To start off this year strong, we encourage your family to go play outside! Our family tradition for years has been to do physical activities on the first day of the year. Other years we went skiing or sleighing, if it rained we went swimming, and once we went bowling. Doesn’t matter what it is,…
French traditions during Le Saint Sylvester, France’s New Years Celebration #1 PARTY FAVORS The kids, instead of party blowers, those whistle streamers you blow in to and they unroll as they squeak, the French have little tubes, and chase each other around the house, trying to shoot little soft balls at one another. #2 FOOD…
First you swirl, holding the bottom of your wine glass, watch the fluid stick to its sides, and then you smell the bouquet. Finally your lips touch the wine, and your eyes widen, as you taste one of life’s simple pleasures. There is art in wine tasting. You need a good palette to detect…
In the midst of a new country at the most family oriented time of the year, we contemplate what traditions we might adopt from the French and what family traditions made along the way that we might keep. Do you have a family tradition that is unique to your family? French Christmas Traditions #1 Yule Log –…
It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 2 days away, we travel with our friend M to the markets in Narbonne in search of specialty cheeses, fresh vegetables and seafood for Friday’s special meal. Bigger with more variety than our little Capestang market, crowds of last minute shoppers search for the perfect meal…
What a fabulous birthday! Sushi, shopping, singing with the choir, I couldn’t have asked for a better day! The Polygone in Beziers is an outdoor shopping centre on the edge of the city, not 20 minutes from Capestang, France, where we live. An interesting idea, that has quite a following, and are among the must-sees…
After reading dozens of other family’s stories living with less on the road, I thought about what we were living without and how our family was coping and feeling about it. After 5 months travelling throughout Europe, and living out of 2 suitcases, we learn to live without many creature comforts; high priced books, lattes,…
Canadians. We are a quirky bunch, eh? Being from Canada, more specifically from the West Coast of BC, living in France has been an adjustment. There are a few things that I miss from my kitchen back home that I hunt around for, and other things that I will never be able to replace….
I am not a patient person. My nature is to mow to the end, with little thought of consequence. Always been more important to me to finish, not finish finely. It is my biggest personality flaw. Patiently I wait for patience. #1 Patience While Learning A Language I cannot convey every thought that goes racing…
It seems simple right? Flour, water, salt and yeast; 4 ingredients that bakers spend much time trying to master, the art of the perfect French bread. You can mix them together and put them long and narrow in the shape of a baguette and get the simple version or there are different ways to pre-ferment…