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HAIR-RAISING ADVENTURES IN FRANCE

It’s Time Again For One of Those Visits I Always Dread . . .

No, not the dentist

Janice Macdonald

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Les cheveux en désordre — my hair’s a mess

I’ve put it off long enough, it’s time to pay a visit to the hair salon, something that has all the allure of a root canal or a tax audit. My friend Kit and I were having one of our weekly phone calls — she in California, me in France — talking about this and that. Her daughter’s upcoming wedding, whether or not Kit would get her make-up professionally done, I advised against it, and hair. Mine.

I said I needed to do something about it.

The last time I did something about it was just before I went back to the States — a year ago. Before I moved to France, I had appointments every six weeks or so. Now, just the thought of explaining what I want une mèche — a weave, or highlights — is enough to make me pull it up in a ponytail and put off a visit for a little longer.

I know the word mèche, but it’s never that simple. I knew the word mèche when I went into a salon in Montpellier a few years ago. Although his English was as limited as my French, I thought we were communicating. Maybe it was my pronunciation, but I left the salon with an inch or so of bronze roots and the rest of my hair an eye-catching shade of egg yolk yellow.

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Janice Macdonald
Janice Macdonald

Written by Janice Macdonald

At 68, I started a new chapter in my life: I moved to France. Alone. It turned out to be quite the page-turner. Still is — even when age insists on a part.

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