Winter Planning Continues

We are in the throes of winter with temperatures 20C below 0C. Today though is crisp and clear with lots of sun...a perfect day for a trip into Mahone Bay to use the wireless network at the Biscuit Eater Cafe and continue my blog The Burgundy Ox...which by the way I can never find when I go in to the Search part on the Blogspot website.... I am sure I am doing something wrong. Anyway, as luck would have it, the Biscuit Eater was closed today due to electrical problems so no blogging there . Home now and on to the dial up server...slow service.. to carry on. I did go through my books this past week and made up a list for those of you who are interested. These are the books written by folks who pack it up and move to France or Tuscany to live! They are in no particular order just how I found them on the shelf... I will comment on those I particularly liked or not. Before I get into that though Iwanted to let you know that I have bought my plane tickets...in spite of the guilt that was rushing about this week for those of us going to fly somewhere and all the pollution it is causing ..flying that is... I purchased a ticket to Paris ,France for early April. I gave myself several days to visit Versaille before heading to my village in France. This might be a good time to tell you how I arrived at what village I would stay in. I actually used the Michelin Red Book Guide...2006 edition.... I wanted a village with the range of restaurants...starred, bib gourmands, the knife and fork ratings. To have this variety the village now a town would need to be of a certain size...approximately 20,000 population. The guide tells you this. I wanted to be near a wine region and somewhere conducive to walking..no car. A market town was a must! I was looking for cultural events..so the size was once again a factor. I would like to be able to walk to concerts, museums ... that something would be happening. And finally there had to be an apartment for rent. I was lucky in finding that apartment in a wonderful town... I had visited this town several years ago and can remember somethings about it....my apartment looks on the internet wonderfully comfortable and is very central in the town.
I do have some apprehension being there alone and how I will feel day in and day out. I was visiting my son last week in Ottawa and he was instructing me on the need to make daily goals. I do that in life but I can understand where he is coming from with his advice.... I will need to have a daily goal...remember I know no one and do not speak the language enough to have a conversation. Somedays this scares me and on others I look forward to the challenge. Today is a day of fear....oh well.
So I have started to think about several things I will do to make myself more comfortable.....this blog is one of them keeping in touch with friends and family. Secondly, I will attempt to listen to CBC radio which I love... I was going to try this today at the BE but will do so in the next while. And finally I will miss NBA Basketball...so I must see if there is some way that I can watch this on the computer.... I will miss the playoffs....I remember hearing of folks watching football on the computer so I am sure the NBA is similar.. I just need to figure this out and I will!! So this is it for today and now on to the list of books...happy reading.


Susan Loomis On Rue Tatin(2001) and Tarte Tatin(2003) Susan and her husband..both American...move to France....buy a house in a village called Louviers...they remodel the house and Susan does cooking classes and special dinners there...she has cookbooks now and all this can be found on her website. This was a good read ! Harper Collins

Ann Barry At Home In France(1996)....another American. from New York City actually, buys a small house on a hilltop area . She never stays there for longer than a month at a time as she is still working but she does go there often. In the book she mentioned a restaurant in NYC called the Luncheonette.....the chef had relatives in the village near her French home..... we have gone to the Luncheonette twice now and love it as it has a real French rustic menue and Cahors wines. On our last visit we met the chef's wife who told us that Miss Barry had died.So you can leave a legacy...that small book provided us with joy twice over...in the reading and the introduction to the Luncheonette. Ballentyne Books.


Paul Deggan All Our Summers are French(1992) this fellow is Canadian and an artist. He falls in love with France and the light...his wife is French...this book tells of their buying a house and restoreing it and running art classes there all summer. In the winter months he returns to British Columbia and teaches at a Community College. His life was a little easier as he had family there etc but interesting . Estival Press Vancouver


Patricia Atkinson La Belle Saison(2005) and The Ripening Sun. This English woman leaves behind a husband , moves to France, buys property,opens a B&B and starts a small vineyard. The books are little stories of how she did it all, who helped her out etc. She has a website and it looks like she is making a living at this...living her dream. Which is why it does not matter how well they are written..although it does help .These are real human stories where the authors grab hold of life and make it happen. Century Books, London


Isabelle Dusi Vanilla Beans and Brodo...a story of real life in the Tuscan hills. I bought this book in Tuscany as it was for sale everywhere we went...the author now lives in Montapulciano and the book is how she decided to stay on in this village and develop a travel company bringing tourists in and touring them about to the various vineyards and eateries. Lots of things happen to this author as she makes her way in the village life...another good read.

Isabelle Huggan Belonging(2004) Vintage, CA. Living in Cevenne, France. I cannot remember the story here .

Gordon Cope A Paris Moment(2005) This mans wife is sent to work in Paris and he decides to come with her and use the opportunity to write about living in Paris.Hard cover so look for it 2nd hand Fifth House, Calgary, Alberta

Richard Goodman French Dirt(2002) This was a terrible book..worst I had read in a long time. An American who goes to a small town to live for a year and decides to be like the French in the village and have a garden. I learned nothing from this book and I do not think the author did either . Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill

The Adventure is Planned

This year is a significant birthday for me! Yes I am a Boomer...still married after 37 years. Two children. My life has been safe and secure. I am well educated... always had a job..have a pension...even did something twelve years ago to put a little zip in my life by opening up a B&B. I am no wilting daisy..I have lots of opinions, take control of most situations,manage my time well. In fact, I rarely waste time, always setting goals,planning activities,making sure that I fill each day with something of significance no matter how small and lowly. Travelling has always been part of my life....with France being my favourite spot, where my husband and I return to time after time..year after year. I love reading books about those folks who leave their present life and set up house in France. Peter Mayle is the most famous but there are lots more especially women. And France is not the only destination. Italy and more specifically,Tuscany,is another favorite. I have read many of them and will make up a list when I am home and able to look thru my libraray if anyone is interested.
SO, although I have enjoyed these sojourns into France and I have learned lots regarding food wine and cheese there has been a deep desire to stay longer than the two week vacation. To be more like the folks in the books who buy houses and actually make a life there in a small village becoming part of the daily grind of markets, espressos, Sunday church service, village concerts and favorite patisseries.
But my husband has continued to work and is not yet ready to stay longer than the usual 14-16 days and I am chomping at the bit. Couple that with the fact that I am feeling"older" and needing to get at it before my body fails me in some way keeping me stranded on the North American side of the Atlantic. Enjoin that with the fact that I left my Dad to get married and have done everything since with my husband.
I know you are guessing what I am about to be up to and if you said...she is going to France by herself you are right.... for 8 weeks in a smallish village in a nice little apartment close to the centre of town. No car but lots of opportunities to walk ..just like the French usually do and a small bicycle shop where I can rent a bicycle should I want to venture out in to the countryside. So there you have it. And the adventure begins this April! This blog is there so you can follow along with me on my adventure.