do not understand yet the sheer magnitude of American bitterness towards France at this moment, though it's also difficult for us to judge how much of this is real and how much is media-stirred whirlwind among reactionaries, to be forgotten in 6 months when someone else has come along to be the new "annoyance of the moment". In any event, our own personal feelings are very simple - we hope the troops come home OK and this thing is over quickly and as painlessly as possible to both the US/UK forces and the Iraqi people. Being pro-war or opposed makes little difference now and I'm simply crossing my fingers and thinking a good thought daily for the safety of everyone involved, one of whom is a family member. I have taken down the page of French emails about the war since it now seems to serve no purpose - neither side seems interested in listening to the other so attempting to improve understanding will only become a great way to make both parties mad. Never get in the middle of a knife fight, as they say!
March 3, 2003 -I've added a few more comments on the Iraq situation, plus a new page of our questions about things French, all in the "Adventures" section.
February 20, 2003 -We were invited to visit a local English-learning class, and I've posted the story in the "Adventures" section.
February 15, 2003 -A few more quotes have been posted on the page concerning current French/American relations.
February 14, 2003 -Finally another update, and it's a big one. We've been getting some emails from friends and family in the US who are worried about us, based on the recent media frenzy over the conflict between the US and France regarding Iraq. If one went by the papers and TV, one would assume that all Americans were throwing their French cheeses out to mold and every Frenchman was in Paris burning US flags, but happily this is not true. I have noticed a lot of misunderstandings and hurt feelings on both sides though. In hopes of helping our US friends and family and visitors to better understand the French outlook on current events, I have gone to the French people directly to ask them what they think of the US. I don't present this as any sort of serious study since it is primarily a poll among locals in town and members and friends in the French pipe club, but these people all have one important thing in common - they work for a living rather than spending their days waving signs at cameras. I have begun a page in the "Adventures" section where I will post excerpts from various conversations with French people on this subject. I hope it will be interesting to read, and maybe informative. I've also added a couple of new entries to the "Differences" page relating to manners, and the concepts of what constitutes friendship might make particularly meaningful reading at this time.
December 13, 2002 -It's been a while since I updated here so I am taking advantage of being sick to add a couple of new items. The "Differences" page has gained one more entry - on shopping carts - and it's a subject of much deeper significance tha one might imagine! Also, I've posted a page of pictures of our new retail shop in the "Places" area. Eventually I intend to add an entire section to the commercial areas of the website devoted solely to the retail shop, but for now these few pictures will have to suffice. I hope they will convey the coziness of this little lair to pipe enthusiasts everywhere.
October 19, 2002 -Several good things have happened since my last post. EDF called us back and listened to our horror story and moved our wiring date up for us, which was a total shock to both of us. They listened! I hereby retract everything bad I said about EDF. We've also had a visit from a bank fellow who made the changes we've been after for our credit card account for the past 3 months, so now we can take credit card orders from our international customers. This section of the site has gotten two updates - in the "Places" section, I've added photos of our walk through the castle Ranrouet, which is just down the road from us. Also, I've added a new page to the "Adventures" section which will probably expand to dramatic proportions. It is a list of differences - things that seem surprising here (better or worse) to our American eyes. This is mostly a trivia list, like not having peanut butter in the grocery stores, but maybe it will be interesting and/or funny to both Americans and French alike.
October 15, 2002 -Well, unfortunately we have been screwed by the French fonctionaires again - we have been in desperate need of 380 volt power here to get our sandblaster working for the past 2 months, and over a month ago we were told that someone would come from EDF (the French power company) today to do the work. However, what we got today was a surveyor who walked around and looked at the wiring and announced that yes, we do need 380 volt and he would have to call in a service request. Argh! This country is a nightmare of having to see 15 people to get one thing done. We told him we needed the power hookup "yesterday" as it is a terrible drain on our income (At the moment we can only produce smooth pipes, which means that every pipe that's worked and needs blasting must be set aside in a basket for such, thus wasting the time it took to get it TO the stage where we found that it was a blast candidate....meaning we're only getting 1 sellable pipe out of every 4-5 that we work on now and thus only 1/5 of the hourly income). This afternoon he called back to tell us we had an appointment on NOVEMBER 15TH for the wiring to be connected. This is "yesterday"... I do not cease to be amazed at the attitudes of French bank officials, government types, and workers for virtually all of the big companies that everyone must surely have huge piles of cash just to sit around on while waiting calmly for them to take 2 months to stamp one paper. Thus, we get to spend another entire month working on 1/5 income unable to produce our most profitable products, with no response from EDF other than a shrug. Considering how tightly things have been stretched for the past several months due to these same sorts of bungling, I honestly do not know what our survival chances are as a business now. This is very dire news.
September 22, 2002 -I've added a few bits to this area. In "People", I've posted a photo of the ladies at the Herbignac mairie who were a big help to us, and who listened with endless patience to a lot of very bad French as we tried to work through the steps of getting our residence papers. In "Places", I have added Nantes. We went there a week ago to have our physicals, and as with all new experiences here, it also turned into an entry for the "Adventures" page as well.
September 1, 2002 - I just added one short story to the Adventures page. Credits for a couple of pictures taken by a German friend will be forthcoming as soon as I figure out to to type his name!
August 28, 2002 - I am finishing up this portion of the website today. Many of the pictures and tales here have been previously seen on the original "American Pipemaker in Brittany" sub-site to the old Talbert Pipes website. Now, that information has been reformatted to match the new look, and a great deal of new stuff has been added. I will update this section as often as time allows, and I hope it will provide an entertaining view of this country and our reactions to it. There is both good and bad, as in everything. The good makes better pictures to share; the bad makes the most interesting stories. I am presenting these tales exactly as I have experienced them, with all understandable reactions included. Regarding the good bits, I should point out that I am not a starry-eyed "francophile" in love with everything French, but France really can be an exceptionally great place to live sometimes. Regarding the bad bits, again, I am not a francophile willing to gloss over all the negative aspects of this country to present a rosy view - I am simply telling it as I have experienced it firsthand. I thusly hope that it will be a more enjoyable, interesting, and honest read for everyone. Vive la France!