Category: Advice for Expats (sort of)

There’s no place like home: Embracing expat otherness

I have lived in Paris for almost exactly 8 years, and whilst it’s fair to say I’ve long since been pretty damn parisienne, I’m clearly not – nor will I ever be – French. I’m very comfortable in this country; more at home than I’ve ever felt anywhere else; thoroughly assimilated in a culture that made more sense to me than the one I grew up in long before I even moved here. But I don’t have the references of a native française, having neither been raised in France, nor by French parents.

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Identity of an Anglaise: “British, BUT-“

As you are quite likely aware, this blog is called Adventures of an Anglaise — “anglaise” being the French word for English girl/woman. But in truth, I’m actually half “anglaise” and half “irlandaise”, and although I've never lived in Ireland, I’ve always identified very closely with that side of my nationality/heritage. It’s not particularly surprising,... Continue Reading →

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Top Marks For Adulting

Search Google for anything remotely related to repatriating in France and you will find a wealth of accounts whining about testifying to the nightmarish near-impossibility of navigating french administration/bureaucracy. In my mission to prepare myself as fully as possible for my new life, I read many (oh, so many) of these myself before I moved... Continue Reading →

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Paris is Closed

Paris in August is a strange phenomenon. The holiday allowance is so generous for most people working in France, that it’s perfectly common to take three weeks, if not a whole month, of leave in the summer. I’d hazard a (completely unsubstantiated and non-scientific) guess that about 90% of Parisians depart from the city for... Continue Reading →

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These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

A little while back, I wrote a post in defense of that which is dismissed as too ‘touristy’ and therefore shunned. I don’t know what’s prompting me to do so now, but I’ve decided to make a brief list outlining examples that support the argument I was making in said post: "...just because something is... Continue Reading →

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Death By Tax Declaration

It’s May! Which means warmer days, greener trees, almost everyone in my phonebook’s birthday, and, if you live in France, annual tax declarations. Hurray! French forms! It’s no exaggeration to say I’ve been worrying about filing my tax declaration since I got here, 7 months ago. Actually, it’s a slight understatement, as I did my... Continue Reading →

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Baffled By Brunch

Happy May 1st! And a happy day it is indeed, for me anyway, because in France, it’s a national holiday! On a Tuesday, too, which is a huge novelty for someone who has grown up in England, where mid-week bank holidays are simply not a thing - unless it’s Christmas, Boxing Day, or New Year’s... Continue Reading →

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