Another very interesting, and enlightening chat with author and long-time France ex-pat David Tepfer about life in general, and his new book called “Shikoku”, as in the Japanese Island of the same name. As usual, our discussion not only touched on the book but also different aspects of life such as big cultural differences between …
July 17, 2020
This interview shines the spotlight on an ex-pat in Lyon. Caroline Conner is a thriving wine expert who overcame a troubled past and was literally saved by her passion for blind wine tasting, at which she excelled, That, in turn, led to her alcoholism. Find out how she beat that demon and how she now loves her life.
Paris, I love you! A few months ago, we were in London and decided on a spur of the moment excursion. We decided on a trip to Paris vis Eurostar. We took the Eurostar train for the little over two hour journey. We arrived at Gare du Nord station in Paris about 10am, which was …
Updated: Oct. 30, 2021
Marseille should definitely be on your list of places to visit in France. We had so many people, some who hadn’t even been, (including friends who lived in Bordeaux at the time) try to convince us not to go. Too dirty, too gritty, too ethnic. The list went on and on. Thank goodness we didn’t listen.
We found Marseille beautiful, the people really nice, and the history fascinating. You shouldn’t listen to the naysayers either. I always find it better to experience places for yourself. For instance, I didn’t love Amsterdam, definitely not as l had expected based on what others had told me, including Federico who had been at least a couple of times prior, but l am certainly not going to dissuade you from visiting. I can only relay my experience. Here’s is a kick-ass guide to Marseille City France :-)…
This Paris postcard was sent to me by a girl named Zoe. Looking from the date, it is from 1998. As with everything with me, there is a story behind it :-). My best friend Steph and l had gone to Paris for a little vacation. In the good old days, you just showed up at a place and then found a hotel. Unbeknown to us, there was a huge, no make that massive convention/protest (never found out what it was!) in Paris! Traffic ground to a stop kind of thing. Impossible to get a cab, or get on the train. Maddening crowds. We were totally screwed. We ended up finding a room at this wickedly over priced hotel. If memory serves me right, the room was about the size of my thumb nail and cost us about $330 for the night! The room smelled and you had to walk on the bed to get to the minuscule bathroom. We were exhausted after our 3-4 hour search and went right to bed.