Hump Day: Belgian Beer

Last Sunday, The Hub and I took a lovely stroll through the city.  It was warm and sunny and there was only one thing was missing:  commerce.  On Sundays in France, almost everything shuts down - the shops, many of the restaurants and bus routes, museums, grocery stores, you name it.   As we walked around past all the closed shop we realized that we had no choice.  It was time to go to the bar. The Hub has had...

Almost Home

Today we took one step closer to making Montpellier our home - we signed a lease on an apartment!  We decided on the apartment in the Antigone and we couldn't be more excited.  The location will give us easy access to both tram lines, the city's Olympic pool and gymnasium, the city center, Parc Richter, and The Hub's office.  Parfait!  I don't have pictures to share with you yet, but it's a 3-bedroom apartment...

French Bed Beard: Fig’s Diary

Hi Everyone! Mom is putting the whole family to work this week. Yesterday she made Dad write about his new job and today she asked me to tell you all how I'm doing. I think she might be getting lazy, but I do have a few things to share with you since my last diary entry so I guess it's ok. First of all. I'm hot. Like, really hot. I grew up in San Francisco so I'm not used to all these blazing sun and...

Guest Post: A Day in the Life of The Hub

Many of you have been asking me how The Hub is liking his new job and I'm happy to tell you that he loves it! I thought you all might be interested in learning more about what he's doing here in Montpellier, so I asked him to write a guest post about A Day in the Life of The Hub.  Even though he's over 3 hours past the deadline I gave him to submit, I'll let it slide since he's the only one with a real job....

Food Porn Dictionary

Even though we won't start our French classes until later this week, The Hub and I are having fun continuing our podcasts lessons and learning from new friends.  In addition to learning the French equivalent of the phrase, "that's what she said" (which when literally translated is much dirtier than anything Michael Scott would ever say intentionally), we've pretty much figured out everything we need to know to...

We Live Here

Last night we had a Skype Date with The Hub's family to wish his mother and sister a Happy Mother's Day.  During our conversation, my mother in law said, "Sometimes I look at your pictures of Montpellier and I think - wow!  I can't believe they really live there."  Honestly, neither can we. We know how lucky we are to be experiencing life in such a beautiful country and we're doing our...

The Beginning (And Maybe End?) of the Great House Hunt

We started our house hunt this week and, if all goes according to plan, it might end this week too!  The rental market seems to be a little tough out here in Montpellier because we haven't had a ton of options, but I think we have 2 solid places that we'll be deciding between over the next 24 hours.  Initially we thought we'd like to live in a house with a yard for Figaro, not minding that it would most likely not...

French Bed Beard: Fig’s Diary

Hi Everyone, Figgy here!  Mom is getting ready to go to a Royal Wedding After Party at the French American Center, so she asked me to update you all on how I am adjusting to life in France.  All I know is, after we left San Francisco, we were in a car for a really long time.  Mom did her best to keep me comfortable by folding up my favorite UW Badger Snuggie for me to lay on.  Mom and Dad were drinking all...

My Greatest Invention to Date

Today has been a relatively uneventful day, but I do have 2 exciting things to share with you.  The first is that we met with Aneta, our relocation agent, to discuss a plan for finding our new home.  She did not seem super optimistic about the amount of options we'll have, but we're aiming for a house with a yard (or garden as it's referred to here) that is on the tram line.  We really want to make sure we have...

Hump Day: What We’ve Been Drinking

With all the craziness going on, it's been a few weeks since I've done a Hump Day post and I'm excited to bring it back!  We've been having fun with the whole drinking-during-lunch-thing they have going on here in France, and I thought that instead of focusing on one specific drink, today I'd tell you about some of the wines we've been enjoying here in Montpellier. I've shared with you our struggles with French...