Springtime in Paris: Lockdown 3.0
As the flowers bloom in Paris, so do Covid cases. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Tag Archives: expat life
Winter in Paris
Winter in Paris, even during Covid, is not at all bleak. I share some photos of our first snowfall, and the reasons why I love this season in the City of Light.
New Year, New You?
Before you shake the dust of 2020 off your feet and walk on, I’d like you to do something.
Lisa in Paris
Is there anyone who hasn’t seen Netflix’s Emily in Paris? I put off watching it because I was sure it would be cloying and riddled with clichés—the Paris of Instagram […]
Food, French Chefs, and Family: An Interview with Samantha Verant—Plus a Recipe!
Welcome to the fourth in my series “Meet the Expats,” where I promote other undaunted foreigners who have chosen to call France home. Friend and author, Samantha Vérant, just launched […]
Lockdown in Paris: Day 3
Here we are. Day 3, midday. Things are very quiet in Paris. The schools are all closed so there is an eery absence of the sound of children playing in […]
Lockdown in Paris: Day 2
Catastrophist \ kə-ˈta-strə-fist \ noun One who imagines the worst-case scenario as something so completely horrific that it borders on the absurd. A catastrophist usually starts by asking, “Yeah, but […]
Janet Hulstrand on Demystifying the French
This article is part of my series, “Meet the Expats.” This time we’re talking to author, editor, and writing coach Janet Hulstrand, who lives in Essoyes, a village in Champagne. […]
10 French Words that are Now Part of My Everyday English
They said it would happen but I didn’t believe them. Back when I was just visiting Paris, I’d heard some expat friends tossing random French words into their English conversation […]
Paris, Four Years After Those First Bold Steps
Today in Paris, many shops were closed. The streets were nearly empty. But this wasn’t just because of the August vacations, where everyone leaves for weeks at a time; this […]
Dinner in the Park with 17,000 of My Closest Friends
I just had dinner in the park. With 17,000 of my closest friends. Okay, so the park was the Esplanade des Invalides near the Eiffel Tower. And the dinner was […]
Keeping House (In French)
This was originally written for my memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home, published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, but didn’t make the final edit for reasons of story flow. In this […]
5 Parisian (& French) Habits to Adopt This Year
Living in France has expanded my life—and my thinking. And while, for this American in Paris, there are plenty of causes for eye rolling, like the bureaucracy and constant strikes, […]
Christmas (Shopping) in Two Cities
This year, thanks to my schedule, I’m getting a dose of the holidays in both Paris and New York. I spent most of December in Paris, watched the holidays unfold: […]
The Little Book that Could: Celebrating Success with You
♥ Check out a special gift-with-purchase offer at the bottom of this post ♥ This week marks the anniversary of the launch of my memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How […]
Paris is Closed for Vacation
“Is anyone left in Paris?” I wrote on Facebook. “I’m so bored I could cry.” Bored in Paris you say? Well, yeah. It’s possible. Particularly, when it’s August, and all […]
Samantha Verant on Making a French Family
Welcome to the second post in “Meet the Expats,” my series promoting other undaunted foreigners who have chosen to call France home, and brave expat life. Author Samantha Vérant (Seven […]
Five Years On
Five years ago today, I found the apartment that would become the vehicle for my life change. This is the first year I will be in the apartment to mark this […]
Celebrating My Book Launch—Carrie Bradshaw Style
After two years of writing and planning, launch week for my book, My (Part-Time) Paris Life, was upon me. And that meant it was party time! I had visions of […]
It’s Here: My (Part-Time) Paris Life, The Memoir
Well, it’s here. After two long years of hard work, my story has been released to the world. [Gulp!] Inside this pretty cover design by Kerri Resnick at St. Martin’s Press, […]
My Paris Memoir is Nearly Here! (Yikes!)
A box arrived from my publisher, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. It contained copies of my book, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home. This is really happening. […]
Life Lessons from the Water Fairy
I honestly don’t know how to tell you this, but, well…I sprung a leak in my apartment. I hear you all, the collective thwack! of your jaws hitting your tables. “What?” you’re […]
Coming Home (Again)
Nearly two years after I was ousted from my little Paris apartment by destruction and mold thanks to a leak from the upstairs neighbor that took 18 months to fix, my luggage and I moved back […]
The Saga of My New Little Paris Kitchen
If you’re following along, you know I’ve been planning a kitchen update chez moi since 2013. But between the rising exchange rate at the time followed by a leak that made […]
(Re)Renovation Part II: The Healing Begins
In early 2014, signs of a leak began to distort the wall in my entryway. It would take nearly two years and an order from the French courts before that leak […]
10 Things I Miss About Paris When I’m in New York
I feel very fortunate to be able to live in two of the greatest cities in the world. But there are some downsides. Here, in no particular order (unless it’s […]
Drying Out in Paris
No, I’m not talking about that kind of drying out. In fact, after the intense month I had in Paris, I think my wine consumption may have ticked up a bit. I’d […]
It Was the Best (Half) Day in Paris—Ever!
This is the first in a series of profiles of expats in France, including noteworthy Parisians, who’ve taken risks to create the life they want. This one features photographer Carla Coulson, an […]
The (Re)Renovation
Well, here we go again. And a mere four years after what was supposed to be the one and only. But a leak in my neighbor’s shower—a leak he refused […]
Is Ruin Really the Road to Transformation?
The department store below my New York apartment has been under construction for a year and a half. Seven days a week, from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., they jack-hammer […]
My (Parttime) Paris Life 