Tag: lifestyle

Cheese & the Goat that Ate My Homework

 

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If you ask most people what comes to mind when they first think about France and food, more often than not you’ll probably find croissants, cheese and wine popping up in their replies. Moules-frites, fruits de mer, Cognac, truffles and patisserie also play a role in most foodies’ daydreams, but this blog-post is about cheese, and in particular, goat’s cheese. We’re not talking mass-produced here, no, we’re thinking more about those soft aromatic little cheeses that are a real speciality. Continue reading “Cheese & the Goat that Ate My Homework”

by ourfrenchoasis

Outdoor Living

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One of the greatest things  I have found out about blogging is that sometimes it’s an excuse to do all sorts of things I might otherwise never think of! During some gorgeous weather this week I played around with outdoor-dining, and for each meal I set the scene slightly differently. I cannot tell you how much fun it was, it felt a little like being on holiday! Continue reading “Outdoor Living”

by ourfrenchoasis

An American Dream

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Far down the garden in the potager, I stopped digging and listened carefully. It was early evening. The first small insects of the season were swirling like dust motes in the dying sunlight under the blossoming horse-chestnut, back up towards the house. The noise came again, and I recognised the faint sound of jazz as it floated down across the lawn in the gentle breeze. Intrigued, I wandered back up toward the house with a clutch of eggs from the hens and realised that our guest in the gîte was making good use of the new bluetooth-speaker. Continue reading “An American Dream”

by ourfrenchoasis

100 Things we Love about France

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Today is my 100th blog post! As it’s a special number I thought I’d mix things up a little and share with you 100 things that we, as a family, love about France. I asked Roddy and the children to join in. We spent many evenings around the supper table bouncing ideas back and forth, Izzi contributed via Skype. It was absolutely fascinating; we all had different suggestions, some more random and bizarre than others! Many things are not exclusive to France and the list we produced is in no particular order. It’s also not to be taken too literally; rather it’s to be read as a whole so it paints a picture of what makes life in this country so special for us and do add your own personal suggestions.

Continue reading “100 Things we Love about France”

by ourfrenchoasis

Millie Hijacks the Blog

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As  you know our children play a huge role in our lives and are actually quite integral to this blog. So when Millie asked the other day if she could write a guest post about her life in France, it took me just a nanosecond to say “Yes.” Millie is 16; she has an immense passion for life, she’s very sporty, she’s quite tiny and she’s also terribly sweet most of the time! I gave her no guidelines as to what she should write and have not edited her offering at all; in fact the only thing I said was to “try and keep it to around 1500 words.” Apart from my snapshots of Millie herself, the rest of the photos are her own. So, this is Millie’s life in France; it’s a glimpse into the life of a teenager in a foreign land and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I read it.

Continue reading “Millie Hijacks the Blog”

by ourfrenchoasis

Celebrating Life

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It’s Spring Break and two weeks of holidays for the children, but we’re not packing our bags and heading off on vacation. We couldn’t even if we wanted to, as life in the spring revolves around tennis tournaments. However, we’re more than happy to stay right where we are because nature at this time of year is putting on a spectacular show, rivalling the glitz and glamour of any theme-park.

Continue reading “Celebrating Life”

by ourfrenchoasis

This Idyllic French Life

 

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Several unrelated comments from around the globe have got me thinking recently about idyllic lifestyles. It has set me thinking that what is one person’s idyll is most likely not another’s. How does one clarify ‘idyllic’? Can life be idyllic in the cold and rain, or does there have to be sunshine? Or perhaps everything needs to be calm and perfectly peaceful to be idyllic? Continue reading “This Idyllic French Life”

by ourfrenchoasis

Quintessentially French

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Writing a blog continually surprises me, but what I love most of all is the spontaneity of it. Just when I think I have everything in order and going to plan, with the next post happily laid out in my mind, everything changes; a few unintended photos catch me by surprise and the whole thing loses its original direction and I find myself freewheeling down a completely different road. This blog post started out about one thing and it sort of metamorphosed into something quite the opposite. Continue reading “Quintessentially French”

by ourfrenchoasis