Next Stop, FUN: The French Summer Party Train!

As Miss Expatria’s gentle readers well know, I don’t love France. But just when I start to think there’s nothing fun about this existentially-shrugging, chain-smoking, c’est-pas-possible country, they turn around and surprise me!
My discovery of Beaujolais Day was one of those times. Held on the third Thursday in November - making it [...]

Gay Mafia

They are so silly. Even if you don’t understand Italian, just take a look at this to see how SILLY (and ridiculously creative) they are!

Fun With Blog Stats

I love looking at my blog stats. Not for the number of hits I get; whatever, they come and go, I’ll keep writing anyway - but for the hilarious peek into the minds of people who use search engines.
I’ve posted about this before, I know - but today’s are plain wacky and just too [...]

Group Therapy: Renting a Villa in Italy

When I’m feeling lonely for my friends back home, I get the urge to (first, become rich) and (then) rent a villa in Italy for an entire summer, and invite them all to stay with me. I imagine long days in golden sunlight, cooking experiments with fresh food, lazy afternoons chatting and cocktailing by [...]

The Slow Movement: You Move Too Fast

I’ve been on a kick recently where I make notes on topics I’d like to write about during the week, and then on Sunday I write them all, so I simply have to go online every day and post one.
However, yesterday Cal and I got off to a very lazy start and kind of eased [...]

Travel Books, Part Two: Not-So-Favorite Ones

A follow-up to my popular post, Travel Books.
Here are some travel books that just didn’t do it for me.
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit [...]

Expat Life: A Distinct Lack of Stuff

While writing about the French sales yesterday, it occurred to me that we - Cal and I - have a lot less stuff than the average American couple in their late 30s who share a home. Part of this is simply having a lack of desire (and funds) to acquire a lot of stuff; [...]

January Sales in France: Shopping Til You Drop

If you’re a shopping addict and your dream is to visit a city where every single thing you see is on sale, I’ve got the destination for you:
France. But only in January or July. When the entire country MUST GO!
In France, it is illegal for shopkeepers to just decide one day to have [...]

Oh, Those Swedish: Ingenuity From the Land of Ikea

A Swedish company plans to harness the body heat generated by thousands of commuters scrambling to catch trains at Stockholm’s main station to heat a nearby office building.
What a great idea. And what a great article! I love that they thought it up over coffee.
I might be a freelance writer living a life [...]

I’m Eeeeeeating, On a Jet Plane….

A friend of Miss Expatria on the other side of the world alerted me to the existence of this fascinating site, which reminds me of why I love the Internet. It’s called Airline Meals, and it delivers on that title. It’s indexed and categorized and there are pictures of plastic food in all [...]