16.18 - France Gets Under Your Skin. These Writers Show You How
In the FREE le Bulletin: A new contributor introduced, nature hiding in plain sight, a spice cabinet rabbit hole, small joys worth savouring, and four notes that moved a nation
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: “16.18.a - They Found Us. And France Has Never Been More Inexhaustible.. It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy - 9.5.2026
1. A New Chapter for MyFrenchLife™ Magazine Contributors - check out these new profiles
Profile #3 - Shelby Chambers
To Find THE LIST of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine CONTRIBUTORS:
[https://myfrenchlife.org/p/contributors-myfrenchlife-zine ]TO FIND SHELBY CHAMBERS’ WORK:
[https://www.myfrenchlife.org/t/shelby-chambers ]
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
→Introducing New Contributor Elizabeth Joubert
I’m a Californian who was a marine biologist before moving to France and trading my wetsuit for pen and paper. “
After three years in Limoges, we made the Paris area home. We have two daughters, who speak perfect Franglais. Thanks to frequent school holidays, I’m an expert at entertaining kids in Paris.”
I love the ballet, opera, and museums; my carte blanche for the Musée d’Orsay is a treasured possession. My writing, which focuses on culture and identity, has appeared in Newsweek, Zibby Mag, The Haven, and my Substack, This Week in France. “
A nature lover, I like to explore the parks and green spaces around Paris where I live with my husband and two daughters. I spend several weeks a year hiking and skiing in the Alps.”
In the land of bread and cheese, I am both gluten- and dairy-free, curse the heavens,” said Elizabeth Joubert.
It’s now my pleasure to ask you to join me in welcoming Elizabeth and learning more about her and her life through her beautiful first article with us: “Finding Nature in the Heart of Paris.”
a) Finding Nature in the Heart of Paris
by Elizabeth Joubert
I’m fanatical about our abundant parks and green spaces, which were an unexpected gift of our move to Greater Paris. When we came to the city from the rural outskirts of Limoges, we knew we’d have more access to culture, but were delighted to realize we’d increased our access to nature, too.”
My French husband and I started our lives together in California, but I had the bright idea to move to France when we had our first baby, so we could all be bilingual (it worked out in the long run, but boy, was that a transition). We’d hoped to go to Paris, but ended up in an agricultural community that was the definition of bucolic. I worked to appreciate the local character, which included lots of farm animals…” wrote Elizabeth.
b) Everything You Always Wanted to Know About French Herb & Spice Blends
by Laura Washburn Hutton
There were two choices: fill in the forms for my French taxes or clean the spice cabinet. No prizes for guessing what happened.”
There were the usual duplicate spice jars and a few out-of-date items for keeping, because you never know. And, a surprising number of blends, given that I’m not a huge fan of spice blends.”
Surprisingly, also, hardly any are French.”
There are always exceptions…” wrote Laura Washburn Hutton
c) Little French Joys That Keep Me Going
by Shelby Chambers
…I’m not sure if it’s due to age, motherhood, or desperate times, but I’m on a corny and earnest mission of late to try to appreciate the little things in life. “
Maybe some appreciation will make this year a tad more bearable until the midterm elections, until work picks up, until the sun comes out again, both figuratively and literally…” writes Shelby Chambers.
d) Four Notes and a Nation
by Judy MacMahon
The man at the centre of the story is Michaël Boumendil, founder of a Paris-based sound branding agency called Sixième Son. In 2004, the SNCF came to him with a problem. The SNCF had always used a jingle, but it was the old one, the Do-Me-Sol of the 1990s, and it had gone stale. The company was going through a full rebrand, new logo and all, and the sonic identity needed to keep pace. Boumendil’s brief was simple: give France’s national railway a sound that people would actually feel something about.”
Before a single note was composed, Sixième Son did something quite unusual…”
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 feels like a proper gathering.
Elizabeth Joubert joins our community as a new contributor, bringing nature, Paris, and a perspective that’s entirely her own.
Laura Washburn Hutton turns a spice cabinet into a rabbit hole — as they tend to do. Shelby Chambers gives small joys the attention they deserve.
And in Four Notes and a Nation, I was digging deep. I went looking for the story behind the most heard sound in France. I loved writing that piece. Sound is such an intimate thing, and this story took me somewhere unexpected. I hope it does the same for you.
Merci à toutes. To Elizabeth, Laura, and Shelby — thank you for taking our readers deeper into France, beyond the cliché, exactly where we love to be.
À bientôt.
Judy
judy@myfrenchlife.org
Thanks for reading ‘le Bulletin’! This post is public, so feel free to share it.
‘le Bulletin’ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support us, I personally ask you to consider becoming a free or annual subscriber.
Here’s how you can stay in touch & personalise your le Bulletin experience, and deepen your French connection.
🔓 Here you can UNLOCK EXCLUSIVE FRENCH STORIES:
Become an annual member and save! Enjoy exclusive, intimate glimpses into France and French lives delivered straight to your inbox.
⭐ How you can BECOME A CHERISHED MIGHTY SUPPORTER:
If you love le Bulletin, you can help us share more stories of remarkable French women and authentic French experiences. Plus, enjoy special perks!
🎁 Perhaps you’d like to SHARE THE INSPIRATION:
Gift le Bulletin to friends and family who admire the strength and spirit of French women. It’s the perfect way to share your passion for France.
💡 And don’t forget… you can always EXPLORE THE ARCHIVES:
Discover even more inspiring stories in our complete newsletter archive. Perfect for satisfying your Francophile cravings whenever suits you, wherever you live.