So East it's Ouest

The worst part of traveling...wonderful people.  You shouldn't envision a world where you drag your friends and family along with you everywhere you go but it is tempting.  Thank you FaceTime and the Internet for making long distance friendships bearable.  But still I'll have to wait another few months in order to hold my cutie pie nephew again, sigh. My brief teaser of a visit with my family was a nice little reboost and I do declare it is difficult to spend more than a few months without seeing them.  But on the flip side when I'm back in the US I want my frenchies, can't have it all can we?   They all surprised me with a surprise dinner in Elkhart with my grandparents and to quote my grandma 'I started cooking but I don't know what happened I just kept going...!'   I got to bring back a lot of clothing and the like and do some important paperwork while I was back.   I also got an animal fix as well,  although my crazy kitten Elby doesn't recogn...

Just got back from this winter wonderland.  As if I haven't explained already why the south west is prime location in France we will hang another little carrot our there. The Pyrenees, this fine mountain range between France and Spain that calls itself home to the country of the Andorra, fluffy dogs, sheeps milk cheese and some beautiful slopes also is known for several therapeutic mineral hot spring spas.  So once again recap.  Surfing, duck, wine, cheese, mountains, hot springs, warm weather...etc let's continue shall we.  Our little group headed out Thursday evening and ended up in Loudenvielle in the Louron valley the Pyrenees 3.5 hrs away.  We passed through Auch another cool south western city.  We settled into our little chalet shaped lodging up 5 flights of steps, I got top bunk of the bunk bed yeah and awoke to...rain.  It decided to rain on us but no matter we visited the village and when the sun decided to peek out while we were picnicking w...

So I've mentioned a little thing called 'CAF' in the past, it's a little way to get some of your rent paid for by the government.  What hit me this time while I was filling out some of my paperwork was the differences between American welfare and the French social welfare systems.  In fact welfare isn't even the right word.  Welfare is what happens in the US, it's looked at as being for people in DIRE need and it isn't seen in the best of light, it's great if you can figure out some good programs but France is very different.  It's looked on as a sign of being savvy if you can figure out how (and the patience and diligence it takes to jump through bureaucratic hoops) to get reimbursed by the government, because in basis that's what it is.   Taxes in France are much higher than the United States, somewhere in the 40% income tax range and France loves to add on other taxes as well.  In your taxes you automatically have CAF, work accidents, care for...

Please excuse my absence, I have realized that when I can't write in the sun I don't seem to write.  Winter seems to have broken here in the lovely southwest today it's in the warm and sunny enough outside that I'm sitting on a bench in a nearby park writing to you with a lady smoking beside me, France.  Last week it was in the 20s and I was wearing winter gloves on my bike ride to work.  Next weekend I'm heading out for a trip in the Pyrenees skiing and the like and soon after I'm heading back to the US to see Everett coming back with some friends to travel a bit together.  My classes have been going pretty decently we've been working on pronunciation and even dancing the cha cha slide.  The winter sales have been going on and I've spent a day or two in Toulouse checking out the shops as well as in Agen itself.  For this return post I thought I would grace you with 10 more more things you might not have realized about France.   Everyone gets 5/6 weeks...

After reading my blog for a bit did you ever catch the draft that 'the French are...' I know it's terrible comparing cultures and the like but I know one thing I've never said about 'the french' is how cool and laid back they are in fact just the opposite usually.  Well today I've got news for you.  Do you wanna know where the cool kids are at?  The south west corner of France baby.   So the coolest kids on the block are those from le Gers seriously check it out its beautiful, but I recently took a trip to another little region and hope to return to an area that isn't quite French and isn't quite Spanish in fact it's quite...Basque.   This region divided between Spain and France speaking their own language (not related to any language in Europe) and being all cool and the like.  You like good food?  San Sebastián has more michelin stared restaurants than anywhere else in the world, or maybe you like something cheap healthy and yummy well the basq...

 When I'm in France there are times when I feel like I need to represent the mid-west.  First off no one over here knows what that means so I end up just saying 'near Chicago' but I add 'it's the real USA'.  Why do you think that TV shows about 'Americain life' take place in Indiana.  The middle, parks and rec, a Christmas story, etc.  So many Americans come over here from California or New York or Colorado that I feel like I have to share a different side of American culture and I find that the French, although sometimes horrified, enjoy learning about it.  It takes a local who has spent her time enjoying if not braving blistering cold winters back home , cough and not feeling guilty about sitting this one out -19F as the high are you kidding me?, in order to truly understand one key of Mid-western culture, Euchre.   Now I know many a mid-westerner who does not know or like to play the pride and joy of the Midwest that is euchre but all will agree tha...

I technically live in the department of Lot-et-Garonne (the names of the two rivers) which is the old region called Aquitaine but I am right on the northern edge of...you guessed it Gascony.  Aquitaine has its own list of cool places and people; Eleanor of Aquitaine (cough she started chivalry), Bordeaux, lots of ducks, the town that was used as the basis for Beauty and the Beast but this is a post dedicated to the ancient wild beautiful region called Gascony. Who do you know from Gascony?  Uh I don't know a certain man called 'd'artagnan'.  Just kinda a big deal, not only because he is made fun of for being a gascon but also because try as he would he was very gascon.   Yes they speak with a cute twang, adding a -g- to the ends of words and yes they are friendly and different from other French from different regions.  Like the south east this region spoke a language called Occitan long before it spoke 'proper french' making it sound much like Catalan but not qu...