La Vie: A Year in Rural France by John Lewis-Stempel
In England, the song of the chiffchaff heralds spring. In la France profonde the signs are more exotic, as John Lewis-Stempel discovers one February morning when his horse crashes through an electrified fence and bolts into a walnut orchard.
After calming the terrified animal, Lewis-Stempel leads him back to his field where the cause of the alarm is revealed: a fire salamander, basking in the sunshine. Zeb the horse had never seen one of those in Herefordshire and nor had his owner. But as three species of lizard emerged from hibernation to join the party, he realizes that’s how you know winter has passed in Charente-Maritime.
