Liz, you might enjoy C'est La Folie by Michael Wright. He has had a Saturday column in the Telegraph for a few years describing his move to the Limousin area of France, doing up an old farm house, acquiring farm animals and trying to fit-in with the locals. In no way is he the smart-arse that Mayle became and he never takes the p*ss out of the locals, although they do, out off him . . . often! His solitary life now has the addition of a wife and dog from Baltimore and two little girls. The expanded articles have now been turned into the book. Here is a link that might be useful: Michael's Web Page

I loved Paris when we were there last year. We didn't have lots of free time, but an outstanding highlight was visiting Notre Dame Cathedral. Absolutely breathtaking. There was a long line-up to go up into the bell tower, otherwise I would have loved to go there too. I'm a book lover, so I had to visit a large, famous English language bookstore located right near Notre Dame Cathedral, called Shakespeare & Company. My experience with visiting two museums - the Louvre and d'Orsay - was being overwhelmed by how very large they are. If I had to do it again, I would go online for a museum map and pinpoint the works of art that I particularly want to see, so that I can use my walking energy for those and not visit displays that are not on the top of my list. Just walking around in Paris is a real treat because the architecture is so amazing and each city block has several different shops, such as antique furniture, shoes, delis, bakeries, clothing stores, etc. So this is a great way to get a flavor of the city. We were very pleased that we were able to make our way around the city speaking mainly English, although I hope to learn some French before a next trip. Our hotel was nice but not particularly beautiful and was very expensive. So nothing to recommend there.

OJ, yes, I'm from the Lake district, that is, situated between our two large lakes. In fact, DH just arrived back from our lake vacation home a short time ago. Beautiful weather today. Socks - thank you so much for including that obituary. It's really lovely. Dr. Kelsey also got into McGill University because it was thought that she was a male. When she showed up for classes, obviously a female, they allowed her to continue, thankfully so.

My son is easy, he'll do whatever. He will have been there for 3 months by then, so he'll be able to be my tour guide! I've pretty much decided to leave the Tues. before Easter and stay til Mon. A good friend might meet me there on Thurs and return home with me on Mon, so I'd have a nice mix of me time, girlfriend time, and DS time. I hope Portobello Rd is open! Loved exploring last time we went. I'll do some more investigating on what is open/closed as the time gets closer. Thanks, everyone. Thinking of the visit is a nice distraction from the fact that I won't see my (21 yo) baby boy for 3 months!