16.00 - New Year, New Stories: France Beyond the Cliché Awaits
In this FREE le Bulletin 3 fresh stories await: artisanal goat cheese from Touraine, the extraordinary Lee Miller, & a giant omelette festival that'll make you smile. Welcome back. Let 2026 begin!
Today at a Glance: Your FREE weekly newsletter
Bonjour mes amis !
It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today, at the beginning of a new year! 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: “16.00.a - We’ve Been Celebrating New Year on the Wrong Day“- It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy - 3.1.2026
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
Our list of valued Contributors →
a) Sainte Maure de Touraine: The wonder of Fromage – unveiling one French cheese at a time
by Emily Monaco
France is home to over 3,000 goat cheese producers, who make a wide variety of cheeses ranging from fresh, soft chèvres to solid, snowy white tommes; from unadorned disks to pyramids with an ashy, grey hue. Flavor profiles run the gamut from grassy to lactic to herbaceous; textures may be creamy or fudgy, runny or firm, and origins span nearly every region from Champagne to Corsica…” writes Emily Monaco.
b) Lee Miller: An Extraordinary Life
by Caroline McCormick-Clarke
I was inspired by Anne Boyd’s excellent Substack article on Lee Miller below to drive down through the back roads, the golden autumnal leaves, and the sunshine of Kent and East Sussex, to visit the photographic exhibition Lee and Lee at Farleys House and Gallery, Muddles Green, Chiddingly, last Friday. It was a two-hour drive there and back—but it was worth it…” writes Caroline McCormick-Clarke.
c) The Giant Omelette of Bessières: When Folklore, Fire, and 15,000 Eggs Feed a Town
by Keith Christiansen
Every Easter Monday, the small town of Bessières in southwestern France turns itself over to a wonderfully absurd tradition: the Giant Omelette Festival, or Fête de l’Omelette Géante.
In the town square, locals crack 15,000 eggs into a custom-made, 13-foot pan and cook up one massive, communal dish over an open flame. What began in 1973 as a playful tourism stunt has become a full-fledged annual ritual, complete with robes, music, and a global omelette society. It’s less about culinary finesse and more about community, folklore, and putting on a show that’s as much about togetherness as it is about eggs.
The town doubles in size, but it’s not such a big town to start with…” writes Keith Christiansen.
2. MyFrenchLife™ BookClub EVENT
Mona’s eyes: IMPORTANT #bookclub EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT / online meeting
RSVP - essential with email address : French BookClub event: Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser — Friday & Saturday 16 & 17 January, 2026. CHECK timezones below for event timing.
If you’re planning to attend, then we need your email address to send you the online event link.
Bonjour, MyFrenchLife™ French BookClub members
We are pleased to announce our first online Book Club event for 2026.
This will be a free event where we can all chat and share our views about this intriguing book. Some of you will have read in English, others in French - all are very welcome.
Discussion will be in English.
We’ll discuss this book on Friday, January 16th & Saturday 17 January, 2026- depending on your location.
SELECT and NOTE Your timezone - perhaps set a reminder :)
UK - 7pm Friday 16 January.
France - 8pm Friday 16 January
US Eastern - 2pm Friday 16 January
US Central - 1pm Friday 16 January
US Mountain - 12 noon 16 January
US Pacific - 11am Friday 16 January
Australia/Melbourne, Sydney - 6am Saturday 17 January
New Zealand - 8am Saturday 17 January
RSVP ESSENTIAL→
We look forward to your RSVP AND provide your email HERE. We need your email address to send you the online event link. Access is by LINK ONLY.
Mona’s Eyes participates in the tradition of interaction between Art and Literature:
As a preamble to this discussion, you may want to think about the favorite artwork or artist you read about!
Jacqueline Dubois and Judy MacMahon
3. Merci mille fois
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife Magazine.”
Judy MacMahon
Chers amis (dear friends)
Thank you for being part of our vibrant global community! Each week, I'm honored to gather these stories for you—the quirky, the beautiful, the delicious corners of France that make life so rich.
What a joy it is to connect with Francophiles from every corner of the world, all united by a shared passion for authentic French culture and experiences.
As we welcome 2026, I want to remind you of the wealth of resources you have access to:
- our extensive archive of articles taking you across every region of France,
- insights from our talented family of contributors who live & breathe French life,
- our two exclusive and curated libraries #FranceStack for Francophiles and #FrenchStack for Francophones.
- our French #bookclub
- and the opportunity to make connections with other like-minded Francophiles.
…and for PAID subscribers, those exclusive weekend le Bulletin editions that offer even richer explorations. And the new feature: fortnightly deep-dive French culture articles from me, and so much more...
Here's to a wonderful year ahead filled with discovery, connection, and perhaps a little more fromage than is strictly necessary.
You make this journey meaningful.
With warmth and gratitude,
Judy x
judy@myfrenchlife.org
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Happy New Year from Ireland 🥂🍾