(If this post does not download properly, click on the title, and go straight through to the website.) There is one thing I have noticed about putting photos’ up on Facebook. The photos of my children or us as a family are often more noticed than the photo collections I put up of our sightseeing. … More My Strasbourg
MIDSUMMER AND THE FETE DE LA MUSIQUE This recent Friday just passed I was skimming through my CliffCentral Daily Dose mail, when my eyes glanced upon a link to an article featured on the BBC website 6 years ago, concerning an inexplicable month long dancing plague in Strasbourg. Quite surprised to see Strasbourg featured on this South … More The dance plague of 1518
LE VELO It’s true: once you learn to ride a bike, you can never un-learn. I had serious reservations about not being able to cycle here in France. My cycling days came to an end in 1990 after I outgrew my one and only childhood bicycle. I can claim with certainty that I did not … More Me on a bike
THE MEAL GENRE, NOT JUST CHEESE If you ever have a little moment, complaining about food shortages, and the lack of variety on your fresh fruit and vegetable shelves, stop and think back to our ancient ancestors. In biblical times, the residents of Jerusalem did not have individually irrigated watercress plants growing out in the … More Raclette
Life can be funny sometimes, in a way of odd co-incidences. Earlier this week, I was invited to join another family to have brunch this morning at a new café in Kruteneau (a ‘quartier’ bordering the Petite France ‘quartier’). Since its Victory Day here in France, it’s a public holiday-or ‘jour férié’ as it is … More Cafe Bretelles
About 4 books ago, or 4 weeks, if I am to be honest, I was reading a book called Black Roses by Jane Thynne. It was written from the perspective of an upper class British 20 year old girl who runs away to 1933 Berlin to become an actress. In the story, the author describes … More Alsacienne Asparagus
Last week I was invited out by the girls for a night out: dinner, drinks and chatter, sans les enfants. I had been cautioned that these nights out sometimes get a little expensive, so I was in two minds as whether to go or not. Â Also, the last girls night out had resulted in way … More Vino Strado
I have got so much on my mind to tell you about, but since school re-opened last Monday, I have been otherwise ensconsed in French lessons, school trips and the news. Â What with OP’s murder trial and a missing Boeing 777, my newspaper browser has never been so active, well at least not since last … More French Admin
 In the recesses of my mind, there is a rule of fairly random nature that I am often forced to remember these days: When speaking French, you do not verbalise the last letter of any word. A classic example would be ‘filet mignon’, as you and I both know it’s pronounced “fil-ay min-yoh” with … More Parlé vous francaise?
Yesterday morning Mme H and I took a bus to Kehl, over the Rhine into Germany. Â They have a ‘Woolworths’ (which are not the Woolies we all know, but more like a shop in a Chinese mall, in the south of Jozi.) Â The reason for our trip was to buy trinkets and sweets to put … More A bit of sunny perspective
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 