Category: Life in France

Life in France

Falling for fall

The castle above the Aude river
The castle above the Aude river

When we first arrived in France we had our dog Heather with us so naturally we went on lots of walks. In addition to the necessary reasons for those outings we sometimes continued for hours along the river or canal just because she kept pulling us along. We still walk a lot but since we no longer have Heather, our footsteps now typically take us to the other house to work, over to the market for fruits and vegetables, or out to one of the supermarkets for anything we can’t find right here in town. In other words, although we’re outside a lot, it’s been for our own necessary reasons and no one has pulled us any further. We did something about that recently. Continue reading “Falling for fall”

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Life in France

The kitchen octopus

Where do all of those pipes lead?
Where do all of those pipes lead?

The last time we had an octopus in the kitchen was…never except now, with the new house, there’s one there 24 hours a day and we couldn’t be happier even though it keeps us in hot water. Literally we have all the hot water we want, on demand, from this machine you see pictured here hanging on the wall in our kitchen. Anyone familiar with the old television game show question “Is it bigger than a breadbox?” will understand its size. Updated to our current location, it’s as tall as a baguette, as wide as a beret, and all of those pipes keep us toasty throughout the house. Continue reading “The kitchen octopus”

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Life in France

Satisfaction

Walking beside the Canal-du-Midi
Walking beside the Canal-du-Midi

Despite the title of the Rolling Stones’ 1965 hit song (and today’s blog post), according to the lyrics, they were never able to get any satisfaction. Luckily that’s not the case with overseas visitors who settle in France, according to a recent survey I read about last month. In fact, we find ourselves in a country that ranks 4th out of 45 countries when respondents were asked about the quality of life, and we totally agree. Continue reading “Satisfaction”

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Life in France

Cave drawings

A moose, a buffalo, a world map perhaps
A moose, a buffalo, a world map perhaps

A few years ago we spent a delightful week in a 10-bedroom chateau, about 3 hours north of here, with our travel buddies Paula, Kate, Cathy, and Jane. That area of France abounds in natural beauty along with numerous caves where prehistoric humans left their mark. Although we could have gone to the better-known Lascaux caves to see replicas of art from nearly 20,000 years ago, we chose the similar Pech Merle where a limited number of visitors are allowed each day to view the original paintings. You’ll never guess what we discovered on the back wall of our courtyard. Continue reading “Cave drawings”

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Life in France

Southern hospitality

Serving Roland's homemade cassoulet
Serving Roland’s homemade cassoulet

If you live in the US you will be well-acquainted with the words in the title of today’s post. Having been residents for 20 years in Atlanta, often considered the unofficial capital of the South, we were surrounded by reminders of the heritage of that region: friendly people, big smiles, warm welcomes and tables full of comfort food always generously offered. We’ve been in France for less than a year, but I can happily report that we’ve found exactly the same reception in this southern part of the country. Continue reading “Southern hospitality”

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Life in France

Scaredy cat

This cat was at the front gate
This cat was at the front gate

Since we walk a lot, we are always making discoveries that we probably wouldn’t ever see if we were driving. When you’re on foot it’s pretty easy to take a quick detour to literally smell the roses, take a photo, or stop into some place inviting since you never have to find a parking place. That’s exactly what happened when we were walking on a road beside the river on what I’ll call “Wharf Street” when it turned to go uphill and changed names to St. Michel’s Cemetery Drive. When we got to the entrance, Bill took this photo of who was there to greet us. Despite what seemed to be a less than warm welcome, and my allergy to cat fur, we ventured inside. Continue reading “Scaredy cat”

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Life in France, Travel in France & beyond

Instant French

Amsterdam: bikes, canals, tall narrow buildings
Amsterdam: bikes, canals, tall narrow buildings, and English everywhere

When you move to a new country where the language is different from the one you grew up speaking, naturally there are going to be challenges. Not only do you have to learn the basics that you might know as a tourist, but now all of the nuances of how you say something or where you put emphasis come into play as well. Before we left the US, I had been studying French for a while and now that we live here I’m continuing with that online while Bill attended some classroom instruction with a live teacher and fellow students and has now gone the online route too. As effective as these classic methods are, we’ve discovered a simple, fun, and instant way to suddenly speak French. Continue reading “Instant French”

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