There’s no place like home: Embracing expat otherness

I have lived in Paris for almost exactly 8 years, and whilst itโ€™s fair to say Iโ€™ve long since been pretty damn parisienne, Iโ€™m clearly not โ€“ nor will I ever be โ€“ French. Iโ€™m very comfortable in this country; more at home than Iโ€™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 donโ€™t have the references of a native franรงaise, having neither been raised in France, nor by French parents.

Thirty life lessons learned by 30

The first year of my thirties is rapidly nearing its conclusion (hello, 31) and I have to say, the experience of moving into this new decade has, in and of itself, been pretty anticlimactic. Turns out, aging, accruing life experience, all that jazz, itโ€™s more of a gradual process than an overnight kinda thing. Who... Continue Reading →

Sail away on The Starless Sea

"It drew my eye from across the room โ€” tugging at my attention before Iโ€™d even properly registered its presence, like a beautiful stranger in a bar. I wasnโ€™t wrong to judge this particular book by its cover: the cadence of the words inside captured my interest from โ€” and I mean this literally โ€” the very first page. They had a gorgeously, subtly poetic quality. It was intoxicating. I was, immediately, intoxicated."

Monday musing: I wish I may, I wish I might

From a young age, until a probably-not-young-enough age, I was a committed star-wisher. I donโ€™t remember ever being convinced of the starsโ€™ wish-granting powers, but I was definitely open to the possibility that it might bring me what I wantedโ€ฆ So sure, why not?ย  My wishing was very formulaic: Identify the brightest star in the... Continue Reading →

Happy Old Year: Reframing the success story

Success, to me, is filling your life with what brings you joy. Itโ€™s being genuinely, deeply happy right where you are โ€” your physical home, your day-to-day routine, your relationships with others, your relationship with yourself. It looks different for everyone. And it can't be ticked off a list, because it's a lifelong endeavour. It's THE lifelong endeavour. Finding joy, and bringing it to others. What else matters, really?

Lyonnais Love Affair (Part 2/2)

TL;DRIf you stumbled across this blog in search of some quick suggestions for your upcoming Lyon trip and you can't be bothered with all the waffle in between, click here to head straight to the recommendations at the end. (Although in my totally unbiased opinion, it is worthwhile waffle.) Missed Part 1? You can read... Continue Reading →

Lyonnais Love Affair (Part 1/2)

Surprise, surprise, Iโ€™m writing this blog post on a train - speeding through the French countryside, direction Paris, somewhere in the vague vicinity of Dijon. Itโ€™s a perfect โ€œgolden hourโ€, the rolling wheat fields and villages of tiny terracotta-roofed cottages bathed in the gorgeous glow of the setting sun. Iโ€™m reminded of how much I... Continue Reading →

Carpe Diem Croissants

Summer is unmistakably coming to a close. The days are still warm (and sometimes sunny), but you can feel it in the cooling evening air, see it in some indefinable quality of the morning light. Iโ€™m no longer leaving the windows of my little rooftop apartment thrown open until the last possible moment before going... Continue Reading →

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