Tante Mimi’s Second Visit

11/05/201109/05/2023 Fooood, Fromage, Our Travels, Red Wine, Socialising, St Jean de Côle Floralie, The Garden, Visits

My aunt Mimi arrived on Friday. When we were young, she was called Tante Mimi since she was too young to be anyone’s aunt when my older brother Ben was ... Read more

Coming back from Darkness

08/05/201107/06/2023 Fooood, Life in France, Socialising, The Garden, Visits

Bonjour à tous. Yep, we are connected again: both landline (+33 5 53 56 99 70) and internet operational again. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that it hasn’t gone smoothly and ... Read more

Port 80 Épanoui

05/04/201115/05/2023 Fooood, Sausage & the Smoo, Socialising, The Garden, Visits

Meaning “in bloom”. Because it is – in several ways. First, the garden is really beginning to look lovely now. We have a wisteria vine creeping up over one half ... Read more

At Last – A Furnished Home

29/03/201108/05/2023 Life in France, Socialising, The Garden

I am writing this while sitting at our new dining table, gazing out at a furnished room. Until yesterday, we still had lots of stuff in boxes, some of which ... Read more

A Dull Week With A Few Bright Spots

20/03/201106/05/2023 Fooood, Socialising

It’s already been a week since my last entry and I’ve not got much to report. Will has done many more posts than I have so he insisted I do ... Read more

Il Fait Beau

10/02/201106/05/2023 Fooood, Sausage & the Smoo, Socialising, The Garden

I know many of you are enduring a harsh winter so I am not writing this to rub it in your faces. For us, the blog is our diary and ... Read more

Waiting for Packages

27/01/201106/05/2023 Fooood, Life in France, Sausage & the Smoo, Socialising, Visits

As Will mentioned in his last entry, my mom was kind enough to arrange to have my old dishes packed and shipped here. It’s a bit of an extravagance but ... Read more

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

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

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