Healthy Food . . . Fresh Ingredients . . . Easy Recipes . . . & Musings from France
Getting to know The Neighbors. One of the joys, and the frustrations, of living in another country is learning the ins and outs of getting along with the locals.
It's Memorial Day in the U.S. I was going to write about French-American politics; American opinions about how the French think/feel; French opinions about American views/thoughts; who saved who in what war… I decided I was not stepping into that quagmire but, instead, would let some photos do the talking. A stone's throw from our … Continue reading…
Go directly to recipe Look what I had hanging off the garden gate early Sunday morning! The local school kids were having a money-making drive for something or other (they were terribly shy when they realized I was 'etranger'). Instead of magazines, candles or cookies, these French kids get right back to basics: Bread. Did … Continue reading…
It's heartwarming to know that lumping people into erroneous stereotypes is a universal phenomenon. When we lived in Ireland we were always known as 'the Yanks', but in Andorra and here in France we are normally assumed to be British, 'les anglais'. After all, we all sound the same. It started on Friday. We had … Continue reading…
Life is different here. Some things are obvious: French is spoken rather than English; there are lots of castles but no pick-up trucks; snails are on the menu but not 'Hot Beef Sandwiches'; lots of McDonald's but no Burger King, Pizza Hut, the Colonel or Wendy's; in shops the customer is not 'always right', in … Continue reading…
We live in a farming hamlet. We have several acres of pasture land that we have absolutely no use whatsoever for, so, like the people before us, we let the local farmer graze his horse and a few cows. In exchange for this we don't have to mow it. Good deal for us, yes? The … Continue reading…
My sister and s-i-l are coming to visit next week. Neither have been out of the US before and are getting plenty of 'advice' from lots of folks. The last bit was a warning to be wary of the toilets in Paris. Men would never give a thought to toilets; they have a whole planet … Continue reading…
On the drive to my mother's house in Wisconsin from Minneapolis there is always one house/yard that causes me to do a double-take. In mid-western fashion, taken to the nth degree, there is, on this one modest lawn: 2 life-size deer and 1 Bambi, 2 little 'Dutch' children kissing, a miniature swing set with Snow … Continue reading…