15.48 - Three fresh reads from France (and one citizenship interview spectacularly botched)
In this FREE le Bulletin you'll learn about an illustrator who brings stories to life, a man who accidentally fell for Brittany, & the citizenship interview that still haunts our contributor's dreams.
Today at a Glance: Your FREE weekly newsletter
Bonjour mes amis !
It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today! Bienvenue !
In this newsletter, you’ll find these wonderful fresh articles taking you to France beyond the cliché,
Watch out for and don’t miss the PAID subscriber edition of le Bulletin on Saturday this weekend: “15.48.a -Five Hours, Forty Minutes: The French Company That Bounced Back (again) “- It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy - 29.11.2025
1. MyFrenchLife™ Magazine new articles
“There are many talented contributors to MyFrenchLife Magazine and I thank all of you for sharing your experiences with us in such an engaging manner.
You take us right across France & deep into many worm-holes. We delight in discovering
and learning more about France beyond the cliché”
Merci
Judy
a) How to read France: A selection of books by author and illustrator Jean Aubertin.
by Victor Coutard
I’ve known Jean for over 20 years now. We used to be neighbors, and in the evenings we’d meet up and sit on the Vélib’ stands across from the bakery to smoke cigarettes. Jean has lived several lives, but for as long as I can remember, he has always wanted to make comics and has always shown a rare gift for bringing his readings and stories to life…” writes Victor Coutard
b) How To Prep For The French Citizenship Interview
by Shelby Chambers
I promise that I’m going to tell you all about how hard I botched my French citizenship interview, because boy, did I ever botch it.
The story is long, painful, and confusing, so writing is slow-going. I noticed my brain began to erase all the memories of that one-hour interaction as soon as I returned home: the order of questions, the questions themselves; it’s all quite fuzzy now thanks to my subconscious trying to hide the trauma from my conscious mind.
So yeah, taking a while to dig everything back up, write it down, and make it entertaining for y’all.
c) The Brittany Trilogy of Mark Greenside
by Keith Van Sickle
30 years ago, Mark Greenside rented a house for the summer with his girlfriend, in Brittany’s far western region of Finistère. By the end of the summer, the girlfriend was gone, but he had become captivated by their small town in the middle of nowhere. The next thing he knew, the middle-aged Greenside was buying a house, the first he had ever owned.
Greenside has since written three books about his life in France, where he lives part of the year. The books are insightful, touching, and very, very funny. Greenside is a talented writer who brings France alive and shows us how living in Brittany has slowly changed him…” writes Keith van Sickle.
2. Merci mille fois
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife Magazine.”
Judy MacMahon
Chers amis (dear friends)
First, let me say thank you for being here, for opening these emails, for reading along with us each week. Your loyalty means the world, truly. Building this community of francophiles has been one of the great joys of this work, and you’re a big part of that.
Given it’s almost the end of the year, I wanted to remind you that if you upgrade your subscription, you’ll gain full access to the rich MyFrenchLife experience.
You know what I love about our paid editions?
The exclusive le bulletin PAID newsletter and PAID articles with a focus on French culture are places you can really settle in and explore France – no rush, no skimming, just the good stuff that takes time to tell properly. Saturday’s le Bulletin edition will be exactly that, and I’m already looking forward to sharing it with our subscribers: 15.48.a -Five Hours, Forty Minutes: The French Company That Bounced Back (again).
If you’ve been thinking about joining the paid community, there’s never a wrong time. You’ll get every Saturday edition of le Bulletin moving forward, plus instant access to everything we’ve already published. Most importantly, you’ll be part of a group of people who genuinely love France beyond the obvious – the wormholes, the unexpected corners, the stories that matter, the paradoxes, the contradictions, and so much more.
But whether you’re reading free or paid, I’m just glad you’re here.
À bientôt, and thanks for reading with me,
Judy x
judy@myfrenchlife.org
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Judy I'm thrilled to tell you that I've just.had confirmation from Paris that my Swiss passport is valid for my permanent residency in France.
There is a story here: my grandmother was French. Her ancestry goes back beyond Cbarlemagne. The de Visme's have an entire village (pop. 491) named for them in Picardie. Too easy, I thought, after brexshit was announced in 2016, I'll claim France!
For 18 months endless, fruitless, frustrating emails parried back and forth between French Bureaucracy - in French - and humble brit-born, by geographical accident, me - in English.
Hopeless. Then, voila! A Light. I emailed the Swiss Embassy. Within 24 hours an email in perfect English ... essentially confirming my father's registration in Geneva of my birth. Would I like a Swiss passport? And ID card?
Would I?!!! And within two weeks I was Swiss. At 73! So when I read this article - I truly understood the writer's Agony! N xxx