Counys in France is Michelle’s blog.

Michelle introduces the blog by saying that she is… “An English girl, yorkshire born, but with Jamaican roots! Married to a Frenchman and now living in France with our 2 little children. After 8 years of living and working in Bath, South West England we moved back to Lannion, Brittany in July 2010. This is where we first met almost 10 years ago when we were both on work placements from University. Francois came back to England with me in 2001 to look for work while I finished my degree. He settled in Bath and I joined him once I graduated. We married in Bath in 2006 and started our little family in 2008.”

The blog starts off in July 2010 with 24 hours to go…. and Michelle getting absolutely fed up with people asking her… “Are you all packed?”

Packed or not, the family arrive in France (or Brittany to be exact; and we all know that Brittany is not really France, it’s better than that!) after Le Voyage! to have a nice French breakfast at Mc Dos before the 1st visit to the new house.

Read more »

Merci Paris… is the blog of Merci Paris (whom I believe used to be called BlablaParis) and she says of herself that she is… “Just another American writing a blog from Paris.  My middle school French teacher had a nervous breakdown during class and I developed a phobia of the French language.

I turned to latin instead and fell in love with Italy.  I went to University in Montreal because it was better priced than most american universities thinking I would pick up French by symbiosis, but learned Italian instead.

Born in Seattle, I’ve lived in the Caribbean, Florence, Venice, New York, and Nice and have some how despite my better judgement and all odds, ended up in Paris with a wonderful French husband and two little people who call me “Maman”. So, we can be happy even in the places we least expected.”

Merci Paris…. is elsewhere described as… “A blog for Moms with adresses, news, ideas and inspiration with a french twist.”

Would I be able to find anything of interest for me here?

Will I be able to find anything of interest for you?

Well, let’s dive in and find out!

It’s not all about Paris!

Yes,  although Merci Paris (I’m going to call her MP from now on) lives in Paris she is one of the few that does that admits that there is life outside that City of Light!

Read more »

Sophie’s Photography is one of my most treasured recent finds!

I came across Sophie a couple of week ago whilst just browsing and became immediately addicted.

It’s the quality of the photographs, you see….

It also helps that Sophie photographs the part of France that I have chosen to make my home, Brittany (where God comes for his holidays when he is bored with heaven!)

Sophie had this to say about herself by way of introduction…  “Sophie de Roumanie : I studied Fine Arts and Photography at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and Graphic Design at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. in the 80′s. After several years of working and exhibiting my paintings on both sides of the Atlantic, I came back to Europe and settled in France.”

So, without further ado, let’s explore Sophie’s Photography…..

Read more »

Well, I promised you two posts from the land of the eternal rain (and cowpats the size of Basingstoke) and here is the second (I’ve got a feeling I’ll be heading south for tomorrow’s review – it’s getting a little bit nippy up here!)

So, without further ado, I’d like to present…. At Home in Brittany!

At Home in Brittany is Tony and Anne’s blog.  This is what they have to say about themselves… “In 2002, retiring early from our respective careers, we moved to Brittany to pursue the lifelong dream of living in France. For many years we had enjoyed holidays in various regions of France, but the beauty of Brittany, the variety of terrain and the friendly nature of the inhabitants made it an easy choice for the next phase of our life.”

You can read more about what prompted their move and how they went about it on their About Page.

Now, this blog contains an awful lot of useful information about living in Brittany (and, I guess, the rest of France.)

So that’s where we’ll start…

Read more »

Brittany Blues is Wendy Mewes’ blog about her life in Brittany.

And this is what Wendy has to say about herself.. “Here I am in Finistere, Brittany, France. What am I doing? Writing books, walking, guiding, teaching, promoting Breton heritage to anglophones and being happy in my own odd way. I run Brittany Heritage Services, a business devoted to improving the provision of information for anglophone visitors and residents in Brittany (www.brittanyheritageservices.com).”

I’ve sort of been aware of Wendy for some time as I occasionally pop into BrittanyWalks.com and the associated blog The Brittany Walks Blog.

Read more »

I thought it was about time for another review of a blog based in the part of France that I have chosen to call home –  Brittany.

I hunted around for an interesting blog by someone (anyone, in fact) who is based in Brittany and isn’t totally mad.

After 27 hours I gave up and decided to review a blog about some Quelvehin Alpagas who happen to live in Brittany.

Quelvehin Alpagas is the blog of  a bunch of Alpagas (I think they probably have got some tame humans to type up the blog – but then again, finding a tame human in Brittany is probably as easy as finding a sane human in Brittany…)

Read more »

One + One = 4 A French Way of Life is a blog that I’ve been trying to review since forever (or, for rather a long time, anyway!)

For some reason though, I’ve never actually got round to it!

So today is a good day for me – I get to finally review one of my favourite Life in France blogs.

As Morgane is French I thought that perhaps I’d find out….

All about French women….

And, I thought, the best place to start is to ask that age old question; the one that stumped Indiana Jones, the one thing that is more confusing that Fermat’s Last Theorum, something so complex it make the question of life, the universe and everything look rather like a Christmas cracker riddle….

Yes, you’re right; the one thing that no man has ever been able to work out…. What a woman’s bag hides!

Read more »

Sometimes I wonder if I’m biased towards Brittany blogs?

Sometimes I think it’s the other way round and I spend too much time perusing the blogs of those naughty, mad, bad people who live in Paris (I am speaking generally and I do know that there are always exceptions to every rule and NOT EVERYONE who lives in Paris is naughty, mad or bad.)

And, for the sake of Geographic Democracy I often consider spending more time looking for new blogs in Provence or Poitou-Charentes or the Pyrénées even?

All of which is meant as a reservedly non-apologetic introduction to A gardening life in Brittany which, in case you hadn’t guessed by now, is a Brittany Blog!

Read more »

Petit Minou en Bretagne is Petit Minou’s blog  about her life in Brittany with her husband and her two daughters.  Not to mention their two Ouessant sheep, their chickens, geese, ducks and seven cats!

As well as trying out new recipes using freshly grown veggies, trying to keep up with the weeding and the the garden Petit Minou also has two Gites – more details can be seen here at…  www.labassemeslerais.com

OK, so you’ve done the introduction – let’s have some poultry please!

Well, if you insist!

Read more »

Galloping Gourments is the blog of a girl called… Galloping Gourmets!

I’m not sure I’m all that partial to parents calling their offspring by weird and wonderful names;  I can’t remember if it was David Bowie or Frank Zappa that started the craze but I suppose it’s better to be called Galloping rather than Zowie or Moonchild?

Having said that, I spent the first 16 years of my life believing that my first name was You smelly b*stard, so who am I to comment?

Moving swiftly along….. Galloping Gourmets (who, for the sake of brevity I will call GG from now on.  Actually, as you will see,  GG is quite a suitable name for her!) says of herself… “I was born in South West England and came to Central Brittany, France nearly 10 years. I live in a quiet rural area surrounded by peaceful and beautiful countryside. I live with my partner Mr Tomato King, 2 horses, 1 dog, 1 cat and 3 hens.”

I suppose that if you’re born with a name like Galloping, it’s likely that you’ll end up with someone who’s been christened Tomato King?

Read more »

The Other Side of Me is Peu Loufoque’s blog.  I happen to know that Peu Loufoque wasn’t christened Peu Loufoque which, I guess is a lucky thing for her as it means… a little crazy.

Mind you…….

Like me, Peu Loufoque lives in Brittany.  I’m not sure what that means but what I do know is that PL (as I shall call her from now on) is artistic and produces hand painted ceramic tiles and designs – as can be seen from her other site… www.unpeuloufoque.com – I am not in the slightest bit artistic although…. many people have commented on my tasteful cow pat arrangements.

Moving swiftly along….

Read more »

I’ve been looking forward to doing Caroline (of An English Artist in Brittany fame) for a long time now.

Purely in a blog review sense, you understand.

The problem has been that, every time I’ve looked in on her blog, she’s been over in Lancashire where, as we all know,  The Rain, It Raineth Every Day (a bit like Brittany then?)

Read more »

La Cheshire Cat is, according to the label on the tin… “A Single Mum’s struggles, gaffes and triumphs dealing with the gaucherie that is French Bureaucracy”

But, of course, it’s really much, much more than than.

La Cheshire Cat follows on from Kitty’s old blog at kittychat.blogspirit.com and

I can tell that Kitty is a bit of a foodie.

Really, the links on the sidebar of her rather pink blog did give this away but…

Read more »

Box Elder is one of those blogs that I keep stumbling over, making a note to take a good look at, and then totally forgetting to do so!

This is a bit strange as Lucy (the blog’s owner/keeper) is based in Brittany just as I am.  But then, Brittany is a big place!

It’s almost impossible to categorise Box Elder;  it’s not a photo blog although posts such as I started early – took my dog are poetry in images.

Then again, in A Cheery Subject, there are no pictures: but then, the words paint a picture all of their own.

Read more »

A Bitch about Brittany is Gillian O’ Donovan’s blog about her life in Brittany. Gillian describes herself as an ex-Londoner living in rural Brittany, France, for the last 18 years, with her family and far too many animals and wood stoves. The ramblings on her blog, some of which are cross, are about life in the countryside, and how to cope when your high heels are replaced by clogs.

But then, that’s what we all blog about, isn’t it? How to cope when your high heels are replaced by clogs? I know that I do!

Read more »

French Fancy is the blog of a Londoner who moved to Brittany seven years ago.

And…. her Dad was in Carry on up the Khyber, which makes her all right in my book!

But there’s more to French Fancy than being the blog of the daughter of a famous dad.

It is full of well categorised articles that range from the Arty Crafty through Introspection to Youth!

I suggest that you start at the beginning with How We Ended Up In Brittany and then progress to the article about the Marquis de Sade (an all encompassing blog, this is!)

Most of the time (when not dealing with the wicked Marquis, that is), the blog details the peaceful life of its author who does admit to… “occasionally yearn for a bit of noise, the smell of car fumes and vomit on the pavement.”

Well, don’t we all – or is that something that only happens to ex-Londoners?

Read more »