Author: Bob

While living in North, Central and South America, in the middle of the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, and now in Europe, my passion has remained the same: travel and meeting new friends.
Dealing with government

Yes, you’re right–you’re wrong

License-Plate-Nongame
Georgia license plate courtesy GA Department of Natural Resources

Last Wednesday I went with Bill to our county tax commissioner’s office to cancel a license plate. The week before Thanksgiving Bill’s brother Dan and sister-in-law Elaine bought our 2014 Honda® Accord and we called the tax office to find out how to deal with the sale. We were told that as long as the new owners had insurance, we could cancel ours and that once they registered the car in their home state, we could cancel the license tag here. Well, not really. Continue reading “Yes, you’re right–you’re wrong”

Unknown's avatarBob1 Comment
Before leaving the US

Lesson learned

100_4128Each morning for part of the time that I’m on the treadmill I listen to a French language instruction course. Lesson after lesson, repeated time and again, it all finally starts to fall into place. At the end of the main course there is a review of the verb tenses that the instructor has taught you so far–all 18 of them. Ironically the verb they use is “to sell” and the object is “a house”. Today not only can I say in the abstract that the house is sold (was sold, would have been sold, etc.) I can also say it and mean it. Continue reading “Lesson learned”

Unknown's avatarBob2 Comments
Before leaving the US

Love (and laugh with) thy neighbor

100_4109
Talking animals Teddy Ruxpin and Grubby

We have some really nice neighbors here in Atlanta. Some were here before we moved to this house 14 years ago while others arrived in the past 6 months. This weekend we got to celebrate with many of them: a birthday, a delayed Christmas dinner, and an early goodbye. Continue reading “Love (and laugh with) thy neighbor”

Unknown's avatarBob1 Comment
Before leaving the US

Enter the entrée

100_4111
Roasted pork loin on the grill

At this holiday time of the year, food is a natural topic of discussion both in-person and online. Bill and I look at a few different blogs written by Americans living in France and this week everyone was talking about the differences between the big Christmas meal in our two countries. Traditionally the French tend to have a large family meal either just before or right after midnight on Christmas Eve. It often starts with caviar and champagne followed by a variety of seafoods, escargot, foie gras, a selection of fowl, and a chocolate yule log, all accompanied by red and white wines finishing with more bubbly champagne. Continue reading “Enter the entrée”

Unknown's avatarBob
Life in France

Budget page

House beside the Canal-du-Midi
House beside the Canal-du-Midi

At the beginning of this year (OK, just 2 days ago) we added a new section to the blog called “Budget”. Since that is such an important consideration when making any move, it made sense to highlight what it costs to live overseas. On that page, which you access on the menu bar above, you’ll be able to see what others around France spend on a monthly basis. Just as including New York City or San Francisco in a budget discussion about life in the USA would scare anyone, we’ve not listed what someone in Paris might spend. Let’s just say that what we’re allowing for all costs in Carcassonne (rent, food, insurance, taxes, etc.) would barely cover renting a studio apartment in the City of Light. Eventually we’ll be able to show the exact amount that we spend on a monthly basis in the southwest of France. Continue reading “Budget page”

Unknown's avatarBob
Before leaving the US

Patience

100_4110
Broken garage door spring

On several blogs written by Americans living in France there have been references to how long it takes to get things accomplished in their new home country versus in the US. In other words, this experience has taught them patience. When I looked up the etymology for that word, unsurprisingly it originated in Latin, moved on to Old French, before being adopted by Middle English. What did surprise me is that in the UK it’s the name of a card game that we call solitaire. Continue reading “Patience”

Unknown's avatarBob
Before leaving the US

Be square

100_4101
Boxes on a 3′ X 4′ square waiting for shipment to France

The title of this post probably should have been “Be rectangular” but that just doesn’t seem to have the same ring. So what am I talking about? It’s the shipping container that we’ll be using to send the few things we’ll be taking to France that won’t fit in our luggage. The company that we’ve chosen, UPakWeShip, suggests putting a 4-foot by 3-foot rectangle of tape on your floor to approximate the size of the container with the height being a little over 3 feet tall. Continue reading “Be square”

Unknown's avatarBob2 Comments