The expat holiday: Expectations vs. Reality

We are back from a two weeks holiday in France where we had a great time. Like every time we go home, we want to make the most of it and this time was no different. The thing is, even though we had the perfect trip in mind (cultural visits for the kids, aperitifs, meals with friends and nights out...

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Holidays

Hopefully the weather will be as good as that... The blog is probably going to be quieter for the next two weeks as we're going to Brittany tomorrow for a well deserved holiday. The kids have been there for three weeks already and according to my mum, they still don't speak French. As a matter...

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5 Irish things that still surprise me

Living here for that long, nothing should really surprise me anymore. And yet, I sometimes find myself thinking "This is really strange"... Hearing the National Anthem in odd places In France, La Marseillaise is mostly played in a stadium or at a political event. In Ireland, you'll...

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Back to the beginning

I don't know if it's the Irish football fans or the terrible things happening in France, but it seems like there is a wave of French people wanting to move to Ireland at the moment. It might be just an impression, but looking at the amount of members requests I get daily on the Facebook French...

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Meeting the French president

No need to introduce him! Before I left work on Wednesday, my boss came to me and said: "Tomorrow, when you talk to the French president, you tell him you work for an Irish company that takes on French students, and that we do great business with France as well". She was obviously a lot...

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The two sides of silence

When you become a parent, the first thing you give up (along with sleep) is silence. The house is always noisy, be it with cries, long negotiations about bed time, fights breaking, or the toys you wish you didn't buy (Hello, Hulkbuster !). In short, there is always something going on. But yesterday, my husband travelled to France with the kids where they will stay for 3 whole weeks before we...

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This is what happens when you've lived abroad for a long time

We almost didn't make it up there because I forgot it was a bank holiday in France! Back in May, we went for a short week to the South of France and one of the highlights of the holidays was the trip to the mountains I booked the week before. I chose that day because the weather forecast was...

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School's out...and a big thank you

I was going to write a post about how happy I am that school is finally over, that I don't have to make lunch boxes anymore, help with homework or iron uniforms shirts...I also thought about writing a piece about differences between French and Irish schools, but yesterday I came across an article...

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