Almost French : love and a new life in Paris

by Sarah Turnbull

Hardcover, 2002

Status

Available

Publication

New York : Gotham Books, [2003], c2002.

Description

After backpacking her way around Europe journalist Sarah Turnbull is ready to embark on one last adventure before heading home to Sydney. A chance meeting with a charming Frenchman in Bucharest changes her travel plans forever. Acting on impulse, she agrees to visit Fredric in Paris for a week. Put a very French Frenchman together with a strong-willed Australian girl and the result is some spectacular--and often hilarious--cultural clashes. Language is a minefield of misunderstanding and the simple act of buying a baguette is fraught with social danger. But as she navigates the highs and lows of this strange new world, from the sophisticated cafes and haute couture fashion houses to the picture postcard French countryside, little by little Sarah falls under its spell: passionate, mysterious, infuriating, and charged with that French specialty--seduction. And it becomes her home. "An engaging, endearing view of the people and places of France." --Publishers Weekly… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member iammbb
Sarah Turnbull, an Australian, is touring Europe when she meets Frederic, a Parisian.

She ejects her itinerary and follows him to Paris.

And the payoff (for us) is this lovely book.

Sarah has a view of Paris and the French as an expat who is living with and eventually marries a native. It's an
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outsider's insider view and it provides a nice contrast to Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon.

While she can't avoid hobnobbing with some expats (although she tries mightily to avoid it), Turnbull's Paris, because of her intimate relationship with a Parisian, is filled with experiences and affectionate insights about the ups and downs of trying to fit in as a unpretentious Aussie in the hierarchical, class based world of Paris.

Turnbull is honest enough about herself to allow the reader to get frustrated with her tendency to take personally what are essentially cultural differences. She is also fond enough of the French to provide believable explanations for their abominably rude behavior.

I finished Paris to the Moon feeling that while Paris is a nice place to visit, I wouldn't want to live there.

I finished Almost French feeling that in the right circumstances, I could probably enjoy living in Paris too.
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LibraryThing member kikilon
I was hungry for travel/lifestyle stories, and this one found me. It's a lovely account on culture shock and how we're never as prepared as we think we are. A lovely insight into a lot of things, and very heartfelt.
LibraryThing member bconnett
Interesting and enjoyable first person account of living in France (Paris), as an Australian married to a frenchman. Gives insight into French family attitudes and behavior and daily issues of living in Paris. A fun read.
LibraryThing member maggie1944
A light, fun read about a young Australian woman who goes to Paris, France on a lark, and at the invitation of a young man. The book is a memoir of her next few years as she and the young man get to know each other, ultimatley marrying. Her memoir is mostly about how a young Australian, without a
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great deal of French language, learns to live with the unique qualities of Paris and the folks who live in Paris. She is very insightful about how cultural differences can provide humor as well as anger and she runs the gamet. I loved reading it, and having a small amount of experience with French people I identified with much of her experiences.

I recommend it for people who love France, Paris, or French culture (clothes, cooking, dogs, art). I especially recommend it to anyone getting ready to travel to France and who expects to stay for a while.
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LibraryThing member QueenBee
Another version of "Under the Tuscan Sun". However, I found the book insightful regarding the art of learning to live in France. Drama, humor and sincerity makes for a good read.
LibraryThing member bookmagic
Sarah Turnbull is a twenty-something journalist from Australia taking some time off to backpack around Europe. She meets Frederic and goes to visit him in Paris and ends up staying.
Sarah has a lot of problems with the language, the politics and each chapter is mainly about various facets of her
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life in France.

Frederic does not live in Paris proper, so eventually he and Sarah buy an apartment in the city and we learn the intricacies of French real estate. When they decide to have a window put in, they have to do it on the sly to avoid all the red-tape and then pay off any neighbors that complain.

I skimmed most of the politics stuff, but I enjoyed all the food discussions and her foray into fashion journalism.

My favorite chapter was when she and Frederic decide to get a dog, Maddie. The French may be very reserved but not when it comes to their pets. Sarah finds her fellow Parisians become very talkative and interested in Maddie. I love that dogs are welcome in all the cafes, shops, and even the butcher shops. And they have lots of very fancy dog groomers that are not just for the rich but anyone that does not want to be scorned and yelled at for not taking proper care of their dogs.

This was billed as a look at love and life in France but it is much more life than love. Which is fine, no one needs another sappy, romantic memoir. I enjoyed this very much and is a great addiction for any Francophile.

my rating 4/5
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LibraryThing member coffeeandabookchick
Almost French by Sarah Turnbull is a memoir about the Australian author's time in Paris as she falls in love, learns the culture (or tries to fit in), and tries to get consistent work as a journalist. Perhaps it was because it was a travel memoir and fitting in that I thought so often of Eat Pray
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Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, but within pages it held a completely separate voice for me.

Sarah Turnbull has taken time off from her job in Australia to travel Europe -- she figures that she might as well do it now since she can afford to take the time and she has no commitments -- after all, why wait until much later in life when work and family obligations might get in the way? Off she goes to Europe, and while in Bucharest, she meets Frèdèric, and decides to do something different than she's ever done before and completely change her plans -- go to Paris to stay with a guy that she only met for a few days in Bucharest. Throwing caution to the wind she goes -- and settles into Paris and tries to find her place within the culture and the job market.

This book is a hit in Australia and it was definitely a really pleasant read. I enjoyed her moments of confusion in trying to understand fashion and language, and there is one particular moment that I spluttered my coffee out with laughter for my combined shock and for feeling the author's complete embarrassment -- a simple moment in which she asks her new boyfriend in front of his friends if he would like his smoking pipe, when she mistakenly really asked him if he, ahem...would like a something sexual to occur. I felt for her trying to fit in and get used to it all, and as I've traveled quite a bit in my life and lived in multiple locations, I felt my understanding and my frustrations for her experiences grow as I read each page. It's tough to fit in sometimes!

The only aspect that found me a little wanting was that I felt she wrote with such great detail on so many events and moments, but she skipped quite a bit on the love she had with Frèdèric which was the ultimate reason which compelled her to move to Paris in the first place. Perhaps it was out of respect for their intimacies (completely understandable) and perhaps I'm just an old romantic at heart, but I felt a tad removed from the blossoming love that they experienced within their relationship that would so compel this grounded and logical woman to completely forgo her plan to travel all of Europe and instead, after one week of meeting with a man, to move instead to Paris to begin life anew.

Sarah Turnbull's descriptions of Parisian life, the eccentric characters she meets in a new neighborhood, and her ability (or lack thereof) to fit in fashionably at first, were quite endearing and offered a fun snapshot into her life. I cheered for her to find the right job, and enjoyed her journalistic cadence as Turnbull related each event with sometimes a distant voice and sometimes with close up scrutiny, one that ultimately turns into quite a fun trip into Parisian culture!
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LibraryThing member kikianika
I was hungry for travel/lifestyle stories, and this one found me. It's a lovely account on culture shock and how we're never as prepared as we think we are. A lovely insight into a lot of things, and very heartfelt.
LibraryThing member justine
A great book about trying to make a life in a difficult but beautiful city.
LibraryThing member miketheriley
An Australian moves to France. The book talks about her life and the cultural differences. An easy read and fairly light fare. I enjoyed the exploration of viewing things from new perspectives.
LibraryThing member MarkKeeffe
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is excellent. It really conveys the humour and frustrations of trying to livr in Paris well. She takes you along for the ride and doesn't mind laughing at herself. There is some really beautiful, insightful and poignant writing that I thought was some of the
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best I've read. This contrasts starkly with Mary Moody's book Last Tango in Toulouse which contains much more naval gazing and was nowhere neas as well written. Sarah Turnbull is a wonderful writer.
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LibraryThing member dianaleez
Delightful! Aussie Sarah takes on the Parisians and wins. The culture clash from super sized candy bars to shorts/running shoes to fetch the paper.
LibraryThing member Kimasbooks
great book to read if planning a trip to France or anyone interested in the French "mind" or culture
LibraryThing member Fleur-De-Lis
Fantastic!

I enjoyed this book from start to finish, wonderously funny and with some useful tips for being accepted by the french.

I did however find it took a little while to read - it was written in a very journalistic way - which i tended to get a bit tired of.

But Beautiful all the same. Read it!
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Especially if you are interested or are going to France!

Oh, and i am Australian too. I found it interesting to see how the French treat the Australians.
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LibraryThing member St.CroixSue
The very honest memoir of a young Australian who falls in love with a very French Frenchman and ends up living in Paris. The theme is an expatriates’ struggle with identity and sense of belonging offering insights and some analysis into France and the nuances of its culture.
LibraryThing member Smits
Read this before, and during my trip to Paris and that made this book so much better. Still, one can't help but like the author and feel for her as she finds out how to live and cope with being a Parisienne which she admits she can never truly be. Her insight into the mindset, hearts , customs and
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foiables of the French people are written with great humor, self depreciation and admiration. the author really helped me understand the french mentality and this helped me while I traveled in Paris. besides all that is was fun to read. i laughed out loud.
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LibraryThing member beata
Anglosaxon (australian in that case) perception of French culture and customs. Many good hints and tips for foreigners.
LibraryThing member bolgai
My project of experiencing France vicariously through others continues with Ms. Turnbull's adventures as an Australian living in Paris, and I have to say, this account surprised me more than once. My previous experiences were through the frivolous and gossipy All You Need To Be Impossibly French by
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Helena Frith-Powell and the reserved but admiring Entre Nous by Debra Ollivier. These two ladies presented the French, Parisian women in particular, as confident, chic intellectuals who prefer to spend the afternoon reading a good book in solitude. Ms. Turnbull showed us a different picture. Her Parisians are lonely people riddled with insecurities, fatigued by the structure and rules of the city. Her Paris is a city of contrasts, with perfectly manicured gardens and parks, charming quartiers, beautiful architecture, and streets smelling like urine because while asking to use the bathroom of the people you're visiting may be considered a faux pas apparently urinating outside their building is perfectly acceptable.
Fortunately this is only one side of the story and Ms. Turnbull does a good job of finding and maintaining balance in her narrative. Perhaps it's a journalistic trait, to examine the subject from all sides and report on both the positive and the negative. Or may be it's that life's full of both. In a way Almost French is like a Cinderella story: an Australian girl risks it all by moving to France, has a terrible time of it at first, then finds her stride, learns the language and how to navigate the society, and settles in to a happy life in a city she loves with a man she adores.
The book is full of stories of how all that happened, from the desparation of not being able to find work and eating all the chocolate in the apartment, to the exhilaration of telling off a rude stranger without missing a beat, to the surprise of being overshadowed by her own dog, and they're all written in a fun, engaging way that's personal without becoming too sentimental or giving too much information. There are times when the author sounds a bit whiny, or somewhat pushy, but fortunately those times are fleeting.
One of my favorite things about this book is that it doesn't focus only on the usual subjects of fashion, food and seduction but ventures beyond to the issues of actually living in the city, meeting new people, growing to love the villages and towns beyond Paris, learning to appreciate all the different layers of society in one's quartier and getting things done despite the many rules and regulations that come with living in a coveted zip code. When I finished it I felt like I've actually seen some of the reality beyond what tourists usually see, or what the other two authors either didn't experience or didn't choose to share with their readers. It's a nice to have a differet view even though Ms. Turnbull writes about Paris and France in the 1990s and things may have changed, although I am confident that whatever changes took place they didn't radically alter Paris, France or the French.
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LibraryThing member LyzzyBee
(BookCrossing 28 April 2012)

Another one promoted up the TBR so I could read and leave, although I have realised to my absolute horror that I was meant to send it back to the original owner – sorry, Sandy!

A really well done expat book written by an Australian woman who falls in love with a French
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man, only to have to transform herself from a shorts-wearing, direct and friendly girl into a composed, well-dressed and distant almost-Frenchwoman, complete with groomed and whitened pet dog. It’s honestly put, with no self-pity and a lot of humour, and naturally structured rather than in themed chapters. Social gatherings and both people’s friends and families are particularly well portrayed, and it feels like it truly is a reflection of life in France.
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LibraryThing member michigantrumpet
“Once you leave your homeland, nothing is ever the same” says a Greek cab driver living in Australia to author, Sarah Turnbull. Her memoir “Almost French” perfectly captures that sense of failing to belong completely in either your homeland or your adopted home. Moving to Paris at the start
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of a whirlwind romance with Frederic, she slowly begins to nurture her relationship with both the man and the city. Interesting to read about the cultural differences between French and Australian sensibilities. Enjoyed reading about visiting Chanel’s Boutique, attending the Paris fashion shows, and dining at Alain Ducasse's eponymous restaurant. Here, too, is a meditation on the more universal issues of belonging and acceptance. In the end she’s is happy to be considered almost French.
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LibraryThing member GraceZ
I read this book while visiting my (Australian) cousin Ana, who lived in Paris with her French husband. I myself was on exchange at the time and this book was perfect reading at the time, when we were relating and comparing our experiences with France.
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
This is a lovely, very personal, easy read about Turnbull's trials and tribulations as an Australian immigrant to France. Western countries shares many similarities, but it's in the small things that sensibilities can clash: order of dinner courses, subtleties in manner, gender roles, civilities,
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taboos are just some of the things that can become an unpredictable source of conflict.
Chapter by chapter, Turnbull looks at the obstacles that she had to overcome, some of the ways in which she was able to adapt and others in which she decided "to clash", as the prerogative of being an outsider. All of her experiences ring very true and I've had similar observations and reactions, playing on my two nationalities or sometimes simply forgetting some of the intricacies of French living.
Although Australian, I think this book will resonate with Americans and Canadian alike, having similar roots.
I always enjoy seeing my other country through other eyes to get another reflection of how we are perceived.
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LibraryThing member Cleoxcat
An Australian woman falls for a French man and moves to Paris to be with him. Her adventures in learning about and dealing with French Culture.
LibraryThing member boabflower
I really loved this book. I thought Sarah was such a brave soul to battle all that was difficult and different and take up residence in a new country. It always sounds like such an exciting idea - but I'm not sure if I could - even for love.
LibraryThing member nadineeg
Vary enjoyable autobiography of Sarah Turnbull who went to live in Paris with Parisian Frederick after a brief encounter, and the ongoing difficulties she (and he) encountered coming to grips with differences between Australian and French (Parisian) attitudes to life.

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