Blog in France

Photo by Petr Kratochvil This afternoon I had my first surreal phone call for quite a long while. Surreal phone calls are a standard part of expat life when you’re in a country whose native tongue isn’t yours. I answered the phone and was immediately subject to a minute or...

Result of the secheresse - our brown lawn Normally it’s not good to get unexpected letters from the tax office in any country, but today was the exception. We received a letter notifiying us about a dégrèvement we’ve been allocated. Now, as you may know, and certainly anyone living in...

Not long ago my four sheep were tested for prophylaxie ovine (brucellosis). It’s nasty and infectious, and generally a Bad Thing. The testing is compulsory and has to be carried out every five years, the actual years depending on your département. For Creuse, it was this year. So we made...

Today has seen Ruadhri starting at collège and Benj back to university in  Limoges. Rors wasn’t overly enthusiastic about la rentrée but then it’s a bit of a tough week for him, with Caiti and Benj disappearing off the scene, as well as his own big upheaval in beginning secondary...

Well, we’re back home after delivering Caiti to Bordeaux. Everything went well – we had all the correct paperwork for the dossier, phew, and we only took a few wrong turns during the driving. The only downside was leaving Caiti behind But she has a smashing room in her hall...