Interview with LKL
Freelance journalist Nadine Visagie of Suite101 recently tracked me down to answer some questions about The Importance of Learning French.
Move Your Money
Just read a great article about one thing that all Americans can do that really will make a difference: take it out of the big banks (you know, the ones that got bailed out and then gave bonuses to the very people who caused the subprime mortgage disaster and the need for bailouts) and instead put it in small, local banks. I am a firm believer in the power of the dollar – what we choose to buy and where we keep our money has over the course of our lives, in my opinion, a much greater impact than any other voting we might be allowed to do – so I did this years ago, and I’ve been glad every day since.
Arianna Huffington – Move Your Money: A New Year’s Resolution
Happy New Year!
Good-bye 2009 and the unnamed first decade of the new millenium! Hello 2010 and another difficult to name decade! I spent nearly the entire year in France, other than my three weeks in Italy, and I’ll likely be in France for all of the new year as well. Best wishes to all!
Here’s some reading material and ideas for New Year’s Resolutions for you:
New Year’s in France
French New Year’s Resolutions
Veggie Table New Year’s Resolutions
Merry Christmas!
I hope you and your families are happy, safe, and warm this holiday season. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
Vegetarian Christmas Menu
Christmas in France
French Christmas Vocabulary
Spanish Christmas Vocabulary
Christmas in France
The Provençal Christmas season kicked off on Friday with the sowing of blé de la Sainte Barbe. We can’t plant ours until next week because we’re leaving today for Lyon (Fête des Lumières) followed by Strasbourg (marchés de Noël). More about all of that when we get home.
My wish list
Update 4 Dec: Another kind reader has made three book wishes come true. The internet’s wonderousness never ceases to amaze me.
Update 7 July: I’ve received three books from one grateful reader who emailed me, and two others who didn’t. So to all three of you, anonymous and named, thank you! I appreciate the books. 
Original post (28 January 2009): I had a flash of inspiration this morning. While looking at my never-ending list of books I have to have, I realized that there are probably tens, even hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people out there just dying to buy me presents. So I put them all into my Amazon wishlist to make it easy for you:
Seriously, though, I made this to organize my thoughts. But if anyone out there does want to buy me a book, please note that I prefer paperbacks. Kindle is good too, except for cookbooks and grammar books.
Grenoble, France
Grenoble is a city of superlatives. One of the largest cities in France, Grenoble is also one of the hottest in summer and coldest in winter, and had the world’s first urban cable-car.
Beaujolais Nouveau
It’s the third Thursday in November, which means that the year’s Beaujolais Nouveau is being drunk in France and all over the world. Learn a bit about this annual wine fest: Beaujolais Nouveau
French and Spanish Thanksgiving Vocabulary
Thanksgiving, as celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, is a uniquely American holiday, but you still might want to talk about it in French or Spanish. Here’s some vocabulary related to American Thanksgiving:
French Thanksgiving Vocabulary
Spanish Thanksgiving Vocabulary
Apicius Culinary Institute, Florence, Italy
I spent my third and final week in Italy taking private cooking classes at Apicius Culinary Institute. I had spent a long time looking for another group class but just couldn’t find something that appealed to me yet didn’t cost a small fortune, and then I discovered that private classes were fairly competitively priced. For €1,060 I received
- 4 private cooking classes (2-2½ hours) followed by lunch
- 1 private and 1 group wine appreciation class (1 hour each)
- Private gastronomic walking tour (2 hours)
- 1 group cooking class (2 hours) followed by meal
- Recipes before each lesson
- Apron