Tag: France
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Retreat to Find Stillness: My Q&A with Stacy

Stacy is an Associate Director at a major consulting firm and is based out of Nashville. Like Julie, Stacy has been on three (soon to be four) yoga retreats with me! What keeps her coming on on retreat, and why is she coming back to France with me in May 2027? Read our Q&A to…
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What’s it like to go on a yoga retreat? My Q&A with Julie.

A yoga retreat Q&A with Julie | Julie is Partner at a pre-eminent accounting firm in Minnesota and has joined me on three (soon to be four) retreats. She first joined my Morocco retreat (2024), then France (2025), and Turkey (2026), and now she and I will reconvene back in France for her second France…
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22 things you need to know about Paris

How often do you come to Paris and when did you first come here? I’ve been coming to Paris since my study abroad program in Paris and Tours in 2014. I have loved Paris and France since I was 9 years old and saw my first French film, Les Choristes. How would you describe your…
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French wellness tips I swear by (and some bad habits I don’t)

The French wellness tips I swear by: Eat your meals away from screens. (I swear as I scarf a blueberry orange muffin while typing up this blog). Literally nothing is more compelling than a French woman writing or reading on a cafe terrace or tucked into a cozy booth on a rainy day. Meals, particularly…
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What to know before you travel to France during a heatwave

This is the question we should all be asking ourselves: What does responsible tourism in France look like when summers look like this now? As American journalist Lindsey Tramuta put it: “Paris is boiling.” With temperatures regularly hitting 100°F+ (40°C) over the last two months, and with about 75% of French homes still not having…
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Your perfect weekend in Paris: The Marais edition

For giggles, let’s imagine you’re spending a long weekend in the City of Light. My three-day itinerary is perfect if you love: excellent food, natural wine, bar-none (vintage) shopping without the couture price tag, art history, and mysteriously reading in cafés. Because that’s all kind of my thing. My husband and I will be in…
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Who’s a good fit for my yoga retreats?

The people who come on yoga retreats with me are diverse in background, identity, interests, and life experience. What they share in common is a spirit of open mindedness to the new: new experiences, new foods, new cultures, new languages, new people. The kind of people who join my retreats are The people who join…
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French faux pas: How not to be an ugly American in France

Congratulations! You’re an American traveling to France. Here’s how to act (and how not to act) so that you don’t offend every French person you meet. Must do’s in French politeness: ‘Faux pas’ en France / How not to act in France Come to the South of France with me! I’m a Francophile. I love…
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The best brunch in Paris

Look. I’ve been to more than 100 of the hippest, coolest restaurants in Paris, but this one brunch spot takes the cake. Not only do most Parisian restaurants not really serve American-style brunch, but the breakfast food you’ll find on offer at most Paris bistros is a croissant and an ‘okay’ cup of coffee at…
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The secret to Parisian (women’s) confidence

Parisian women (Parisiennes) are famous for their confidence, their beauty, their elegance, and their approach to life, art, and fashion. This image of Parisian elegance and confidence is a bit stereotyped. It’s a bit cliché. It’s pretty thin and white-washed. And it’s a bit watered down. Parisiennes, just like their city, are complex and a…
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The best coffee shops in Paris

The coffee scene in Paris has progressed in leaps and bounds in the last ten years. (Not to mention the last fifty, as post-war Paris clung with a certain intensity to chicory long after the ration years of World War II had passed.) The most joyful part of these coffee shops for me? That the…

