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.
Travel in France & beyond

In the market for a smile

Narbonne wine bar photo by Pete
Narbonne wine bar photo by Pete

On Tuesday we went to see Narbonne, a former Mediterranean seaport about 30 minutes by train from Carcassonne. The two towns have the similarities of population, Roman historical connections, Canal du Midi links, and being on our original list of places where we might move. Bill had done some advance planning on what parts of the city we’d probably want to visit with the first stop being the covered market. It was lively, clean, and despite having all the usual vendors of breads, pastries, fruits, vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, and fish, the only smells we detected were good ones. But that was not why we were there. Continue reading “In the market for a smile”

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Before leaving the US

Chip off the old block

Heather with her favorite toy
Heather with her favorite toy

We took Heather for her annual checkup this morning and and I’m happy to say that she came through with flying colors, as usual. The one difference today, however, is that she got chipped. In preparation for the move to France and getting her own pet passport, Heather had to have an internationally-accepted microchip ID tag implanted. As gross as that sounds, it truly is tiny and fits through a syringe needle, so in theory was no more uncomfortable than getting the rabies shot that she also had to have at the same time. Continue reading “Chip off the old block”

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Life in France

Keeping with tradition

Bill's shoes to go
Bill’s shoes to go

This morning on their way over to our vacation apartment, Gaynor said that they walked by a trash bin on top of which was a shoe box with a pair of creme colored high heels inside. Upon closer examination of the soles it was clear that these had been worn maybe once if at all. So why were they being thrown away? Did they not fit, were they a one-time-only indulgence for a wedding, was somebody moving to America and downsizing? I had another idea. Continue reading “Keeping with tradition”

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Life in France

Elvis does wine tasting

Place Carnot on a rare empty day
Place Carnot on a rare empty day

One of the many things that we really like about Carcassonne is that there’s so much to do and that the city documents much of it on YouTube. The main square, called Place Carnot, has the fresh fruits and vegetables market three days a week and then at least two nights each week (and up to 7 nights a week in the summer) there is some kind of live entertainment there. Before we found our place to rent, we looked at several attractive apartment listings that open right onto the square. While quite convenient to everything in town, we might not have enjoyed all of the sounds coming up from there on so many nights of the week. It’s really nice to walk there, participate in the events, and then walk home to our quiet neighborhood. Continue reading “Elvis does wine tasting”

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Life in France

Flirting with the waiter

 

Le Blé Noir
Pete, Bill, and Gaynor at Le Blé Noir restaurant, Carcassonne

Before we made our first trip to France a long time ago, we tried to read all that we could about how to make your visit especially enjoyable. One of the most curious tips was to flirt with your waiter. Although the article was written by a woman, she was careful to point out that flirting had nothing to do with the gender of the server but all about rapport and that it’s a two-way street. The last time we were in Paris we showed up at 7:00 PM without a reservation just as the restaurant was opening so naturally the place was empty. In my best French I explained that we had not booked in advance but could we please have a table. The gentleman who greeted us looked around, then back at us with a sad face, and then promptly placed us in the window seat facing the sidewalk. By 8:00 PM every seat was taken and we still remember the meal and the wonderful service. Continue reading “Flirting with the waiter”

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