Maroilles: The wonder of Fromage – unveiling one French cheese at a time
"While we love Maroilles, with its assertive aroma and bite, it can be a tough one to wrap your head around, at first."
24
03, 2022
7
06, 2021
Bridging the cultural divide: the art of the French Sunday
No one makes plans, which means everyone has got time on their hands. Time to visit, time to eat. Time to sleep if you want to. Sunday in France is a time for everyone to just 'be', which often means 'being' together. I think that I’m starting to like it.
6
06, 2013
Cutting the cheese correctly: a guide to French table manners
You’ve just been invited over for lunch at a French family’s house. But there’s no need to fear. The answers to all of your questions are here… as well as some you didn’t even know you had!
8
03, 2013
What "bonne année" means in French
To remember this distance and the constance of friendship, regardless of how long it's been since your paths have crossed, seems to add a touch more humanity to the technology-driven lives we're all leading, and it's something that I've found the French do particularly well.
8
02, 2013
How do you translate French culture?
"You're so... nationalistic," he said. "Patriotic," I corrected, but the comment stuck with me and made me think a lot about what differences outsiders really notice once they get a taste of a new culture.
6
12, 2012
A very French Thanksgiving
Just because I was in a country that called Thanksgiving 'American Christmas' was no reason for me to miss the traditions of pie and turkey, and so I started my own traditions... not without a few hiccups along the way.
5
11, 2012
Parlez-vous français? Why speaking to French people can be a language odyssey
Worst of all, upon my first morning in France, my host father tried to give me the bise, I recoiled in surprise. Every morning thereafter, when he made his morning bise rounds around the breakfast table, he offered me a firm handshake, which made me feel all the more ridiculous.
14
09, 2012
What the French Révolution means to me
I want to shove underlined passages under the noses of uninterested Frenchmen, to point to them and say, “Look, see. This is why you are the way you are. This is why I will never be like you.”
7
08, 2012
Those three little French words
No matter how long I stay in France, there are certain expressions that will never have the same meaning in French as they do in English.
6
07, 2012
Giving my heart to France
I fell in love with France easily, but giving my heart wholly to a new country and language took more time; it's easy to fall in love with France, but how do you stay in love when she won't let you in?
