Discover The Christmas Market in Toulouse, France

Discover The Christmas Market in Toulouse, France

13, February, 2025

Episode 241: Discover The Christmas Market in Toulouse, France

In this Vodcast, we visit and discover what is in store at The Christmas market, as we do every year. Sue, who is a huge fan of Christmas continues her mission to get Chris into the Christmas spirit.

Welcome back to English-Podcasts In this episode we get out and about with our video camera to discover the food and drink of the Christmas season in the centre of Toulouse, France. Will Sue be able to ‘sell’ Christmas to Chris, who is not 100% convinced?

Notes

Join us in the bustling centre of Toulouse on an unusually cold evening.

See the stalls and produce that is on sale, some of it quite original and others that are the stalwarts of the Christmas Market.

We discover some the unique and the traditional, along with the things that seem a little off-the-wall for the Christmas season.

One thing is for sure, love it hate it, The Christmas Market is certainly a lively and a very friendly place to go.

Recap & Takeaways

Packed with vocabulary about the Christmas season, along with lots of expressions to describe the tastes and sensations about food and drink.

Once again we visit the growing Christmas market in the centre of the beautiful city of Toulouse to soak up the Christmas spirit.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more cultural explorations!

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Meet up with a full time vanlifer in France

Meet up with a full time vanlifer in France

Meeting up with a full-time #vanlifer who is doing #vanlife where we met on a small farm campsite in the #paysbasque in south west #france.

Katharina is from Germany and she has given everything up to get on the road with her little car and her vintage caravan.

I met her near Saint Jean de Luz just as she was planning to head off to Spain and Portugal and she has already encountered some problems, like her fridge breaking down and the walls of her caravan falling apart and leaking water into the inside of the caravan, although she remains upbeat and motivated for her adventure.

She talks about the ups & downs of Vanlife, where she has come from, where she is going and how she intends to earn some money to maintain her lifestyle whilst on the road.

Christmas far from the North Pole

Christmas far from the North Pole

Is it possible to get in to the Christmas spirit thousands of miles away from Lapland ???

In this Vblog Chris and Sue take you on a fun trip around Toulouse to soak up the Christmas atmosphere in South West France. There are only blue skies, no snow in sight but a lot of French cheese, cakes, chocolate, Canadian whisky and even a Christmas flamingo !!

You’ll see how Sue tries to get Chris into the Christmas spirit in a city a far, far away from Santa’s grotto. 

What do you think, is Christmas too commercial or just an excuse to have some fun in winter?

Click here to go to Two Frogs Travel YouTube channel and see beautiful Toulouse at Christmas.

Wherever you are in the world, hot or snowy climes we wish you a very Happy Christmas!

 

 

What to do in Santorini in a week

What to do in Santorini in a week

Sue asks Chris about a recent holiday he spent on the Greek island of Santorini.

Listen to some recommendations about what to do, where to go, what to eat and where to stay on the island.

Chris talks about some of the places that everybody knows on Santorini, including the mystical town of Oia and also when he visited an active volcano.

You can also look at the video that Chris took – please be sure to subscribe to Chris’ channel – Two Frogs travel.

The Medieval village of Bages, France

The Medieval village of Bages, France

The Medieval village of Bages, France

The Medieval village of Bages, France is set on the Mediterranean coast, near Narbonne.

The name of Bages appears for the first time in a document at the end of the 8th century, the territory of the commune was crossed by man since prehistoric times – two objects found at the Pavilion (a flint axe) and Java (a Bronze Age spearhead).

But the most numerous and important ancient remains date back to the Gallo-Roman period, and so we have been able to locate several sites of villas near the current village: Clozel, Croix-Petite, Col d’Estarac , Monédières, Castellas … And the very name ‘Prat-de-Cest’ is incontestably of Latin origin: “Pratum Sextum”, as mentioned an act of the 11th century, means “the meadows of the Sixth” (c ‘ that is to say six thousand Roman after Narbonne on Via Domitia).

From the medieval period, only the 11th century church remains, Much remodeled since, and a wall section of the old 13th century castle, as well as some buildings from the 11th century towards the area of ​​Prat-de-Cest, and the Cross Lieue (13th century, restored in 1986) on the edge of the National 9, at the foot of the subdivision of Rochegrise.

Bages was then a small village of farmers and fishermen with only 58 habitations (slightly more than 200 inhabitants) in the 14th century. It belonged to the chapter of the canons of the church Saint-Paul de Narbonne which remained “lord of Bages” until the French Revolution.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Bages was not spared by the politico-religious conflicts that were tearing the country apart: thus the village was a highly disputed strategic point during the wars of the League between 1585 to 1596, then during the Duke’s rebellion of Montmorency in 1632.

From the reign of Louis XIII to the end of the old regime, despite the wars and a number of natural disasters, Bages went through a period development.

With more than 800 people in 1784, it was administered by three consuls, elected each year by the “general council” of the community. The economy was based essentially on agriculture (cereals, more than vines), olive groves, livestock (mainly sheep and goats), fishing and crafts.

Under the Revolution and the Empire, Bages (to which the area of ​​Prat-de-Cest is attached) adapted as best as possible to the new institutions of the country, paying as many villages did, a heavy price for the Napoleonic wars ( the expedition of Egypt, in 1798-99, alone killed eighteen Bagesois).

Fishermen benefited from the establishment of a prud’homie in 1801, and an important salt marsh was created in Estarac in 1811 (it was stilll working until the beginning of the 1950s).

Falling to less than 700 inhabitants in the early 19th century, Bages remained a small fishing village, with farmers and artisans, slowly opening up to the modern world only under the July Monarchy (1830-1848).

Thanks to viticulture, it began to take off during the Second Empire and the beginning of the Third Republic, reaching almost 1,200 inhabitants in the early 1880s. It was then in full prosperity as is shown by the extension of the village beyond the old medieval wall, with the construction of many buildings including the communal school (today Center Louis Daudé) in 1884.

Like all the communes of the Narbonnais, it was affected by the phylloxera crisis, then by the viticultural crisis of 1907, many Bageois participated in large numbers in the protests launched by Marcellin Albert: one of them, an agricultural worker, 18 year old, Gaston Pagès, wass killed by soldiers during a demonstration in Narbonne on June 20, 1907.

After the Great War, during which 31 Bageois perished in the field of battle, the commune experienced a steady decline until the end of the 1960s, falling to around 550 inhabitants.

The old village and the hamlet of Pesquis then had many houses in ruins; only, Prat-de-Cest, on the National 9,  developed, aspiring even to become an independent commune.

It was not until the 1970s, thanks to the control of mosquito infestation and the establishment of an modern sewerage system, that the renewal of the commune occurred, which now has more than 800 inhabitants.

Although viticulture and fishing are still present, they don’t play more than a secondary role in the local economy, Bages welcomes more and more a people attracted by the beauty of the site.

 

After watching the video, have a go at the quiz here 

The Site of the Mayor of Bages

Learn English with Emmanuel Macron

Learn English with Emmanuel Macron

Learn English with Emmanuel Macron

Learn English with Emmanuel Macron can be seen in two ways : as a parody of Emmanuel Macron speaking English, or the way that it was intended, that is to help people get over their fear of speaking English.

We hear lots of people who are afraid of speaking English as they make mistakes and have a strong accent.

Well, we say, so what! If you do not dare to speak English because of this, you are missing out on so much – including not improving your English skills.

As you can see, Emmanuel Macron makes mistakes and he also has a strong French accent, but this does not stop him communicating well and getting his message across.

I cannot think of another French president who communicates so well in English – so Well Done M. Macron – we hope you inspire others to forget the small errors they make, go over the fact that they have an accent and just start communicating, and most of all, enjoying speaking English.

And remember – If you are not making mistakes, you are not learning!

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