Or rather: Judas Coin Last Sunday, I overheard some French visitors (read blog) talking about the artworks: they reminded them of the flower known as the “Monnaie du Pape”. As I’m very curious, I asked if they could show me a picture of the flower. Well, yes: it does look just like it! The artist who was standing there had heard the comparison before. Back home, I looked up what the flower is called in Dutch: Judas Penning. Wow! That’s remarkable! Peter or Judas? In one language, a reference...

Encounters in the little church The heritage site in our hamlet of “Le Charaix” is a small church dating from around the 12th century. It has no heating, running water or plumbing. By the year 2000, it was in ruins. A local heritage conservation society was then founded: the renovation budget had been exhausted by the time a new roof had been fitted to the restored walls. Only during the warm months, a few events are organised. We joined the association in 2026, and on the afternoon of Sunday...

Driving back and forth between my fatherland and my motherland: Time for a new car This spring, we decided to look for a bigger car, so that we could cover our 25,000 kilometres a year with a bit more comfort and space for luggage. We are fortunate that all four of our parents are still alive, which means we drive to the Netherlands on average once every three months. And as long as our youngest daughter lives in the Netherlands, that will remain the case. Since 1 July 2025, we have been...

Taking the initiative It is winter. I now live in a village of 425 inhabitants , 37 inhabitants per km2, where I don't know anyone. Where do I start to build my new network? On a walk, we greeted our neighbour 'next door' (500 metres away). Turns out he is Belgian, married to a French woman. OK, so 33% of our hamlet (9 inhabitants) is not French! Quite international hamlet! At the mayor's New Year's speech in January, we would get to know many people, was our estimation. But we were a bit lost...

What is that really? How many times in my life did I get the comment, ‘Anita, let go!’ Except from developing allergic reactions to that sentence, nothing else happened.I am still good at planning, controlling, adjusting, and so on. Actually, I'm quite happy with that too, because it keeps unpleasant surprises away as much as possible. Right? Drive to develop a competence Every one experiences something with impact in the first 25 years of life . Sometimes, especially at a very young age, we...

stuck between France and the Netherlands. My little white car came with us to France and has served us well. But it would rather go back to the Netherlands. At least, that's what it seems like, judging by the agony of importing it. How can I make a long story short? Before we left, Rob had already arranged a number of documents required to import a car into France. On 22 November 2024, the car passed the French inspection with flying colours. After a bit of insistence, the dealer where I...