I seem to be the only one among my friends,none of whom I must emphasise are right wing racists,who is against the idea of banning the burka. There are of course respectable arguments on both sides. However I am deeply suspicious of governments dictating what people should or should not wear.It is often argued that [...]

March 21st is officially the first day of Spring, and also my daughter’s birthday. It has been a long winter,a time to curl up with a good book in front of the log stove, or take bracing walks along the deserted beaches or over the hills, admiring the magnificent landscape that surrounds you on all [...]

If you’ve never stood on the bridge of a ship in a force 9 gale you can  do it in Montpellier! The “Mare Nostrum” aquarium has perhaps the biggest aquarium pool in Europe and  one of the highlights of a visit is to step onto the bridge of a ship as it  ploughs through ever [...]

Last week the plumber came around to  see to my central heating boiler.As is the custom here I held out my hand to shake his. Unfortunately his previous job had meant his hands were dirty  so he offered me his elbow which  I shook.The normal exchange having been achieved,he got down to business.This also happened [...]

After the encouragement of my reader(see Truffles galore) there will be no stopping me now!
I could probably  just write about wine for the rest of this year but that would be even more boring than my usual outpourings. But wine does dominate the landscape and the economy down here. There are of course farmers who [...]

What is it about Blogging? I resisted doing this for so long strongly believing that I had nothing really interesting to say( too true says my daughter!), and now I find it difficult to keep away from the keyboard.Is it a desire to show off,to exhibit one’s knowledge,to share one’s love of France with other [...]

The department of the Hérault has a mass of different styles of property and topographies so that the potential purchaser may be confused about where to begin.Broadly speaking you can buy on the coast,in or near a village on the coastal plain or in the valley of the Hérault river, in the hills,  or near [...]

Some estate agents down here purport to be house finders. This is not so. There is a significant difference.An estate agent is acting on behalf of the seller to get the house sold and receive his commission.A house finder is acting on behalf of the buyer to find a house that meets his or her [...]

The local news has announced that because of the snow heavy lorry traffic has been stopped on the  the A-9 motorway .Firemen are distributing packed lunches!Oh la belle France! I can’t remember this happening on the M-1.One cannot go without lunch!

Despite living in the depths of the French countryside, what a joy, this does not mean one is deprived of concerts of a very hight quality.The other night I drove over to Clermon l’Hérault,about 40 minutes, to enjoy a concert of music by Mozart,Bach,and Prokofiev given by two distinguished musicians, Conrad Wilkinson(piano) and Paul O’Hanlon(violin).It [...]