Interview with Rosemary Kneipp, from “Aussie in France”

This week I am starting a new series of interviews with Rosemary Kneipp, the writer and photographer at Aussie in France.

Rosemary was the one who encouraged and inspired me to write. After reading the first few posts from Aussie in France, I felt a great desire to start my own blog. Rosemary is an Australian-born translator from Townsville, North Queensland, living in France since 1975.

After her husband’s retirement, they had just moved from the 1st arrondissement in Paris, right next to the Louvre and the Palais Royal, to Blois in the Loire Valley. They now live in a beautiful Renaissance home built in 1584, which I had the pleasure of visiting last September.

She has a second blog called Loire Daily Photo, which is bilingual French and English. In this interview Rosemary answered some of my questions, which I hope will help my readers know her better: 

1. What is Aussie in France about and how did you start it?

“Aussie in France” is a blog about my life in France and my travels in Europe. My Friday’s French feature is about words and language, both French and English. I started blogging at the suggestion of my son, just before he left to live in Australia in October 2011, because I wanted to do something more creative.

2. Do you find it more time consuming to write or to keep up with the social media?

Writing is more time-consuming for me. I don’t really spend very much time on social media.

3. Other than blogging, what interests you?

The list is endless! My greatest interest is probably reading – I can’t do without it – but travelling is my greatest love, followed by cycling in summer, mushroom picking in autumn, wine-tasting, trying new foods, meeting new people.

4. How do you measure success as a blogger?

That’s a difficult one. Audience is probably the first, followed by engagement through comments, but the greatest satisfaction is learning that someone actually looks forward to reading my posts and is disappointed when I don’t publish for some reason.

5. What is the most unusual thing that you have ever eaten?

I don’t know, to tell you the truth. After living in France for so long and traveling for more than 40 years, I have tasted a lot of different foods.

6. You live in France now, but were born and raised in Australia. Is there anything about your native country that you really miss?

Yes, I miss the constant blue sky. I find winter in France, with its lack of light, very hard.

7. If you had a limited budget for a trip, would you rather spend it on a high-end hotel or on high-end restaurants?

My experience of high-end restaurants in other countries is somewhat negative. They are invariably disappointing. I am more interested in tasting everyday when I travel. So I guess it would be a high-end hotel but I’d really rather stay in a comfortable hotel and spend the extra money on another holiday!

8. What is the one thing that is too large or impractical to travel with that you wish you could take with you when you travel?

Well, if we go by plane and not by car, I’d like to take my bike.

9. Are there any countries that you would never consider visiting and why?

I feel a particular affinity for Europe which means that I am not really interested in visiting the rest of the world although we usually stop off in Asia on the way to Australia but I would not go there intentionally.

10. What is your biggest passion?

I think I’d have to say discovering new places, new people, new customs, new foods, new anything!

You can follow Rosemary and Aussie in France on: