Life in France

Flower power

Flower contest poster from the city's website
Flower contest poster from the city’s website

If you asked Bill and me to come up with a nickname for our new hometown, we’d probably say Festival City since it seems there’s always some kind of celebration going on all year long. The 6-week-long summer music festival attracts worldwide attention while a food or wine exhibition might only be covered in the local press…and on this blog since we never miss one of those! Last month Carcassonne sponsored a flower contest to encourage residents to decorate their balconies, terraces, and yards for all to see. They neglected to mention that the city itself was going to give all of the contestants a run for their money with floral displays at lots of gardens and monuments. Continue reading “Flower power”

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Life in France

Truth or marketing?

Wine fountains
Wine fountains

If I say “boxed wine” to you, what comes to mind? Depending on your own experience it might be a bad memory (or no memory, if a bit of overindulgence were involved) or you might have lucked out and found something you like. Now, what if I say “wine fountain”? Ah, visions of wedding receptions and stacks of champagne glasses with bubbly flowing over the sides to fill the glasses below. Guess what our supermarket calls their display of wine in plastic and cardboard? Continue reading “Truth or marketing?”

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Life in France

What’s all that noise ? (part 2)

Fireworks over the castle
Fireworks over the castle

It’s hard to compete with the sight and sound of a 30-minute non-stop fireworks show that never stops to take a breathe or to let you do so either. Imagine sitting at the base of the castle above which all of these explosions are going on every few seconds and you’ll know what we did last night to celebrate the July 14 Fête Nationale or what we know as Bastille Day. Continue reading “What’s all that noise ? (part 2)”

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Life in France

And they’re off!

The Tour de France leaving out of Carcassonne
The Tour de France leaving out of Carcassonne

Last month there was a trial run of the Tour de France through Carcassonne where local riders got to leave as a group from the official starting point and follow part of the route that the competitors would be taking one day soon. That day arrived yesterday and it felt as if the whole city turned out to greet the racers. Their official departure time was 1:35 PM but all of the activities got started well before then. Continue reading “And they’re off!”

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Life in France

Bank account

French bank and insurance office
French bank and insurance office

We finally broke down and opened a French bank account. We’d been resisting it since our arrival here for a couple of reasons. In the US we were spoiled with free banking of all sorts: accounts, checks, savings, ATM cards, transfers, toaster-ovens (!), even seed-money given to you as a new customer. Once we got to Europe we found an online German bank that offered much the same at that same low price: zero. Not so in France. Continue reading “Bank account”

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Life in France

What’s all that noise? (part 1)

Our friendly street's open-window policy
Our friendly street’s open-window policy

We live on a quiet street. Although we’re only a block away from a major thoroughfare, the solid stone houses that separate the two rues mean that we can leave our windows open and still carry on a conversation in the house. Unless an impatient driver blows the horn at the car in front of them, we typically hear only birds chirping or a friendly “bonjour” from a neighbor passing by. It does mean, however, that any other sounds that interrupt the tranquility, such as that irritating beep-beep-beep back up warning signal that construction vehicles use, are really obvious. Continue reading “What’s all that noise? (part 1)”

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Life in France

Hi, robot

What we'll do for a cheesecake
What we’ll do for a cheesecake

We had a robot delivered last month. In the US you might think of it as a multi-function kitchen machine but here everyone just calls it a robot and we don’t even have to pronounce the “t”. As you can see from the photo, this is not just your standard food processor, but oh so much more. Just as those “but wait, there’s more” television commercials tell you, it slices, dices, chops, and juliennes. It’s a blender, a mixer, a grinder, and a juicer. Where is it all going to fit?

Continue reading “Hi, robot”

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