A brief explanation

This blog replaces the diary I've been writing on our website http://www.mnjenfance.eu/ for the past 2½ years. It will be a bit different - less a chronicle of events and more a series of reflections on our life here in France, perhaps pulling together some of the previous diary entries.

Although it's published under our joint names and I hope reflects our shared views, this is written by Jon.

I'll probably continue wine diary and other entries on the website. Here I shall write in English, but also in French from time to time. For the forseeable future, as part of my learning, my French will be checked with my teacher Rolande Guillaume, a splendid critic and good friend as well as aomeone who shares the joy of grandparenthood!

The name and logo on the blog need a bit of explanation: our site name and logo originate in the wordplay "M'n'J en France" (yes all right, it does not quite work in either language but it seemed a good idea at the time!), and then the pictorial representation of the letters mnj in the outline of the country. But neatly, the symbol we chose is also the astrological one for Virgo which is the birth sign for both of us.

We have lived in France for 2½ years, and I began to find myself repeating entries in the diary. There's a limit to how much people want to read 'and then we did this, then that'. Also, updating a website is rather less easy than posting a blog entry. So I hope this proves a good supplement to the website, but please continue to check it out, and look at photos of the month as well as what's new.