From horseless carriage to carless pairage

Pont Vieux, the 14th century foot bridge to town
Pont Vieux, the 14th century foot bridge to town

We had a rental car for the first couple of weeks that we were in France figuring that it would be handy to pick up our initial supply of groceries, a couple of small portable tables, and to stock the liquor cabinet (for guests, of course!) with all of those heavy bottles that we would not want to hand carry on the bus or by walking. Now that we don’t have a car for the first time in 28 years or so we are solely (pun intended) on foot. Continue reading “From horseless carriage to carless pairage”

La trek tou-louse

Capitol building in Toulouse
Capitol building in Toulouse

For those of you who missed my lame attempt at clever wordplay with this post’s title, recently we went to the city of Toulouse, about an hour away. Actually, the artist Toulouse Lautrec is more associated with the town of Albi, where we’ve already visited the wonderful museum of his works, but his namesake city of 500,000 people has megashopping. Ah, there’s the real reason we went. Continue reading “La trek tou-louse”

New routines

Colorful olives in the market
Colorful olives in the market

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. Continue reading “New routines”

Wine high school

High school wine fair poster from the Carcassonne.org website
High school wine fair poster from the Carcassonne.org website

When I was in high school you had two choices about what track you were going to take. If you said that you wanted a “technical” education then you got to take classes like metalworking, carpentry, food preparation, automobile engine repair, and other hands-on instruction. You know, the fun stuff. For the rest of us who said that we were college bound then out came math analysis, calculus, physics, and 17th century literature, for example. Yep, the knowledge that we all use on a daily basis. In France you get some additional choices including the ability to go to a high school that concentrates on the agriculture of your part of the country. Guess what they grow around  Carcassonne: grapes. And what do you make with grapes: wine. Yes, in France you can go to high school and learn how to make wine. Continue reading “Wine high school”

Required to acquire…no longer

Fresh bread at the market
Fresh bread at the market

Downsizing has long been a part of our vocabulary starting nearly 30 years ago when Bill moved up to Chicago. I already had an apartment full of furniture, as did he, so when the moving van arrived from Dallas and we jammed all of our things together, some things had to go. It took a couple more moves, first to the West coast and then to the East, before we bought our first house together and downsizing took a back seat to consumption. That lasted a few years and then came the move to Atlanta and it was all going to change…so we thought. Continue reading “Required to acquire…no longer”

River walk vs. city walk

Walking paths along Aude river
Walking paths along Aude river

Heather is going to sleep well tonight. In fact, it’s only 2 PM and she’s already napping on her favorite pillow on the sofa. Up to now we’ve been walking along the river that provides the tranquil, green environment that lends itself to relaxation. Today we ventured into the city for the first time with her since we’d like to take her wherever we go and dogs are typically welcome into most businesses. We may have to rethink that. Continue reading “River walk vs. city walk”

Cathar’ssonne

Hats, almonds, and wine
Hats, almonds, and wine

If you happen to be on Facebook you probably got a headstart on today’s blog post. Last night Bill and I were at the main town square, Place Carnot, for a fair celebrating local products. There were representatives from area farms that produce almonds, cheese, honey, poultry, other meats, and of course, wine. Since the city was a major sponsor of the event, the mayor and several deputies were in attendance and that’s the photo, with us, that Bill has shared elsewhere. Continue reading “Cathar’ssonne”