Savoring The Chaos: Your Irregular Dispatch From French Life

I knew I’d have to kill it. I just didn’t think it would be so soon. The “it” in question? Our kitchen, if you could call it that. A thirty-foot-long limestone cave masquerading as a living space, with a cement floor, a cinderblock ceiling, and appliances lined up on the left wall like contest...

Aug 10, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 8

We Waited All Day for 12 Seconds of Glory You don’t go to the Tour de France for the race. You go for the waiting. At least that’s what I realized, standing on a hillside above Lac de Vouglans, three hours into a picnic with no bathroom, wondering if we were even facing the right direction. It...

Jul 18, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 7

The Flat Tire and the Frenchman Last summer, my neighbor Pascal, who was renovating the bathroom in our gite, saw me unloading a new bike out of the back of our car. He asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I said “I can’t today, what about tomorrow”. And there it was. I had just committed to di...

Jul 11, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 6

How to Fail a Truck Rental in France When you rent a U-Haul in the U.S., you usually wait in line in a fairly undesirable part of town, show a driver’s license, sign a form that nobody reads, and leave with a 14-foot box truck that smelled faintly of chicken nuggets and divorce. Then you retu...

Jun 26, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 5

How a Baguette Ruined My Smile (And Nearly My Sanity) Back in my 20s, I took a baseball to the mouth. Bad bounce, worse timing. Knocked out all of the front top teeth. A good friend, and a better dentist, crafted me a bridge that lasted nearly 30 years. It had been too long, I was told. But th...

Jun 13, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 4

Excuse me sir, that is an expensive car… At least that’s what The Professor told me as he practically flung himself between it and my slowly advancing rental car. You would have thought I was about to run over his Faberge egg. But let me back up. We were in Caunes-Minervois for a month — a hillt...

by Paul Blanchard — Jun 05, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 3

I Think Just Then We Got Frenched During our first week of moving to France, we had to drive from Paris to Lot-et-Garonne — our temporary home for the next month. We’d rented a house in a tiny town called Bourlens and figured the drive would take six or seven hours. But with a dog in the backs...

by Paul Blanchard — May 23, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 2

France Is Beautiful. Until Biology Betrays You. During our month in Avignon, we tried to explore as much of Provence as we could within an hour or so from the place we were renting. One day we went over to the village of Eygalières for lunch. I had been the week before on the day I bought our ...

May 09, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring the Chaos: Issue No. 1

Hey there — First things first: thanks for being here. This is the very first issue of Savoring the Chaos, and if you’ve landed here, you’re either dreaming about moving to France, seriously planning it, or just curious what it really looks like once the filters come off. This newsletter isn’t a...

Apr 29, 2025 lead - wgf newsletter subscriber savoring the chaos

Savoring The Chaos: Your Irregular Dispatch From French Life

Honest tips, real stories, and a few missteps from life in France — part guide, part travel diary, with a glass of wine in one hand and a “did that really happen?” in the other.

'A Guided Toolkit To Ensure Moving from America To France Goes The Right Way '

'Get Your Visa Approved With Ease'

'5 Strategies to Start Your New Life in France'

'Savoring The Chaos'

'A Guided Toolkit To Ensure Moving from America To France Goes The Right Way '

'Get Your Visa Approved With Ease'

'5 Strategies to Start Your New Life in France'

'Savoring The Chaos'