In the middle of all of life’s madness we moved our family of 5 to a tiny village in the northeast of France and spent 6 months adventuring. Here’s what we learned.
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As we come to the end of our splendid adventure and I look back at all the places we’ve been–I am reminded that every place is special. Every country and city we’ve visited has its own unique gifts to offer the world. I’m so glad that Greece isn’t trying to be Switzerland, and that Venice…
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One of the observations that I have made is that, as a general rule, civility is more present in French culture than it is in American culture. This shows up in little ways. For example, when you enter a store you always greet, and are greeted by, the shopkeeper. When you leave, you say goodbye…
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One of the benefits of spending so much time in France is that I have been able to cook a lot, which I don’t usually do when we travel. At first it was a little bit challenging because things in the grocery store weren’t quite what I was used to back home. Rather than get…
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When we decided to come and live in the Alsace region of France, we knew pretty much nothing about this area. I saw a picture of Colmar on Pinterest and decided I liked its vibe. We found an Airbnb that we liked in a neighboring village, made our travel arrangements, and then showed up! Since…
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Nothing has happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now. Eckhart Tolle As someone who has spent most of her life either contemplating the future or analyzing the past, it has somewhat difficult for me to really fall in love with the…
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As we have traveled throughout Europe, we have felt and seen the impact of World War II more keenly than at any previous time in our lives. It is present here in a way that it is not at home. In the U.S., I think all of us have some vague sense that there was…
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I’m a planner. For our France adventure we have done a lot of mini-trips in the middle of our big trip, and all of it has taken a lot of planning. I have done a lot of research, made a lot of itineraries, and–importantly–used my imagination to envision how we would spend our time. The…
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We have been living in the Alsace wine country–one of the regions in France that is famous for its wines. The hills around our village are covered in vineyards. Really, the entire region is covered in vineyards. One of the most fascinating parts of our stay has been watching the work of the vineyards through…
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Before coming to France, I had a vague notion about how French people would be. I thought the women would all be thin and fashionable with perfect skin and je-ne-sais-quoi hair. The men would be also be stylish, with tousled hair and a scarf draped just-so over a jacket–but no one would look like they…
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