16.09 - This Week, Paris Reveals Itself — Slowly, Deeply, Beautifully
Inside this FREE le Bulletin you'll find: Sacred paths, ancient stones and the French art of getting away from it all — this week we go deeper into France than the guidebooks ever thought to look.
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: “16.09.a - The Kind of Week That Makes You Fall in Love With France All Over Again.“It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt ! Warmly, Judy - 7.3.2026
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
An Invitation to See the City Through Three Lenses
Paris has always been a city of seekers. Pilgrims, artists, mystics, all drawn here by something beyond explanation, something that whispers to those who are listening.
There is the Paris of postcards and itineraries, the city of landmarks and guidebooks. And then there is the Paris that reveals itself slowly, intimately, to those who walk with intention.
Here, in the Sacred Paris City Guides, I invite you to step into the city not as a tourist, but as a pilgrim, an artist, or a sacred feminine seeker: three lenses, three ways of experiencing the same streets in profoundly different ways.
If you visit Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, you will no doubt see the Hôtel-Dieu nearby, on the north side of Île-de-la-Cité. The word ‘hôtel’ in this case refers to a shelter, because that’s the purpose it served, as God’s Shelter.
But first, some history.
Hôtel-Dieu was constructed in the 7th century by the Bishop of Paris at the time. Its location is significant because the early version of Paris, once called Lutèce, was centered on Île de la Cité. It was considered a major religious and political center that saw everything from public executions to coronations…” writes Jenn Bragg.
Where do the French like to go on vacation? Let’s ask the experts.
Les Entreprises de Voyage is an organization that represents thousands of French travel agents and tourism professionals. Each year, it publishes a report on the most popular winter and summer destinations for French tourists. What does the 2025 edition tell us?” writes Keith Van Sickle.
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine.” Judy MacMahon
bonjour mes amis
Patricia Russo, this week, offers something I find genuinely rare — an invitation to experience Paris not as a destination but as a revelation. Her Sacred Paris City Guides ask us to choose our lens: pilgrim, artist, sacred feminine seeker. Whichever you choose, I promise you will never walk those streets quite the same way again. And Jenn Bragg takes us even further back — all the way to the 7th century and the extraordinary Hôtel-Dieu on Île de la Cité, God’s Shelter, still standing on the same ground where Paris itself was born.
Keith Van Sickle rounds out the week with characteristic warmth and insight, following the French on their favourite holidays — because if anyone knows how to do leisure properly, it is the French, and Keith knows how to tell that story.
To you and all other wonderful free readers: merci, as always, for being here. And if you haven’t yet read the PAID edition this week — “France Doesn’t Give Up Its Secrets Easily — But This Week, We Got Lucky”. And the Writers’ Room alone is worth the upgrade.
À bientôt, dear friends.
Judy x judy@myfrenchlife.org PS: What is the Writers’ Room? The Writers’ Room is a paid, exclusive feature on individual MyFrenchLife Contributor profiles, offered one-by-one. Contributors interview each other about their lives rather than their work. I’m loving it, and both Contributors and subscribers are too. Why not give it a try?
P.P.S. One final recommendation from me this week — Cynthia Karena's two new film reviews are well worth your time. The Alliance Française Film Festival opens across Australia on 3 March, and Cynthia has reviewed Cycle of Time (a witty gender-swap comedy with a French twist) and The French Job (inspired by a real, still-unsolved heist at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris). Lovely reading — and even lovelier watching.
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