The final outdoor project on this house is now complete: the back deck has a new floor. Fortunately the structure itself was sound (which is a good thing since it’s 20 feet above the ground) but the flooring definitely needed replacing. Bill has had to pull too many splinters out of my bare feet not to change those out. It took several days, separated by a … Continue reading All decked out
We’ve just returned from a couple of weeks in Carcassonne and if this is any indication of what life is going to be like there, we’re in for a real treat! As on numerous previous vacations, we rented an apartment through a holiday home agency so that we could pretend that we lived in whatever location we had chosen as our base for the vacation. When we first booked this trip the purpose was to find a place to live. Since that had been taken care of weeks prior to our departure, we were free to pursue an even more personal goal of meeting up with people. Continue reading “Back from the future”
We took this photo last week from the old bridge, you know the one built in 1359 in Carcassonne, of the castle. They light it up every night but somehow the lighting this time seemed perfect for Halloween. I wonder what kind of candy we’ll be giving out next year? BIll says “Bon bons”! As for this year you can see what we’ll be giving out. … Continue reading Happy Halloween!
You’ve already read a couple of blog posts about the cost of living in the southwest part of France and I’m certain that there will be more. In fact, in the works is another section of the blog that will show monthly budgets of other Americans living in different parts of the country plus we’ll include our own expenses as well.
While in Barcelona this month we had ample opportunity to visit shops, restaurants, markets, and supermarkets to get an idea of what it might cost to live here and it seemed pretty cheap. Restaurant meals in the 10 to 12 euro range abound including an appetizer or dessert with the main course plus a glass of local wine adding only 2 euro to the bill. Fresh fruits and vegetables, coming from only miles away were especially affordable. Drinkable bottles of wine from the supermarket start at just over 1 euro. Yes, really.
Earlier this month we were in Barcelona for a few days before moving on up to Carcassonne. Since this was our first visit to this Spanish city of 1.6 million people, where the amount of things to do and see is overwhelming, we had to choose an area of concentration. It’s only 2 1/2 hours by train from where we’ll be living, so we’ll be back to see what we missed. This time around it was all about Antoni Gaudi, the Catalan architect known for his unique and some might say outlandish style reflected in buildings including the Sagrada Familia cathedral. Continue reading “Is Gaudi gaudy?”
When Bill was looking online for a new computer he was surprised at the high cost which was almost double the price we had paid for my laptop about a year ago. In keeping with a variation on our new “double or nothing” concept, we wanted one computer to replace both his dying laptop plus our larger and more robust desktop that handles most everything household from banking to scheduling the lights, music, the thermostat, on and on. To try to get the price down he started downgrading the computer by decreasing the memory, choosing a slower processor, and getting a smaller screen. At that point I asked him if this was the time to be scrimping. After all, we would be replacing two computers with one and taking it to a place where we are far from fluent in the language. Although I can carry on a casual conversation in French, it doesn’t typically include words like ram, processor, pixel, and HDMI nor inquiring about computer repairs and upgrades. Initially I think that we’ll need to function as independently as possible as we begin to fit in and avoid feeling isolated.
When we were first setting up this blog I was hoping to find an app for the sidebar where you could easily convert metric measurements into those more commonly used in the UK and US. Since that hasn’t shown up yet, there’s a chart below where you’ll find some shortcuts. It’s what we use when we’re on the continent to figure out a more familiar amount. To make it easy, though, here are the four that I’ll mention the most:
These are not exact but will give you a general idea without having to consult your smart phone.
Continue reading “We converted”
Let's Live In France 