Category: Life in France

Life in France

Looks like we made it

Heather and Bill
Heather’s first night in France

We arrived this morning, right on time, at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. At immigration we got the all-important date stamp in our passport to show when we arrived. We have to send a copy of that with our visa to the Office of Immigration and Integration in Montpelier to complete the paperwork needed to stay here for the next 12 months. Once we got to baggage claim we didn’t have to wait long for our 4 checked bags and to our delight, our fifth and most important checked item, Heather, was at the oversize baggage area in baggage claim. What a reunion that was! Continue reading “Looks like we made it”

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Life in France

No holds barred, we’re goin’ to Florida

Desserts
How do you choose?

Whenever Bill and I are in Florida we’re both reminded of the Broadway musical Pump Boys and Dinettes. You’ll probably see references to the songs in the next couple of posts including the title of this one, so feel free to sing along.

Yesterday was our first day of vacation in the Sunshine State but it wasn’t living up to its name. It wasn’t just raining; it was pouring all day long. Because we weren’t able to leave Atlanta until 6:30 PM the night before we didn’t get to Cheryl and Pete’s house until well past midnight which gave us a great excuse to sleep in as if the storms weren’t enough. Then we were faced with the dilemma of what to do on such a foul weather day. And if the weather is hell we’ll hang around the motel makin’ love and watchin’ color TV. Since one of the many things we look forward to in France is a daily visit to the boulangerie, it was easy enough to figure out that we’d be going to a bakery.

And if the weather is hell we’ll hang around the motel makin’ love and watchin’ color TV. Continue reading “No holds barred, we’re goin’ to Florida”

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Life in France

What’s for breakfast?

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I’ll have raw oats and a cup of hot water, please.

The French have a reputation for eating some weird things such as snails, frog’s legs, stinky cheese with the “smell of angel’s feet” and every part of a pig except the oink. For the real adventurous there’s always tête de veau; yep, a good ‘ole complete calf’s head plopped onto your plate ready for you to chow down on…yum! Continue reading “What’s for breakfast?”

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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
Life in France

What price art?

Exterior of house for sale in Carcassonne
Exterior of house for sale in Carcassonne

Each year on July 14, Bastille Day, Carcassonne goes all out with a non-stop 50 minutes of fireworks over the castle. The spectacle attracts 700,000 people to a town of 50,000 and there’s a link here in the right hand column to a 4-minute video of the highlights. I still get goosebumps when I watch it. As you can imagine, coping with the influx of that many people in less than one day is quite the challenge for the government. Streets have to be closed, parking spaces created, extra security provided, restroom facilities put in place, on and on. That got me to wondering: who pays for all of this? Continue reading “What price art?”

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Life in France

Joy is where you find it

Hilltop village of Eus, France
Hilltop village of Eus, France

Awaiting a flight to the US, I was walking through the Barcelona airport back to where Bill was sitting when I heard someone calling out “Monsieur, monsieur” from directly behind me. I turned around and there was Sophia Petrillo from American TV’s Golden Girls (well, the French version in my head, anyway) trying to find gate 48B. We were at gate 18 at that point so we had a long way to walk. Continue reading “Joy is where you find it”

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