LovingLifeInEurope

  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...

  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'...

D-L refers to her studio in Argeles-sur-mer as 'The Nest.' It's on the top floor of a four-story condo-style house, accessible via a series of semi-winding staircases. Or a block-and-tackle hoist from the street through the front windows if you're a large piece of furniture. It's small. Really small. 18 square metres. For my American golf friends, about a 15-foot putt in either direction. Yet it has everything that a single person needs. Place to sleep (a 'click-clack' pull-out couch), place to eat (frigo, stovetop, small oven, dining table), place to work (computer desk, chair, internet connection, phone), built-in storage for clothing and books, bathroom (water heater in the little attic above with sufficient hot water for 1 and 1/2 persons), a wash machine and a clothes dryer (a rack hanging over the stairs), TV (yes, cable) ... even a fireplace and a skylight. The Nest features a natural stone wall on the stairs side and an eclectic assortment of a...