Adventures in France By necessity, rather than by design, I’ve been exploring the unfamiliar terrain of the French medical system. I sort of knew how the US healthcare system worked (to the extent it did), but I had to learn a somewhat different system here. This includes seeking medical help for conditions I’d never heard of—like a blocked saliva gland and a misaligned jaw. I’ve since learned that both are quite common. But because I’d never had them or heard of anyone who’d had them, the conditions were new to me. Seeing a physical therapist who would address my jaw

Perfect Sunday Afternoon A beautiful Sunday begs for a trip to one of the delightful surrounding towns, or communes, as they are called. On such a fall Sunday, my new French friends invited me to join them for an outing at Palavas-les-Flots, a seacoast town about 35 minutes from home. On the drive there, we passed miles of marshland and shallow lakes, home to hundreds of wild pink flamingos. A few of the many flamingos (Photo by Clive Kim, pexels.com) Flamingos Loaf a Lot When flamingos are standing still, I wondered, why do they stand on one leg? According to

Adapt or Perish—Today and Tomorrow Most of my French adventures have been positive and energizing. But one part remains difficult: leaving my friends in the United States. One of those friends recently (and suddenly) lost her partner after many years together. Living 6,000 miles away, I wondered, how could I express my condolences? How could I comfort her? Or at least, how could I reassure her that her difficult moments would get easier? The Constancy of Change Since I’m a writer, I composed an email sharing some of my experiences of being widowed 17 months earlier. I forewarned my friend

Food and Eating in France As I reflect on my life in the United States, I don’t recall spending hours on the presentation of the food I served. I don’t think many of my friends, some who were excellent cooks, did either. In comparison, the French pay a great deal of attention to the way food looks. A lovely dip almost too pretty to eat, served at the home of a friend Eating in France could easily be declared a national obsession or religion. Or perhaps a national pastime, like baseball for Americans. Indeed, France's culinary heritage was included on