Monday, August 29, 2011

I love Brittany


Not a girl, but the western-most region of France. It all started when I saw an episode of House Hunters International on HGTV. It featured charming stone cottages selling for ridiculously low prices. In our new building in Brooklyn, we had a "Meet you neighbor" pot luck and discovered one of mine grew up in Brittany. When I told him about the TV show and asked why the real estate prices were so low, he said that it was populated by working-class folks and there wasn't much there for anyone looking to develop a career (he works for the U.N.!)

Later, a friend told me about Mark Greenside’s I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do): Life in a Small Village in Brittany, a funny fish-out-of-water tale about an American who doesn't speak French and was dragged there by his then-girlfriend and fell in love with it. More for the amazing people who help him adapt than the beautiful countryside. Now I just have to go there and see if it all checks out.