Tag: Move to France

Travel in France & beyond

Is Gaudi gaudy?

Sagrada Familia
Sagrada Familia

Earlier this month we were in Barcelona for a few days before moving on up to Carcassonne. Since this was our first visit to this Spanish city of 1.6 million people, where the amount of things to do and see is overwhelming, we had to choose an area of concentration. It’s only 2 1/2 hours by train from where we’ll be living, so we’ll be back to see what we missed. This time around it was all about Antoni Gaudi, the Catalan architect known for his unique and some might say outlandish style reflected in buildings including the Sagrada Familia cathedral. Continue reading “Is Gaudi gaudy?”

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Life in France

We converted

Metric to English
Metric to English

When we were first setting up this blog I was hoping to find an app for the sidebar where you could easily convert metric measurements into those more commonly used in the UK and US. Since that hasn’t shown up yet, there’s a chart below where you’ll find some shortcuts. It’s what we use when we’re on the continent to figure out a more familiar amount. To make it easy, though, here are the four that I’ll mention the most:

  • Euro to Dollar: don’t bother (see why below)
  • Kilometer to Miles: just halve the km
  • Kilograms to Pounds: just double the kg
  • Degrees C to F: double the degrees C and add 30

These are not exact but will give you a general idea without having to consult your smart phone.
Continue reading “We converted”

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Before leaving the US

Cathar(sis) country

Our new hometown, Carcassonne, is situated in southwest France right in the heart of Cathar country. It only seems fitting, therefore, that we should have had a catharsis this morning with the emptying of our closets. It was quite freeing to let go of clothes that we purchased as recently as a few months ago to our tuxedos that we bought when we lived in Chicago nearly 30 years ago. cummerbundsAnd why did we need five cummerbunds and matching bow ties that you see here? Those tuxes used to accompany us on an annual cruise and we certainly could not show up from one year to the next with the same accessories. By skillful trading of cummerbunds, ties, studs, and cufflinks, we were able to come up with “new” outfits for quite a few cruises. Continue reading “Cathar(sis) country”

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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”

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Before leaving the US

From surf to turf

Lobster boat in Rockland, ME
Lobster boat in Rockland, ME

Normally, if I’m going to take a photo of dinner, it’s after the meal is ready and sitting on the plate in front of me. In keeping with the “locally grown” campaign that is prominent in grocery stores across Maine, here you see the before and after photos of the delicious lobster dinner that our friends Anne and Paul prepared for us. Because it was a Sunday afternoon, there were few fishing boats in operation but Paul knew exactly which dock to go to for fresh lobster. As you can tell, this boat has just arrived and the crew members are sorting their catch. The guy in the yellow slicker is slingling that blue crate with our six lobsters inside over to the scale to weigh them. Continue reading “From surf to turf”

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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”

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