When we lived in Atlanta it was seldom necessary to set an alarm unless we had to get up especially early. We just always awoke in plenty of time to get ready for work. In the weeks immediately preceding our move to France, the stress to get everything finished meant we slept very little, so on most days we were wide awake long before we needed to be. Now that we live in France, we’ve had to set the alarm clock if we’ve known that a package is going to be delivered early or needed to get to an appointment before lunchtime.

Saturdays used to be our laundry day in the US. We would get several loads of clothes washed, dried, folded and/or ironed, and put away all within a few hours. Since our washing machine here is smaller than we’re used to and the dryer is non-electric, clothes washing gets spread across several days, and we’re not complaining at all. It’s not as if we need to get work clothes ready for both of us for 5 or 6 days each week, so there really is no rush.

In Atlanta, once we reached senior citizen status (age variable depending on the store) we started doing the grocery shopping on Wednesdays to take advantage of the additional discounts. Here, the market in the town square is open 3 days a week with Saturday being when the most number of local farmers and vendors show up with their own produce and/or that brought up from Spain, a couple hours south of here. That same square also has 2 small supermarkets, stocked amazingly well for their limited space, that are open every day. Just a couple of blocks from the house, even the tiny specialty grocery store that emphasises local products, is open daily and could keep us in food and drink forever. With all of this fresh food so close at hand, we’ve been out almost everyday stocking and restocking our limited shelves. And of course we have to have a fresh baguette every morning!

Even Heather has gotten in on the act. Having always lived in a house with a big yard plus all the yards of our neighbors near by, she was accustomed to having plenty of grassy spots to take care of business Now it’s 2 blocks of street and sidewalks to cross before we get to the river and its grassy banks so if it’s cold and rainy, any spot will do!