We packed up our lives, moved to France with two kids, and figured we’d have it all sorted out in a few weeks. We were wrong.
These are the stories from our family’s French adventure. Bureaucracy, language mishaps, incredible food, tiny elevators, unforgettable weekends, and the little moments we’ll never forget.
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Canicule 2026
Canicule. The first time I heard the word, I honestly had no idea what it meant. I pictured some French ceremony. White smoke rising from the Eiffel Tower. A new French leader being crowned. Maybe the term for summer holiday season. Nope. Instead, this diabolical little word represents some of the more miserable days we’ve…
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France Chapter 2
Spring somehow turned into a blur. The last few months have felt like a full-speed sprint between work, travel, family visits, moving apartments, and trying to keep life moving forward in between. Right after the last update in March, Hailey’s Aunt and brother came to visit us in Paris! They came for the US spring…
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Ti amiamo Italia!
It’s a new month and time for an epic update! Since the last post, we took a weeklong trip to Florence, Italy for a big week of exploration, relaxation, and a ton of pasta. So let’s start from the beginning. We took off from Paris on February 21st around noon and were in Italy by…
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It’s February, and tres cold!
It’s February now. Time for a little update on life in Paris. On the surface, what could be better?A life abroad. A trip of a lifetime. An opportunity you don’t pass up. But when you dig a little deeper, life as an American in Paris has been difficult and isolating. And I say that as…
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A New Year!
We are just back to Paris after a much-needed and very warm trip to Texas and slowly recovering from the long day of travel! So I figure it is a perfect time for a blog. We arrived on the 13th of December, in San Antonio at about 10 p.m. What a long travel day it…
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A Trip to Remember!
Normany France As my dad was leaving France, we decided to take a week off and head to Normandy. See, in France, school goes for six weeks and then they have two weeks off, so it was the perfect time for us to leave the city. By that time, we had been in France for…
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Indiana Jones and the Parisian Walking Tours
Just about two weeks ago, my dad came to visit — and that’s where our last blog left off. Now, as I type this, we’re in Normandy (again), enjoying the rainy weather and counting down the days until we head back to Texas. Right after the last blog, my dad and I went to the…
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A little bit of home in Paris
Another much overdue blog post! So we start off mid-September with a big visit from my Mom! She arrived on the 18th during the first of a few strikes here in France. She was able to get a private cab from the airport to our house without issue. The first few days were chill acclimation…
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An American Weekend
We’re coming up on three months in Paris, and life here is starting to find its groove. It’s a far cry from Houston! While we miss many things from back home, we’ve found plenty to enjoy here as well. Of course, there are still ups and downs—we miss family, friends, and even the small interactions…
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Summer is over!
So we pick up from our trip to Rouen. The last blog fired off right as we were leaving to catch the train, our first one as a family. The trip to Rouen was pretty uneventful and quite nice on the train. Rouen is an old historical city with a ton of churches, which you…
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A long overdue update!
OK, it’s been about two weeks (now three since I “wrote” this a week ago, but never posted) since the last blog. Which means I’m long overdue after the move. A lot of the excitement faded, and some of the Paris life struggles reared their head. But overall I would say we are doing well,…
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They came, they saw, they conquered… and we are exhausted!
The big day of moving came quickly Thursday. The movers came at 8 a.m. sharp and were ready to get all 220 boxes upstairs to the 6th floor. We figured it would take the full two scheduled days and were in it for the long haul. To our excitement, they installed an elevator on the…