Fancy French Hospital Food

Mention France to anyone and more than likely they will think of French cuisine. The French are renowned for their excellent food and for the important role that food and meal times play in their culture and that is something that I have really come to appreciate. After years of learning and appreciating the importance [...]

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Système Débrouille

In France there is a lovely term for finding temporary measures or for saving money on stuff known as “système débrouille”. I couldn’t find an exact definition of the expression but we recently experienced it in our own unique way. As you know, we have been suffering from heating problems due to the extreme cold [...]

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Never believe anything’s impossible! A lesson learned in La Poste.

I’ve had many frustrating run-ins with the La Poste (post office) as I am sure most people living in France and many other countries have experienced also, but the lack of consistency in service and unhelpfulness in France is second to none. Until yesterday. I had ordered some items online from Amazon and like a [...]

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How French Internet companies are driving me mad

So this is a rant. It’s been a while and I’ve been keeping my rantiness to myself, but my patience has come to the end of it’s tether with some French internet companies. As a new Mum, buying online should be an easy way of getting the things I need, delivered to my new rural [...]

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Could you be financing a French utility company?

Who here pays their electricity and gas bills by automatic direct debit? Did you know that it is likely you are financing the utility companies by doing this? I’ve always been useless at paying bills, I would open them, put them on my desk, have a couple of really busy days and they’d soon be [...]

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The Piglet Family WILL have a home in rural France!

The Piglet family should (dramatic pause), normally have a home to call their own again from 15th March. We’re due to complete on the city pad sale on February 15th, meaning that we need to move out really by February 11th, meaning “OH MY GOD, I’M GOING TO BE HOMELESS IN 16 DAYS!!!” It seemed [...]

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A waiting game… Round two

Happy belated Christmas everyone!! Hope you all had a great holiday and that you enjoyed the festivities of the season. The New Year is just around the corner and the Waiting Game continues in the Piglet household although there have been some small but major developments… Our bank still has not come back to us [...]

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The brains at Fedex France are on holiday… or are they getting into organised crime?

Common sense is obviously somewhat lacking at the French Fedex’s offices during the summer. At almost the same time last year I had a run in with them (my first of many) which you can read about here. It would appear that their corporate brain goes on vacation during the month of August. Or, maybe [...]

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Kitchen Conundrums – Merci DARTY!!

Sometimes I think that I’m just not meant to cook! I mean, for months my induction hob had slowly been passing away and at the end I only had one measly ring left working on it, so cooking anything that required two pans (or more!) instantly became a logistical nightmare. At the beginning of February [...]

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Roll on the weekend!

I’ve had a bit of a shitty week and hopefully its all due to come to an end tomorrow as I’m off to Lisbon to see my parents. Its been a while! I should have known on Sunday evening that I was going to be in for a cracker of a week, as Hubby & [...]

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