new record for me.

not sure but I think this is the longest I've gone with blogging (since starting that is). summer with visitors is physically and mentally exhausting!

I'm afraid I probably don't have anything too pithy to contribute...but everything is going swimmingly! hitting those vide-greniers with a passion, getting the new website populated with french treasures, laughing at updates from afar, meeting new friends, hanging out with old friends, finding new hidden spots to explore and appreciate ... surviving the heat wave and the thunderstorms ... catch-up gardening with a vengeance ... squiring around visitors ... pinching pennies ... welcoming loved ones home...trying to make more centimes ... looking forward to more visitors throughout the season.

no time to catch a breath, let alone write something pretty and witty and gay!

that small thing called inspiration that's been missing has also had something to do with it...but I'm finding my way back to my writing , slowly but surely ... and hope to be about these parts more regularly soon. bises!

and so my list begins ...

rototilling was kindly squeezed in at the last possible moment! and so I was left with a tilled area for a late garden planting. My visitor and I went to the Perigueux market on Wednesday and I snagged the first plants for the garden. Today, while closed for lunch ... I put in a dozen tomato plants, a couple of cukes, 6 peppers and a bunch of cilantro. Upon reflection, I decided to go ahead and put in the potatoes I bought ages ago ... my consultant on all things gardening and french told me it was worth a shot, they might just take off, albeit the harvest would be later than normal. But since spring sprang late this year, I'm hoping for that domino effect. So, in effect, that is one thing semi-checked on the list.

I'm also rushing about to finish up a bunch of new small furniture pieces for the shop...and get a variety of things underway to create a bit more publicity and awareness that I am here. I bought 2 large planters (about a meter long each) for the front of the shop ... that will block parking (hopefully) right up against my wall and also create more visibility that we're here...Also, 2 more signs have been installed on the wall and a 'blade' style sign will be up in late July. My partner in crime also made 2 unique standalone, sidewalk signs that I can experiment with around town...

The new internet site is almost done and with that will come new flyers and posters and such ... for further around the area publicity. Any of my French readers (those that are legit ... heh heh)who blog or have sites or shops and who would be willing to do a link exchange with The Bohemians site ... or post a flyer ... please drop me a note via the contact feature here on my blog.

I have more trip highlights to share, but thought a real time, on-the-ground report might also be in order.

à bientôt!

voyager!

nos petite aventure!
things we are already enjoying while wandering the west coast!

1. the adorable cottage of Miss Mancha and especially the cozy rooms she prepared for us and our fun dinner party!
2. fabulous lunch in romantic North Beach, our climb to Coit Tower and the AMAZING views ...
3. laughing our way through things lost in translation...
4. saving the precious bottle of wine and jars of foie gras from US immigration.
5. appreciating the Portland architecture differences now that we've landed here...
6. everyone's wonderful hospitality

continued from above (the bohemians update....)

7. discovering my camera is stuck on movie setting ... laughing at all of our videos including Jean Yves leaping like Superman with hilly San Francisco in the background.
8. surprising JY with my ability to navigate with a big old Mercedes.
9. the indescribable vistas in Washington at Kathleen and David's 'rancho blanco'... we've been transported to the real old west of america.
10. lupine and yarrow filled fields of flowers.
11. listening to the trains whistling at night
12. hiking together and having a frenchman teach me about american plants!
13. archery !!! JY is a vrais robin des bois! quelle surprise!
14. all the little moments ... franglais, englench, hilarity, patience, you name it...our amitié grows, and is profound...
15. and it hasn't even been a week! wondering what awaits...

pics when I get home...

fabulous discovery!

today, trolling about the internet while coughing in bed and watching CSPAN ... I stumbled across a treasure trove of information, gorgeously organized on a new-to-me blog by another American woman in France. Paris to be exact. I'm sure there are lots of very interesting articles. This one I found because David Lebovitz (another recently discovered blog) wrote a snippet about a restaurant in Paris, a comment there led me to Foreign Parts.

She has written a series of 5 articles addressing the differences between the U.S. and France in regards to Health Care and Taxes. She not only beautifully illustrates these differences, but debunks many long-held theories re: socialized medicine, the tax impact of a gov't involved system, etc. etc. What an eye opener and very clearly presented.

I don't know enough to have done the research myself...I've shared a few updates re: my personal experiences...But trust me, she's done such a good job that any of you remotely interested in said subject MUST read her articles.

This link will take you to the 5th article and if you scroll down just a bit, you'll see links to posts 1-4.

Very well done indeed, Ms. J. A. Getzlaff. I look forward to reading more. And I think your blog will inspire me to be a bit more serious about my own writing and research. So very thorough you are!

this ticks me off

and I don't care who knows it.

a number of "shopping services" are sprouting up in the region ... not the individual shopping sites like Amazon and eBay...

no, these are businesses ... mostly British from what I can garner, that are specializing in delivering groceries and the like from UK sources to customers in France.

yeah, free market and all of that. but it really pisses me off for some reason. I mean here they are, these ahem "expats" ... living here, benefiting from the positives that France has to offer (country lifestyle, inexpensive property rates, great health care) and pretty much shopping exclusively from outside the country.

Daily groceries. electronics. furniture. paint. do-it-yourself products. clothing. etcetera. this doesn't begin to address the exclusive mentality of using 'services' (building, maintenance, pubs, etc) owned by fellow expats vs. the locals.

I mean really? ASDA? Tesco? Sainsbury? Marks & Spencer? seriously?

it is no wonder so many French here in my area, anyway, have such a negative impression of the expat community.

don't even get me started on speaking French.

grrr.

another Saturday night and ...

another week under the belt ... got a little of this and a little of that going on.

Jean-Yves and I have spring fever and winter is on its way back (maybe another round of snow in the coming week!!) the minute the sun peeks out we drop everything and follow the rays ... as deceptive as they might be.

we chase rainbows and brainstorm and plot escapes and dream even bigger dreams, giggling as we conspire.

We had a truly disheartening lunch ... we were on our way to a favorite little café near the river in Perigueux when monsieur decided he craved "Thai" (HA, like that exists in Perigueux) and dragged me back to a pseudo-chinese/thai/suzy wan affair. To make matters worse, it was close to 2:00 and they serve buffet-style, consequently everything had been sitting there for awhile. Their 'nems' and 'spring rolls' were past their prime. Their gloppy sauces were congealing. There was one semi-tasty chicken dish (basically fried chicken pieces) and some noodles that were passable. There was a dry fried prawn dish that might have been okay when first it was served ... but had gone a bit damp and rubbery.

somebody needs to clue me in to the asian hole-in-the-wall, authentic restaurant that must exist in Perigueux. There is a sufficient number of Asian inhabitants to warrant that. The 2 I know of are industrialized, watered down messes with horribly cranky (asian) employees.

Afterwards, we died of thirst all afternoon, most likely due to the high salt and MSG content. erg.

then we went over to Decathlon (a sporting goods store) and tried on a million things for a thousand different sports and cracked ourselves up. purchased nary a stitch! on to another shoe store ... where for a millisecond I was aflutter, viewing the sign 'troisieme pair, 1€'... only to realize that I had no need nor budget for 3 pairs of new shoes ... even if the 3rd pair were only 1€! my how times have changed!

we then meandered through Grand Frais (the closest thing to Whole Foods in the French countryside ...), I bought some cilantro and lemongrass (!!) and then we shared a coffee and more laughs.

another day, JY brought lunch here ... heh heh ... we started with pickled pig's trotters, french style (!) ... continued with rabbit and cepes in creme sauce. I pitched in a salad and rice. After coffee, we hiked up in the hills behind Brantôme for about an hour or so... there are at least half a dozen well marked routes surrounding our village ... most with some fine views and all in the country air.

This week I've pretty much wrapped up garden clean-up in my big yard ... I've burned several huge piles of clippings. I planted four espaliered apple trees. I have lavender and hydrangeas to put in ... but I'm waiting a week or 2 in case the predicted snow arrives. I've also got potatoes to plant. JY started to rototill (tested the tiller to make sure it survived a winter partially exposed to the elements) and all systems are go to dig up this year's garden plot.

We're working on getting a little online shop up and running ... where I can post some of my favorite frenchy finds at good prices ... and maybe some furniture stuff for locals ... and who knows what else?

Today I biked 20km, spent 3 hours in upholstery class working on my chair, made a pot of chicken tikka masala ... and I'm still debating if music is on tonight's agenda.

I've got to be in the garden, on the bike, or doing some physical labor in the shop daily ... spring is just around the corner which means summer (and swimsuits) are not much further on the horizon....

wheeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!