It's Me, Sara Louise

It’s Me, Sara Louise

Hi! You might know me as C’est Moi, Sara Louise. Before that I was Sara in Le Petit Village. Now, It’s Me, Sara Louise. Hello again.

  • Rugby Boots


    These are the Boyfriend’s rugby boots.

    They live on the window ledge.
    I would like for them to find a new home.
    bisou
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  • Ruby Thursday


    Papa, the Boyfriend’s Father, gave me his favorite hunting dog, Ruby for the day.

    I was excited for the company.
    Ruby did not seem to share my excitement.
    He spent most of the morning sitting at the door with a sad look on his face, anxious to see anyone else but me. He would lift his right paw and hit it against the door handle and then look at me and whimper.
    Trying to cheer him up, we went on four walks. I was sucking up a bit, and he saw through it.
    I gave up.
    Eventually, Ruby moved from the door to the new couch (chocolate brown couch + white Ruby hair = lots of cleaning fun for me). I would sit next to him, petting him, and talking to him trying to comfort him and make him happy and he would just look at me with a sad confused look.
    And then it dawned on me, Ruby doesn’t understand English.
    bisou
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  • Blog Action Day 2009

    Today is Blog Action Day. On the 15th October each year, bloggers from around the world all commit to writing about one topic for one day. This year that topic is Climate Change. Now I am not an expert on climate change or global warming but I do believe that it is a problem and everyone should do their part to fight it. I am also aware that there are many people who do not believe in global warming. So what I propose, is a win/win/win action plan for the following three camps; the global warming fighters, the non-believers, and the polar bear & penguin camp. With just making these ten small adjustments to your daily lives, everyone can come out a winner.

    1. Turn off your lights when you don’t need them on
    2. If you’re not using an appliance, unplug it (or at least do not leave it on standby)
    3. Wash clothes on the coldest cycle
    4. Use the washing machine and dish washer only when they are full
    5. Hang clothes to air dry instead of using the clothes dryer
    6. Move your thermostat down two degrees in Winter and up two degrees in Summer
    7. Take showers instead of baths (and shower with a friend)
    8. Reuse your shopping bag
    9. Buy locally grown and produced products
    10. Use two legs/ wheels instead of four wheels when possible

    This action plan will save you money. This makes two out of the three camps happy, and if you send the money you save to a charity that supports the polar bear & penguin camp, then everyone is happy. That makes a big win!

    http://www.blogactionday.org/

    bisou

  • Pizza Night


    I learned something new yesterday, Tuesday nights are pizza night in Le Petit Village.

    I was ready to cook dinner when the Boyfriend came in and asked if I wanted pizza instead. “From where?” I asked. We walked around to the local church and right there in front of Le Petit Notre Dame, a small crowd was gathering around a pizza van.
    Apparently no one in Le Petit Village cooks on Tuesdays. Merci Mr. Pizza Man. We ordered one white pizza with lardons (bacon), black olives, and chevre (goat’s cheese) and one tomato pizza with figatelli, a corsican sausage.
    Delicious, yummy goodness. The French even do Italian food well.
    And the best part, each pizza box comes with a voucher that can be used next time for a free bottle of cola or free bottle of wine.
    Wine please.
    I love this country.
    bisou
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  • Opening the Shutters


    It’s the beginning of my third week in Le Petit Village and slowly, daily routines are beginning to form.

    Each morning when I wake, I walk down the spiral stairs to the kitchen, make the coffee and check my emails and read the news.
    After awhile, when the dawn turns to light, I open the shutters. Each of the rooms in the house have large windows with large pale green French shutters.
    Sometimes they can be a bit of a struggle but I love opening them.
    I undo the rusty latch and gently push them open and to the side, careful not to disturb the balcony flowers. I feel the cool air and hear nothing. Le Petit Village is always tranquil but the mornings are still.
    From the front windows I can see the wall and entrance to the old village. I think about all the different people that have lived there since the 13th century and wonder what they saw when they opened their shutters.
    bisou
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  • Dinner in Avignon

    We took the road back to Avignon, this time leaving the Honey Van in Le Petit Village.

    The Cousin asked us to dinner to meet the latest lady. Off we drove with plans to meet about 9pm.
    A little sidebar about Avignon: it’s an ancient city dating to Before Christ (told you it was old), settled on the left bank of the Rhone River. Avignon is most famous for the Palais de Papes (Pope’s Palace) and the large wall that was built to protect it in the 14th century. This was all by the way of telling you that if you are ever fortunate enough to travel to the beautiful Avignon, get used to those walls. You will be seeing a lot of them, inside and out, as you drive around and around looking for parking.
    Within the walls every street spot will be taken, every parking garage full. Eventually you will give up, drive back outside the walls, and hopefully find a spot directly next to it, which we did.

    It was now 10:30 which was fine because the Cousin phoned to say he would be late, this was not a surprise.
    We began our long walk back within the walls into the old city. We looked for the restaurant up and down dark alleyways with my stilettos wobbling on the cobblestones. After a few phone calls confirming the location we made it to the delightful Restaurant Le Bain-Marie. It was 11pm when the Cousin and his latest lady arrived and more importantly, when I finally had a Kir Royale in my hand.
    Dinner was delicious. The latest lady was sweet and best described as ‘Jordanesque’. And we were exhausted. We headed back outside the walls to the car just before 2am.
    And if you find yourself at the parking spots directly outside the walls of Avignon late at night and you see a white van without windows, stay away. Apparently it’s where prostitutes ply their trade (unless of course you’re into that sort of thing – I don’t judge).
    Oh, and the Boyfriend ran over a little bunny rabbit on the way home. He says it’s not his fault, must have been one suicidal bunny.
    bisou
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  • Saturday Morning Coffee

    Saturday morning coffee in St Michel. Cafe tables outside full of locals double cheek kissing bonjour and dogs sitting patiently next to every table waiting for a scrap. The Boyfriend runs across the street to the boulangerie for our breakfast pastries. An espresso and pan au chocolat for him, cafe au lait and croissant for me. Now if I could just find a copy of the New York Times; perfection.

    bisou
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  • Some Nutjob


    Some nutjob painted our house.

    In the middle of the livingroom stands a big, bizarre spiral staircase that could be quite charming if some nutjob hadn’t painted it.
    The big, impossible to ignore staircase is painted blue, green, and orange.
    Why would someone do this? Did they think they lived in Romper Room? Did Absinthe flow out of the tap instead of water that day? Either way, it’s giving me a headache and I can no longer look at it.
    My next big task is painting that big charming monstrosity.
    We’ve decided on grey; black would be too harsh, white, impossible to keep clean, and I’m momentarily terrified of color.
    I’ve decided to tackle this task on my own. I don’t need to learn anymore French swearwords.
    bisou

  • Certificat de Residence

    It’s official, I live in France.

    The Boyfriend took me to the local Marie (City Hall) to let the French government know that I’m here, you know, in case they need me for something.
    We told them that I am an EU citizen and am now living in Le Petit Village. The woman smiled, said ok, asked for my name, date of birth, and when I arrived and then gave me a certificate with my name on it, declaring that I am now a resident of Le Petit Village en Republique Francaise. I love small towns, I wasn’t even asked for identification or proof of my European Unionesness.
    Now I just need a big fabulous frame to display the certificate of my new fabulous Frenchness
    bisou
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  • Mon Amie


    I now have my very own French friend, V. V speaks as much English as I do French which leads to much laughter and exhausting conversations where we both frantically flip the pages of our French-English dictionaries trying to communicate. But somehow we’ve managed to go for a drink in St Michel and plan a shopping trip to Aix En Provence (hello Zara!!) so maybe we speak the same language after all.

    bisou