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As an experiment, the author takes a break from 20 years of living in New York City and take a sabbatical in the small French village, Auvers sur Oise. Her goals are twofold: to see if she can survive without a 7-11 and nail salon on every corner, and to get to know France as only a French person can... well, a poor French person who doesn't speak French. Real France offers advice, stories, observations, deep thoughts, tips, recommendations, practical information and links as well as photos and videos. The author also has a comedy series on the Huffington Post (How to live on $0 a day. Tips for the Nouveau Poor). Lesley's HP bio and archives: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lesley-stern/#blogger_bio

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real france

English - France, Travel, Humor

http://realfrance.wordpress.com/

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real france · 2W ago

i went to italy and all I got was this lousy dishrag

When I embark on the hour and fifteen minute train ride just over the border to the Friday market in Ventimiglia, I have visions of cashmere sweaters, fab purses, scarves, gorgeous italian cookery (and food), and an assortment of stuff for the maison. Since I plan to stock up, I bring my big shopp

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real france · 1M ago

word of the day: vetuste

The plumber taught it to me. Well, he used it in a sentence. I had to look it up. I was a little offended when I saw that it means ”old” and “decrepit.” Then it occurred to me that he might have been referring to the plumbing, not me.

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real france · 1M ago

how the french elect a president

On Sunday, April 22 the French will go to the polls and chose between 10 candidates from 10 different political parties. If none of the 10 contenders get over 50% of the vote (not likely when you’ve got that many people running), the top two will face a run off vote on May 6. [...]

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real france · 1M ago

damn you, snooty antique dealers!

Every April there’s a big antiques fair in at Port Vauban (about a 5 minute walk from my apartment). Over 120 antiques dealers are here from all over Europe and you’ve got to pay 9E just to look at some of their stuff. It’s one of those changeable weather days, threatening to rain, so [...]

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real france · 3M ago

snow in the south of france!

Okay, so there wasn’t a ton of snow in Antibes. But today, all the hills surrounding Antibes have a light dusting of it. And the alps are a lot whiter. According to the news, the cold weather is due to a Siberian cold front and has caused schools to close and flights to [...]

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real france · 3M ago

how i became the thing i fear most (a german)

To be clear, I’m pretty sure my fear of Germans has nothing to do with that Hitler/exterminate the Jews thing. It’s more visceral than that…I think I feared Germans before I even heard of Hitler or WW2. I think it’s the accents. My dad’s whole family had them, including the pediatrician who also

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real france · 4M ago

the nomad and me

I’ve been admiring him from afar for quite a while now. Today we met, up close and personal. He’s known as “La Nomade d’Antibes.” But I just call him Nomad. He is even more attractive than I imagined and he really doesn’t have a bad angle. He’s 8 meters high–that’s over 26 feet. I’m a [...]

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real france · 5M ago

the dark side of living in the south of france

Reading over past posts, it occurs to me that it may seem that I’m all content and blissful now that I’m living in the South of France. I tend to talk about the wonderful food, the beautiful views, the charming villages. That has got to stop! I was raised to believe that the [...]

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real france · 6M ago

eating for two

Today I’m eating for me of course, but I’m also eating for Wayne. Wayne is…was my often partner at the San Francisco company where I do a lot of freelance remotely. His last day is Friday. Since I just can’t bring myself to fly 6000 miles to attend his going away lunch, Wayne [...]

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real france · 7M ago

french pharmacies: a source of drugs, cosmetics, knowledge and something akin to serenity

You know how men are supposedly drawn to hardware stores? That’s how I feel about French pharmacies. I could spend hours tinkering with French skincare creams, nail polishes, cosmetics, haircare products and contemplating the ingredients in a bevy of drugs, herbs and salves. French drugstores ha

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