Monthly Archive: June 2013

I accidentally moved to France

In 1998 I bought a return ticket to Nice, France – leaving London on the 1st July 1998 and returning to the UK on the 10th September 1998. I’d just finished my university finals and my aim was to have a summer of partying on the French Riviera with two friends (a fellow Brit and a Danish/American) I’d met there the previous summer.… Read more

Breastfeeding makes you need a boob job

When I had my first daughter, L, in France in 2006 this is the type of comment I would hear. There are some French women and medical professionals who are totally pro breastfeeding but they are few and far between, which means if you do want to breastfeed you have to really fight your corner.… Read more

I am leading the way….for once

Back in 2006, just before my 30th birthday, whilst I was stressing over the thought of leaving my 20s and worrying about wrinkles and grey hairs, my usually clear skin flared up into an almighty mess of redness, particularly over my nose and cheeks. I felt so ugly, I hid in my office at work, letting my fair fall over my face to try and hide this awful, red acne.… Read more

BritMums Live – what I took away

Before I start, just a heads up for my non-blogging readers, this is all about blogging conference, BritMums Live, and may not appeal, so feel free to click away now. I won’t take it the wrong way 😉 For everyone else it is a mammoth post, so grab yourselves a drink and get comfy.… Read more

We went to our first blogging conference!

I think I can safely say that C and I stood out like a sore thumb as I wheeled her in her pushchair through the city on Friday lunchtime to attend our first blogging conference, the one and only BritMums Live. As we emerged from Moorgate tube station into a sea of suits and rushing finance workers I caught a glimpse of our reflection in a shop window: me in a flowery, summer’s dress with fancy flip flops, pushing 7 month old C in our lovely Britax B-Smart pushchair.… Read more

Dear Dad….an open letter

I meant to write this open letter to my Dad on Sunday in honour of Fathers’ Day, but we were too busy enjoying Fathers’ Day all together. Then Tara from Sticky Fingers offered up the subject of “Dad” for this week’s gallery, so this blog post is in honour of my amazing dad.… Read more

Are mothers in the UK being abandoned by the NHS?

C is 7 months old today and I haven’t seen any medical person with her (apart from to get her jabs done by a nurse) since she was 8 weeks old. Whereas by 7 months old L had seen the paediatrician in France 8 times for routine check-ups. I have had no phone calls, letters or enquiries from anyone in the NHS as to how C is doing.… Read more

Top tips when moving house

You may or may not know that the Franglaise family moved house a couple of months ago (from one side of the street to the other, as you do!) and it got me thinking about how I’m a bit of an expert on house moving.

I moved from the UK to France in 1998, which was a simple move as I took one (BIG!) suitcase on the plane, but once I decided to settle in France I started to cumulate possessions and my moves got more and more complicated.… Read more

And then it all changed

Today was the day I’d envisaged going back to work after maternity leave. C is 6 months old, L is back at school after half term last week, today would have been the day I’d have left my two girls with a live-in nanny to go back to work in an office, leaving them from 8am until 7pm for 4 or 5 days a week.… Read more