We live in a small house. I hadn’t really given it much thought until the other morning when Bill was loading the dishwasher…from his seat at the breakfast table. That’s also where we eat lunch and dinner and from my side of that same table I would be able to load the washing machine which is there in the kitchen too. In US real estate terms that would be called “cozy”. Continue reading “Cozy they call it”
You’ve seen several posts on this blog about markets. In Carcassonne we have the open-air fresh fruits and vegetables market on the square three days a week; inside the heated/air-conditioned Les Halles covered market you can buy meats and seafood all week-long; and every other week or so there seems to be a fair that highlights the local wine, honey, nuts, cheese, and other products made here. In other words, we’re faced with an embarrassment of choices. Continue reading “Little choices, big impact”
Today we took a city bus for the first time in years. Living in Chicago and LA, that’s how we got to work or anyplace else we couldn’t walk to since we didn’t have a car. Now that we’re back to foot transportation we opted for a bus since it would have otherwise taken an hour to get to the store, it was cool and rainy, and we anticipated carrying back a 40-pound (18 kg.) box. It was worth a euro each way. Continue reading “When east is west”
Yesterday was Easter and as you might expect most places were closed. In fact, almost everything is closed around here on Sundays: shops, restaurants, even the buses don’t run. Having moved from being within a 5-minute drive of several supermarkets and a supercenter that literally never close we thought it might take a long time to adjust. It didn’t. Continue reading “Falling in”
We had a rental car for the first couple of weeks that we were in France figuring that it would be handy to pick up our initial supply of groceries, a couple of small portable tables, and to stock the liquor cabinet (for guests, of course!) with all of those heavy bottles that we would not want to hand carry on the bus or by walking. Now that we don’t have a car for the first time in 28 years or so we are solely (pun intended) on foot. Continue reading “From horseless carriage to carless pairage”
When we lived in Atlanta it was seldom necessary to set an alarm unless we had to get up especially early. We just always awoke in plenty of time to get ready for work. In the weeks immediately preceding our move to France, the stress to get everything finished meant we slept very little, so on most days we were wide awake long before we needed to be. Now that we live in France, we’ve had to set the alarm clock if we’ve known that a package is going to be delivered early or needed to get to an appointment before lunchtime. Continue reading “New routines”
Downsizing has long been a part of our vocabulary starting nearly 30 years ago when Bill moved up to Chicago. I already had an apartment full of furniture, as did he, so when the moving van arrived from Dallas and we jammed all of our things together, some things had to go. It took a couple more moves, first to the West coast and then to the East, before we bought our first house together and downsizing took a back seat to consumption. That lasted a few years and then came the move to Atlanta and it was all going to change…so we thought. Continue reading “Required to acquire…no longer”
Let's Live In France 