What's this all about?

Ok, well here goes...I'm not sure how to start this all out, but I recently (well, alright, 4 months ago) moved to Sergy, France; and seeing as I am currently unemployed, I thought maybe I'd start writing a blog about my experiences here. If anyone reads this then perhaps it will give those picking up their lives and moving to another country a little bit of advice...and for anyone else perhaps you'll find life here in la petite village de Sergy amusing. Yeah, yeah, I know my French is horrendous. You'll either have to send me something correcting my mistakes or just grin and bare it (or go read something else if it really bothers you). Then again, some people probably feel my English is nearly as bad as my French, I'm sure my grammar and punctuation are horrible. Despite the fact that I have started listening to Grammar Girl podcasts on Quick and Dirty Now. She's quite enjoyable to listen to, except I find I don't really put her "lessons" to good use. Although, I have started obsessing over my incorrect and overuse of the word hopefully - thanks Grammar Girl! Yet, I digress.
What was I typing about...ahh...yes, this blog, I just thought I'd give myself something to do during the long days that I hang out with my dog in my apartment awaiting the hour my husband will come home from work. What, you didn't think I just picked up and moved here with no job and no clue for no reason, did you?
This is a view of Mount Blanc from our apartment - not too shabby a view, eh?
Life here in France has it's ups and downs just like everywhere else. It's a bit more difficult seeing as it's a totally different language and culture, but overall I like it. We live in a gorgeous area. When we first came here in May we had no clue where we were going to live: France? Switzerland? City? Country? it was all up for grabs. After a month of searching we found a nice little apartment in the French countryside. Well, in the foothills of the Jura Mountains. Seeing as we had dragged our dog overseas (a journey she did not thank us for) being in the country, in a ground floor apartment with a fenced in terrace was perfect- and affordable- for us. Some of my husbands colleges, the European ones really, though we were crazy. We were so far away from CERN: a whole 15 minute car ride! Besides, what would I do, they queried, being so far away from the city, Geneva, and all that wonderful public transportation? I was going to become a miserable recluse was their opinion.
It's rather amusing to me how different our ideas of distance and convenience are. To many Europeans a 15 minute car ride to get to work or the grocery store is ridiculous, unbearable even. But to us, Americans, it's the norm. It's not out of the ordinary to have to drive 10 - 15 minutes to get your groceries; and there's a bust stop less than a 10 minute walk from our house which will take me into Geneva if I really feel the need to be in "the city". Granted it takes about 40 -50 minutes by bus...but I enjoy reading and people watching so I don't find it a problem He's a picture of our lovely little, French apartment. Yep, that's mon mari et ma chienne, Ally. Our upstairs neighbors are great, so far. Marion is Canadian, but has lived here for 15 years or so, and Beat (pronounced beh- aht, or something like that) is Austrian. She's quite garrulous and he's a bit more reserved, so they seem to make a good match.
Well, there's a start for you. Enjoy!