In this episode, I talk about how important my family and friends are to me and how despite being far away from them, I think of them every day. I also explain how excited I am to see them in August for our big event and how I will help them organise their trip to Quebec by setting up a WhatsApp to share places to visit and things to do while they are vacationing.

In this episode, I talk about the moments of happiness I have had since my last episode: - our game nights with Laila and Ricardo, Ian and June and our Italian caterers and friends now, Cassy and Lee. - my beef bourguignon - our renovations with the help of Jesus - Mother's day - and finally, my new students: Marie-Amandine, Daira and Sara

In this episode, I talk about the brunch we were invited to on Sunday at our Polish friends, Kris and Aga. As usual, they welcomed us with open arms. They prepared a traditional Polish Easter lunch: a soup to start with, sausages and boiled eggs and many desserts including a cheesecake, a chocolate tart and a Panetonne. We discussed our traditions around Easter and also shared recommendations for good books and movies to watch. Friends and good times. Nothing better than that. Happy Easter!

In this episode, I talk about Valentine's day and the legends behind it. I also talk about the French expressions related to love and how the world celebrates it. Enjoy and Happy Valentine's to everybody!

In this episode, I talk about career week at my son's school. It is a week where parents are invited to talk about their profession. Etienne asked me to participate in it and I was glad to do it. The students and the teacher, Miss Antonia, were so welcoming. They asked great questions. Later this year, I explain how I will help Etienne's teacher organise the graduation party for his class to celebrate the end of their primary school years. Today is also my son's birthday so I wish him a great...

In this episode, I wish everybody a happy new year! I resume what we did as a family for Christmas and our New Year holidays. I also explain why we have been busy lately with our upcoming wedding and how much our kids participated in the planning. I also explained how 2024 started off with new students and new challenges. Happy listening!

In this episode, I talk about Will, my step son who just celebrated his 12th birthday. I talk about the person he is and all the ordeals he had to go through in the last three years due to his drug resistant epilepsy. I speak about his new school and his Paralympic club that he attends every Saturday. I praise him for being so brave and kind, and for teaching us every day two important things: positivity and humility.

In this episode, I explain why this week was so good. Great temperatures! Wonderful colours of the leaves! Fall is finally here. Let's cheer to the wonderful colours around us but also to the great seasonal products we will have for a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.

In this episode, I share my thoughts about the transition from primary school to secondary schools for Etienne. I also talk about the admission tests to get into a private school in Quebec when your child is in 6th grade. I also ask people to give me some advice to make my kids' lunch boxes more varied as I tend to run out of ideas when it comes to preparing lunches.

In this episode, I talk about my latest trip to France and the reasons why this time, it was a very special holiday. I mention the places I have visited this summer and the people who came with me on this trip. Among the places I mention, here are a few that might catch your attention if you plan a visit in Limousin: - château de Marzac - gouffre de Proumeyssac - Brantôme Happy Summer everybody!

In this episode, I talk about the differences between French humour and British humour. I mention the humorists that I love watching on different platforms and the reasons why I like them so much. Here is a list of my favorite comedians: Florence Foresti Michael McIntyre Loic Suberville Paul Taylor As we celebrate Canada Day this weekend, let's take time to laugh harder than usual.

In this episode, I speak about a new idea that I have had for our family! Saturday is our game night! We get together with our neighbours who are originally from Brazil and we play games with the kids. It takes place at either their place or ours and we eat finger food. Here is the list of games we usually play: 1. Geo guesser 2. Heads up 3. Time's up 4. Boggle It is something that we, as parents, have very much cherished in the last few months and so have the kids. So if you have any...

In this episode, I talk about the joy of reading. Since finishing my biggest contract to date with the government, I have taken a week off where I rediscovered the joy of reading. During that time, I caught up on the book Surrender retracing Bono's life (the U2 lead singer). I also started reading the book from the NPR journalist, Mary Louise Kelly: It goes so fast. It was offered to me by the kids and Bill on Mother's Day. It is such a great book! It shows how important it is not to always...

In this episode, I revisit the highlights of the last few months: my trip to Banff with Bill, my weekend in Ottawa with the kids and the launch of my website. I would like to include some links here for the places I visited in Banff as I thought they were awesome and could be useful for anyone wanting to visit Banff. I also would like to share with you the website of Julien, my website designer, who I think he is so talented and professional. He is awesome...

In this episode, I interview my nephew, Quentin. He opens up about his hobbies, especially sports and his energetic personality.  

In this episode, I sit down with Julie who is my niece. She has just turned 16 and she explains how she spends her summer vacation and her school year ahead. She also speaks about the special bond she has with her dog, raven and what she does to train her to obey. At the end of the extract, she tells us about the way she views life and how important it is to embrace whichever opportunity life brings us.

In this new episode, I sit down with my mum during our holidays together to discuss her retirement. She explains how she fills her time with different hobbies like painting, gardening and walking with her walking group. She also tells us about her plan with my father to open a bed and breakfast in the fall. The link for their holiday rental will appear below. 

In this episode, I speak with my father about his vocation as a chef and his passion for food. We revisit traditional recipes such as clafoutis which I have included the link for the recipe below. We also talk about the French eating habits (baguette, cheeses, apéritif) and the new trends.  https://www.clafoutis-aux-cerises.com/recette-clafoutis.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMj2MiB-bvM

In this episode, I tell you all about my summer plans, starting by my trip to France with my children to reconnect with my parents and my sister. I speak about a place I have never visited before (le Pont du Gard). I also talk about what we will do there during our week at the campsite. I feel lucky that we will have access to kayaks and canoes as there is a heatwave right now in France. Heat wave is called la canicule in French.  Here is a news article related to the...

In this episode, I talk about my husband's birthday. I explain where we went to celebrate him: an escape room! This was a new concept for us and I wanted to share my thoughts on that evening . We went with 6 other people (our friends) and as well as solving clues, we discovered new traits about our close circle. Some are very pragmatic while others are day-dreamers. The conclusion is that we need everybody to solve mysteries as we see each situation with a different perspective and that's...

In this episode, my husband talks about travelling to Israel for his work. He explains the differences he noticed during his 5 days over there, the different types of landscape he discovered while driving through Israel, his last night in Tel Aviv and travelling first class to get there. You will notice that Bill makes some mistakes about the verbs of movement in the past, such as aller or revenir which should both be conjugated with the auxiliary être. It's a common mistake learners make and...

In this episode, I talk about food having grown up in a rural part of France and having later immigrated to different countries where food is viewed differently. I share my experiences and what I noticed living abroad. Here are some expressions I use in this podcast:  - mettre les petits plats dans les grands = préparer une belle table et élaborer un menu délicat - prendre un pot = prendre un verre

In this episode, I share with you my thoughts on sports and which place they have in my life. I also talk about the verbs JOUER and FAIRE which are both used when it comes to talking about sports depending on which sport you are referring to. Here is a link to consolidate this grammatical notion, including how to conjugate them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dyx7Q_ouVY To expand you vocabulary on sports, here is also a useful link with a little quiz at the...

In this episode, I share some thoughts about the cultural differences I noticed when it comes to talking about the weather. I also talk about my experience as a French person living in Quebec where winters are known to be very cold and what to expect if someone wants to immigrate in this part of the world. I also explain why spring has become my favorite season. In terms of grammar, you will notice  in this podcast how I use a variety of verb tenses (past, present, future) but I rarely talk...