Tag Archives: french cooking

France’s Gourmet School Lunches

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As I searched Youtube looking for something interesting to show my high school students about the differences between French and American schools, I ran across this video about the French school lunch program.  The contrasts between their lunch system and our’s in America are astonishing! French children are taught from the very beginning, at home […]

Top Ten Reasons to Live in France

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If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast. -Ernest Hemingway

Many people have been asking me why we want to move to France. There are many reasons, and none of them are because we don’t like living in the United States.  For our family, it just seems right.  For one thing, we have the easy option of living in France legally.   My husband is French, so nationality for the kids and me isn’t a problem.

When moving to France is a real possibility, you tend to think about it more seriously.  For the last 14 years, we’ve been spending every summer there, all the time wondering if we could make it work for us.  

 

Here are my TOP TEN reasons for wanting to relocate to France:

 

Reason # 1

Quality of life

Reason # 2

Work to live, not live to work.  Taking time to enjoy life, spending time with family, longer lunches and dinners.  Slower pace of living.  Sundays are what they used to be in the United States forty years ago.

Reason # 3

Healthier lifestyle, pedestrian friendly cities, beaches, mountains, walks in vineyards.

Reason # 4

High-quality health care system, affordable to all, low cost prescription drugs.

Reason # 5

French gastronomy, locally grown fresh produce markets, bread, cheese, olive oil, Mediterranean diet.

Reason # 6

Easy travel to diverse locations (other European countries); children grow up (with the possibility of)  being exposed to more foreign cultures.  And no matter where you live in France, Paris is just a quick train ride away.

 

Reason # 7

 

Some of the best, and most affordable wine regions in the world.  Summer wine festivals in the Languedoc are fabulous.

 

Reason # 8

 

Mediterranean climate:  The weather may not be so fantastic in every part of France year round, but in the Languedoc, it really is quite pleasant most of the time.

 

Reason # 9

 

Manners are still important in France, and the vast majority of children are raised to show respect.  This is very important to me.

 

Reason # 10

 

Comparatively low violent crime rate.  We are not planning to live in a big city, but even in Paris I feel safe walking alone at night. 

 

I love butter…

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It’s true.  There’s really nothing better than butter.  Especially SALTED butter.  Yum.  Butter makes everything so much better.  I’m a firm believer in using only real butter in cooking, never margarine.  When we take the time to cook and bake, much love goes into these actions.  By using real butter, we are giving ourselves, our […]