Bonjour!

Hello there! As an Englishman having lived in France for nearly 18 months now, I've naturally garnered an amusing collection of stories. I've learnt a lot about a country and a people that we all (especially the English) have our own little image of. I thought that now was a fine time to share some of my experiences of this wonderful country, to see if I couldn't lend a hand to refining that image just a bit. If anyone out there is fascinated by la France, would like to learn a little bit more about locations outside of Paris and the Riviera, fancies having some of their clichés about the French busted, is interested in reading some entertaining anecdotes about life abroad, or even aspires to take the same plunge I did and move to the other side of la Manche, I hope there'll be something to interest you here.

Firstly, and most importantly of all, I would like to point out that I have absolutely no belief that I know the French better than anyone else. Living here 18 months is not nearly enough for that, and even if I spend the rest of my life in France I'll never have any claim to offer some kind of definitive guide to the country. I see a lot of travellers, expatriates, and even popular authors who seem more of the opinion that, because they live in a country or have visited it a great deal, they can speak for it. I'm English and lived in England for twenty years before coming here, but I would never say I know how all English people think and hardly regard myself as some kind of Anglo-expert, and it's the same deal here. I am one person, and one person, even with a lifetime of study, travel, and experiences, can never lay claim to having a conclusive knowledge of even a region, let alone a country. 

No, what I do believe instead is that, just like in any country, everyone's experience will differ because every citizen of every country is an individual who will react in different ways. Of course, there are certain mannerisms that are more common, reactions that you grow to expect, certain social rules by which the majority abide, and shared mindsets amongst communities; these are all things I have witnessed amongst the French and feel content to comment upon. However, there's no need to expect statements like "All French people prefer X!" or "Never say Y in front of a French woman!" here on this blog. As I said, I'm one man interacting with an infinitesimally small amount of people in the grand scheme of things. I'm happy to share what I've learnt personally about this country and its inhabitants, but please do never take it as gospel. There could be another expat who lives just down the road from me who has encountered a completely different group of people to myself and has developed a completely different understanding of the French. That's one of the wonderful things about travelling, your experiences will always vary.

With that out of the way, I'll briefly introduce myself now (although I'm sure you'll get to know me better through my posts) and give you a little background on why I'm here in the first place. My name is Michael, I'm an English Language and Literature graduate (I know, not the ideal study choice for someone living outside of England) and right now my aspiration is to become a tutor or teacher of my mother tongue here in Brittany. Why did I come here? Well, like so many classic stories, it was all about love. I made contact with a French girl via a pen pals website; we exchanged ideas, discussed the differences between our countries, shared many a joke about our respective cultures, and quickly fell for one another. With that, nothing was going to stop me getting myself over the Channel to meet this mademoiselle in reality. I did just that and now find myself living with her as a civilly unionised couple (that's a story for another post).

So there you have it, welcome to the blog and I hope you enjoy the little moments of my life in France that I plan to share with you. There'll be some funny stories, a few useful tips for those in a similar position to myself, some stereotypes shall be dissected, others you might not have heard of will be introduced, and hopefully anyone finding themselves on this blog will leave with a slightly different view of our French amis than they had to begin with.