Our French Life | A French Collection

A French Christmas

My French Country Home - French Christmas

A French Christmas for our Family

This winter our family will be heading to our second home in France to spend a couple of months enjoying crisp cold walks around the village and nearby towns, evenings in front of a roaring log fire, reading books under blankets and best of all, experience another French Christmas. Hopefully it will be a white one!

We've been dreaming and hoping for a white Christmas for a few years now, as it rarely snows at our village in Côte d'Armor, Brittany. The last time it snowed significantly, and we were blanketed under white, was way back in 2009. The children energetically threw snow balls at each other, made snow men and we traipsed through the streets listening to the crisp crunch of snow underfoot. It was truely magical for our Aussie family, who usually go sailing from our lake house and swim at local beaches during November and December, to witness our first white Christmas.

Gentle Pastimes

Gentle Pastimes

Busy lives are rather the norm now for many of us trying to fit into each day the demands of family live, work commitments, helping others as we are able and, of course if we can, a little time to ourselves to wind down or enjoy our hobbies. Over this Easter holiday, with more time to relax and think, my thoughts were drawn to how our hobbies and passionate pastimes shape our lives or help us through difficult times. What do they say about us? How do they add to the fabric of our lives?

2026 has for me been a very different year so far, and gentle pastimes have played an important role in keeping healthy. Many of our regular followers may know that our family decided to spend the winter months at our French second home 'maison secondaire' and leave the hot dry Australian summer behind. We were very much looking forward to spending another cold winter, hopefully with snow, and experiencing the joy of Christmas and New Year in our tiny farming village.

My Weekly Journal #2

A Week in France

Following on from last week's journal, here's more of what's been happening over in my little patch of rural France.

Lundi - A Bee Sting & Paperwork

There's never any escaping paperwork is there? I'm grateful though that I can continue to keep up to date with things online. And there was heaps of 'keeping up to date' happening today! Bills to pay, documents to file etc etc.

A couple of days ago I was walking narrow lanes that sweep and curve through fields of maize and cow paddocks when I swept away an insect that was close to the side of my face. I remember thinking at the time I was lucky I hadn't got stung as I'd felt nothing. However with a sore, red swollen ear and neck, I've guessed that I must have shooed away one of the huge bumblebees that are everywhere at the moment, and that it did actually sting me. Anyway, I'm okay and you have to expect to share life with insects when you live in the country.

French Country Kitchen Style Essentials

French country kitchens are the centre of the home where family and friends gather and cooking rules! French country kitchen style is a rustic chic style which is loved around the world, and by following a few essential design and decor fundamentals, you can create a French country kitchen for yourself anywhere too.

If you can't get yourself to France to purchase French branded products or source antique market finds, then maybe sympathetically and locally sourced or online products (while keeping true to style), is the answer for you. After living part-time in France for 16 years, I've noticed how the French decorate and use their kitchens and how important a role this room plays in their everyday lives. Whether it's a huge kitchen in the lower part of a chateau or a smaller room in a village home, there are recurring colours, architectural features, classic furniture pieces and quintessential cooking and decor items.

Halloween in France

I've just spent another Halloween in France and thought I'd share my experiences with you. Halloween is not a tradition that I grew up with or one that I celebrated with my children as they grew up. However, the last two years I've been in France for Halloween and I've enjoyed two different experiences around the event. This year I was in Paris and last year I was at home in my village where I got involved in village Halloween activities and loved it!

Let me take a moment to set the scene. At my home in Australia our driveway is long, over 200 metres long, and after you leave the public roadway, our driveway goes down a steep hill and turns at 'the big tree' and it ends up at our house and small garage. The driveway is bordered by two metre high hedges on either side and there are no lamp-posts or solar lights and large gum trees filter any moon light.

Bizarre Things Packed in my Suitcase

Bizarre Things I've Packed in my Suitcase

When packing for a trip to France I usually follow my own advice and my various packing tips in my posts and guides

Paris Packing Guide – Essential Tips For The Perfect Wardrobe
10 Simple Packing Tips For International Travel; and
8 Tips on How to Look Parisian and Not a Tourist... however, this trip my suitcase looks different, very different. Some things may seem bizarre, but once you know what they're for, I think it will make more sense. It does to me, and I thought you might like to get an insider's view of how planning ahead and doing what might seem bizarre can be necessary when living between two homes in both hemispheres. Believe me, it can get a little weird and wacky at times!

Becoming Parisian

Becoming Parisian

I'm often asked whether I feel Parisian when in Paris, and whether I easily adjust to the rhythm of the city when I travel from my tiny farming village in Côtes d'Armor, or land directly from Australia. The answer is a personal one, and after giving it some thought, I decided to share my honest reflections with you today.

An Australian Becoming Parisian

Can an Australian gal who lives part time in a farming village in Brittany, surrounded by fields of maize and pastures of cows really feel at home in the romantic and dynamic capital Paris?

A French Collection Interviewed by French Views

It's always a pleasure to meet fellow bloggers who are as passionate about France as I am, and to share what we love together. Carole from French Views was born in England but has spent the majority of her life in Sydney, Australia, so she's practically a neighbour at only 160kms away - Australia is a BIG country! Carole loves travelling and in particular to France and her blog French Views has come from her desire to share those travel experiences, and inspire others to travel independently.

When Carole approached me to find out more about how and why we came to buy a house in France, what our life looks like and how we make it work spreading our everyday living between the northern and southern hemispheres, I was delighted to be interviewed and share my story with her lovely readers.