"I wasn’t looking for eligible bachelors, but married Frenchmen with children. In other words, I was the newest addition to Au Pair World dot com."
Tag: wine
population, 21: exploring Île Saint-Honorat
(a South-of-France staycation, ii) When the throbbing commercialism of Rue d'Antibes and the reality of competing for a spot on the beach prove tiresome, just hop on a ferry and leave the bustle of Cannes behind for some peace. Île Saint-Honorat is a storybook-lovely spot for a tranquil morning walk: or, if you'd rather, a …
Continue reading population, 21: exploring Île Saint-Honorat
gypsy jazz
A lazy Saturday afternoon, some gypsy jazz, and flowing champagne. Taylor and I stand in la Chope des Puces, a tiny, ancient jazz club in Saint-Ouen in Paris's 18th arrondissement. We are crammed against the wooden bar, standing-room only. The bar isn't packed but it's tiny, and several families and couples have already claimed the …
french people tell me what to do
If I wrote my own version of Rebecca Solnit's "Men Explain Things to Me," it would be called "French People Tell Me What to Do." That's what a lot of my life here is, saying okay when I'm not sure that it is, taking someone's word for it because I certainly don't know enough to …
bordeaux: à la foire
Bordeaux began as all good trips should, as a decision made at two in the morning the night before. Blame train travel for enabling my dangerously spontaneous ways: the luxury (or gamble) of the young and single. Bordeaux was another city I knew nothing about, but for its association with red wine. It was closer to …
goats & grapes: I make it to montluçon
Maybe we'd get there, to this dusty abandoned hamlet where I'd have a herd of sheep for company, and I'd have to beg Stéphane to let me back in the car. Have mercy! I'd cry, or its rough French equivalent.
