A Taste of Real Life in France (and the Benefits of Traveling in Europe)
Jazz Band Behind-the-Scenes, Crying at the French Doctor's Office, Apéro Inspo and Les Vacances in Spain and Portugal. Plus New Meet-up Dates!
Coucou les ami.e.s (Hi there friends),
Quoi de neuf (What’s new)? I am so glad to see you here, and I hope you’re well and happy and taking good care of yourself.
As for me, perhaps you’ve noticed my (unplanned) absence. In fact, I’ve been so ill—not even sure what it was, but it was respiratory and franchement, c’était le bordel (frankly, it was an f-ing mess). Even if you have a sweet life in France, and even if you (like me) love a French pharmacy, let’s face it. Being sick—c’est la galère (it sucks).
I’ll spare you all the details of how I couldn’t will my head to lift off the pillow so that I could try to get out of bed, and you may remember from my last post that I was eating boxes and boxes of Strepsils (throat lozenges) trying to fend it off so I could go to jazz band practice in Paris. At the worst point, I couldn’t write or edit my novel, and I was too sick to join you here. Mais vous me manquiez (but I missed you all)!
Band Practice in Paris is a Lot More Fun Than Being Sick
Thankfully, after weeks wayyy under the weather (plus several tear-filled French doctor visits where I begged for Clarithromycin—which I did entirely en français, including describing the texture and color of my mucus), and after three (!) courses of antibiotics, I feel like frigging Superwoman. Sure hope that continues.
I plan to write more about wellness in France soon, because there is so much I love about it, but I also really appreciated David Lebovitz’s overview on French healthcare and agree with most of his insights.
Guess Who Was Featured in the “Newspaper” Last Month?
I’m delighted to say that a journalist contacted me from an English-language newspaper (yes, they actually have a print edition 🗞️) for an interview about being an American who moved to France. The journal is called The Connexion, and the article is about why I love living in Paris, with some tips if you’re thinking of moving to France. If you’d like to check it out, here’s the digital version.
En Vacances (On Vacation)
At the moment, I’m writing to you on a strikingly beautiful afternoon in Portugal after a lunch of croquetes de Morue (fish fritters) and crisp white wine. Monsieur B and I are taking a few days to visit his daughter (ma belle-fille/my stepdaughter), who is doing a university exchange program called Erasmus in A Coruña, Spain. For more on that and our trip to Santiago de Compostello and Porto, tu peux juste scroller (you can simply scroll down)!
The Good Stuff: Scenes from Our Printemps en France
How to Make Your Spring and Summer French Apéro Platters Look Gorgeous
Everyone here knows I love l’apéritif. If you’d like ideas for throwing a French one yourself, I wrote a little post about it to inspire you. There are a bunch of recipes on the Food tab as well, and an article about how to order wine in French.
Speaking of inspiration, if you want to level-up your charcuterie board game with French style, il faut suivre ce compte Instagram (you must follow this Instagram account) of an adorable chef who first draws his platters like a fashion designer would sketch his latest couture collection. I was compelled to arrange an abundant board for a family visit à la campagne (in the French countryside), and had a lot of fun putting it together one afternoon avec ma belle-sœur (with my sister-in-law).
Scenes from the (Gorgeous) End of the World: Nos Vacances au Portugal et en Espagne
Monsieur B had some vacation days, so we flew a quick two hours to Portugal. One of the best things about living in Europe—traveling, c’est du gâteau (it’s a piece of cake).
We rented a car (I drove with my French permis de conduire/driving license), and meandered to Spain and back, stopping to explore sleepy beach towns and historic villages along the way.
We saw the Cathedral at Santiago del Compostello and the Faro de Fisterre, or the Lighthouse at Cape Finistere, one of the most northwesterly points in Spain that looks out longingly across the Atlantic. We were there on such a moody day with clouds as heavy as a mountain of wet cotton. I imagined I could almost see New York in the distance ☺️
Devine Quoi ! (Guess What!) Our Le Salon by La Flaneuse Online Meet-ups Are Back
Join us for an hour of Creative Co-working on Tuesday, May 6. It’s free and it’s a bit ✨magical✨ if you’ve got a creative project 🎨 ✍️ 🎸 you’d like to work on. Read all about it here, or click the button below to register and get the link and the time for your time zone. Just show up—we’d love to have you!
A Note About How I Try to Live, No Matter the Difficulty or the Sweetness
I’m feeling so full of gratitude these days. Grateful for you and the community we have here, and for the fun we share together. Grateful to be healthy again, grateful for my husband and family. Grateful for these abundant and restful days we’ve just spent roaming around Europe so easily—no jet lag involved, although we were in Spain during that crazy electrical outage that knocked out the whole country and Portugal, too. We took it in stride, and had a fantastic time anyway.
The other day in Portugal it started raining des cordes (literally, like ropes, but this is slang for heavy showers). I was sitting outside at a market waiting for Monsieur B to return with drinks and lunch from a stand inside. Our table was partly covered, but even though I got splashed and sloshed a bit, I loved looking at the rain and I could see a pocket of blue sky just over yonder.
We didn’t have an umbrella and debated just heading home for un petit rupillon (an old-fashioned way to say “a little nap”). But instead we waited a few minutes, sipping our beers and eating more croquetes and chatting between the raindrops.
Tout à coup le soleil pointe son nez (All of a sudden, the sun pokes out his nose). We were instantly so warm we had to take off our jackets while we climbed up to the Cathedral.
Sometimes you just have to sit with the rain. Listen to its music and keep your eye on the blue sky in the distance.
My life here in France came as a surprise, even to me. I’ve just celebrated my third year as a French resident! It’s all still new, with so much to learn and do, yet I feel I’ve found my forever home. Although there are tough times no matter where you live—even in la belle France—there is so much to take in, so much to enrich and expand the spirit and to inspire our dreams.
Alors, mes anges (Well then, my angels), there’s much more to share, but I’ll save it for next time. I’m sending you all my best wishes for a delightful weekend filled with sweet adventure or healing rest, wherever you are and whatever you need. You deserve it ❣️
Bisous 😘😘
Percebes!! I come to Portugal just to eat these! (not strictly true, I come to play with my horse but I *always* eat these when here)
Once you get over their space-alien appearance (and learn how to open them without spraying violet juice on your white blouse), são magníficas! The texture of a clam with an ocean flavor as intense as une huître. Next time, Karen, you must.
Brilliant Karen. Merci.
Judy