Queuing in France
As much as the Brits are known for queuing, other European cultures are known for anti-queuing. I grew up in Australia where we seemed to find a happy medium. At the bus stop, you just hang around, and when a …
As much as the Brits are known for queuing, other European cultures are known for anti-queuing. I grew up in Australia where we seemed to find a happy medium. At the bus stop, you just hang around, and when a …
As I’ve described before, I’ll never be considered a local here in La Clusaz. In fact, it takes about three generations for someone to be gain that privilege. Because I’m not local, it’s always nice when familiar faces whose names …
One of the things I really love about living in France is the baked goods. Another is the jovial sense of humour with strangers. Mix the two and you’ve got the perfect situation for a practical joke. The Savoyards are …
French bakeries part 2: customers and le croix de Savoie Read more »
This morning, I entered a La Clusaz bakery, where the nice French lady always smiles at me. This morning, however, things had changed. Instead of smiling, she was scowling at the woman in front of me, while the woman threw …
Yes, apparently the French aren’t happy with just eating fully-grown snails. Now in France, you can buy snail eggs. I read about this in a magazine in La Clusaz a few weeks ago and decided to keep the article as …
Many years ago, I recall a supermarket visit that involved a woman telling my mum and I about her son in a mental institution who was being allowed to visit for Christmas. We didn’t know her: we were just checking …
For someone who once lived in the French town Annecy in Haute Savoie, it’s a disgrace that I never made it to some of the tourist attractions there, such as the old jail. So, I recently rounded up a few …
Finding a restaurant with an English menu is a rare thing in La Clusaz — and many other parts of France. Growing popularity with non-French speakers has led to some restaurants taking the leap into English menus. Some do it …
I love French roundabouts (as you may have noticed). They can be quite detailed, with scenes, gates and all sorts of themes. I had to stop and take some photos of this one, near the west coast of France, which …
There are lots of cool stories about wildlife in the alps, like the dahu, pictured above. The dahu, now extinct, had four legs and looked a bit like a mountain goat, but it had one important difference. As it grew …