I Left Los Angeles for Rural France. Now a Twenty-Minute Drive Feels Far.
I used to have about eight commutes a week and called it a life. My neighbor assumed a trip to Ikea meant staying the night.
Once Upon a Castle
An American in the French countryside, restoring a centuries-old château and writing the real story, from renovation decisions to culture shock, with a little magic at the edges.
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We Own a Château. We're Also the Entire Staff.
Downton Abbey made it look like breakfast in bed and a bell for the maid. Here's what it's actually like, hour by hour, in a 300-year-old French castle with no staff but us.
In August, France Simply Closes
The banks empty out, the pool guy vanishes, and an entire country walks into the sea. Notes from an American's third real summer of les vacances.
The Coach House Is Done (And France Ran Out of Air Conditioners While We Did It)
The full before-and-after reveal, the piano that arrived at 104 degrees, and the appliance store that had given up on summer entirely.
In America, Everything Was Easier. We Left Anyway.
We traded fast shipping, cheap convenience, and phone calls that actually work for a harder, better life in rural France.
Less Bud Light, More Moonlight
What a Bastille Day in France undid in me, after years of chaotic Fourths in California.
Nobody at School Spoke English, So My Kids Learned to Watch
They arrived at 2 and 4 with no French. They came out reading people.
Is France Actually Cheaper Than America?
We moved expecting to save money. The truth is stranger, and depends entirely on what you buy.
Nobody Warned Me About the French Eggs
10 small things about life here that never made it onto the moving checklist (the eggs are just the beginning).
What Have We Been Doing This Whole Time?
The coach house opens this summer. The pool tried to stop us.