This was my first visit to the the Christmas Market, Arras but it certainly won’t be my last – it was absolutely gorgeous. The Christmas village is set up on the Grand Place of Arras, surrounded by stunning houses and with a red carpet laid over the ancient cobble stones for visitor comfort. There [...]
For one weekend a year the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer holds its annual Christmas Market and I have to say – it is without doubt, one of the prettiest, most festive and fun Christmas Markets we know. Held in the old walled town (erected in the 13th Century) of the Imperial City, former home of [...]
Christmas market in Le Touquet: The chic seaside resort of Le Touquet Paris-Plage on the Opal Coast of Pas-de-Calais is always extra special at Christmas when the town hosts a traditional Christmas Market, wonderful lights, an enchanted forest and more. The festive season in Le Touquet gets underway from the end of November with [...]
Strasbourg Christmas markets: For many people, Strasbourg is the centre of the Christmas Market universe! A Christkindelsmärik, Christmas market, has been held by the beautiful Cathedral of Strasbourg for centuries – since 1570 and it is one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Europe. There are a dozen Christmas markets in Strasbourg in total – they [...]
Christmas in Paris – there is nothing quite like it as the City of Lights lives up to its name and becomes a sparkling, twinkling city of lights. Every year the Christmas lights of the Champs-Elysées are switched on by a celebrity and stay on until the end of the first week of January. Two [...]
Paris Christmas markets: You don’t really need a purpose to visit Paris but the Christmas markets are definitely one good reason to visit during the festive period. The twinkling lights along the Seine, the elaborately decorated department stores in the Champs-Elysées and shopping areas and the great decorations as well as the iconic sights [...]
The stunning, and historic city of Reims in the Champagne producing area of France is lovely at any time of the year – but especially so at Christmas. Reims is said to be where the first French Christmas celebrations took place in 496BC when King Clovis and his 3000 warriors were baptised on Christmas Day [...]
Hannah France is a lady who loves to organise. She also loves Christmas… and she has a large and very beautiful home in France. Put these things together and you have the perfect ingredients for a Christmas market in Montreuil-sur-Mer chez Hannah! Hannah tells us it all started in 2005 when the local Union Commerciale [...]
France is famous for its Christmas markets and we think that Arras in the north of France is one of the prettiest and most fun! Set in the splendid and prestigious Grand’Place – the magnificent grand square of Arras town – this is a Christmas village more than a Christmas market. The whole square is [...]
The Licques Turkey Festival is a Christmas festival with a difference – one that celebrates the turkey, traditional bird of choice for Christmas dinner for many. The town of Licques in the north of France, 22km from Calais is known by the locals as “Turkey Town” and it is famous for its poultry and [...]
Our Newsletter is packed with information, upcoming events and ideas. Subscribe to The Good Life France Newsletter by Email
.
.
The papers are currently full of news about proposals to mount wind turbines on the beaches of Normandy – including at least one of the D-Day landing beaches. Some newspapers are calling it an “invasion” – emotional words, and this is a very provocative subject. The proposal is to erect 75 of the huge [...]
The Good Life France talks to Roger St Pierre – an award-winning writer who has visited every one of France’s 94 metropolitan departments as a cyclist, journalist, author and Francophile… Roger, who The Good Life France is honoured to include amongst its very talented group of writers, tells me he taught himself French by [...]
Well, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that the sheep across the road has gone to the great pasture in the sky. When I bought my house nine years ago it came with a sheep! The lady who owned the house before me had let the man across the road [...]
The allure of the good life in France and the charms of the beautiful town of Beziers ensnared British expat Mark Binmore who runs the highly successful Maison de l’Orb, a beautiful B&B. Mark told us that he lived in London since the early 1990s, worked as a pub landlord for several breweries, is the [...]
Expats in France Donna and Dave Faulkner fell in love with Deux-Sevres in the Poitou-Charentes region when they visited friends who lived there. When Dave was unexpectedly offered a job – they said goodbye to Britain and jumped head first into life in France in their new home which needed a bit of renovation as [...]
British expat Sue Aitken lives in south west France and runs Blackhen Education – a business that she set up after planning to move to Spain to be a teacher. She and her partner travelled through France on their way to jobs and a life in Spain but they fell in love with [...]
How two Brits met and changed their lives with a move to France… Chris was a veteran of 30 years in the Metropolitan police, running his own outdoor activity business specializing in mountain biking, walking and climbing, father to three grown-up children and mentor to many more. Charlotte was a classic single “Social Butterfly”, [...]
I was recently asked to write about expats in France, people who leave their homes in all areas of the world to go to France to live. I thought back over the years about the many expats I’ve met, interviewed (I am a journalist not just a crazy person going round firing questions at [...]
