It's time to move!

In more ways than one...

Bonjour & bienvenue!

Change can be a very good thing. The French Life newsletter has moved to a fresh, new platform and I’m very excited to see you all here! Not only will the newsletter be more visually appealing now (and much more modern!), but I’m also offering readers a chance to become paid subscribers for only $6 a month. You’ll receive the monthly newsletter as well as exclusive posts, recipes, culinary videos and updates documenting my move to France. Please note that there is no obligation whatsoever – as a free subscriber you will continue to receive news, recipes and posts on all things French. Additionally, I have moved all my subscribers to this platform, but if you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you can hit the unsubscribe button at the bottom of this page (though I must admit, I’ll hate to see you go).

As most of you who have been following me know, I will be headed to Burgundy on Saturday for a creative retreat. We’ve rented a beautiful, little cottage deep in the French countryside where I will be spending mornings working on my upcoming book with a big bowl of café and afternoons filming a series of cooking videos that will show you how to create delicious and utterly French recipes with vegetables.

Of course, I will also be revisiting some of my favorite restaurants and eating plenty of escargots, coq au vin and cheese. And it goes without saying that I’ll be cruising through the wine region, which spans 230 kilometers between Chablis and Grand Auxerrois in the north and Mâconnais in the south. 

I am especially fond of the Côte Chalonnaise, a sub-region of Burgundy situated to the south of the Côte-d’Or. The 100-kilometer Route des Grands Vins is replete with charming viticultural villages such as Bouzeron in the north (famous for its golden aligoté wines), Rully (the cradle of crémant and known for its 12th-century château perched on a hill overlooking the vineyards) and Buxy (home to a cave des vignerons where you can sample and buy a selection of the region’s modestly priced wines).

We’ll be back in the Netherlands in the middle of July, and our house will finally go on the market in September. After years of dreaming and debating the pros and cons of taking such a huge step, we’ve dediced life is too short to have regrets (however cliché that may sound). I must admit I find it all quite exciting, emotional and a little scary, especially since I will be celebrating 25 years in the Netherlands this October. I do feel a bit sad leaving the country that has given me so much – from a wonderful family to the privilege of having studied at the University of Leiden and even landing a job as editor to the only magazine about the Netherlands, DUTCH. When I moved here from New Jersey at the age of 19, I thought it would only be for a few years. Little did I know how much I would fall in love with Rembrandt, Vondel, prawn kroketten, bossche bollen and tulips!
But my love affair with France is unshakable. I may have been born in Colombia, raised in the US and called the Netherlands home for all these years, but there’s no question that my heart is fully French. Moving to France is almost a calling.
We started the process in the middle of last year, and believe me, there have been some tough times and disappointments. So much so that at one point I really thought of throwing in the towel. Well, my heart wasn’t having it. France, j’arrive!

Before I go, if you haven’t read my post on tomatoes, have a look here: Cooking with summer vegetables.

Thanks for following along! 

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