I have a few things to cover in this post; Firstly the heatwave! Like much of Europe, for the past 2 weeks, we have experienced very high temperatures, blue skies and sunshine. Our Provençal farmhouse has very thick stone walls so despite the heat outside, it remains surprisingly cool inside, without the need for aircon which is wonderful. The owner of our property was here for two weeks to do some maintenance which honestly was a bit awkward but we got through it. While he w

Before I launch into my story for this post, first of all, check out the picture of the vines! They seriously change every single day. I think the little blobs in the picture will eventually become grapes. The weather has been pretty sunny but it’s still not that warm yet (by my standards!) and we’ve had some rain as well. I see the farm workers out early every morning with various pieces of equipment, tending to the acres and acres of vines. It’s a big job. I have thought ab

Aussie psychologists are brought up on Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an intervention. If you learn nothing else from the fairly gruelling six years it takes to get registered, you at least come out knowing what CBT is and how to use it. The premise is simple: thoughts affect feelings, which affect behaviour. So, change the thought and you should notice a shift in how you feel and act. It’s not for everyone, but in many cases it’s genuinely helpful — and I’ve used it

Boulangeries, fatbergs, and the Mistral rearranging my face Ok so I promised that in this post I would add some pictures and explain a little about where we actually are in France… so here goes. We’re in a small village in the Côtes du Rhône region in the South of France — about 12km northwest of Avignon, just over an hour from Marseille and Montpellier. Aix-en-Provence is about 20 minutes from Avignon on the train (for those who know it — and I know some of you do). The vill

A psychologist’s perspective on control, connection, and the discomfort of not understanding There is something deeply unsettling about not understanding the language around you. Not just inconvenient…..unsettling. Since arriving in France, I have found myself in countless situations where I understand some of what is being said…enough to almost follow what’s happening, but not enough to feel secure in it. And that ‘almost’ is where the psychological discomfort sits. Because

A Marseille mission, a rogue key, and a legally binding relationship Finally, all is quiet. I look outside… no movement in the trees. It feels like that strange silence when you step out of a thumping nightclub — your ears still ringing, but everything suddenly still. For nine days, the Mistral has been unrelenting, day and night. I had mistakenly assumed it was a summer wind, but in fact it tends to show up between winter and spring. I am no meteorologist, but this wind has

Why moving to another ‘similar’ country can feel so unexpectedly hard When people think about moving overseas, they often imagine the biggest challenges will come from dramatic cultural differences — language barriers, unfamiliar customs, or entirely different ways of life. What’s less often talked about is how disorienting it can feel to move to a country that is, on the surface, quite similar: Western Developed Safe Familiar And yet… not. The “almost the same” problem From

I touched down in Paris on a freezing cold, rainy Wednesday morning. It felt exactly as dramatic as it sounds. I had left Australia the day before in a state that can only be described as uncharacteristically emotional . I was crying in the airport. I was crying on the plane. I was still crying as the plane taxied for take-off, which is not ideal when you’re meant to be embarking on an exciting new chapter of your life. It had been a tumultuous few weeks. Living on a water-ac

What begins as a simple plan to buy a car in Marseille quickly turns into an exercise in French fine print, bureaucratic panic, and a surprising level of uncertainty about my Australian licence . Yesterday I spent the entire day trying to buy a car. I had done my homework. Hours of research. A clear budget. A preferred dealer. I had even been monitoring the Toyota dealer website in Marseille like it was the stock market. There was one car in particular I had my eye on. The pl