Joyeux Anniversaire à La France Profonde

Deux ans déjà!

Let's face it, my timing for starting this blog was not that great. It's a little like those kids who have their birthdays around Christmas -- a lot to handle at a very busy time of year.

But here it is, December 22nd, and I am celebrating La France Profonde's second birthday.

La France Profonde has been a labor of love from the beginning. It is by far my favorite of my three blogs, and I only regret that I don't have more time to devote to it.

Of course, I can hear you saying, if I gave up my other two blogs I could have more time for FP. But each of my blogs fulfills a different purpose and a particular need, and each one has developed its own network of readers, acquaintances and, yes, friends. And I can't imagine giving any of them up.

I started my blogs as an outlet for writing and, quite honestly, as a way to get some writing clips up on the Internet. And my blogs have led, directly or indirectly, to a bit of freelance writing work that has been an enjoyable complement to my teaching job.

But by far the richest return from blogging has been my contacts with other bloggers who have become regular readers...and an important part of my life, which is something that non-bloggers can't seem to understand.

There are the fellow expats, especially Ken, Walt, Katie and Meredith, whom I keep up with regularly and who have provided plenty of comments and support over the past two years.

Then there are the American Francophiles, readers I've picked up more recently and with whom I love to compare notes. Marjory, Randal, Belette, Colleen -- thanks for your faithful comments and I hope my occasional reality checks don't discourage you from your unfailing love for France!

And Ali, I've said it before: I really learned what blogging is all about from you.

There are so many others who drop in from time to time, and that I drop in on. How I love your visits, but also clicking into your little corner of cyberspace!

Finally, you may have noticed that some of the blog's best photos, like this one and this one, are marked "courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau." As you might have suspected, Thierry is my husband, and his job gets him out and about in the aveyronnais countryside -- thus allowing me to share views of la campagne that I wouldn't otherwise have.

Merci à tous et à toutes!

And if you've made it this far, stop by my very favorite post. It didn't elicit that many comments -- no accounting for some people's tastes, especially mine I suppose -- but it gave me shivers.