My Good Life in France

On a cold, wet day about ten years ago, Londoner Janine Marsh went with her husband and father on a day trip to France. They didn’t have big plans – it was just a quick jaunt to have lunch and buy some wine.But sometimes life has other plans, and she ended up not only buying wine but also…a house. How that happened is the beginning of Marsh’s charming and funny memoir.Nestled in a tiny town in France’s Seven Valleys area, near Calais, the house was a bit of a fixer-upper. No, it was more than that – it was a total wreck. And as you can imagine. everything went wrong, including an overflowing septic tank that earned Marsh the nickname Madame Merde. As she says, you have to be “a bit mad” to buy a house like this.For the next few years, Marsh and her husband visited the house on weekends, beginning the monumental task of making it livable. But this split life proved unsatisfactory and eventually the big question had to be faced: do we move to France? Marsh, who had worked for years to rise from secretary to bank vice president - with another promotion imminent - agonized over the decision.The couple decided to seize the day, and off to France they went. The more they repaired the house, the more they discovered problems, but their energy and optimism eventually carried them through.Not only do they build a comfortable home, they build a wonderful new life for themselves in France. Marsh does a brilliant job of sharing with us what makes life in the Seven Valleys so charming. This isn’t Paris or Provence, but la France profonde, an area that tourists seldom visit.We learn how neighbors help one another, like the time the Marshes nearly ran out of firewood in the middle of winter. With disaster looming, a neighbor showed up with his tractor, carrying several tons of firewood – and no payment expected.We learn about the nearby town that is normally silent as a tomb, but that comes to life when Madame Magniez decides to bake some of her famous bread to sell. People see smoke coming out of her chimney, word spreads, and soon there is a traffic jam in the tiny downtown.Marsh shares with us the local legends and the local celebrations. She describes the ins and outs of the French bureaucracy, French driving customs, and the proper way to kiss a person in greeting. And she tells us about the food, one of the glories of France.My favorite line in the book is when Marsh writes about the huge meals to celebrate Christmas and New Years. As she says, “At this time of year in France, you can quite easily eat yourself to a standstill.”If you’ve ever dreamed of discovering “the real France,” you won’t want to miss this delightful book.

The author had me laughing at loud at times over her anecdotes about moving to France, buying and renovating an old barn into a home, understanding French customs, culture and assimilating into the good life. She shares practical advice and many funny stories of her various experiences. It is a very sweet insight into the challenges & successes of becoming an expat in Northern France.

For anyone who is contemplating a move to france, read this. Yes, France is romantic, but you will also experience culture shock as well as real life. Life is a fairy tale if you have the courage to follow your dreams, the difficulty will be in the joy of being where your soul takes you. Love it!

A well-written story will draw me in and make me feel like part of the adventure, one of the reasons I enjoy reading books from this genre. However, this book felt more like a matter-of-fact chat you'd have over coffee with a friend about her trip to France. It was interesting, but something about the way it was written never pulled me in.

I've been eagerly awaiting the publication of Janine Marsh's memoir, My Good Life in France, and was honoured to receive an ARC for an honest review. It's no surprise that this book is everything readers hope it will be. With her sharp insight after many years as an ex-pat in France and her engaging sense of humour, Marsh takes us on the bumpy road of highs and lows restoring a "truly awful" (her words) property in the north of France that captured her heart.Through the author's eyes and experiences we discover the (relatively unknown to tourists) Seven Valleys area in the Pas-de-Calais, which is now on my "must visit" list. Easily drawn into Marsh's entertaining narrative by her sharp observations and warm-hearted nature, we get to know her neighbours, the local traditions and her growing family of dogs, cats, and assorted feathered friends.Thank goodness for an understanding husband who is also an enterprising craftsman. There are challenges that would deter most from staying the course. Yet not only do the Marshes survive, but a brilliant new career path is born.This book is a delightful read that I highly recommend.

A nice relaxing read before bed. I love France and have been thinking about this kind of move in my lifetime. Now if only I had that EU passport...

I had been so looking forward to this book and when I downloaded it on kindle I started it immediately and literally could not stop til the end. Brits Janine Marsh and her husband impulsively bought an awesomely dated, rundown house in northern France. This books is an accounting of that renovation over many years. It is also an exploration of very loving relationships in her family and with the many people who have become her "family" in France. Marsh writes very well indeed and her writing captures her persistence, curiosity, courage, intelligence, always good humor and most important her love of all things French and of all animals, especially discarded ones. She never liked to cook but fortunately her husband does. Despite the trials (and there were many) they are still in the house in France and friends and family still visit! She still loves all things French and admits she is still learning though she studied French in school for years. She writes an ongoing blog that now has more than 500,000 followers! I am now rereading The Good Life in France.

I loved the ease of this writing and her unabashed humour and wit in writing of her experience in purchasing a dilapidated farmhouse in the middle of nowhere northern France. Janine writes about a tuais ing a dream many of us have had of abandoning the urban jungle and escaping to the forested glens of another country, in search of meaning. I loved every chapter- the characters, the lost in translation moments, the unexpected surprises and moments of complete exhaustion or daunting challenge. I am happy you have emerged from the transition in one piece and have found your place of bliss!

During a trip to France to buy wines, Janine, her husband and father decide to look for somewhere to have lunch...discovering that everywhere is either closed or lunch service is finished. Wandering through the streets they happen to stumble upon an estate agent....a cup of coffee later they leave with the details of three properties within Janine's 'buying a house budget'....not really being serious, really more to shut up the agent. Needless to say, her curiosity was roused...and on the way back to Calais decided to just check these out. The result is that after an impulsive, unplanned purchase of a rundown building, they now owned property in Northern France.Here we follow Janine and Mark through the renovation process which, they carried out on weekend trips over to France and involved a lot of hard work and determination. At the top of her career, Janine eventually decided to give up her job in London and move with her husband to live the good life in France. With little money they decided to do as much of the renovations as they could themselves, no mains drains, electricity, proper rooms, and, even less of a clue how to go about it, they knuckled down to lots of hard, back-breaking work. There are lots of tears and laughter along the way and quite a menagerie of dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, and geese were collected.This book follows them through the good, the bad, the hard, and the amusing times, it portrays the quirkinesses of the French, who can be hugely amusing and it was really entertaining. I look forward to reading the follow on. Thank you, Janine.

Excellent descriptions of life as an ex-patriate in rural France. Certainly two brave souls to undertake the restoration of such a ruin. Bravo

Yet another book by a British expat describing their move to France - but whether its your first in this genre, or like me you’ve read many, its well written and an enjoyable read.

This memoir-guide is entertainingly narrated and simultaneously packed with useful information disseminated via a blend of readable and practical. But what I really loved is it's written from the heart. Janine's affection for France, particularly the region where she lives and her enjoyment of the life she and her husband have created is what makes reading about it an uplifting experience. It doesn't matter where you live or what lifestyle you choose if you've got the right kind of appreciation of it.