The Journal | Platform13

Welcome to
The Brave Seeds Journal

Welcome to Brave Seeds — part living chronicle, part field guide to life and times in SW France. Think of it as a cross between an observational logbook, a neighbour’s kitchen table, and a mildly opinionated almanac. Here we share stories from the ground up — real people, imperfect moments, and the odd flash of spiritual wisdom. Some pieces are open to everyone, others are just for our members. Read, wander, nod knowingly — and if it feels like your kind of place, join us.

Explore Brave Seeds +

Unlocked Stories

Free to read - Field Notes, reflections and glimpses of life in France, through the eyes of Platform 13

Spirit Level - I am that I am

Self-talk is not something to be taken lightly. Saying things like “I can’t carry a tune, I’m tone deaf.” whilst it can be an expression...

The French Connection - "Sabotage!.."

The word sabotage is a genuine “drama picture”. It can conjure machines grinding noisily to a halt, partisans blowing up railway lines,...

Women of Note

Our Brave Seeds "Women of Note" posts were originally conceived around a focus on the women who shape our regional community - social and...

Field Notes - Old Fashioned

I love almost everything that is old. Old books, old times, old manners. One of the few enviable advantages of being British lies not...

Gentle Reflections... October

“Travel whispers to the soul’s boldness. It asks not for the absence of fear, but the courage to lead into the unknown, to embrace both...

The Spirit Level - Sacred Soul

Platform 13 CEO Vanessa Grant on Soul, Strength and the Sacred Feminine. Sitting in sacred silence There are words that carry weight far...

Brave Seeds Members

Brave Seeds Journal

Essays of interest, seasonal letters and reflections, exclusively for our members.

Bringing it Back - Calling cards.

There was a time when a social visit began not with a text message or a hopeful knock, but with a small, stiff rectangle. The calling...

Field Notes - Bees at the office.

October in the Dordogne is quieter now. The fields are slowing, the walnuts gathered, the vines picked clean. But for bees, it’s still...

Living the seasons - September

September is a bit of a hinge month, a threshold that resists placement in the pigeon hole. It is neither the lingering ease of summer,...

At the table - Plums

September is the season of plums. Markets across South-West France overflow with baskets of them — dusky purple, golden yellow, ruby red....

"The French Connection"...

Croydon Airport, Southern England, 1923. Aviation was still in its daring infancy: wood and canvas planes crossing the Channel, radios...

Field Notes - Donkeys

If Fridays had faces, they would be the visage of a donkey. Unhurried, standing in a meadow, the very picture of end-of-the-week...

Field Notes - Cognac vineyards

Vineyards are surely the most civilised of our ancient cultivations. Humanity seems to have evolved liking its plants arranged in tidy...

Field Notes - Le jambon beurre

On a rainy day last November, the humble baguette was acknowledged and enshrined forever by UNESCO as “a thing of exceptional interest for the common heritage of mankind.”