FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

My husband and I visited you in Les Arcs-Sur-Argens and were so moved by you and the tour you gave us of your village. Somehow I missed Friday's post. I deeply hope you are not going to give up your blog! There would be a "trou dans ma vie"!

Kristie,
I am a relatively new reader - just two years. I enjoy your lively posts. My husband just gave me two tickets to Paris for Christmas. I will get to fulfill a lifelong dream this summer. Thank you for all you have helped me learn. Wishes to you and your family for health, happiness, and success, in 2015.
Darlene

"We have received your request to join the french-word-a-day
mailing list."
Dated 12 November 2004

Oh dear, please don't let one reader's negativity get to you! (Though I know how that can happen.) Think of the 99.9% of the others who LOVE your blog and whose lives have been enriched by every post for years. Carry on, bien sur! We love you.

What a travesty it would be, not to receive your wonderful blog. I have lived (and worked) in France now for 18 years and your word a day and wonderful way with words (and camera) have helped me enormously with the language and the French way of life. I have passed it on to friends who also love it so please CARRY ON! You have done so through thick and thin, don't give up now! We love you!

I began to read your blog in 2005. I have always enjoyed it as a source of relaxed reading and picking up cool French words and phrases. I am a terribly busy person with not a lot of time to study French and I find your stories and the mix of French and English so helpful and enlightening. In my French class, others often remark on how rich my vocabulary is and as I push through to familiarize myself with sentence structures and words that I would use every day, your blog is a wonderful resource.

While I don't necessarily understand all of the demands you may have on your time, I for one enjoy your chats and discussions. It gives me an escape and even if it is just for few minutes in the day, I get a chance to join you vicariously in your many adventures. The blog works for me and I strongly encourage you to keep it up. Thank you for all of the hard work!

Surtout Kristin ne fermez pas votre blog. La française que je suis et qui adore lire vos textes en serait très triste.
Comment pourrais-je alors faire des progrès en anglais si je ne peux plus travailler en utilisant votre blog...et comment avoir des nouvelles de votre jolie famille ( chiens y compris) , cela nous manquerait trop?
Agnès

Chere Kristi, do not even consider giving up your blog! I read it regularly and rely on it for what little french grammar and vocal I get the chance to 'study'. I also love the stories and the pics are fabulous. I've been reading it for about 4 or 5 years, including the year we lived full time in our 'beaucoup de possibilities' French village house. My son attended the village school, is bilingual and has continued schooling (in England with a tutor) under the French curriculum, so he can go back in time for his secondary education. He's 9 and loves your blog pics, especially Smokie pics and the pics of the sea and the vineyards (our place is in the Languedoc, so similar scenery to yours - we miss it so much when we are not there. We are working on a way of financing longer stays and eventually permanent residence, like you have done. Do not consider ending your blog, there are too many reasons we would miss it!!! L.

I don't remember which year, I was subscribed back in the 2000s, lost track for awhile, then re-signed up. Either way, if "you" want to continue, that's the issue :-) I personally hope you do (smiles).

I began reading when you began writing. Please don't stop. I look so forward to your posts.
Warm regards,
Susan

I like your blog -- I subscribed in about 2010, then unsubscribed, then resubscribed six months later. It's like that: love, waver, love again.
I have a blog, too, and get riled when people unsubscribe, but often it has nothing to do with me. I like to write about what we do and send out paintings (ours is a more visual) and will likely do it until I have fifty subscribers. Keep on, if you feel like it -- and you can always take a vacation. Laurie www.paintfox.com

ps. I have 1000+ subscribers right now, but would do it until I get to the last 50

I began following you around 2011.

Looking forward to following you for many more years!

Life just wouldn't be the same without your blog.

Your writing style is easy to follow and the photos are a big plus!

By sharing your life so honestly you show the common bonds we humans have...wherever and whoever we are.

Please continue your blog.

Your loyal reader,
Diane
West Palm Beach, Florida

We were living in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire when I came across "Word of the Day" in 2002. I even began archiving them for review at a later date. With the war in 2002, we finally moved to Yamoussoukro in 2004. I still read and often archive the posts. Really enjoy them all and love the pix.

www.GoGlobally.org

I believe I started following your blog after I moved to Maine in 2005! You were a breath of fresh air to this invalide recovering at home, in a new place after botched surgery. Merci beaucoup for you help in maintaining my read and written French, Kristin. I could not have done it without you, Stay the course!

"your help" I must stop proofing AFTER the fact!

Hi Kristi,
Noooooo - please don't close up shop! Even once a month would be preferable to none.
I wish I could remember how long I've been reading. It was before the attack on Smokey. I was at your reading at Shakespeare and Company and can even see my reflection in the mirror to your left in the photo!
Please dont't pay attention to negative comments. Take whatever breaks you need, but please don't go.😊

I have also been following this blog since around 2003/2004. Please don't stop but write on the frequency that life allows right now. Merci beaucoup pour tous!

I started reading your blog 8-10 years ago. I love your blog and your photos. Thank you for sharing your life with us and giving us a taste of France.

Please don't stop writing Kristi.
I cannot remember how long I've been reading but it must be 10 years. I buy your books and always look for your email,then save it until lunchtime!
Thank you for all you have done to keep the essence of France alive for those of us who don't live there and we've learned so much!
Amicalement

Good morning Kristin, I look forward to ready your blog- I love seeing all the photos of your family, your home, photos of places around France ,Smokey and Blaize and the the places you go....I love it ! and crazy as it sounds , I almost feel like we are friends . I would to be able to meet you and have a glass of your wine.

Please continue doing your blog and photographing France

All the best..
Johnette

I began reading your blog just before moving to Metz, France, 3 1/2 years ago. I find it a charming blog. I enjoy your photos, too! Thanks!
Karen

I have been reading your blog since your first book was published My daughter and I have shared so many moments of living vicariously through your words and pictures. The loss of our time spent with you would truly be a loss of a friend. We have both visited Paris, and I have visited Lyon and surrounding villages with a french friend who has a family home there. Your blog is a pleasant reminder and a further education of the time we have spent in France. I hope one day she and I can meet you in person. Just know, your words bring joy and comfort to one who wishes to be again in your lovely country. I feel closer just reading your blog each time.

I have enjoyed your blog for at least 8 years and have bought your books. I will continue to read you as long as you write your charming posts!

Kristin,

Your blog inspired me to publish my book "Thyme in my Pocket" and I have always love reading your stories! You have to have courage to do things in spite of criticism and set backs. Your life is dynamic! The only time to change is when YOU are ready. Grumpy people are discouragers! Merci la francaise! Alors, bon courage avec ta choix! For me, I would really miss your blog! Bisous, Alison Johnston, Sauve

I have only been reading your blog for a year, but absolutely love it. I used to get to France more regularly, but can no longer travel because my partner has some serious health issues. I really enjoy having France "come to me" and your talent for writing and willingness to share your life are so welcome. I hope you will keep writing and sharing your photographs.

Kristin, I started following French-Word-A-Day when your first book, which I bought, was published. You will have to do the math on that one, since the years more or less run together as our kids are well into adulthood. :-)
We've been to France a couple of times during that period and, as Anthony Bourdain would say, are hungry for more.
I love your site and will follow devotedly as long as it is written and I am around to read it. :-)
Merci infiniment,
Joe

Cher Kristi! I didn't get the post about the unkind words, but not everybody loves us or what we say or do, so don't give up the blog, Charlie, evidently many love you. I love starting my days with your blogs ever since I met you and Jean-Marc in 2011 at your home in St. Chapelle, and later having a chance to sit next to you at dinner at the villa where I was staying, and talking about Arizona and Oklahoma. And having a chance to talk with Jean-Marc one-on-one when he delivered the wine. I felt like I got to know you both a little. I got to pet your dogs and see your kids on the run, so I feel you're a bit like family writing home in your blog telling me what's going on in your life as life goes on for me here in Virginia. Quite likely a lot of people feel this way. This is your talent and way of service. Your open, honest, human blogs are so refreshing that show us sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail, but we go on. You inspire us. This is your way of spreading the good and goodwill that we all need in our lives around the world, especially in this time. Personally, your photos bring back the memories and love I have for Provence and France. If you love writing the blog, Kristi, don't put down the pen, and I will continue to look forward to each one. Merci, Jackie

I cannot imagine you shutting down this blog - I started reading it in 2005, and have read every post since. Your blog feels like home. I moved in 2013 from Minnesota to Georgia and this blog has been my constant. I have visited France many times and seen places you have mentioned in your blog. That if it were not for your blog I may never have seen many of those places. Please keep blogging......

Your writing came into my world in 2009. I was studying French daily, in preparation for my first cycle tour there, and a friend gave me a copy. Found your blog several years later, and am still reading it, still studying the language daily, and (very happily) spending close to a month annually traveling by bike in France.

Love your blog! It's fun, informative, good photos, and sends the rest of us a little slice if life in Le Sud. Thanks!

Kristi, I have been a dedicated follower since 2007. at the beginning I would read your posts with my cat Harley cozied up in my lap, enjoying my tea. Such a delightful start to my day. I can't believe it has been this long! And that you have been so dedicated to US for as long as you have. You brighten my week. I have longed to visit France for as long as I can remember and have yet to make it there. You have been my first 'real' connection to a place that feels like my undiscovered second home.
Mille fois merci, Kristi!

Please don't close up shop! I started reading a few years ago when I wanted to "get my French back." Your blogs are lovely and informative!

My memory is not as precise as Michele's, but I began following before talk of your first book, so I suppose it was around 2005. Your blog was recommended to me, by a fellow "conversational French" classmate (I was trying to re-kindle / maintain French language skills that I hadn't used in many years and she was doing the same, both of us having moved from French-speaking countries). I began following for educational reasons and got hooked and continue to follow for that as well as entertainment and "virtual friendship". I'm often envious of your adventurous spirit and bravery to share your life and try new things. You are an inspiration and an example of how people of all backgrounds, ages and experiences can connect without ever having met in person. You provide support to your blog-followers and they, in turn, support you.

I didn't discover you until 2014, but I've enjoyed stopping by here every time you post. I'm so glad you're not giving up.

Close up shop! Oh please, do not listen to grumpy people! Post when you can or want to, that's what I say. I've often thought of not keeping my blog/s going because I figure no one will miss them. I don't have a huge amount of viewers, and then I think, Why NOT keep it going? I don't have to do it daily, but I can do it whenever I like. It keeps me in a regular practice of archiving, if nothing else. In your case, those of us who can't get back to visit France or who don't use the French language regularly in our lives really enjoy your writing and photos. I hope you keep posting, even if only occasionally, Kristi. Don't leave us!

I have been following your wonderful stories since 2010. I do not speak French, have never studied French but I love French words.So your blog gives me the opportunity to try and say the words but more important to listen to them said via audio file. I have read all of your books more than once and love them more each time through. Your stories are full of honesty, emotion and beautiful descriptions of life. When I see your blog pop up in my "inbox" it is the first thing I read. Thank you Kristin for all the joy you bring through your writing!!

You, will decide when and if to change the frequency your blog is updated. I have decided to read every post you make because I enjoy the photos and the story about your wonderful life in France.

Hello dear followers of Kristi, i just started a twitter hashtag #nevergiveupkristiespinasse
please support it!
Kristi's twitter acct @kristiespinasse
This blog should continue :)
Cheers!

Oh my goodness you must not close up shop!! How awful to suggest such a thing. Your blog is not only generously informative in the best of ways, there is an underlying humanity and honesty. It is by turns touching, funny, sad, beautiful, inspiring.....and we learn so much.
Thank you so much for your all of your tireless work. I so greatly appreciate it. And twice a week would be fine too.
All best to you and your wonderful family.

i have been starting my days for many years reading your blogg. It always puts me in a great frame of mind. Stay the course as mornings would be empty without you.

Dear Kristi. I must have started when it was your web site, everyday. I think I still have the envelopes, with stamps, from your first 2 or 3 ? self published books, posted by you. I have those as well as the Simon Shuster book and the latest on my IPad. I have sent my French friend Nicole Lidje to your site, she sent granddaughters who were taking French in school. Also another friend who spent several years living in France. Your choice must work for you and yours. Luck always.

Is you heart still in it?

Kristen, I started following your blog before the establishment of Rouge-Bleu. Before Smokey. Anyone who thinks you should "close up shop" perhaps should "close their own shop" and just not read your blog, leaving the rest of us to continue to learn from it. We are blessed by it both in life-lessons and by the French words contained therein.

I think it must be when your kids were about 8 -10, certainly long before the puppies. That's how mothers seem to gauge time - by how old their kids were at the time! I love your blog and especially the beautiful photos, keep it up as long as it brings you happiness. It certainly makes lots of other people happy.

Hello dear followers of Kristi's blog. I just started a twitter hashtag #nevergiveupkristiespinasse please support it. You can also follow
Kristi's twitter acct @kristiespinasse.
This blog should continue :)

Cheers

Fatih

Kristi, you are a joy every day you publish.
My daughter alerted me of your blog 2 or 3 years ago and your thoughts are the first thing I read the day you post. Even before the sports blogs! You are now a friend who I don't want to miss, so please.....keep writing. Terry

Hi Kristin, I've been following you *before* you moved to blog format, before you had the dogs or pups, and the kids were really small. You used to post 5 days a week at the time, and my love for French was brand new at the time, so your posts meant a big deal to me. Gradually, my love for French waned, but meanwhile I was captivated by French country life so I continued to subscribe and the 3 day format suited me just fine.

This is a problem with most jobs - sooner or later we stop learning and growing and it begins to feel like a chore. But we have to keep on plugging on. I think twice a week is fine, specially in this age of information overload. But if you shut it down, you may never get it back, so that would be a drastic step to take.

On the other hand, no blog has lasted this long, so you've already set an unbeatable record and maybe the universe is nudging you in the elbow to tell you to move on? I hope not. I'm sort of looking forward to the college graduations, the grandchildren, and to generally growing old with you.

In any case, I wish you all the best, dear Kristin.

Divya

I have been reading your blog religiously since 2004 (when I was in my mid 50s) and you are partially responsible for my progress in French. The rest is due to study and because I went to live in the overseas territory of St Pierre et Miquelon for almost 4 years. As far as your continuing the blog - you need to do what pleases you. If writing the blogs feeds your soul, then continue. If it is stressing you, if it is no longer fun, if it is draining you - then stop. We will miss you and your family dearly but your health and happiness are more important than pleasing your readers. I personally hope you continue because your writings have brought me much pleasure over the years.

Put simply, YOU CANNOT STOP THIS BLOG!!!
If you truly want to please us...your real fans...you must do what we say, right? And, that means that you must keep writing and photographing and living in France for those of us who only dream of living where you are!!
Love you!

I began following this blog in late 2002. We had recently moved to a new military post in Germany and deployments were looming on the horizon. (Boy, what we didn't know then!) Your blog (the first one I ever followed) gave me a little escape every few days from the grey/damp of Bavaria and the stressors of being a military spouse. Several deployments and seven moves later, I still smile when I open up your email and wonder what's up with Team Espinasse this week :)