Category Archives: Lifestyle

A Vide-grenier from the inside

October 9, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 2 Comments

It’s not the first time Black Cat and I have participated in a vide-grenier. Living in an appartment with no cellar meant we needed to regularly get rid of toys and clothes and the local town hall had a free garage sale for kids once a year. After that, we shared stalls with friends until Black Cat was old enough to branch out on her own.

With our move to Blois scheduled for 30 September 2014 and Black Cat actively looking for work in New York, we have taken a stall at the yearly vide-grenier in nearby Rue Colonel Driant. We’re up early and at 8.15 am we’re handing in our documents (ID and electricity bill to prove we are locals) and paying 15 euro in exchange for 2 metres of pavement space. I go and get the car which Jean Michel has filled up the day before and park it temporarily in front of stand n°65 while we unload.

We set up a trestle table and Black Cat starts putting the clothes rack together. As we unpack, the early scavengers arrive, mainly looking for jewellery. By the time we have everything out of the cartons, it’s 9 am and we’ve already made a couple of sales. We also make the acquaintance of our neighbours.

Checking out the neighbours' stall — Checking out the neighbours’ stall

On the left is a Ukranian girl and her French friend. It’s their first vide-grenier but, apart from the fact that their two clothes racks topple over at regular intervals, they seem to have their act together. They have a mirror which we don’t have but they lend it to us whenever we need one. They seem to be having a whale of a time. Everytime I look over they seem to be dressed differently!

The lady on the left is a regular. She has a small stock of women’s clothes that she has brought in a suitcase, including a rack that regularly falls over with the wind as well. She also has two plastic sheets that she spreads on the ground to display anoraks and jackets. She explains later in the day that she buys summer dresses cheaply on cheaper markets and sells them on the more expensive ones.

Clever use of grating to hang up clothes and shoes

I’ve brought along two folding chairs because I know I can’t stand up all day. We can’t possibly display everything we have on the clothes rack and table so we work out a new arrangement. We put the table on one side and the rack on the other so that people can enter the stand and also look through our cartons which we’ve divided into tops, skirts, dresses and pants.

The vide-grenier went right down Colonel Driant

Business is steady. Black Cat’s fairly large collection of DVDs, a handful of CDs and my books are the most popular initially. At 2 euro for a DVD and 1 euro for a book, you’d think it was a bargain but there are still people who want to bring the price down. We’re selling the clothes at 2 euro for a top or skirt, 3 euro for a dress and 5 to 10 euro for jackets and coats.

Late morning, I go back home and make a large thermos of tea which I bring back and share with our neighbours who are delighted. “Oh, but I don’t have anything to offer you”, says the Ukrainian. “That’s OK. We’re using your mirror.” But when I bring the second thermos around 4 pm, she has acquired some biscuits to share.

During the day, at least three English speakers, hearing me chatting with Black Cat, come up and ask for directions!

Most of the people are friendly which is not true of all street markets. I tell someone that Black Cat has made some of the clothes herself. Those items are snapped up as unique pieces. One young woman makes us laugh as she wiggles into a skirt then removes her own from underneath so she can check if it fits properly.

There’s a big fight at the stall opposite at one stage when a woman claims that she hasn’t had her money’s worth. It looks as though they might come to blows but she finally walks away.

At about 6 pm, business picks up and we bring the prices down even further. I tell my neighbours they can take what they want because they are all doing another vide-grenier next day. Then it starts to spit and we all have to start packing up before everything gets wet.

Jean Michel turns up with the car and we bundle it all in. I take everything to La Ressourcerie at 62 rue Oberkampf because there’s no way we can store any of it. Black Cat is very pleased with her takings and I have had a most enjoyable day with my daughter!

France, Lifestyle

Meet Kathy, a francophile with big dreams

September 4, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp Leave a comment

I have often quoted paragraphs from Kathy Stanford’s blog Femmes Francophiles in my Wednesday’s Bloggers Round-up. Kathy’s permanent home is in Adelaide, but she comes to France as often as she can. In my contribution this month to My French Life, the global community & magazine for francophiles & French, I tell the fascinating story of how she manages to reconcile her love for France and her life in Australia. Enjoy!

Meet Kathy, a francophile with big dreams

Thirteen years ago, when she was preparing for a trip to France, Kathy became enthralled with the French language and culture.

This was the start of her French dilemma, because her home and husband are in Adelaide and her French connection has grown stronger with the passing years.

She began learning French at the Alliance Française in Adelaide to ressurect her dim memories of school French. She has done several courses in France; in Rouen, Toulouse and Vendôme – as well as Noumea. She has worked as a volunteer for the Alliance Française in Rouen. Read more

Art, France, Lifestyle

Plastic Art

August 5, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

Facebook fans and friends may have already seen the photo below. Take a good look and tell me what you think it is.

Suggestions so far are “art”, “a nat. Or maybe two nats” (what is a nat?), “plastic bottle sculpture”, “gelato”, “cake icing”, “melted plastic bottles” and “weird-flavoured icecream”.

If you look at the second photo, you’ll see the answer. Jean Michel and I both wear contact lenses and because we like to keep spare cases in our bike bags, toilet cases, glove boxes, etc., we regularly sterilise the free ones you get with the lens solution. I have a very bad habit of putting things on the stove and forgetting about them.

I’m working away and can smell something burning. I think it must be my laptop so I turn it off and go to the kitchen to make some tea. That’s when I see (and smell) the saucepan. Here is this molten mass in pretty shades of blue and green. I yank the saucepan off the stove then wonder what I should do with it.

I refrain from pouring it down the sink and clogging it up again the way I did last week with the contents of another burnt saucepan. Jean Michel spent quite some time getting that fixed. I put the saucepan down again and quickly get some alfoil out the drawer, tear off a sheet and pour the mess onto it. I then use a spoon to dig the rest of the molten plastic out of the saucepan. That’s a stupid move as the spoon becomes coated. I put my thumb on it to clean the spoon and burn my thumb. I discover we have no burn cream, well, not that I can locate anyway.

However, I see that once the plastic sets, you can peel it off. That’s OK for the spoon but doesn’t help the triple-bottom stainless steel saucepan. Usually when I burn saucepans, I pour bleach in (eau de javel) which is not at all environment-friendly, I know, but saves hours scouring the saucepan. It works remarkably well. The thing I burn the most is the meat sauce for lasagna. Spinach comes a close second.

The bleach doesn’t make much difference so I open all the windows to try and get rid of the smell and go back to work. In the meantime, Jean Michel had been repairing the portable airconditioner which I may or may not have been responsible for breaking. It has a second half to it that sits on the balcony and is attached by an unwieldy umbilical cord that contains little tubes with refrigerated liquid and air inside a metal sheath that musn’t get twisted or they’ll break.

Well, they did get twisted somehow and the air-conditioning gave up the ghost so he’s spent quite a few hours shortening and repairing the tubes and soldering the metal sheath with the help of a friend. Although he has expertise in air-conditioning and refrigeration he hasn’t used it for many years so he’s been reading up on it. The air-conditioner’s been recharged with gas and he calls me to tell me the friend’s going to help him carry it up the stairs.

I’m worried about the smell but Jean Michel doesn’t notice it and the friend is probably too polite to say anything. I do, however, confess to the saucepan as we’re cycling along the Marne towards the old chocolate factory.

The old chocolate factory at Champs sur Marne

He says I should use a razor blade but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. He has a go and eventually gets some of the plastic off and I take over from there, using a lot of elbow grease and steel wool until the saucepan’s finally clean.

I’d like to be able to say that it’s the last time I’ll burn a saucepan but can you really teach an old dog new tricks?

Art, France, Lifestyle, Loire Valley

Why Elizabeth and Stuart Came to France

May 13, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 5 Comments

When I met Americans Elizabeth and Stuart, who have chosen to spend their retirement in France, at a get-together of the Loire Connexion, I was immediately fascinated by their story and wanted to share it on My French Life as an inspiration for other Anglophones who would like to live the French dream.

Sunset on the Loire, photo by Stuart Byrom

We’re at ‘The Shaker’ on l’Ile d’Or, the little island in the middle of the Loire River, with its stunning view of Amboise Castle, at the monthly meet-up of the Loire Connexion. Two newcomers arrive. We start chatting and I learn that Elizabeth and Stuart, both retired Americans, divide their time between their small apartment in Paris where they’ve been living for four years, and their bigger and more recently acquired house in Amboise. Read more

Lifestyle

Birthday Parties I Have Known

April 22, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 13 Comments

The first birthday party that stays in my mind was my 13th birthday celebration. It took place just 11 days after my older sister died in an accident and must have cost my mother enormous courage and effort because I only have happy memories of that day. It was a “movie party”. I invited the whole class and we went to see Mary Poppins at a matinee then spent the rest of the afternoon in the garden, playing party games and eating cake.

My thirteenth birthday party. I'm in the second row, second from the left. — My thirteenth birthday party. I’m in the second row, second from the left.

Hardly the sort of party a thirteen-year-old would want today! But we didn’t have the same sophistication back then. One of my friends gave me a little gold cross on a chain. I think it was the first necklace I ever had and I loved it. I’m still in regular contact with six of the girls in the photo.

The next memorable birthday party was my 21st, the age at which we reached our majority in those days, and was held in a hotel down on the Strand in Townsville whose name escapes me. As you can see from the photo taken with my parents, it was a fun evening!

My favourite present on that occasion was a red velvet jewel case and matching alarm clock to take on my journey to France, which was already in the planning stage, even though I wasn’t to leave for another year.

Skip a few years during which birthdays were always strictly family occasions spent with my children and husband and once or twice with my parents when they were visiting France.

By the time I was about to turn 40, I was divorced and living alone with my children, Black Cat and Leonardo. I decided to have a party and celebrate in style. A very good Swedish friend offered her house, which had a spacious living room, and I told everyone to reserve the date. Then my father died. When I got back from the funeral, my friend said that I wasn’t to cancel the party. So I didn’t.

My fortieth birthday cake - Pour le plaisir — My fortieth birthday cake – Pour le plaisir

I ordered a cake and instead of candles, I had “Pour le plaisir” (just for the pleasure) written on it! I really enjoyed the party and was grateful to my friend for encouraging me to celebrate despite my grief. It took me three years to get over my father’s death.

I didn’t want a party for my 50th birthday. By then, I had met and married Jean Michel and I wanted something intimate so we went to stay in a château in Champagne for the weekend. I remember every minute of it! My children and stepsons gave me my first digital camera.

On each of my birthdays since we met in 1996, Jean Michel has taken me to a Michelin-starred restaurant, including The Ritz, Le Carré des Feuillants, La Grande Cascade and Hélène Darroze and has spoiled me with many lovely presents.

With my sixtieth birthday approaching, my daughter Black Cat kept asking me how I wanted to celebrate. I liked the idea of a party but didn’t have the energy to do anything about it. “How about I organise it then?” she said. “Just give me the list of the people you want to invite.” She is a communications and events manager so I knew it was in good hands. What a wonderful birthday present!

In front of my cards and presents on my 60th birthday

I said I’d be happy to help with preparations on the day of the party, so after shopping with her late Friday, including a new outfit for me, we spent Saturday afternoon putting various morcels of her invention on skewers while she organised all the rest.

I had a wonderful evening. Black Cat, with the help of Jean Michel and his two sons looked after everything and I could devote myself entirely to being with all my lovely friends. Leonardo was in Australia but there in spirit. And Jean Michel gave me a beautiful new watch to replace the one I so sadly lost 16 years ago.

Flowers & gardens, French customs, Lifestyle, Paris

It’s Still Cold in Paris

March 20, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 13 Comments

I got caught in the cold today. I was working away in my office and suddenly realised there was sun streaming in through the windows so I thought I should make an effort and go outside. I looked at the temperature and saw it was 9°C but I figured it would be warmer in the sun. So I put on a light wool coat instead of my winter parka. I was over optimistic and nearly had my hands and ears frozen off.

Sun coming through my office window in the Palais Royal

I went into the Palais Royal gardens first to check the state of the vegetation and was delighted to see that the magnolias are just coming into bloom. In a couple of days’ time, they’ll be out completely. Which reminded me that we don’t have a magnolia in Blois, but the only place we could put it is behind the house in our little wood.

Magnolias starting to bloom in the Palais Royal gardens

I wanted to buy some soapless soap (pain dermatologique) so I went to the parapharmacie which is like a drugstore or a pharmacy, but without any medication, just skincare and hygiene products, cosmetics, first aid etc. The products are usually cheaper than you would pay in a normal pharmacy. This one’s in avenue de l’Opéra. The annoying thing is that they’re all arranged in brands. I was looking for a particular brand whose name I can’t remember but I’m sure I’ll recognise it when I see it!

Sun on the fountain in the Palais Royal gardens

I went to another parapharmacie near rue Coquillère on the other side the gardens but it’s turned into a real pharmacy with a snooty pharmacist running the show. Half the shelves were empty and all she could offer, apart from Avène which I didn’t want because it becomes gluggy after a couple of weeks of use, was Lipikar by La Roche Posay. At 5.20 euro a piece, it’s going to be a luxury shower but I was too cold to go anywhere else.

I walked back down rue Coquillère past L’Imprimerie and was surprised to see that one of the two little corner shops (which a friend of mine aptly calls PADC – petit arabe du coin – little Arab on the corner) has turned into a smoothie bar. The other shop doesn’t even have a name any more. I obviously don’t get out enough to see all these changes.

I took a little detour to go past Serge Luten’s perfumery in Palais Royal gallery next to Miss Bibi on the way back home and admired their new window display. You can’t beat them for originality, can you?

Art, Lifestyle, Paris

I Love My Kindle

January 17, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 8 Comments

It’s about 1°C and I’m taking the metro to meet friends for lunch. As I walk through Palais Royal, I see that one of our regular pavement artists has begun work. I’m cold just looking at him. On the metro reading, I open up Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” which I’m reading again. The French lady next to me asks if I’m happy with my Kindle. “Oh, yes, I love it!” “My husband bought me one for Christmas but it hasn’t arrived yet”, she says. I then proceed to tell her about my favourite features: you can increase or decrease the size of the characters which is wonderful when your sight diminishes and you can download an extract of a book before you buy it.

Pavement artist on Place du Palais Royal at 1°C.

As I mentioned in a previous post about Kindles, I’m one of those people who can’t survive without reading. I hear many book lovers say they have to have the physical object but I must confess that that I’ve now been reading on my Kindle non-stop for nearly 10 months and I don’t miss paper books one little bit! My preferred place to read is in bed and some paperbacks are just too big to read comfortably.

If you’re eating breakfast alone, you can prop your Kindle up in front of you. It fits easily into your handbag when you take the metro. If you’re going on holidays, you don’t have to find room for several heavy books and with the 3G version, you can download a new book anywhere! When you’ve finished one book by an author, you can then proceed to read all their other works. I’ve nearly finished the complete collection of Jane Austen, which I’ve never been able to do before.

Pavement artist nearly finished three hours later

It’s a great space saver of course and extremely environment-friendly. I unfortunately don’t have the back-lit version but I now have a little light that I can clip on so I can read when Relationnel’s asleep – a big boon for an insomniac like me.

Some people use their iPads to read, but I find it’s too heavy and the light isn’t comfortable for reading. The Kindle is just perfect. Another thing is that you don’t have to keep track of a bookmark. It always opens at the right place. The only thing I don’t like is that it’s a bit tricky to flip back to check on something you’ve already read though maybe there is a trick to it that I don’t know.

Kindle books are much cheaper than paper ones and you can get most classics free. I was amused to see that the only novel by Austen that is not free is “Sense and Sensibility” but it costs less than a euro. I love it when someone talks about a book and I can immediately download the extract and see if I like it. There is also a “share” function that I haven’t explored yet.

So with all these wonderful possibilities, what have I been reading apart from Jane Austen that I can recommend? I’ll let you check them out on Amazon as book reviews are not really my thing.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, which I really enjoyed, though it’s pretty tough. It tells the story of a returned soldier in Australia who went to live in a lighthouse. I chose this book after reading an excellent review on a blog called Word by Word.

The Blindfold by Siri Hustvedt who is one of my favourite writers and did not disappoint me. Its about a poor young graduate student struggling to find an identity.

A Month in the Country by J. Carr which combines the return of a WWI veteran with mediaeval church restoration.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian writer living in the US. It’s a collection of short stories whose main theme is the clashes of culture.

The Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt, whose main character is a mature woman whose husband decides he needs a « pause » in their marriage.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville who follows the lives of a family of convicts and first settlers in Australia and there relationship with the aborigines.

Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville, the sequel to the previous book.

Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton, my favourite in 2012: the autobiography of a Hungarian woman who married two famous men, the ABC anchor Peter Jennings and the diplomat Richard Holbrooke.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult, which is a bit strange but readable nevertheless. It explores a man’s relationship with wolves and how it affects his family.

Do you have any books to share?

Lifestyle, Loire Valley

SAD No Longer

January 2, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

It was very comforting to have so many people commisserating with me during my attack of SAD, alias Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter depression and light deprivation disorder, with lots of helpful comments both on the blog and on Facebook. You’ll be pleased to hear it is OVER. I probably could have avoided it to some extent if I had been expecting it to happen. First, I would not have left my vitamin D in Blois and second, I would have made sure I went out each day to at least partly counteract the lack of light.

View from my temporary office window — Sun streaming through my temporary office window

Now that we are back in Blois, even though I have been working like crazy to catch up with the translations I didn’t do when I was feeling so depressed, and incidentally suffering from RSI (repeated strain injury) in my mouse-hand, the light streaming through the window of my temporary office seems to have done the trick. I’ve now caught up and can devote the rest of the week to helping Relationnel with the fireplace so that we can celebrate New Year before we leave on 7th January.

More news on the progress of the fireplace soon!

View from the kitchen windows on a sunny morning

Winter pansies and sweet mock orange (hydrangea philadelphus) — Winter pansies and a flowering laurel on a sunny afternoon

France, Lifestyle, Loire Valley

Happy New Year 2013

December 31, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

Even though we are not sitting in front of a roaring fire in the renovated upstairs fireplace as planned (we’re in front of the closed-up fireplace downstairs) and the oysters are unfortunately back on our balcony in Paris, we are nevertheless in Closerie Falaiseau in Blois. People have been seeing in the New Year in this very house for 438 years. We are about to break that tradition.

What a mementous year! Knowing the hard work awaiting us in April to convert the bottom of the house into rental accommodation, we organised our first home exchange with Madrid and were not disappointed! Since then we have clocked up seven other house swaps in various parts of Australia.

John and Toshiko Modesitt in front of Closerie Falaiseau

The final signature for Closerie Falaiseau at the end of March was followed by two superhuman weeks during which we divided off, furnished and decorated the ground floor mainly with French provinicial furniture. The rental went well, with our first paying guests, American impressionist John Modesitt and his wife Toshiko in June. We are now the proud owners of one of their paintings! The comments in our guest book are very encouraging and it was wonderful to meet so many interesting people.

We came back several times during the spring and summer, doing a lot of cycling and gardening, even eating our first homegrown potatoes, planted in the rain. We repainted the front gate and fitted out a temporary kitchen in our “little house” next door so we wouldn’t inconvenience our guests. Relationnel will be turning it into a gîte after he retires in October 2014 and we take over the entire house.

The roof of the little house seen from the garden

I came to the momentous decision to give up teaching translation at university in June after 15 years. I felt I was ready to turn over a new page particularly since my vocation seemed to have given out. I also wanted to be free of any geographical constraints so we can come to Blois whenever we want.

In September, we went to Australia for 5 weeks via Hong Kong, holidaying first in Tasmania, then in Armidale where I organised a family reunion attended by 50 members of the Kneipp family. We spent many wonderful hours catching up with family I hadn’t seen for a very, very long time. But it was heartbreaking to leave so many people behind. We finished our holiday on the Gold Coast and Brisbane but unfortunately came home with only one suitcase out of two. Next day Black Cat was burgled.

After we arrived home, I came down to Blois with some Australian friends for 10 days and Relationnel joined us for a long weekend. I then stayed on, mainly going back to Paris for weekends due to ongoing renovation on the balcony of the Palais Royal which was supposed to take 10 weeks and is still not finished after 4 1/2 months. It has not only been noisy, but also blocked out our view and light, giving me winter depression.

Scaffolding in front of our balcony in Paris

Relationnel came down for two one-week periods to renovate the upstairs fireplace which has turned out to be a major undertaking. We’re still hoping to finish it before going back to Paris on 7th January, by which time the scaffolding should be gone from the Palais Royal as well. We’ve decided to only herald in the New Year when we can do so in front of a blazing fire. We’re hoping it will happen this week!

So what are my good resolutions,plans and expectations for 2013? The first is NO MORE RENOVATION until we move here permanently. The second is more travelling in Europe, starting with Barcelona in February for which I’m looking looking for a home exchange. After that, maybe Italy or Scandinavia, Ireland or one of the Eastern European countries.

The third is going back to fitter occupations than I’ve had in 2012 and losing the 3 or 4 kilos I’ve gained recently mainly due to going back and forth between two houses! The fourth is getting out and about in Paris more. The fifth is learning to make the most of my iPhone camera so I can take better photos particularly at night.

I haven’t mentioned Aussie in France, but that goes without saying. It’s a part of my life and I’ll keep writing posts until I run out of things to say.

And what about you, my faithful readers, what are your plans for 2013?

Bonne année à tous!

French customs, Lifestyle

Celebrating New Year in France

December 28, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp Leave a comment

When I submitted my latest post to My French Life, the global community of French and francophiles connecting like-minded people in English & French on 11th December, I firmly believed that the fireplace renovation would be finished. We still plan to celebrate New Year in front of the fire – it might just be a few days late!

An earlier article on My French Life™ by Hannah Duke, called Christmas en Français: Festive Vocabulary, included the word réveillon,which set me thinking about New Year because the same word is used for both celebrations.

When I was growing up in Australia, I don’t particularly remember celebrating the New Year and I certainly didn’t stay up until past midnight as implied by the word réveillon, which contains veiller, meaning to stay awake. Read more

Meet Kathy, a francophile with big dreams

from the Tropics to the City of Light