A new concept for Bordeaux – A controversial method of employment – courier fashion – Continue reading
Category Archives: Expat life
Passing on things that I have learned that make being an expat easier
50 (and counting) French Launguage Films
Lots and lots of french movies for you to watch. This list is more about quantitiy than quality. As quantity is more important for learning. However I’ve marked my personal recomendations in red. Continue reading
La Nive, Les Fêtes de Bayonne, The Final Adventure
“This is the last time I do something like this. Yesterday was crazy. We could have got seriously injured and if that happened we’d have been f**ked. Imagine like a metal spike going through your foot. You were barefoot half the time.” “Yeah true. No phones, no easy way of getting off the river at … Continue reading
The Icy Prison
Winter has come. Its the 2014 / 15 ski season. A group of young adults from the UK have come to work at a hotel in the French Alps. This story about their season is an extended metaphor comparing life in the mountains to life in a prison. What folllows is also an exposé of … Continue reading
The first week of working a ski season in the Alps
“We are working hours that they aren’t paying us for and we can’t leave. That is technically slave labour. We are Slaves!” He said to me as he came to get a water from the bar. “You could leave.” I suggested. “Not if you can’t afford a flight. We don’t get paid until the end … Continue reading
Idea for business start-up: marketing wine to cyclists
I often have ideas for businesses. So do a lot of people I suppose. It’s not too hard to spot a gap in a market or recognise an emerging trend that could be exploited. What is hard is to go all the way with the idea: to invest not only money, but also time, effort, … Continue reading
French test #2 Fear and Loathing in the Soleil Coiffure
It was clear to begin with that I needed a haircut. The previous couple of times I’d had it done – since moving to France – I’d had a friend cut it. She’d been a hairdresser in Norway before moving to Bordeaux and she’d done a great job both times. Unfortunately she’d moved back to Scandinavia … Continue reading
Coming soon
My new years resolution was to be better. I told this to my flatmate and said I would be a new and improved me, a new Chris. One evening when I got home from work I found this note attached to the novelty corkscrew that he had won in a pub quiz. Christopher GJ Cooley … Continue reading
Buying a bike online (from Amazon)
I openly admit that I really like shopping online… I’m even happy to tell people that I like Amazon, even though they are a big mean ol’ monopoly that destroys indy book-stores etc, etc. I’m just well into receiving things through the post, and not having to leave my flat, and not having to walk … Continue reading
The ‘Exotic’ food section of Carrefour
Back in Sainsburys (that is to say, back in England) I always used to go to the exotic foods section to buy black beans and KA. In short: I love exotic food sections in supermarkets. Now that I’m an expat in France there is an exotic food section featuring what I suppose must be all … Continue reading