Insights into the French way of life and European travels by an Australian living in the Loire Valley
Header photo: Blois in spring, 2016. All photos on website copyright by Rosemary Kneipp unless specified otherwise. All rights reserved.Sign up for the latest posts below and don’t forget to click the confirmation email link:
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Category Archives: Lifestyle
A Postcard from the Island
Every so often, I receive a “postcard” from my friend Alan Stretton whom I have known for more than 40 years. This one took me back to Townsville, where we both grew up, and to my holidays on the Island, which is … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Guest post, Lifestyle, Restaurants
Tagged caffè dell isola magnetic island
2 Comments
Fighting the Flu
Very short and sweet, just to say that I am been in the grips of the flu (grippe = flu!) since Saturday afternoon and am desperately hoping I’m going to be better by Saturday when we are leaving for Granada! … Continue reading
Posted in Lifestyle
23 Comments
Shopping in the Sales in Tours
It’s the winter sales in France, which start in mid-January. I’m not a keen shopper at the best of times, nor am I a fashionista, so I prefer to wait for the second week of the sales and hope that … Continue reading
New Year Resolutions for 2015
Who remembers their new year resolutions ? I certainly don’t so rereading last year’s blog post was very helpful. The first resolution was to have a maximum number of holiday bookings for Closerie Falaiseau during the season. At one stage, it looked … Continue reading
One broken and two stolen iphones
Am I jinxed? Is it because I love my iPhone too much? Is this a subtle message from the Cosmos? Beware, this could talk a long time to tell. You might need a glass of wine. One beautiful twilight … Continue reading
La Rentrée
After the August exodus comes La Rentrée, that untranslatable nationwide “back-to”: back-to-school, back-to-work, back-to-wearing-shoes-every-day, back-to-setting-the-alarm, back-to-the-metro, and all the other disagreeable things about everyday life. For those who have stayed in Paris it means queuing at the market, leaving the … Continue reading
The August Exodus
We’re back in Paris. I feel like a côte de boeuf so I go to the butcher’s on rue Montorgueil. Usually there are three open, today there is only one. In fact, only about one shop in five in Paris is … Continue reading
Posted in French customs, Lifestyle, Paris
Tagged no love locks, Paris plage, pont des arts
16 Comments
The Emergency Department in a Paris Hospital
I hate wasting time, probably because I never have enough. To me, the emergency department of a hospital is the epitome of wasted time, to be avoided at all costs. So far, I’ve managed to do so. I wake up … Continue reading
Last Three Months in Paris
We are well and truly back from our cycling holiday in Germany. It’s amazing how far away it already seems. Our next holiday, a six-day home exchange in Lisbon, is scheduled for September. Now we have to get ready for … Continue reading
Early Spring and Ponderings on our New Life
It’s been the strangest winter. I don’t think the temperature has gone below zero more than a couple of times and there has been absolutely no sign of snow. As a result, spring seems to have come a couple of … Continue reading
