16.20 - What France Does to People Who Weren't Looking
FRANCE AS IT HAPPENS — A Dordogne stone house, a dressing room that went sideways, the bistro France forgot to save, Templars on a Paris street — and The Writers' Room, now open, always there.
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: “16.20.a - Three Generations, 40,000 Bistros, One Curtain That Wouldn’t Close - It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy - 23.5.2026
1. A New Chapter for MyFrenchLife™ Magazine Contributors - check out these profiles
Profile #5 - Keith Van Sickle
To Find THE LIST of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine CONTRIBUTORS:
[https://myfrenchlife.org/p/contributors-myfrenchlife-zine ]TO FIND Keith Van Sickles’ WORK:
[https://www.myfrenchlife.org/t/keith-van-sickle ]
Keith in MyFrenchLife™ Magazine: Can be found here
CONNECT WITH KEITH VAN SICKLE - keithvansickle.com→
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, Jenny Becker
I’m a former business owner from Seattle who now lives in rural France in a 17th-century stone house in the Dordogne, where everyday life has a way of becoming a story whether I intend it to or not. What started as a leap into a completely different life slowly became a fascination with the rhythms of village life, French culture, food, markets, misunderstandings, bureaucracy, and the wonderfully strange moments that happen when you try to build a life in another country.
I write about the small collisions between expectation and reality usually involving food, language, rural customs, or situations that go slightly off the rails. My stories often begin with something ordinary and end somewhere I absolutely did not expect.
Most days involve writing, renovating, wandering through markets, attempting to understand France, and being outwitted by both bureaucracy and vegetables.
Here you’ll find Jenny’s Substack: A French Table 1—>
Please help me welcome Jenny to our talented Contributor team, writing from rural France.
Below you’ll find Jenny’s first article published in our magazine→
a) I Went to Buy a Dress in Bordeaux
by Jenny Becker - A French Table 1
THE DRESSING ROOM INCIDENT
The zipper stops halfway up my back, and I immediately blame France.”
Not the country. The lighting.”
The dressing room at Galeries Lafayette is aggressively bright, the kind of brightness that makes you aware of cartilage. The curtain refuses to close all the way, which is how I end up stepping backward into Cabin 8 and discovering a man in gray boxer briefs holding a pale blue shirt like we’ve both been assigned the wrong scene.”
We freeze.”
The mirrors multiply us into an exhibit called Poor Timing…” writes Jenny Becker.
b) The Room that Holds Everyone
by Judy MacMahon
Why the French bistro was never really only about food — and what disappears when it closes.
“The bistro isn’t a relic. It’s a practice. And like all practices, it survives only if enough people choose to keep it.”
A century ago, France had half a million bistros. Today, fewer than 40,000 remain.”
That number stopped me when I read it. Not because it’s surprising, exactly, but because of what it means to lose something at that scale without anyone quite deciding to let it go. No law was passed. No policy failed spectacularly. The bistro simply became, incrementally, harder to sustain and easier to replace with something that looks similar but carries none of the weight.”
I’ve often wondered what that weight actually is…” I wrote…
c) 20 Streets of Paris #5: Discover Rue du Temple
by Pierre Guernier
You can almost feel the ghosts of knights when you walk down Rue du Temple. Once the stronghold of the Templars, it’s now a place of cafés and boutiques, but the air still hums with secrecy. Look up at the street sign and imagine chainmail and whispers — for beneath the shopfronts, the Middle Ages still murmur.
Rue du Temple is named for one of the most fascinating lost landmarks of Paris…” wites Pierre Guernier.
d) THE WRITERS’ ROOM: Shining the spotlight on MyFrenchLife Contributors — a new home
The Writers’ Room is where the storytellers become the story.
Our talented Contributor team now spans nearly 40 writers, photographers, and creatives living across France — and in this special series, we go beyond the byline to discover the little-known stories readers don’t usually hear.
The unexpected turns. The private passions. The little-known stories. The moments that shaped a life in France. Each week, one Contributor shares their story, then hands the conversation to another Contributor — creating a growing chain of voices and connection.
There is now a dedicated place to find these, as I’ve now given The Writers’ Room a dedicated home of its own so that you can find it at any time, 24/7.
Until now, these conversations lived only inside the PAID edition of le Bulletin, but with nearly 40 Contributors across France, and a growing archive of fascinating personal stories, it felt time to create one place where Annual subscribers and Mighty Supporters can easily explore them all.
→Find the Writers’ Room — Exclusively for Annual subscribers and Mighty Supporters.
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.
Sometimes, France has a way of arriving sideways.
A former business owner from Seattle steps into the wrong dressing room in Bordeaux and finds the story she didn’t know she was looking for. A Paris street named for knights who vanished centuries ago still hums with something you can’t quite name. A number — 40,000 — sits quietly at the end of a long decline nobody chose.
That’s this week’s FRANCE AS IT HAPPENS.
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.