vive la différence Americans’ eating habits have a poor reputation here in France. The stereotype is that we eat too much. Moreover, too much of the “too much” is unhealthy processed food. We also eat without appreciating our food, and we don’t take time to enjoy the food or socialize while eating. For instance, lunch at work might be a sandwich and soft drink consumed alone in front of our computer at our desk while we keep working. The result of this style of eating is a population with two-thirds of its members overweight. Even worse, nearly 40 percent of

Celebrating Thirty Years This year, had Dick Carson, my husband, hung on just a bit longer, he and I would have celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Alas, it was not to be. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a sad story. Au contraire, I am profoundly grateful for the time he and I had together. Although Dick isn’t physically present to celebrate, he still lives in my heart. He also lives in my head—sometimes annoyingly so. That’s because I constantly hear his admonition to “Stop working so hard” or “Stop and smell the roses!” Two “Geriatrics” Find Romance I

Tourist to Guide Guests from the United States are starting to arrive for visits, the most recent being a grandson, Pietas, and his wife, Star. So I had the opportunity to switch from my usual role of a sightseeing tourist to a host and guide. With only four days with my guests, we wanted to make the most of the time. We started our first day the same way we would start every morning during their visit—with fresh pastries from our local boulangerie. Expresso typically did the early morning bakery run and left the treats for us to enjoy. After

Visit to Viala-du-Tarn Is there anything more fun than climbing into the car early on Saturday morning with a full day of exploring the French countryside to look forward to? Even more, lunch in a medieval village? Expresso, Attenderella, and I headed out to the Aveyron region with two goals in mind. First, we wanted to check out the area for a possible second home. We weren’t sure what we were looking for other than acreage where we could periodically escape the summer heat. If there was a livable house on the land, so much the better. We also wanted

french culture François-Marie Arouet (aka Voltaire) was a writer, philosopher, poet, dramatist, historian, and thought leader during the French Enlightenment in the 18th century. Even today, his ideas resonate in French culture. One of his key admonitions to his readers was to “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.” That’s a useful principle for me to remember as I attempt a late-in-life integration into French culture. As tempting as it is, I have to resist the impulse to view French behaviors, habits, and lifestyles that are different from my own as wrong because they