• mmmm. salty.

    mmmm. salty.

    We stopped in the ancient city of Aigues-Mortes and went to the salt extraction site. They get salt from the sea water in a lengthy process that basically allows the water to settle in different ponds.  Pretty enviro-friendly process actually -the tides and waves move the water in – then over the next few months the sun…

  • Let’s back up a bit.

    Let’s back up a bit.

     OK so lets be honest – we’re a bit  lot behind on posting here lately.  I guess the more you have to do – the less time you have to write about it.Quick recap: Heather & Aaron & their girls were here for a bit over a month.  We travelled down south with them – one our favorite places…

  • What a difference a decade makes

    The last time we moved to Grenoble it was August 1999.  We had been been married just over three years, no kids.  We could easily pack up most of what we owned, put in in storage in our parents basement, take the rest in a few suitcases, stop renting the apartment we were in, and…

  • Doesn’t even know how to speak well.

    Living in a place where the language used is not your own mother tongue, you start to get some sense of appreciation for what it is like to not be able to communicate  as efficiently or effectively as you would like. I was sitting somewhere and someone was struggling to make clear what they wanted to say.  I found…

  • Pace of Life

    I have heard ex-pats here often wishing longfully for whereever they hail from – as “I can just get so much more done back home.” Is getting a lot done really the point?  In some ways I think the French have things much more sorted out when it comes to prioritizing the use of the…

  • The advantage of being small

    one time zone compact area so it  is more efficient to build infrastructure (highways, rail lines, power plants) you can get from one side of the country to the other without dedicating a week to the travel national weather forecasts are actually relevant to you

  • We’ve moved…

    …here. If you are reading this (and believe me….you are) you’ve found our new home. So if links and comments and stuff don’t quite work well for the next little while….uh…I don’t know….you get what you pay for I suppose. Also note that any imported posts that were slide shows – only have the first photo.…

  • We’re Moving

    Well we’ve been here for a little over a year. It seemed like it was working fine – but you start to feel limited – constrained after a while. We have had more visitors than I thought – but that’s not really the reason to move.  We just need a bit more…well – space. so…

  • Untitled post 4229

    Last pictures of the tour  (I promise) I think I took so many pictures as it was just such a surreal sight.  Our road that sometimes has more horses than cars in a day, was packed with hundreds of people from all over the world and a  TV camera platform streaming it all live to the…

  • Last pictures of the tour (I promise)

    I think I took so many pictures as it was just such a surreal sight.  Our road that sometimes has more horses than cars in a day, was packed with hundreds of people from all over the world and a  TV camera platform streaming it all live to the world.  The roads around the village that…