A Bright Sun and Long Shadows

A BRIGHT SUN & LONG SHADOWS is a picture of life in France unlike the many we read during our years of preparation before we made the decision to retire to the Midi. The book, as originally envisioned would have chronicled our adjustments to French life. It would have reflected its charming curiosities with a little irony, and a lot of "looking at the bright side of things". It would have been like too many others.

A BRIGHT SUN & LONG SHADOWS grew beyond the initial intent. It grew into a book that reflects how deeply the building of our new life has been affected by the dark side of French culture and the everyday ways of the people living around us.

As we tell our story, we hope, that indeed, you will see the charm of France, for France has much charm. She is the original femme fatale. In this book I hope to show what others often overlook. The Shadow Side of life in France is less talked about, generally not printed, and yet affects every moment of life in France.

I hope that you will find this book different in another way: I have tried to avoid the usual polemics found in many popular French-American, Anglo-French cross-culture books. Often, in illustrating a point, many cross-culture self-help books do not allow for the reality of a range of behaviors to be found on both sides of a cultural divide. Throughout our adjustment, I found that my own behavior did not resemble the "Americanisms" often characterized as brash, loud, and in-your-face. Nor did I find my French acquaintances the epitome of fashion flare, refinement, or diplomacy. So, I promise to avoid the usual dualism; comparing base behaviors of one culture to the subtleties and finesse of another. Instead, I present our experiences of the people we encountered and their behaviors as they affected us. Such a real life sampling has a legitimacy of its own and its own special truth.