Tag: moving teenager to france

Our French Life

Top 5 Things I Miss From The UK

ournormandylife

58779026_10158461297119816_194237349045993472_o.jpg

Okay, the other day I posted a picture of the empty road as we made our way up to the coast. It was a Bank Holiday here in France  – the first of many in May and the kids were off. We took two with us and left one at home. We had a nice wander at a Vide Grenier/ Brocante in Beauchamp before heading on up the coast to Saint-Pair-Sur-Mer.

Another facebook friend of mine had taken a picture of her location (much further south in France) and remarked at the lack of traffic. Being highly original and thinking “oh yeah!” no traffic on a Bank Holiday I did the same. Another facebook friend jokingly remarked “how on earth will you manage?!”. I replied that I did still miss Chinese/Indian take-aways and this got me thinking about my smug post on very little traffic. Continue reading “Top 5 Things I Miss From The UK” →

Our French Life, our relocation life

The Wild West Of Normandy

ournormandylife

playmobil

Now, I was initially going to write this post about the British ‘ex-pats’ in Normandy and all that goes with that. However, following on from multiple tales of burglaries and the like in this region, I feel this post has a great deal of relevance and is more than just blogging fodder.

Now with all my posts I feel I need to put a disclaimer that this is meant to be a bit light-hearted (albeit true) and it is only my experience. You may have had none of what I am about to mention and great stuff if that’s the case. However, I feel I would be doing others a disservice if I did not mention the unsavoury element of living somewhere new and in particular, here in Normandy. Once again, strap in. Continue reading “The Wild West Of Normandy” →

Our French Life

Master Normandy Gives Up The Velo Club

ournormandylife

 

36415196_10157605732724816_6865999547621965824_o

No. God No! Actually it’s okay. I think I’m more sad about it than he is.  Prior to writing this blog post I was about to write about his velo club. About how joining a club as soon as you arrive, be it for yourself or your children, is a great idea. It throws you into a normal French life, normal routine and catapults you into speaking, listening and understanding the language. Don’t wait until your French has improved – it’s always improving, it’s a lifelong project. Do it the moment you arrive. I’m so glad we did. What if I’d waited for a year until I decided to enrol him into this club? We would have missed the boat and he would never have experienced all the wonderful aspects of being part of a team. I’d also say children change massively – the difference in 15 months from the 13 year old that arrived to this 14 year old is huge. Continue reading “Master Normandy Gives Up The Velo Club” →

Our French Life, Our School Life

What Colour Is Your Stationery Badge?

ournormandylife

If you’re moving to France with kids then you need to get yourself acquainted with stationery and lots of it.  I’m not talking about your light weight WH Smith range I’m talking about hard-core stationery that you never even knew existed! If you’re into a bit of stationery then you will love France. I’d go so far as to say you will need a stationery cupboard at home. There I’ve said it. They don’t mention that on their renovating forums now do they?

21192181_10156627255104816_2312742505406008794_n
This is just for my youngest going into CE1 (aka year 1 but really Year 3 in UK)

Continue reading “What Colour Is Your Stationery Badge?” →

Our French Life, Our School Life

Which Is Better?

ournormandylife

 

21271369_822657557901614_4765415528488206370_nI think it might have been about 12 am when I gave my husband a nudge – and not in a good way as he would say – “I just don’t want to ruin their lives!” were actual words that uttered from my mouth before we moved.

My main concern (and I am sure it is for most parents) was how would the children adjust? How would they manage switching from the UK school system to a French one? I’m not going to lie, on occasions, it did keep me up at night.

Continue reading “Which Is Better?” →