81: Rochechouart Night Market, Wooly Mammoth uncovered and normal life

Welcome to the 81st weekly post of our Baby Boomers Move to France blog. How did Sunday get here so fast? This week flew by and I thought that I had another day before publishing our blog. Yikes

We are into our 53rd week in France 8/2-8/8/26 having spent 3 months in Duras and then roughly a month and a half in St Germaine de Confolens before settling in Chabanais.

We have been in our home in the village of Chabanais in the Charente department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region of France since the middle of December 2025. You might remember that we actually closed on the house on Thanksgiving Day, but it took a couple of weeks to get fully moved in.

Our home in Chabanais, France

Things on the agenda this week:

• MAC Fest on Sunday
• Simon the handyman to work on another project
• Home insurance agent to visit and update our home insurance
• EB volunteers at CSF shop
• Rochechouart Night Market

Weather forecast:

We have a little rain forecasted for this coming week with high temps forecasted to reach 29 C (84F). Overnight low down to 14C (57F). Definitely a cooling trend. Humidity goes up to the 76% range and a little breezy.

Why this Blog?

Long story short, we are Mark and Elizabeth Beiley, “Baby Boomers” that have moved from Venice, Florida to the beautiful French countryside as retirees. After a little over a year of planning and fretting we sold everything in Venice and made the move on 1 August 2025.

We publish a brief update of our adventures every Sunday to share our experiences, tips and mistakes.

If you are wondering what got into our head and inspired us to make the move, check out some of our earlier posts. Again, if you have questions about our adventure, drop your questions in the comment section below.

This Weeks Daily Update

Sunday: Up and at ’em this Sunday. We have to be at the venue for the MAC Fest to help set up and to do our volunteer shift at the CSF booth.

We were really glad to be able to do our shift in the morning. By noon the sun was beating hard. Our shift was from 10 to noon, so we beat most of the heat. We took Rosie along and she was curious about all that was going on.

I would have liked to stay later but after we had lunch, we decided it was too hot. Could have lasted when we were in our 30s. LOL. Next year we will probably come back later in the evening for the really good singers/musicians.

Lunch was a cheeseburger and fries. I had a shandy to drink. EB went for straight beer. I had been wanting to try a Shandy. It is actually pretty refreshing. You will remember a Shandy is a 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade (often carbonated lemonade). There was pretty good live music too. They had about 12-13 bands over the course of 2 days and raised over 10K euros for cancer.

The event was held at the Lac de Haute-Charente near the Base Nautique de Verneuil. I walked over to check out the Base Nautique. They have canoes, kayaks, paddle boards and a few sailing dinghies for rent. The sail boats are 18 euros per hour. There wasn’t much wind out today, but it looks like it could be fun if there was a little more wind. I think that I will check it out more seriously in the future.

Nice night for Marbles and a glass of wine on the terrasse.

EB adjusted the umbrella so the setting sun wouldn’t be over powering and all is good. You might notice we changed the location of the umbrella and rearranged the furniture, so we gain a little more room on the terrasse. Only half of the umbrella stand is actually on the deck.

Marbles on the terrasse. We had to quit when we realized that it was already 22:30 (10:30PM). Rosie was ready for bed.

Monday: Cool morning with a touch of rain after noon

After coffee in the cocktail coop, we drove to Saint Junien. There is a new grocery store and a new patisserie there that we wanted to check out. We wanted to get new Skechers for our upcoming trip too. We were in luck and both found the Skecher slip-ins that we wanted.

We went to NOZ which is a big kind of Dollar General. All kinds of things in there. We were looking for a pull cart for Cindy to use while at the Dragon boat races. They didn’t have what we thought she needed so on to the next stop.

We heard a lot about a new patisserie called Feuillette (it is a chain boulangerie/patisserie) and wanted to check it out. Beside pastries they serve lunch cafeteria style. We shared something kind of a cross between a pizza and a quiche (called a Fougasse) for lunch and coffee and a pastry. Pretty good.

Then on to a new store is called Fresh. The store moto is: “au service du gout” which means, “Dedicated to taste”. It is not a big store but there is a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and meats too. They even have octopus. We don’t know how to properly prepare it, so we opted for salmon.

Later, we walked over to Cafe des Sport for a glass of rose. We lucked out and found a table outside. While we were there Allen and Deb joined us and we had a nice chat (they had walked from their home in Grenord @ 2km away).

Dinner was salmon on the BBQ and veggie salad. Of course wine on the terrassse.

Facetime with Mark and Cheyenne and the grandkids. It is hard to believe how quickly those little kids are growing up. You can’t help but love them to bits. Ravyn had her hair-colored purple, and it looks great. Due to some government SNAFU Mark’s new assignment in Cuba has been postponed. He is expecting some resolution by the end of August. Meanwhile they are still on the Marshall Islands with all of those beautiful sunsets. Everyone is healthy and happy, that is the main thing!

Tuesday: Pretty heavy rain overnight. Partly cloudy the rest of the day.

We had our morning coffee in the coop and Simon arrived around 9:00 to check on the project that we had for him. After discussion we decided that while the project can be done, it would be a very messy project, and we all agreed we will skip this project. Thanks to Simon for pointing out the issues.

EB harvested a bunch of tomatoes and shared some with Simon and asked Michelle if she wanted any. Ron and Michelle came over in the afternoon to pick up the tomatoes. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a drink and a chat on the terrasse. EB and Michelle did wine while Ron and I had a Stella.

Wednesday: Beautiful cool morning and coffee in the cocktail coop. Roses are blooming again. I have gotten so used to them that I sometimes forget all about them.

EB took care of an errand for CSF while Rosie and I held down the fort in expectation of a delivery from Temu.

French class was well attended once again. I mentioned that we had a good conversation telephonique (“telephone conversation” you probably figured that one out without my translation) with my son and that led to some further discussion. Ron shared a French tongue twister phrase that he found, “Un ver vert va vers un verre vert” (“the green worm goes towards the green glass”). You gotta love the French language.

Thursday: Meet with insurance guy, golf in the afternoon and Russ dropped by

After coffee in the Cocktail Coop, we walked over to the Farmers’ market and picked up some fruit and veggies. It was the first Thursday of the month, so it was the big Chabanais market. Lots more vendors with clothing mostly.

We bought some veggies and I ran across the street for a baguette.

Alexandre from AXA insurance drove over from Confolens to discuss our homeowner’s insurance. Since we upgraded the solar panels (photovoltaic) and added the wood and pellet burners, we wanted to be sure all is covered adequately. We also want to be sure our new terrasse is covered and that the new air-condition and heat pump systems will be covered when they are installed. We will go over to Confolens on Friday to sign all of the papers.

Golf with Ron and Allen. Probably one of my worst rounds since I started joining Ron on his simulator. I blame it on staying up late and having a bit too much wine on Wednesday night. It was still fun though and great to see Ron have a really good round. Allen was his normal solid self.

Russ dropped by around 8ish and brought a bunch of plums. They are smaller than we are used to, but very tasty. He and EB enjoyed some prosecco I stuck to wine. We all enjoyed the chat and before we knew it a couple of hours slipped by. Russ invited us to Apero on Friday.

Friday: Warm day, EB does some shopping and I tackle a couple of small projects

While EB went to the grocery store and the Brico Depot my task was to hang the Geckos that EB had purchased from TEMU.

We wanted to add a little color to the terrasse, and Coop area and these little guys will do the trick, I think. I mentioned that it has been so hot and dry the veggie garden was suffering. Luckily, we still had some water in the rain barrel, so crisis averted. Because of the drought we are on strict water usage limitations.

EB picked up a couple of lock boxes. Another small project for me. Russ texted EB to say that he has to cancel apero for tonight.

EB spent some time rearranging the guest room so that it will be all set for Dan and Rhonda when they arrive. She moved the computer to the salon and set up the desk for success.

Saturday: EB volunteers at the CSF cancer shop and we attend the Rochechouart Night Market

Additional paperwork for the investment guy is needed. I hope this plan works out. I remain very skittish about the stock market. I’m pretty sure that we are headed for a serious decline that might not recover for years. You will recall that we pulled back from the market last year. Maybe a little too soon, but…

EB volunteered at the cancer support shop. She wanted to hang a white board on one of the walls. After a couple of attempts at hanging it, she texted me for help. I grabbed my toolbox and a small box of screws and walked over. We were done in 10 minutes and EB walked home with me.

Russ dropped by to invite us to apero/game night but since we are going to the night market we agreed on Sunday night.

Rochechouart Night Market

Ron and Michelle came along with us to the Night Market. You will recall that night markets are one of our favorite fun things to do in France. The night markets in Duras were weekly during the summer months and were eagerly anticipated so when the rare market came up in Rochechauort we jumped on it. We took the 10 minute drive over early to beat the crowd and found a parking spot in a lot that Ron remembered. Perfect spot with a short cut to centre ville.

The Rochechouart market is a very nice market with lots of vendors and multiple live music venues. I liked the jazz group the best. We wondered around gawking at the various artisan tents and food tents. There are a lot of tables and chairs set up for people to sit, eat and drink and we found a table in one of the squares where Michelle treated us to beer and water. It was blazing hot, so we called it quits early and went over to Ron and Michelles for a glass of wine.

So that was our week.

Some chores checked off of the list and nice mornings with coffee in the Coop and The Night Market.

French Lifestyle and Culture

French drought conditions

It is amazing to see the rivers so low. I was just reading that the Danube River is so low that WW2 war ships that were skuttled by the German navy as they retreated are being revealed. The Germans had sunk the ships in an attempt to slow down the advancing Russian army.

Efforts have been underway to remove the ships over the years.

Also, a huge woolly mammoth skeleton has been uncovered as the river water level receded.

Of course, our local rivers are under strain as well. Water use restrictions cover most of France and indeed most of Europe. While our department is not in crisis mode, we are not allowed to water our garden during most of the day and things like washing the car at your home or anywhere for that fact are definitely not allowed.

There are a number of factors behind the drought. Scientist in France say climate change is a major factor.

It sounds pretty bad but one thing that is super positive in France is that the government and the people recognize that climate change is real and the impact is real and are doing something about it. Renewable energy, efficient small cars, and general long-standing understanding of the need for conservation among the population makes me happy that we have made this move to France.

Next Week (la Semaine Prochaine)

• Apero/game night with the boys on Sunday night
• See about car service at Dacia dealership
• Confolens festival
• Meet insurance agent in Confolens to finalize home insurance paperwork
• Total solar eclipse and meteor showers (August 12 around 9:30pm for us)

Weather forecast for next week

Mostly cloudy for the week except for Thursday which has a forecasted high temp of 38C (100F). Overnight lows around 20C (68F). We are really looking forward to the fall weather.

Signing off for the week

As always, we sign off wishing you all a good week and remind you to take care of yourselves and your family.

Keep in touch and leave questions, suggestions and comments below. We really enjoy hearing from you all.

Wishing you a good week (Bonne Semaine)

Mark and Elizabeth Beiley

Babyboomersmovetofrance.com