We had been back in our village, in France, for a few days when one of us accomplished something a bit tricky: Noticing the absence of something we had grown used to hearing. To wit: The bells ringing in the city center on the hour and half-hour. They were not ringing. At all. […]

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Most of us, we learn a bit of another language, and we somehow assume that the words are understood anywhere that primary language is spoken. In fact, every global language has numerous versions of what might be described as “proper” or “correct” language. Some of which might well be mocked by others who prefer their […]

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In 30 prep football seasons, through 2007, I reported on … I’m going to make an educated guess and say … 300 games. In the 11 seasons that followed, I reported on … zero prep football games. Not because I lost interest in the high school games, but because I was out of the business […]

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At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918, World War I came to an end. That is, the long and bloody war ended at 11 a.m. on November 11. One hundred years later, France celebrated its century-old victory over Germany by instructing all churches to ring their bells for […]

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In the photo on the left, a young mustachioed French soldier from a century ago is dressed in his parade best as he stares coolly at the camera. His left hand is behind his back and his right rests on a table, near his red kepi and what might be a bayonet. It is the […]

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This is Year 3 of living in a small town in the south of France. Our first October here, a local resident assured us that Halloween is not a “thing” in this part of the country. Further north in France, but not here. Not really. “Not part of our culture.” And then at least 20 […]

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France is the biggest country in western Europe, in terms of area, which is nothing to sneeze at, considering it is nearly as big as Texas. A person can visit here many times, or live here for a year or two, without getting around to setting foot in even half the country’s wide array of […]

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The bells rang on the hour, as they always do, here in “our” French village. And then a few minutes later the bells at the 300-year-old church rang out again, and this was a gusher of clanging and banging that could mean only one thing at 4 p.m. on a Saturday: A wedding! And the […]

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(Photo credit: Domaine de Arjolle ) When most of the planet’s people hear “France” they think “Paris”. Certainly that is the case for Americans.  And I don’t see why it would not be true across the spectrum of humanity. France and Paris, Paris and France … a duo. But only about one-sixth of French people — […]

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What are we? The proverbial “red-headed stepchildren”? We just went 26 days without an elite soccer game being played anywhere in the world. It was on July 15 that France defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the 2018 World Cup. And then planet soccer went cold turkey. None of the big European leagues in action. No […]

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