It has been quite a while since I made gingerbread cookies. I did not make it last December as we had just discovered Ikea’s VINTERSAGA Ginger thins. The spiced (ginger, cinnamon, clove) biscuits were so good that I forgot all about making my own gingerbread cookies. This year we did not have the opportunity to …
It had been raining non-stop since I woke up at 8:30 a.m. It was neither one of those persistent misty drizzles that occurred quite frequently in the past few weeks nor one of those intermittent light rains. It was instead one of those relentless moderate rains that were interspersed with sudden heavy showers. No sane …
It’s one of those rare Fridays. I teach at neither the business schools in Paris nor at the university near my house today. I don’t have the occasional online English sessions with the adult learners either. I have the whole day to myself. A free day in the week makes the 24 hours of no …
During the holidays, we usually drive to another part of the country and rent a holiday house or what’s called a gîte. If the holidays last more than a week, we prefer to stay in the mountains, either in the east in Vosges or the southeast in the Alpes. If the holiday is shorter, we …
Podcast: Download (Duration: 9:50 — 15.8MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | Deezer
We are now one week into 2022. Hélas, the Covid-19 pandemic is still here. As for my personal life, the biggest change is that I have upgraded my humble abode—from an apartment to a house. To catch you are with what happened since my last podcast (October 2020!!!), I have decided to do a 2020 …
Holidays have almost begun! Today is the first day when I don’t have to teach at the university. The university classes restart on 3 Jan. Well, I say ‘almost’ because I am still technically teaching until early next week, but only the few private students that I have and through video conference. Moreover, I still …
I am declaring that the winter is officially here. It started snowing this morning, albeit for only a couple of hours. Through the double-glazed panes of the bedroom window, I could see that the snow was falling rapidly, but it looked more like wet snow which would not accumulate. True enough, most of the snow …
I woke up to a wet, wet autumn Sunday. Through the window of my makeshift study cum bedroom window, I could see that it rained again in the night. Rain water droplets glistening on the leaves of the different types of flora in the garden, dressed in the finest autumn colours of red, orange, yellow, …
If you are new to France, you might have mistaken today, 19 May 2021, to be a public holiday in France. You might have thought everyone in France is celebrating a national day, perhaps a day named ‘Terrace Day’ or ‘Fête des Terrasses’. You are not far out. 19 May 2021 is the first day …
Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:38 — 12.2MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | Deezer
Guess what? Last night, the French President officially announced a national Covid-19 lockdown for the second time, starting from Friday, 30 October. French Lockdown, Season II. In the past five months since the gradual lifting of first national lockdown, the French government has reiterated that the country cannot afford another national lockdown as the first …