Rebuilding the Routine

20/01/201106/08/2025 Life in France, Photos, Sausage & the Smoo, Socialising

Well, nearly 2 weeks after moving in to Port 80, it is now (mostly) furnished. Recent acquisitions include a fancy new flat-screen TV and blue-ray DVD player, both installed in ... Read more

Making Progress

14/01/201106/05/2023 Househunt/Moving, Life in France, Sausage & the Smoo

All in all, things continue to move in the right direction as far as getting settled goes. We’re making good progress on the furniture front, thanks to the January sales. ... Read more

Testing, Testing…

10/01/201106/08/2025 Househunt/Moving, Life in France, Photos, Sausage & the Smoo, Socialising

Hello and greetings from Port 80! Oh my God does it feel good to have internet again! We just had three very isolated, insular days indeed, even by our normal ... Read more

Bienvenue Chez Port 80

30/12/201012/05/2023 Fooood, Househunt/Moving, Life in France, Sausage & the Smoo, Visits

Yes, it’s official – we’re homeowners here in France. The closing was on Monday and it went very smoothly. We had to wait 20 minutes for the notaire to finish ... Read more

Lots of Preparation

08/12/201006/05/2023 Househunt/Moving, Sausage & the Smoo

There’s not a whole lot to report but it’s been a week since the last entry so it’s time for an update. December has largely been about preparation, mostly for ... Read more

Battening Down the Hatches

01/12/201024/12/2023 Fooood, Sausage & the Smoo

Brrr – what the hell is going on?! Snowfall in November and it is FREEZING! There are literally no degrees today. Not a one. Last year, we had snow by ... Read more

Thanksgiving II: The Turkey’s Revenge

26/11/201009/05/2023 Fooood, Househunt/Moving, Le Tanksgeeving, Sausage & the Smoo, Socialising

Last night, we celebrated our second Thanksgiving in France. You may recall from last year, we had some difficulty sourcing a few key ingredients, the main one being a whole ... Read more

As High As An Elephant’s Eye

07/10/201006/05/2023 Fooood, Househunt/Moving, Red Wine, Sausage & the Smoo, The Garden, Visits

The corn, that is. It’s the seeds I brought back from the States and we may actually end up with an ear or two by next week. Some of the ... Read more

A Change Is Gonna Come

25/09/201024/12/2023 Househunt/Moving, Sausage & the Smoo, The Garden

As the days begin to grow shorter (that’s an odd turn of phrase, now that I think about it), so does the end of our sabbatical draw ever nearer. We ... Read more

La Semaine Des Visiteurs

21/08/201022/12/2023 Fooood, Sausage & the Smoo, The Garden, Visits

Apologies for the long delay between entries. It’s been a busy week with two sets of visitors, the second group having just departed now. First of all, I would like ... Read more