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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Feeling Festive

All house hunting has been pretty much on standby this week as Lyon and most of Europe got a major dumping of snow and roads and motorways became best avoided if possible. So I’ve been able to enjoy a nice relaxing week of home and work and what better way to start the month of [...]

Read Full Post »

A Possible Contender… Part One

Friday saw Mr Piglet and I embark on yet another day of house hunting. We still have the farmhouse in mind as a practical choice, but we are keen to find a property that sweeps our heart away. So we set off in the cold on the motorway from Lyon towards Grenoble and quickly encountered [...]

Read Full Post »

The week that was… Hot & Hectic

With the intense heat of the last week and my crazy schedule it’s been a bit manic with not much time to blog! Last Tuesday I attended a wedding party of one of my first French friends I met when I was just 16 on one of the boats on the Saône river in Lyon. [...]

Read Full Post »

Jardinage Jeudi

Well, contrary to last week when I started Jardinage Jeudi, temperatures have dramatically declined and it has been tipping it down, so I’ve not been in the mood for gardening. I did mention in my last post that my lack of talent in the gardening department is probably due to the fact that I am [...]

Read Full Post »

Piglet – de retour!

Catching Up! Well, its been a good couple of weeks since I last wrote a post here and its good to be back! I’ve been suffering from writers block (oh, that sounds so serious !) but seriously, I have not been capable of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) due to my world [...]

Read Full Post »

A typically British moan about the weather…

Even though my family reckon I’m more Frenchie than British now, one thing that shows my true origins is my tendency to complain and more so my tendency to moan about the weather! How come after months and months of freezing cold, miserable weather, spring finally bursts upon us almost over night and yet after [...]

Read Full Post »

And then it rained…

Not only did it rain, it poured! My streak of bad luck continued last Friday as we left Lyon with bright blue skies to arrive in Lisbon in absolute pouring rain. It was absolutely tipping it down and anything remotely tourist related was impossible without getting drenched. We found a small café on the promenade [...]

Read Full Post »