Category: France vs UK

Je suis Charlie l Why France is on the brink of civil war l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

Why France is on the brink of civil war

This is the title of a blog post that’s been going round in my mind since last summer, and yesterday’s horrific attacks have compelled me to share my thoughts on this very sad subject now.

As a lover of France for 30 years, and having lived there for well over half my adult life, I am shocked, saddened and disgusted by the horrific attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris yesterday.… Read more

My crazy work experience in France l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and LIfestyle Ramblings

My crazy work experience in France

I accidentally moved to France in 1998, straight after graduating, and I had some seriously weird and wonderful work experiences in the following 12 years of living on the French Riviera. So many people have told me I should share these crazy French jobs on the blog so here goes….

Crazy work experience in France Number 1:
The one where I got paid £2 an hour to clean up vomit

My first job in France was waitressing in a bar in Nice for two consecutive summers (pre and post final year at university).… Read more

How I felt when I left France l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

How I felt when I left France

I left France in July 2010, after living there for 12 years and saying I would never leave. Recently several people have asked me if I miss France, if it was a hard decision to leave or how I felt when I left, so I thought I’d share a little more about that part of our life today.… Read more

Quiz: Are you an English woman or a French woman? www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

Quiz: Are you an English woman or a French woman?

I had the idea for this quiz in a dream and I thought it would be quite funny, so take my tongue in cheek quiz to find out if you are actually an English woman or a French woman…..

At the end of an evening out with the girls you are:

a) crying or being sick
b) dancing on the tables and singing drunkenly with your friends
c) telling your friend about the new coat you bought in Galeries Lafayette

Your ideal man:

a) doesn’t wee in the bed when he’s drunk
b) brings you wine while you’re watching Downton Abbey
c) is faithful

You wax/shave your body hair:

a) just before going on your summer holiday
b) once a week (ish)
c) as soon as you spot any regrowth

The amount of alcohol you consume weekly:

a) doesn’t bear thinking about
b) is a glass or two of wine a day plus several bottles of wine and/or cocktails at the weekend
c) is at the most an aperitif or a glass of wine when invited to a friend’s for dinner

Your perfect weekend is:

a) Friday post-work drinks that last all evening, a full English breakfast, a pub lunch that lasts all afternoon, a drunken night out and a lazy day in bed, eating your body weight in junk food
b) a mix of time with your other half, time with your kids and time with friends, with wine thrown in liberally for good measure
c) dinner at a chic new restaurant, with you looking very glam (though not eating much), shopping, then dinner at a friend’s where you consume one glass of wine all night, a run and yoga to even out the excesses of the weekend

Quiz: Are you an English woman or a French woman? www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

© danilkorolev – Fotolia.com

Suitable attire for a night at home with Hubs is:

a) a onesie and un-matching socks
b) jeans, a t-shirt and slippers
c) the same put-together outfit that you wear outside of the home

You know you need to lose weight when:

a) why would you want to do that?… Read more

What I love about France

Recently I wrote a couple of blog posts (here and here) about why I can’t see myself moving back to France anytime soon. Notably in the second one I listed the negatives about France (and the French Riviera in particular), which helped me to make the decision to leave that beautiful part of the world 4 years ago.… Read more

Where to visit in Normandy for D-Day history

For those of you who know me you’ll know I’m passionate about 20th Century history, in particular the Second World War. When I was little I used to quiz my Grandma about what it was like during the war, and then when I moved to France it was the turn of my gran-in-law to answer my questions about how different it was for the French during WWII.… Read more

Moving back to the South of France Part 2

Yesterday I blogged about how much I loved the south of France and how I never imagined I would ever leave the French Riviera, which you can read here. Today I’m going to explain why Hubs and I made that incredibly hard decision to leave.

For a very long time the sunshine, warmth, beaches and mountains made up for so many negatives, but in the end the downside of France and the French Riviera got the better of us and we headed back to the grey, cold, rainy UK.… Read more

Moving back to the South of France Part 1

We moved to London from Nice nearly 4 years ago, and since then people have asked me, with incredulity, why on earth we moved from the sun and warmth of the French Riviera to the rain and cold of the UK.

View from the window in Nice, France #FrenchRiviera www.FranglaiseMummy.com

The view from my bedroom window in Nice when I first moved out there

When I moved to Nice, in 1998, I vowed I would never leave the area.… Read more

Top tips on raising your child bilingually

Quite a few readers have asked me how we manage to raise our two daughters bilingually, so I thought it was time I shared what has worked for us, raising our two daughters with two languages.

Before I start here’s a bit of background about us:

Mum
I’m English. I have a degree in French (and Spanish).… Read more