Bon weekend from Saint-Tropez!

Bonjour!

I hope that you and yours are well.

This newsletter is coming to you from the south of France, the gorgeous Gulf of Saint-Tropez where I have just arrived after visiting Menton and the incredible lemon festival – an absolutely unique event – join me on Instagram where I’m sharing videos and photos as I go – and feel free to ask me questions about what to see and do while I’m here!).

Meanwhile a massive milestone is looming for me. During the Pandemic years when we weren’t able to travel freely, I stopped producing The Good Life France magazine. Then in March 2022 as we all tried to get back to some normality and travel opened up again, I relaunched the magazine, and I decided to improve it – but still keep it free. It’s now hosted on a superfast platform so it’s easy to read. The design is down to a lovely artist called Philippa French (coincidence!). And some of the very best travel writers in the world write articles for it.

I travel far and wide in France, seeking out the best places, the secret places, the hidden gems, the most delicious restaurants and cosy bars and much, much more to share with you.

And that milestone? The Good Life France Magazine is just about to reach 25 million readers since March 2022! A huge, enormous, massive thank you so much to everyone who has read and shared the magazine – you are a big part of what has made this such an astonishing success story. Whoever would have thought an ex-office worker from London who dreamed of travel and writing, would one day move to the middle of nowhere, France (long story – 3 books long, details below!), start a blog and then a magazine and have her dreams come true. Not me, that’s for sure, I have to pinch myself daily!

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of my life-changing journey. And my 4 dogs, 7 cats, chickens, ducks and geese and occasional house-guest hedgehogs and wild birds thank you too!

Next week I’m going to visit the world-famous culinary and patisserie schools of one of the world’s top chefs – Alain Ducasse. The schools are based in Paris and Yssingeaux in the south of France, and I’m hoping to pick up some tips about what it takes to become a seriously good cake maker to share with you (and of course to eat some of the delicious cakes). And then I’ll head to Lyon – the French capital of gastronomy (and home town of my podcast partner Olivier – you can find all our podcasts here). And of course I’ll be sharing this mouth-watering journey with you on Instagram – if only I could share the cakes too, I would you know!

Wishing you a very bon week-end and bisous from a cake monster in France!
Janine
Editor

Read the whole newsletter and see this week’s top features and recipe picks

Janine Marsh is Author of My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream, My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life and Toujours la France: Living the Dream in Rural France all available as ebook, print & audio, on Amazon everywhere & all good bookshops online. Her new book How to be French – a celebration of the French lifestyle and art de vivre, is out now – a look at the French way of life.

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