War in Ukraine observed from United Kingdom

War in Ukraine observed from United Kingdom

Christmas Morning with grandchildren (Horsmonden, United Kingdom) Patrice and I are spending Christmas with Michelle and Nigel in Horsmonden, UK. We had met them a week ago in Calais to drive to Bruges, Belgium, for the Christmas Market, then onto England to spend the...
Writing in France

Writing in France

La Coutine near Villars-Villenote My part of Burgundy (Côte-d’Or)  is a  landscape of ‘manicured’ rolling hills. The French farmers are meticulous, the crop rows straight ( three harvests a season),  the  hillsides dotted with white...
The war in Ukraine as observed from Marseille

The war in Ukraine as observed from Marseille

On 6 October, I met my daughter Marci, and grandson, Joshua,  in Marseille.  I simply have not the words to describe how happy I was. Perhaps this photo of my ‘doofus’ smile conveys the happiness my words cannot.  We had sat in a cafe overlooking...
Kippenheim, Germany

Kippenheim, Germany

For these past  two + years Patrice and I became acquainted, grace a covid,  with the medieval trails and French citizens in Semur-en-Auxios, France.  No complaints.  The Burgundian landscape is rolling and beautiful, its farmers are meticulous...
Writing in France

Bonne année

  Happy New Year’s Eve at 0700 from the Bar de la Poste, Semur-en-Auxios, Burgundy, France. The Bar de la Poste is the only coffee house-brasserie open at 0700 mornings in this section of Burgundy and here I am. But, the brasserie has a quite acceptable cafe au...
Semur-en-Auxios, France

Semur-en-Auxios, France

Observation tower and portion of medieval Semur-en-Auxios defensive wall. Patrice and I are moving this November (2019) to Semur-en-Auxios., near Dijon, in Burgundy, France. Why? Because we can. We are retired, squared away, and I speak French. And, as opposed to...