Requested information

Today’s blog post is all about questions people have asked and things people want me to explain & describe concerning France. Now is a great time to get some writing done anyway, because my roommate just left for a party in town. She begged me to come along, saying that I’m only in France once, and sure, but it’s a jazz listening party, and jazz is from America. Also it is twenty degrees Fahrenheit.

I have been made aware of concerns about the lack of squirrels in France. I can confirm that there are no squirrels in France, and if there are, they do a great job of hiding. Pigeons are everywhere. Squirrels are nowhere to be seen. Do they even exist in Europe?

I have also not seen any opossums, armadillos, or raccoons, but I’m pretty sure opossums are strictly North American and that armadillos are only in warm and dry places. Raccoons could be anywhere, but they are of course masters of disguise.

I have not personally experienced any wild weather here, but it is very cold. The warmest it’s been is probably forty Fahrenheit. There hasn’t really been snow, just morning frost. No rain really, either. But I am on the Mediterranean.

The geography is unpredictable. This land has been lived on and altered by humans for tens of thousands of years, and for many of those years, the humans were making huge changes. This place was divided up and sacked and salted and conquered and farmed a hundred times over before Jesus was a twinkle in Mary’s eye. There are random ruins on hillsides, pre-Revolution townhouses for rent, and olive groves as far as the eye can see. It’s flat, but every little crest or cliff has something important about it. Either prehistoric humans painted there, or a Roman officer camped there, or a saint preformed a miracle there. Every mound has a complicated story.

If you have any particular questions that you think I could answer, my inbox is always open.

Cordialement,

Allison

P.S.: I’m going to Ireland tomorrow. Should be fun.