16.15 - Chocolat & the French Art of Not Trying Too Hard PLUS better introducing our Contributor team
In the FREE le Bulletin: Suzanne Grosso Vidal steps forward first, Jenn Bragg brings you Chocolat, Caroline McCormick-Clarke harvests Champagne, Pamela Clapp does the rest.
Today at a Glance: Your FREE weekly newsletter
Bonjour mes ami(e)s !
It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today. Bienvenue !
A New Chapter for MyFrenchLife™ Magazine Contributors
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: “16.15.a - From Cuban Slave to French Clown, Autumn Harvests & the People Who Fill Your Cup. It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy - 18.4.2026
1. A New Chapter for MyFrenchLife™ Magazine Contributors
You’ve been reading their work for years. Some of you have been reading certain contributors since the very beginning, following them through their adventures, their discoveries, their quietly brilliant observations about France and French life. But apart from their bylines, most of them have remained a little mysterious. Who are they, really? What brought them to France? What keeps them writing about it? Earlier this year, I started a weekly spotlight feature in the PAID edition of le Bulletin called The Writers’ Room, where each contributor stepped out from behind their articles and became the story.
Our paid subscribers loved it. But it always felt like something that deserved a wider audience. So I’m changing that.
From now on, as I build out our Contributors page on the site, each contributor will have a proper profile: who they are, with the best of what they’ve shared about their life and France. And each time I add another contributor, I’ll introduce them here, in the FREE edition.
We’re starting with Suzanne Grosso Vidal, a long-term and generous contributor to MyFrenchLife™ – MaVieFrançaise® whose writing and photographs have brought the South of France to life for our readers for years. Thirty-plus years in France. French citizenship. An American accent she has never lost and long since stopped apologising for.
Let’s find her new profile.
Ready? Come with me.
1. Head to MyFrenchLife.org and select Zine from the menu.
2. You’ll see an article marked “READ THIS FIRST.” Click it, and you’ll see this page
3. Inside, you’ll find a link to our full list of contributors, ~35 talented writers, most of whom live in France. Click through…
4. Scroll toward the bottom of the page. There she is.
Click Explore, and you’re in: Discover all of Suzanne’s articles that have been published on MyFrenchLife Magazine - Lots of lovely reading and wonderful photographs as Suzanne tucks you under her arm and invites you into her French life.
”Avec toute ma gratitude, Suzanne”
Bonne lecture
Judy
PS: If you have difficulty navigating, please let me know by DM or a comment below
2. 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”
Judy
Our list of valued Contributors →
a) Domaine Évremond
by Caroline McCormick-Clarke
I began writing this article on the 1st September 2025. Summer has come to an end, and
the seasons are changingthe season began changing weeks ago. Autumn has definitely arrived, and Harvest is early as I write this.”
Photo: author, Wild Autumn Berries
The blackberries, rose hips, hawthorn and sloe berries on the hedgerows ripened weeks earlier this year; the swallows and swifts began their return journey to Africa much earlier this summer and in suburbia, the leaves were falling on the lawns and pavements far too early.”
In France, some wine growers began harvesting their grapes as early as 19th August this year…” wrote Caroline McCormick-Clarke.
b) From Cuban slave to beloved French clown: the story of Chocolat
by Jenn Bragg
As we began March, Black History Month had just come to a close in the U.S. I felt this was a great opportunity to tell you about a man who once entertained the masses in France, mostly Paris, as the clown ‘Chocolat’.”
Young Rafael becomes ‘Chocolat’”
Rafael Padilla was born around 1868, the son of slaves working on a plantation in Cuba. For reasons unknown, he was taken from the plantation to Havana and placed under the care of a woman there. The woman then sold Rafael when he was about 10 years old to a wealthy merchant from Bilbao, Spain. He sailed for Europe and left Cuba behind…” wrote Jenn Bragg.
c) How to Become Your Best Self in 2026 (And Why the French Don’t Try So Hard)
by Pamela Clapp
Hopefully, you rolled your eyes when you read the title.”
By now, you’ve already heard how to become your best self in 2026.
In podcasts, on social media, in listicles that promise clarity before the year has even begun.”With Love From Paris is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.”
In the U.S., this moment comes with a particular intensity. Intentions aren’t just something you hold; they’re something you articulate, share, and sometimes perform. They show up everywhere — promising discipline, transformation, reinvention. As if the new year were a blank slate, waiting for you to start over.”
In France, it doesn’t quite work that way…”
4. The Man Who Vouched for the Chairs at Versailles
by Judy MacMahon
A Parisian dynasty. A scandal at the Palace of Versailles. And a very warm welcome from a city that forgot to ask why he left France.
Note: This article is part of our French Culture Deep-Dive Collection…
Bonne lecture…
3. Merci mille fois
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine.”
Judy MacMahon
Merci mille fois d’être ici, mes ami(e)s. Thanks for being here.
This week, something new began, and you’re part of it. Suzanne Grosso Vidal is on the site, properly, with her story and every article she has ever written for MyFrenchLife™ – MaVieFrançaise® waiting for you. She is the first, and other Contributors will follow, every week, right here in the free edition.
Jenn Bragg gave you Rafael Padilla, born into slavery in Cuba, adored across Paris as the clown Chocolat. Caroline McCormick-Clarke took you to Champagne country as the harvest came in early and the swallows left ahead of schedule. And Pamela Clapp made an airtight case for the French art of not trying too hard.
Bonne lecture, mes ami(e)s.
À bientôt.
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