Status Updates From La Vie: A Year in Rural France

“If we ever hear a guest screaming in the shower, I think, ‘Scutigerid’ (centipede). I confess to emitting a distinct ‘Aarrgh’ myself last year on the subject of creepy crawlies; I turned on the bedside light to see an Expressionist shadow of a crouching vampire. The reality was, shall we say, interesting: a four-inch long, lime green praying mantis was sitting on the headboard, looking down at me” (150)