Category: Life in France

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”

Unknown's avatarBob
Life in France

Will work for grapefruit

Grapefruit-scented dish washing liquid
Grapefruit-scented dish washing liquid

Do you know why we are really moving to France? So that Bill will wash the dishes and do the laundry. He will do anything for the aroma of grapefruit. We found that out by accident years ago in Germany when we bought a bottle of dishwashing detergent that was scented with orange and grapefruit. He encouraged me to eat on several plates just so that he would have an excuse to fill our vacation rental apartment with the fresh smells of spring. We brought home two bottles and on subsequent trips to Europe we tried unsuccessfully to find them again. Continue reading “Will work for grapefruit”

Unknown's avatarBob5 Comments
Life in France

Take it or leave it – Bill’s version

We just enjoyed spending time in rental properties in Maine and Massachusetts on vacation I have come to the conclusion that I have to chose carefully the items that will follow us to France.

Special kitchen tools
Special kitchen tools

After more than 30 years of culling the items that are not necessary and finding the perfect kitchen utensils that have withstood the test of time, there are tools that must continue their lives as part our new life. I have broken more garlic presses than I care to admit and now I actually have two that are sturdy and that do the job perfectly. We are taking one with us on our next vacation to pass along to our new-found friends Alan and Tracy who had to leave theirs behind when they moved from Reno a few years ago. I have a vegetable peeler that I found over 40 years ago in a little store in San Francisco, Williams-Sonoma. It is still sharp and is pleasing to use after all this time and after taking a look at it found that it was made in France so it’s going home, too. Continue reading “Take it or leave it – Bill’s version”

Unknown's avatarBill3 Comments
Life in France

But you gotta have friends

There are several expat discussion forums on the Internet that can be a great source of first-hand information from people living in the country to which you are moving. The one I like the best is Expatforum.com because it tends to be full of positive, helpful advice and the moderator keeps everyone on topic and is very knowledgeable about French culture, daily life, government issues, and other challenges we are likely to encounter. Continue reading “But you gotta have friends”

Unknown's avatarBob
Life in France

Double or nothing

When Bill and I first got together nearly 30 years ago, we moved almost every 18 months. No, not because the rent was due but because job changes within the same company for me required it. With all of that packing and unpacking we came to an agreement that if we had not used something within the last year then it was not going with us to the new location. I think that we’ll be invoking that rule and a companion one as well, especially once we’re in place.

That new rule, called “Double or nothing” means that anything we buy in France to replace something that we’ve left behind here must do more than one thing. For example, we have two popcorn poppers, an air one and the oil kind. They each do just one thing: pop corn. The ice cream maker you could argue also does frozen yoghurt, sorbet, and sherbet but they’re all just variations on a theme. The juicer juices. The tortilla press makes tortillas. The apple peeler peels apples. You get the picture. Continue reading “Double or nothing”

Unknown's avatarBob3 Comments
Life in France

Leave no Rosetta Stone unturned

Now that you know where some of this motivation for learning other languages comes from, I’d like to talk about what we are doing to learn French. For me it started back in high school where, after 3 years of classes I could flawlessly repeat the first lesson we ever learned which started out with “Bonjour, Jean. Comment vas tu?” and continued on with other basic questions, replies, and a request for how to find the library. All of that and nothing more. Fast forward about 20 years when Bill and I were taking language classes in Germany and met our wonderful French friend, Michèle who invited us to visit her country on our next European trip. Motivation to learn the language for sure which increased tremendously when she married her husband who spoke only limited English.

To get a headstart on our German classes in Cologne, we practiced with tape recordings from Pimsleur that we found very useful. The company has since changed its fluency guarantee to a more reasonable “converse comfortably” after 30 days. We were impressed enough with their method to order the French version and found it equally helpful and now I’ve started using their Spanish cds for a trip to Barcelona. Continue reading “Leave no Rosetta Stone unturned”

Unknown's avatarBob