Je Parle Franglais

Just a girl trying to make her way through France…

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Category Archives: Everyday Living

Taking the TEF Résident (Test d’Evaluation de Français)

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Read about my experience taking an official French test (TEF résident)…

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Everyday Living, My Life in France

Macaron Madness

January 26, 2014by Jeparlefranglais 3 Comments

One of the first things that I learned about the French in the south is that eating out is more of the exception, than the rule. Although there are many […]

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Everyday Living, My Life in France

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I’ve been hearing rumors of another lockdown coming, so we’re enjoying the great outdoors while we can...

Life in France is not always a garden of roses (though they can be beautiful). My latest hurdle to establishing French residency was taking an official French test (le test d’evaluation de français or TEF for short). Given that I haven’t taken a French class in over 20 years, this turned out to be an interesting experience. Find out all about it on my latest blog post (link in bio)…

The weatherman was finally right! We got snow today! ❄️

The Jardin des Tuileries peacefully blanketed under a layer of snow 3 years ago. With snow in the weather forecast tomorrow, will this happen again? Stay tuned... ❄️

2020 as a whole has been pretty terrible, but I’m grateful for the little things, such as being able to explore this little corner of Portugal earlier this year, pre-COVID. Thank you @jwabroad and @kaniciacognard for being such great tour guides and taking to some of your favorite areas in the Algarve - it’s easy to see why they were your faves!

I can’t believe that this has been my first post in months. Maybe because I’m usually inspired by travel, and that has been pretty non-existent in 2020 (the exception being this wonderful trip to Seville in January pre-COVID). But there have been little things to be thankful for - specifically being able to return to France after being stuck in the US for 3 months with 4 flights cancelled. Now that we’re back, I’m cautiously planning a trip for the first time in over 6 months. Still unsure on the destination, but it’s definitely going to within driving distance and somewhere where we can spend the majority of our time outdoors and socially distant. And as modest as this is, it’s is giving me the energy to get going again...

I would love to have one of these doors for my home. If I can ever return home, that is... I’m still stuck here in San Francisco waiting for a flight back to Paris. Since San Francisco is my hometown, I have a place to stay and family close by. So, compared with many in this situation, I have a lot to be grateful for. But I miss traveling, I miss Europe, and I especially miss France. One day I’ll be able to get a flight back home, hopefully sooner rather than later... Photo info: This beautiful door was taken at the Real Alcazar in Seville, a royal palace built in the 14th century. The tile work and details all around are an excellent example of the Mudejar architecture common in the region. .

Looking back to beautiful Seville two months ago, where our biggest problem was finding the entrance to the Alcazar…. Miss wandering through the Seville streets with you @kaniciacognard and @jwabroad ! 💛

Reflecting on finding beauty in the little things during our winter trip to Spain... One of our favorite things to do in Seville was to just walk around the neighborhoods. The doors themselves are beautiful, but they were even better when open, leading to peaceful orange-tree filled courtyards.