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.
Life in France

We converted

Metric to English
Metric to English

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:

  • Euro to Dollar: don’t bother (see why below)
  • Kilometer to Miles: just halve the km
  • Kilograms to Pounds: just double the kg
  • Degrees C to F: double the degrees C and add 30

These are not exact but will give you a general idea without having to consult your smart phone.
Continue reading “We converted”

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Before leaving the US

Cathar(sis) country

Our new hometown, Carcassonne, is situated in southwest France right in the heart of Cathar country. It only seems fitting, therefore, that we should have had a catharsis this morning with the emptying of our closets. It was quite freeing to let go of clothes that we purchased as recently as a few months ago to our tuxedos that we bought when we lived in Chicago nearly 30 years ago. cummerbundsAnd why did we need five cummerbunds and matching bow ties that you see here? Those tuxes used to accompany us on an annual cruise and we certainly could not show up from one year to the next with the same accessories. By skillful trading of cummerbunds, ties, studs, and cufflinks, we were able to come up with “new” outfits for quite a few cruises. Continue reading “Cathar(sis) country”

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Life in France

The electric vampire

French electrical outlet
French electrical outlet

This morning I was in the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee when I heard Bill talking. I knew that it was way too early for him to have telephoned anyone so naturally I was curious. When I walked back to the office he was there in front of the computer talking to it. What?? You may remember that a few weeks ago we got a new large laptop computer to replace a smaller one that was on its last legs plus our big desktop, neither of which were going to go with us to France. The new machine has Windows 10 with your own personal assistant called Cortana that understands spoken commands. (Yes, yes, Apple users, Siri was years ahead.)

When I asked Bill if he were talking to me he replied, “No, I was asking Cortana to turn on the computer and open up the email. I didn’t want to have to push a button.” Continue reading “The electric vampire”

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Life in France

Redemption

Refundable bottles
Refundable bottles

As we were driving from the Boston airport up to Camden, ME it struck me about how pious this region of the country, especially Maine, had become. Once we left Interstate 95, without exaggeration (as if I ever would) each time we crossed into a new town there would be a sign pointing towards the “Redemption Center”. Living in Georgia I was used to seeing a church on every street corner and having multiple religious TV and radio stations, but this explicit show of devotion seemed unusual. Continue reading “Redemption”

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Before leaving the US

Trying to adjust

Double order
Double order

Bill is so funny…and clever. He went grocery shopping yesterday and one of the items on the list was a can of pumpkin puree which we use to make biscuits for Heather. He said that it pained him to pick up only one can but in keeping with our goal to empty the pantry before we move, we’re only buying what we need each week. At least that’s how I understood it…. Continue reading “Trying to adjust”

Unknown's avatarBob