French Life-expat France

A startling omission from francethisway, someone pointed out to me the other day, was booze cruises to France. So I have been doing some research to make amends.
I’m not quite sure that a day spent in a Calais hypermarket qualifies as ‘France travel’ but hey, I’m allowed to bend the rules if I like.For the [...]

(Note: before you read this I should mention that you can visit the main site to discover the ‘most beautiful village in France‘)
It’s always very interesting watching our town (Villereal) change as time goes by - change is slow but continuous. There is usually a side-street closed while a house is being renovated, or a [...]

Yesterday was a typical day for us here in the (now) sunny south-west of France so I thought I’d share it’s pleasures.
First Mrs B and eldest daughter went off to a backstreet tattooist to get their belly buttons pierced. Can’t say I’d fancy it myself, and apparently it wasn’t much fun, but that’s the price [...]

This week I’ve been engrossed in watching the mountain stages of the Tour de France so I haven’t done a lot of blogging or website stuff. When I’m not watching the race I like to go out on the bike myself and pretend that one day I’ll be able to cycle so casually up big [...]

OK complete trivia, and I don’t have much to say about it but I love this advert - I don’t know if it is only shown in France or if there is an English language version. Perhaps it’s just me - Mrs B wasn’t impressed. Perhaps I watched too many of these Russian processions on [...]

Because I am planning to spend much of this week and the following couple of weeks watching the Tour de France, you might not hear much from me. I thought I would throw together a few pointers in case you feel inclined to watch a bit of the race yourself:
- The Tour de France is [...]

(Later edit: comments about food addiction that were previously here have been deleted because of possible offence, see comments that follow this blog entry. Apologies to those who read them and were offended.)
…the point of this little story was the second item on the news. Apparently, in France at least, you can now sell your [...]

Yesterday I was complaining about the destructive impact of man on the environment, so today I thought I’d make amends by celebrating it. Or at least forgiving it for a particular occasion.
The Millau Bridge was built in the south of France as the last link in the ‘route to the sun’ motorway that carries thousands [...]

Saw an off-putting programme on the television last night, about the world, the environment, and agricultural practices. Curiouly the USA didn’t come out too well, due in part to the fact many Americans like to drive enormously large cars, live in vast houses, and never turn a lightbulb off whan they can turn two on [...]

Yesterday being Sunday it was bike-ride day.
Each week the other members of our little cycling team come up with a route a little bit longer and a little bit tougher than the one before. I have no say in the matter because they have lived here all their lives and know every road, viewpoint, [...]