A new life in Lille

Tales of a Brit who moved to Hauts-de-France

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Cœur de Neufchâtel
16 Feb

Take a piece of my: Cœur de Neufchâtel

“I love you more than cheese.” That’s what my Valentine’s card to Damon said. I thought it delightfully apt – we’re both big cheese fans. Hence our plans to open…

Property 2 street view
09 Feb

Property hunting: if at first you don’t succeed…

When you’re greeted at the mairie by crossed arms, you know you’re off to a bad start. And when local officials use the word ‘non’ more often than General de…

Property 1 front
02 Feb

Property hunting: the luxury of choice

Last week’s property hunting in south-west France proved even better than we might have imagined. We now have not one, but two properties in the running. The first is in…

French property interior
26 Jan

Property hunting: all in the detail

One of the best bits of property hunting is the worst bits – the agents’ details. We’re visiting properties in the Lot valley this week and we’re having a hoot.…

Feuilleté d’escargots à la crème
19 Jan

Épicerie fine: escargots de Bourgogne

Finding out that escargots de Bourgogne are not French is like learning the truth about Santa Claus. Who would have guessed that when you eat a snail called an escargot…

Mazda MX-5 road trip, at La Roseraie, Neuville de Poitou, France
12 Jan

Driving force: permis de conduire

Exchanging my UK driving licence for a French one should be straightforward, shouldn’t it? That’s my hope, as this week that is precisely what I have applied to do. At…

Au revoir là-haut promo
05 Jan

Au revoir là-haut: learning at its most enjoyable

Sometimes a film comes along that blows you away – such was the case with Au Revoir Là-Haut. Black humour, pathos and tragedy are balanced carefully in this visual delight…

Fireworks in Lille 2018
01 Jan

A new year: looking forward

The coming year promises to be an exciting one. If all goes to plan, 2019 will be the year we buy a property in south-west France and prepare to launch…

Christmas, Lille 2017
29 Dec

Christmas: mourning has broken

This week I have done my bit to help rid my widowed mother-in-law of the ghost of Christmases past. It’s been three years since her husband died and she is…

Shop window, Paris
22 Dec

Christmas shopping: in Paris

The internet is great for some sorts of shopping, but sometimes you can’t beat the real thing. That’s why we headed to Paris last weekend. If you can’t find that…

15 Dec

Striking lucky: secret Santa

At last, I have done well in a secret Santa. Usually, I go to great lengths to buy someone the perfect gift within the budget, only to be given utter…

Louvre-Lens
08 Dec

State of the art: le Louvre-Lens

If you’re a sponge for culture, a trip to the Louvre-Lens might be just the ticket. This satellite of Paris’ famous art museum has breathed life into the former mining…

Big wheel, Lille 2017
01 Dec

Mistletoe and vin: Christmas has arrived

About a week ago, someone must have flipped a switch here in Lille and it suddenly became Christmas. Mind you, we’re several months behind the UK – there, some TV…

Salon des vins des vignerons indépendants, Lille, 2018
24 Nov

A welcome return: salon des vins des vignerons indépendants

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression about us, but we have been looking forward to this year’s wine fair in Lille for some time. After all, it’s…

Françoise Hardy
18 Nov

A turn up for the books: my Françoise Hardy biography

This week I became a published author. To my delight, my biography of 1960s French icon Françoise Hardy hit the shelves on Monday. The book, Catch a Rising Star, is…

Café de France, Issigeac
10 Nov

Right place: wrong time

Our hopes of opening a cheese and wine business in the pretty Dordogne village of Issigeac fell through this week. Someone else signed a compromis de vente on the property…

Taste of France magazine
03 Nov

Home comforts: Taste of France magazine

I’m a glutton for French food porn. I’ve lost count of the number of different recipes I have for coq au vin, confit de canard and cassoulet. But that doesn’t…

Tourcoing jazz festival 2018
27 Oct

Jazz: not always nice

Experimental Scandinavian modern jazz isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. It turns out it’s not mine. That’s something I learned at the Tourcoing jazz festival last weekend. I wanted to leave…

Truffle hunting in Le Marche, Italy
20 Oct

Upskilling for the future: truffle hunting

Truffle hunting last weekend was like a dress rehearsal for the foodie breaks we want to offer in future. Or, as some of our friends have suggested, an over-dressed rehearsal.…

La Table du Comté à Lille 2018
13 Oct

Comté: le grand fromage

Comté is France’s number 1 cheese, so when its marketing team come to town, you can’t help but notice. Especially if you’re a cheese lover, like me. Last weekend, Lille…

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