This morning Bill said to me “I haven’t noticed any nail salons in town” and I had to agree that he was correct. Now before you jump to conclusions that we’re addicted to mani-pedis, although the first time I heard that word I thought it was nail work for men, we’ve never been. The reason it even came up was because in the Atlanta area … Continue reading No nails, please
This morning we were out walking Heather when we stopped to talk with our neighbor, another dog walker, at the top of the street. He said with a grin that he and his wife had already looked into the closest airport to Carcassonne (you know, the one right there at the edge of town that we could walk to, if necessary) and asked if we would be missing things here. My first reaction was to look askance at him as if to say “Are you kidding?” but immediately I realised our motive for moving has never been one of escape. Continue reading “To or from?”
If Bill and I were to open a boulangerie (bakery) I’d want to call it Cake & Bake. The French would understand the words and any Americans who grew up in the 1960s watching TV commercials for the meat coating called Shake & Bake® would get the added connection–“and I hepped”. I’ve wanted to be a baker since childhood perhaps to be surrounded by all of that wonderful bread right out of the oven. There’s something almost magical about mixing some dry ingredients with a bit of water, popping it into the oven, and then coming back 30 minutes later to a delicious baguette. Continue reading “Cake & Bake”
If you know Bill, you’ll know how easily he meets people. At the end of the street where we rented a house recently in Carcassonne there’s a bar/restaurant called Formule 1 with a race car theme. I’ll just let this photo tell the rest of the story. He’s going to learn French REALLY fast! Continue reading Bill’s new friend
Paris boasts thousands of cafés. Bill and I have visited the City of Light several times and I can recall only once, when friends from London popped over to visit us for the day (“My love, why don’t we go see the boys in Paris for lunch”) did we actually sit down to enjoy a glass of wine and watch the world go by on … Continue reading Café culture
When was the last time you had a really good time at a wedding? For us it was just a week ago and the party started two days before the ceremony and continued on through brunch the following day. My guess is that no one had any trouble falling asleep on Sunday night. We were in Rockport, MA where our guesthouse was right across from the beach you see here at sunset. Elaine and Fred, parents of the bride, were the first to stop by to enjoy a glass of champagne on our front porch and to take in the view. Later we saw Lynn, then Lucy, met up with Pam, Al, and a delightful group of new friends including folks from France and Germany. Continue reading “Any excuse for a party”
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”
