Janine Marsh, journalist - has written for numerous magazines and newspapers. A complete Francophile who now concentrates on writing about France and all things French.
Girton, Cambridge. Nice house, good jobs, lovely friends. The most frequent question I’m asked is, ‘Why did you leave the UK?’ The most honest answer is that we left because we could. I mean, why not? We were happy in Girton, but sometimes it’s a case of wanting to do something different, something a little […]
Patricia Sands, the author of the Love in Provence series returns to the South of France with a poignant portrait of a woman who must learn how to create a new life for herself… Sixty-two-year-old Arianna arrives in the South of France for a two-week artists’ workshop full of anticipation but burdened by guilt. Back […]
Bonjour Here in France we’ve been through a bit of a cold spell the last week. Even in the normally not too frosty south, my friends have been complaining of below zero temperatures. I quite like it when it’s cold out. After several years here, I’ve got the hang of making sure there’s enough wood […]
The French celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th of December when ‘Père Noël’ leaves gifts for good children in shoes beneath the tree. Start with a champagne aperitif with nibbles or amuse bouches (literally nibbles that amuse the mouth). Then the serious task of feasting commences. There are usually several (sometimes as many […]
Jonathan Fenby provides an expert and riveting journey through he history of France from First Revolution through two others, a return of Empire, catastrophic wars and period of stability and hope. “The definitive guide to understanding France”. With the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the next two centuries […]
French Expressions in every day use In this video, there are some sentences that the French really use in everyday life. These are typically French expressions that you’ll hear in friendly conversations, in the streets and cafés. Use them and people will immediately think you’ve been living in France for years! Learn how to use expressions […]
Today the sun has been shining all day long and summer feels like it is well and truly here. I’ve been out and about in St Omer and nearby villages in the Nord-Pas de Calais region in the far north of France. I visited a boulangerie with an award winning baker who makes the most […]
Bonjour from France! The big news this week has been the announcement of the winners in our spring 2014 writing competition. We were amazed to receive 104 entries from all around the world and the standard was incredibly high. Authors Susie Kelly, Kimberley Petyt, Deborah Lawrenson, Patricia Sands, Julia Stagg and author/publisher Stephanie Zia had […]
Complete list of public holidays France 2014 – both fixed and changeable date bank holidays. There are a number of fixed public holidays (bank holidays) each year. They are fixed to a specific date regardless of whether it falls on a weekday or weekend. This is different from some countries where a public holiday falling […]
I was recently sent a photo of padlocks on a bridge across the river Seine in Paris by a Facebook friend from Australia after she and her family visited Paris. A lovely photo which I shared with everyone on Facebook (below). It seems to have kicked off a bit of a debate… No one really knows […]
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The people of Provence have been raising sheep for centuries. You see flocks of them all over the countryside, grazing under the watchful eye of shepherds. But Provencal summers are scorching hot and sheep have heavy wool coats so they’re moved to cooler pastures. The transhumance in Provence The answer to dealing with the heat, […]
There have been many famous families in history. Take the Curies, for example: Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes and her husband, daughter and grandson each won one. Quite the talented family! And then there are the Wright brothers and the Brontë sisters. And let’s not forget those comic masters, the Marx brothers. But imagine […]
“They are NOT babies, they are chickens” remonstrated my French neighbour Jean-Claude. He had come to inspect the eight point of lay hens and two “babies” with which I had returned from the local street market. “I’m going to call that scrawny baby one Eaglet” I said “Non, non, non” came the emphatic response “You […]
“When I move to France I only want to have French friends”. This was a line in an email I received from a couple of Brits. They wanted advice on where to move to in France and this was one of their criteria. They also wanted to be near a town that has a market, […]
June 2005 was a difficult month for Peter Friend and his partner Mark. After a change of jobs, relocation and redundancy they decided they didn’t want the sort of stressful lives they were leading in marketing and business development for much longer. Considering their skills, passion for travel, good food and wine, setting up their […]
Stephen Solley, an expat from the UK lives in Beaujolais, Burgundy and says, not only is it a great place to live but it also offers opportunities for would be wine-makers… There must be so many couples, frustrated by all the stresses of daily life, who in an ideal world would like to move their […]
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the most famous characters in French literature. But how did he get the unusual name of Quasimodo? For centuries, French law strictly limited the names that families could give their babies. They had to come from an approved list made up mostly of Catholic saints. The laws […]
We talk to Suzanne Sutton who left the UK for Languedoc Roussillon, southern France. She’s an agent for the award-winning Leggett Immobillier French Estate Agents and says this sunny area is great for expats to live. Where do you live in France? I live in a little village of around 90 residents, called Granès, in […]
