Picasso Celebration – Paris’ Hottest New Exhibition
I was recently invited to visit the Picasso museum for the new exhibition designed by artistic director Paul Smith. Even though I have lived here for many years, I had actually never visited the museum before. So when the museum reached out and offered a…
The French You Don’t Learn at School – The Verlan Episode
Do you remember when you were a child and you used to make up your own language that your parents couldn’t understand? Maybe you used words in the wrong context, or deliberately reversed the order of words to confuse any eavesdropping adults. Whatever you did,…
How to Apply for French Nationality – Part Three: The Prefecture
And so it begins… After it took me roughly two months of resending the same email again and again, over and over just to get an appointment, I had mentally prepared myself for a really difficult time at the prefecture. They weren’t going to make…
How to Apply for French Nationality Part Two – The French Test
As some of you may know, and if you’ve already read my first article How to Apply for French Nationality – Part One, I am currently in the process of applying to become a French citizen through naturalisation. After you’ve followed the steps in my…
7 Things I wish I’d Known Before I Moved Abroad
It’s ironic really, my blog’s name is My Life Living Abroad but I’ve never actually written a post about how I moved abroad and more specifically, how on earth I managed to get all my stuff over here! It was a bit of a logistical…
10 Things in France that are Weird for a British Expat
It’s been nearly 8 years now since I became an expat and although I would say I’ve almost entirely adjusted to France’s culture, there are things that never cease to surprise me! As I’m British, this post will mostly focus on things that us Brits…
French Films You Need to Watch
Before I moved to France the only French film I had ever seen was Amélie. I didn’t know of other French films, nor the names of any famous French actors and I’m ashamed to say that it stayed this way for a very long time!…
The French You Don’t Learn at School – Part Five
The French you Don’t Learn at School is back and I can’t wait to share some new expressions with you! The goal of these posts is to help anyone learning French understand some well known and popular phrases that you definitely won’t learn at school…
What Happens When You’re Sick in France
I often pride myself on the fact that I can answer a lot of administrative questions about life in France. I know how to get a social security number, how to rent an apartment, how to pay taxes, how to open a bank account and…
A Day in Champagne!
When my parents came to Paris recently, I wanted to do something special with them to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. They’ve been to Paris so many times now, and although it’s never difficult to find new things to do, I was still looking for something out…
