The past two months have been more or less continuously filled with visitors. While it's been wonderful to share our life abroad with so many friends and family members, it is a relief to have our tiny apartment back to ourselves. (For reference: 18 square meters is comfortable with two people, cozy with three, and … Continue reading How to be a good tourist
Month: October 2018
The Great Macaron Showdown, Round Three
You may remember, from about a month ago, the Great Macaron Showdown. During Round One, Colin and I bought macarons from the super-traditional Ladurée; we thought they were great. During Round Two, Colin’s brother treated us to macarons from Ladurée’s more experimental rival Pierre Hermé; they were great, too. That left things at a bit … Continue reading The Great Macaron Showdown, Round Three
The peculiarities of eating fondue in Switzerland
Earlier this month, when we took a trip to Switzerland with our friends Beth and Will, they had one special request: fondue for dinner. (Side note: Fondue is now known as a Swiss specialty, but its popularity can actually be traced to the 1970s marketing efforts of the Swiss Cheese Union, a shadowy cartel like … Continue reading The peculiarities of eating fondue in Switzerland
A Day Without Cars
Over the last few weeks, between visitors, I started exploring some new programs and tools that seem like they might be useful professionally. It's been a lot of fun to learn something that's not French! Since I didn't have an actual project to work on, I tasked myself with using Esri's Story Maps tool to … Continue reading A Day Without Cars
Encore, the Alps
One of the hardest parts of living abroad is being so far removed from Big Important Things that are affecting friends and family in the States. Last week, that was Hurricane Michael. It's been heartbreaking to see the destruction to Mexico Beach, which has been my family's go-to beach for generations, and to the area … Continue reading Encore, the Alps
Time to register to vote!
Hey fellow Americans, I’m dropping in today with a quick reminder to vote! First, register. If you’re an American abroad, you can do so by filling out a short form available here: https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter. (Fun fact: as a citizen abroad, you generally vote in the state where you lived last, so Colin and I are still … Continue reading Time to register to vote!
The current state of my secret identity
I’ve been to my French discussion group three times since the day I accidentally assumed the role of (amateur) photographer, and I have some good news and some bad news. The good news: my secret identity as an economist-turned-heiress-photographer is still intact. The bad news: the instructor Laurine seems to think that having a photographer … Continue reading The current state of my secret identity
A quiet realization
I know you're all anxious for an update on my secret identity - and I promise I'll get to that soon - but the prelude to that update is actually my recent trip to Italy. I know, I know—after having just written about how this fall is jam-packed with visitors, how did I have time … Continue reading A quiet realization
Practice Makes Parfait 