Author: Victoria Wall

Following hours of foreign dictionary studying at university and a tapas-and-cerveza filled year in Madrid, Victoria decided it was high time to put her French and la belle vie Parisienne to the test. This Brit from near-London initially worked as an enthusiastic-yet-underpaid English teacher and has now become a translator-copywriter-community manager for a French website. Two years after arriving in Paris, she has had ample opportunity to fall amoureuse with every single arrondissement of the city of love and light, from picture postcard Montmartre to the winding backstreets of the almost provincial 20ème.

35 hour work week – time for gazing at the Seine – Christophe Hue Many associate French working life with 35-hour weeks, strikes, long long lunch breaks and even longer holidays. This is certainly the image that I’d carefully conjured in my idealistic head before setting foot in France. The big question: does reality live… …read more

To do une soirée or not to do une soirée? What exactly is this rather elegant and mysterious sounding soirée? And, how should it be approached by mere Anglophone mortals? Definition Noun: soirée: party or gathering, with a sophisticated name to impress  the uninitiated, taking place in apartments across the glimmering city of lights (usually accompanied… …read more

Mic Mac When I popped home to the UK in November, London was already in full festive swing with Christmas trees, festive songs and neon lights galore. Sent back with a Cadbury’s chocolate advent calendar adorned with an oversized Santa, I was ready to start the Christmas season with a bang. Making Magique Yet once… …read more

Lost In Cheeseland On arriving in Paris, No.1 on the lengthy to-do list (in between museum visiting and restaurant testing, bien sûr) is deciphering the elision-liaison-silent-letter-filled waves of French flying from left, right and center. Before setting foot (or even a single toe) on Parisian soil, I had already been vigorously drilled with irregular verbs… …read more

Little Brown Pen Warm? Friendly? Spontaneous? These aren’t perhaps the first words that spring to mind when describing the typical Parisien. However, I can assure you that once you learn to greet and meet like a local, the slightly frosty exterior slowly begins to melt. The bonjour In Paris it’s essential to say bonjour many… …read more