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A WRITERLY DILEMMA
Should I Stick to Writing About France & Skip Political Topics That Might Offend?
If I accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative, will I end up feeling I’ve capitulated?
Most of the nearly 600 pieces I’ve written on this platform have been about my life in France, where I’ve lived for the past twelve years. I was 68 when I decided to move from the US to start a new chapter in my life. France, where I knew no one and barely spoke the language, was a foreign country; so was the Country of Old Age, which I’m still learning to navigate. I write about the challenges, obstacles and surprises — good and not so good — in both.
My small winemaking village in the Languedoc region dates back to the Middle Ages. One Saturday every month, there’s a guided tour of the 13th-century chateau that now serves as the village mairie (town hall). Visitors can peer into the dungeon where those who opposed the powerful Lords of Fouzhilon were imprisoned.
Today, the powerful lords are long gone, and the surrounding countryside looks much as it probably did centuries ago. The village policeman is known by his first name and shares an office with M. le Mayor, who likes to sing karaoke at the summer fetes.
