Posts

Addicted

Image
I've become addicted to hot chocolate, especially on cool mornings in the autumn or spring when we can sit at a sidewalk café (four to choose from) in the sud de France village of Argèles-sur-mer. It usually comes out steaming, so while it cools enough to sip we can people-watch. The best location for that is Mille et Une at the corner of Republique and Liberation. Locals, tourists, schoolchildren, retirees, dogs all amble by - and amble is the style for this laid-back corner of Europe; almost no one is in a hurry. They're headed for the green grocer, a bakery, a butcher, the paella popup stand, or perhaps the pharmacy. And, like us, they've pretty much got all day. Sherlock's favorite spot is the café behind L'Hostalet hotel on the Place de la Republique public square fronting the music school (former town hall). Either sitting on my lap or stretched on the ground, he diligently stares at the cat door in the side of the building, hoping for a feline to emerge. Ther...
Post a Comment
Read more

Junkie

Image
  Hi. My name is Rick. I'm a words junkie. Except when I'm talking with D-L ( http://theexpatwriter.blogspot.com/ ), and sometimes even then, I'm reading something - online, magazines, books, the news crawl on the bottom of the TV screen. Absorbing information, certainly, is part of my work as an aviation journalist. So I have a slew of email newsletters flowing in on the latest about Airbus and Boeing, airlines, airports, security, training, regulations, etc. Most of them have links to longer stories, detailed reports to download, and now of course webinars everywhere. (As a general rule, I don't like to watch videos - too slow, no option for speed-reading.) During the virus pan-panic, as you can imagine, there's a ton of information, misinformation, speculation and conjecture - as with most topics in this digital era. I know more than most about what's going on in the aviation world, but no I cannot tell you if EasyJet will resume flights to Perpignan th...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Married A Celebrity

Image
  I didn't know she would become a celebrity when I married her. And I had nothing to do with her rising fame. But she's certainly getting a lot of airtime. Today, Donna-Lane spent the entire afternoon around Argèles-sur-Mer with a film crew from France's Channel 3, recording for a segment that they expect to air sometime next week. (Alas, we'll have to wait for the YouTube, as we will be back in Switzerland by then without access to the local Occitanie channel.) They filmed at our flat; they filmed on Rue Vermeille; they filmed in front of the centuries-old church; they filmed at Cote Place behind L'Hostalet. And here's the kicker - she did the entire recording in French. The subject of their segment revolves around D-L's mystery novels, particularly  Murder in Argèles  - the book opens with a priest being pushed off the church bell tower, and heroine Annie's house is remarkably similar to D-L's "Nest" studio. Several of D-L'...
Post a Comment
Read more