16.06 - French Reading Culture, Drinking Less in Paris & Adventures in Cognac
Inside this FREE le Bulletin you'll find: 420 million books, questioning moderation in Paris, and making Cognac spontaneous
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,
Don’t miss the PAID subscriber edition of le Bulletin in your inbox: “16.06.a - The Writers’ Room, Book Club Magic & Reading Culture: Your Weekly French Fix.“ It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy - 14.2.2026
PS: ❤️ Happy St Valentine’s Day ❤️
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 →
New Contributor introduction:
Marie Gundersen
Marie G. Gundersen is the founder of Parisian Sundays, an editorial project exploring Paris and French culture through essays and photography. Her work focuses on everyday rituals, local habits, and the evolving character of the city — observing how Paris changes while holding on to its traditions.
Marie has lived in Paris and now splits her time between Oslo and regular stays in France, where she writes and works independently after a career in tech marketing.
Please help me welcome Marie to our Contributor Team.
Below is her first article.
a) France: A Country of Readers
by new Contributor—Marie Gundersen
Cheese, wine, joie de vivre – and books. There’s a lot to love about France, and one of my favourite aspects is the presence of reading in everyday life. For centuries, literature has been a core part of French culture, and you can still see people reading everywhere: in parks, cafés, on terraces, and on the metro — sometimes even while walking.
They are rarely reading on tablets or phones. The physical book continues to dominate. According to figures from the French publishing sector, 420 million books are sold each year…” writes Maris Gundersen.
b) Drinking Less in a City That Drinks
by Victorine Lamothe
When I picked up French journalist Claire Touzard’s Sans Alcool (Without Alcohol) at a bookshop in Belleville, it was out of sheer curiosity. I hadn’t seen many French voices entering the conversation about drinking less, especially compared to the English-speaking world.
Every January, my feeds flood with discussions about Dry January, moderation, and sobriety experiments, but this year in Paris, January looked like any other month.
Bars were full.
Smokers clutched glasses of wine at frozen terrasses.
Life rolled on, unbothered…,” writes Victorine Lamothe.
c) Cognac & the Fishing Dinghy
by Nick Garnett
“Where do you take the relatives when they’ve come to visit you every Summer for the last ten years?”.
You run out of ideas, don’t you?
This year, 2025, we had a bit of a revelation, “let’s just take them where we want to go ourselves rather than creating a ‘where have they been before’ Pinterest style ‘places to visit’ board”.
We decided on Cognac. We’d never been there before, but had often driven through on the way to the Atlantic coast, catching glimpses of Chateau in the distance, and of course, the giant Courvoisier tanks used for blending and storing both the eau-de-vie and blended liquor.
We decided to make a day of it ..” writes Nick Garnett.
3. Merci mille fois
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine.”
Judy MacMahon
420 million books sold annually! Can you believe it? While the rest of the world scrolls on phones, people in France are still buying actual books by the truckload. Meanwhile, Victorine’s sitting in Belleville wondering if she’s the only one thinking about drinking less, and Nick’s discovering that the best days are the ones you don’t overthink..
These little contradictions are what make France endlessly fascinating to me. And I’m so glad I get to share them with you every week.
A huge welcome to Marie Gundersen, who is joining our fabulous Contributor team
See you in your inbox soon, dear friends.
Thanks for being part of this,
Judy x
judy@myfrenchlife.org
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