When you move to a new country do you often worry about all the things that you won’t get from your homeland? The things that are so familiar to you that you can’t imagine not finding in your new foreign home?
It happened to me, to miss what I consider the best in France.
And when I asked our 5 expats participating in this third expat link-up to share what they love about France and that they can’t get at home, I didn’t imagine what they would say…
And everything they listed is actually these exact things that are so familiar to me as a French person and that I missed when living abroad!
Let’s get to know a bit more our expat linky participants. Don’t hesitate to checks their blog, YouTube channel and support them by linking and commenting!
I hope you will like what they prepared for us! I totally did!
Table of Contents
Carola in Paris from Germany
Carola moved to Paris from Germany in 2017.
She shares on her YouTube channel in English the fun things to do in Paris, some advice for expats and her discoveries in France. She also gives an extra touch that makes her channel special in my opinion!
She shares her Paris location hunt! Carola shares addresses where books and movies take place in Paris! And the good news is that she wants to keep on hunting these special places for us! Not an easy task! Thank you for that Carola!
Haven’t you always wanted to take a picture at the exact same spot where Amélie worked as a waitress for example?
I also love discovering that the French movie La Boum was famous in Germany! Most French people know this movie that made Sophie Marceau famous. It represents the youth of a typical French girl in the 80’s. It did better at the French Box Office that the Stars Wars – The Empire Strikes Back!!! This is how famous it was!
Check out her video to know the best in France according to Carola!
Don’t hesitate to check out her channel too and her other videos!
Caroline had the dream to move to Paris since she was a child. And she did! How many of us actually make our childhood dreams come true?
Many of us dream of a new life in our dream country. It might be France for you too? Well, if you are reading this blog, there is some chance it is!
Caroline’s blog will give you a pretty good idea of the expat life’s ups and downs with such a beautiful voice and great pictures! She shares her discoveries of the French capital and her joy and struggles in a very authentic way.
In this week post, she reveals one of her favourite part of her French life. One tip, she is for sure a Gourmet or should I say a Gourmande! Check out her blog post to know what’s the best in France for Caroline!
Sarah from the blog A Buckeye in Paris moved from Ohio to the French capital for love! The love of a French man. But I believe she loved France first since the day she discovered cassoulet and her love for food! Do you agree Sarah? (You’ll understand after reading her blog ;))
Sarah shares her “tales of dealing with the ever-mystic French Administration as well as the latest baking endeavor”. So if you are a gourmet and want to see how Sarah nails the French administration, a Buckeye in Paris is your go-to blog!
Sarah is a foodie, but this week she shares what for her the best in France: The French way of life!
If you want to know what makes the French way of life better for an Ohioan in Paris, check out her post. You’ll understand why Sarah aligns so well to it!
Transatlantic Living: Alyssa from Kansas - USA
Alyssa first came to France to study for her Masters and started her Youtube channel Transatlantic living. She currently lives in Montpellier. A city she deeply loves.
Besides sharing her French life experiences, and discoveries, she also explains the American culture and politics to the French people. I really like these videos!
She juggles from videos in English to videos in French with ease. (even though I’m sure it is a lot of work to create bilingual content!). She gives very relevant information and backgrounds on her culture and country, and also her adoptive country!
Alyssa is an unconditional fan of one specific element she can’t get in the USA the same way she does in France without spending a fortune.
This essential element for every human being is taken for granted by a majority of French people. We, the French, realise how valuable it is when we leave France or get to hear testimonial like Alyssa’s.
Check Alyssa’s video to know more about what’s the best in France for her! Don’t hesitate to check out her channel too and her other videos!
Camden also made her childhood dream to live in France a reality! Her dream was to live in Paris. And she did! She “ran away from [her] home country” and moved to Paris to teach English as part of the TAPIF programme. If you want to know more about it, check out Camden’s blog. You’ll know all about it.
After being a Parisienne, Camden moved to the North East of France and she now lives in Perpignan, a South of France off the beaten tracks city for another teaching job.
So she has a pretty good idea of the diversity of her adoptive country!
Camden’s started her blog as a way to keep in touch with her friends and family in the USA. I believe it became more than that since she shares a lot about her travels, her work experience and her thoughts on French culture.
Camden’s post on what is the best in France for her resonates with the posts!
Check it out and let in know in the comment below if you would add anything else!
To wrap up
I asked our five expat participants to share what they love about France and can’t get in their home country to focus on the positive aspect of expatriation.
2020 has been hard enough for everyone, and we are not out of the wood yet unfortunately.
I believe these difficult times are even harder on expats. So remembering why you make the plunge to leave your home country, can give some comfort and strength.
All the best for all of you, expats in France and around the world!
4 Comments
Graham Roberts
A tad disappointing as 4 of the 5 people are from the USA……….and it should in my opinion be a little more representative
In addition, they all appear to be from Paris…….there are other cities and regions in France that I am sure a lot of potential expats may want to hear about. I accept your target market may have a lot to do with this, but it is unfortunately not truly representative.
Hope to see better in the future
PS There are some very good and useful articles on this site. I would just hate to see it become centred on the USA.
My comments are meant to be constructive.
Mademoiselle Guiga
Hello Graham,
Thanks for taking the time to comment and read this post.
I value American citizen’s opinion as much as other nationalities. It is true that a majority of participants are from the USA, which is not representative of the English speaking expat population (native or not).
However, in terms of content creators (bloggers and YouTubers) that share content on the internet, many are Americans. I’d be more than happy to publish Indian or British bloggers as an example. By the way, there is also one British national, Caroline, who participated this time, and Carola from Germany. Also, Alyssa lives in Montpellier and Camden in Perpignan.
I do my best to contact bloggers and YouTubers from as many countries as possible, and just a portion are interested in this type of collaboration. If you know any other bloggers or YouTubers that would like to participate, don’t hesitate to direct them to me.
I hope this answers your concern and that you still valued the content they have been working one despite where they are from and where they live.
Lara Tabatabai
When I was an expat in the UK I missed the baguette and the French cheese desperately. Simple things which make your life great. Now that I live in France compared to Belgium, my home country, there isn’t anything really that I cannot find in Belgium in France, it is rather the other way round, I miss the Belgian waffles hot from the street, the chocolate shops at every corner and the beers of course because only a fraction of Belgian beers are exported, we keep the best ones to ourselves 🙂
Mademoiselle Guiga
Hello Lara,
Thank you for your comment.
Belgium chocolates and Belgium are just another levels compared to anything you can find in France! I agree. Well, regarding Belgium chocolate, I mainly know the Leonidas which are pretty creamy and tasty. Do you recommend any other local Belgium brands? I’d love to know.