I love looking back, now that the winter solstice is behind us and the days are getting longer again. This amazing year is nearly done, and I can see the new one stretching ahead, vivid and bright with anticipation.
So with that in mind, I propose a toast to
the beauty of our earth
and all those who work to preserve it.
To those who [...]
We’d heard in advance that you can get anything you want at La Boqueria, and we learned on the spot that you can also get a few things you might not want.
We went in the late morning of Christmas Eve day, in time to see all of Barcelona arrive to stock up for their Christmas [...]
Another bright and sunny day in Barcelona, a city so wonderful that we talk of learning Catalan and moving here. It looks like the bus strike is over until the new year, the street sweepers have already been out on this Christmas morning, and we’re about to spend the day walking on the architecture trail. [...]
No, we’re not going to the Notre Dame for Christmas, although it’s looking gorgeous here, all decked out in baubles and bows. We’ve been wondering what a real French Christmas would feel like, and I imagine that the Notre Dame midnight mass is the most French you can get, when it comes to Christmas. But [...]
There’s no food today, just beauty. I hope you won’t mind. A simple walk through town is so engrossing right now that it totally trumps food, for me. I’ve been saying that I should just walk around with my camera for an hour, and today was bright, clear, and not too freezing, so I did. Come on, [...]
The very first thing I bought at my first French Christmas market was this mistletoe, called gui in French. It’s the freshest I’ve ever seen, with plump glistening berries that make you want to pucker right up. I carried it through the market over my head, in case it got crushed, and wondered whether I’d [...]
Although the year is wrapping up, it has come to my attention that the presents are not. In fact, it’s still hard to imagine that Christmas is almost upon us. With the clear, sunny days we’ve been having I’ve been puttering along in a little dream of autumn, scarcely realizing that it’s time to change [...]
People ask what I miss from home, and more and more the answer is: water. Living here in a dry land where grapes and olives thrive, the absence of water is everywhere. I feel it keenly, and in the most basic ways. There just isn’t enough moisturizer in town to replenish the bodily fluids I’ve lost since [...]
Hello? Bonjour! Are you landing right on our house for some special reason? Has Père Nöel taken up balloon travel and the early delivery of holiday gifts?
Normally the French are very privacy conscious and even avert their eyes from the goings-on in a neighbor’s yard, but in this case I thought we might be about to [...]
Since we already know that French cats eat well, I thought I’d see how French babies eat, just for comparison. A quick and fascinating stroll through the supermarket ensued. And here we have baby Couscous, baby Paella, baby Chicken and Vegetables à la Basquaise, baby Pasta with Ratatouille and Veal, and baby Brioche-Flavored Cereal with [...]
