There is a small wall in my garden which, if discovered by an archaeologist with a lively imagination, might cause a certain amount of excitement. It is made of stones that look remarkably like bones. Not metaphorical bones of the sort one finds in a poet’s description of a windsweptContinue Reading
One of the great joys of moving to another country is discovering that things you assumed were universal are, in fact, not universal at all. Let’s take finance (please!). You arrive thinking you understand how banks work, how people borrow money, how credit cards work and what it means toContinue Reading
France has a love affair with shutters. And now that I am ‘in the know’ about these window dressings, I have gone native. I have joined my village in opening and closing these things daily. Actually, many times daily. French shutters are not just a pretty aesthetic, unlike in someContinue Reading
As someone who has been calling France home for well over a decade, there are elements of French culture that were, and sometimes still are, deeply foreign to me. Things that at first felt frustrating, confusing, isolating, or simply impossible to understand. But somewhere between the deep dive paperwork, theContinue Reading
If you’ve ever tried to plan a trip to France or even considered the idea of moving here, you’ve probably noticed something strange. There are many, many questions about France, but the answers are often vague, contradictory, or just plain unhelpful. And it got me thinking, and wondering, why? Why do certain questions not get answered, or at least not answered fully enough that the question begins to finally be understood? Let’s discover… and see if we can actually answer.Continue Reading
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