The ugly business of saying good-bye

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015 / catinmythroat / 22 Comments

A week to go. A week!

What a strange limbo this is.

I went out to buy fruit the other day, paused at the end of the driveway, sighed, and turned left instead of right.

What a coward. Instead of heading to my favourite little fruit shack up the road, I went to the big, bland, unfriendly place down the road, spoke to no one and slunk back home with my inferior produce.

It’s so stupid to be avoiding the Raspberry Man who I have enjoyed talking with so much over the last 18 months.

Today I realised why I’ve been doing it. The business of leaving is messing up the business of living. Continue reading →

A weekend in Morocco

July 18, 2015July 19, 2015 / catinmythroat / 6 Comments

We used to be quite good at bartering.

In the markets and bazaars of South East Asia, Egypt and Turkey back in the day, things always went well if you took your time, showed respect and laughed a lot.

That was before Sabbatical Man and I had three lovely assistants: one small, one medium and one large. Continue reading →

A year of raspberries and sunshine in Provence

March 30, 2015March 31, 2015 / catinmythroat / 4 Comments

The fruit and vegetable man showed me a little box of raspberries and slipped it in with my shopping.

“Un petit cadeau [a little gift],” he said with a quick smile – turning back to the till to finish tallying up.

It’s nothing special for Monsieur C to give away his raspberries.

But the first time he gave me raspberries I felt like he had picked me up and plonked me down into sunlight.

Bam. You, madam, are a customer. Welcome to the neighbourhood. Continue reading →

50 shades of French bureaucracy – the follow-up

March 10, 2015March 11, 2015 / catinmythroat / 6 Comments

One of the least beautiful places in France: a Prefecture waiting room

“Non, non,” the Immigration Overlord warned, eyes widening as I began to stack up folders of paperwork in front of her.

Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. One pile for each member of the family.

“Non, non, non, non, non.”

Her palms flew up and her head shook from side to side as she took in the volume of work I was dumping on her desk.

“Oh là là! What is all this? It’s for a carte de sejour renewal? But it’s too many papers!”

She prodded my impeccably collated, impossibly complicated application documents as if they were coated in anthrax.

This was not starting well. Continue reading →

50 shades of French bureaucracy

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015 / catinmythroat / 7 Comments

It’s exactly one year since we left New Zealand on this big adventure.

Tomorrow we celebrate by heading to the local prefecture to see about extending our visitors’ visas.

Working through the bureaucracy will be an exercise in masochism.

France has seduced us with her wit, charm and good looks – and now that we’re gagging for more, the old madame is going to make us pay. Continue reading →