Yesterday the French President announced that he had separated from his partner Valérie Trierweiler. Le Point was quick to publish an article which discussed if a president could be single ("Un président célibataire ? De rares précédents."). It seems...

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One of my favourite passtimes is to read the local newspaper La Provence where I look for local news with a touch of Provence. Such news is called faits divers in French. I am not interested in corrupt politicians, closed tunnels and murderers in the...

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The day started with a discussion about lovers....... A friend said to me that there are things you can say to a lover that you cannot say to your spouse (by which I mean wife, husband, girlfriend and boyfriend). My friend also said that there are things...

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Those are the last lines of a well known song but they could also be my motto since I moved to France. Weekend after weekend I have been walking in Provence with my rucksack, my thermos bottle and my dog. Between vineyards, along rivers and canals, in...

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In today's La Provence readers were asked if they were galette des rois or gâteau des rois. Currently 58% have voted for the gâteau and 42% for the galette. On a national level I am certain that the galette beats the gâteau because, to be honest, it is...

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The other night I was sitting in the Opera listening - or trying to listen - to the New Year's Concert with the Symphony Orchestra of the Opera. It was a concert with a traditional repetoire such as The Nut Cracker by Tchaïkovski and Die Fledermaus by...

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One of the most popular articles on my blog is A Normand Hole which I wrote following a weekend of excessive eating in Normandy. Since I am back in Provence I have, however, taken a keen interest in another kind of holes, namely potholes, also known as...

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On 8 December 2013 I climbed the stairs to Notre Dame de la Garde to participate in the opening ceremony for the celebrations of the construction of a small chapel on the site where La Bonne Mère, as the church is known locally, is now situated. After...

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