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MOVING TO FRANCE

8 books to read before you move to France

Before you move to France - or spend an extended holiday here - you might want to brush up on French culture and history. Here are eight recommendations from the team at The Local France.

Published: 16 April 2024 14:57 CEST
8 books to read before you move to France
Photo by Matias North on Unsplash

A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment

Start off with a light course. Multiple readers of The Local have recommended ‘A Bite-Sized History of France’ by Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mitchell, as it is easy to read in small snippets.

Written by a French cheese-maker and an American historian, the book gives you a manageable overview of French history and gastronomy, beginning with the Gauls’ drinking habits. You’ll learn plenty of fun facts to share at the dinner table (for instance: Norman is short for Norseman, a reference to the Vikings who settled northern France).

Reader Julia Gray said in a previous survey that it “combines stories about French food and history. A great book for a Francophile.”

A Year in the Merde

Published in 2003 by Stephen Clark, you might be tempted to dismiss this funny novel that is now over two decades old, but it still has a lot to say about France.

Fictional Brit Paul West goes to spend a year in France, right around the time of the invasion of Iraq, when the French and their anglophone counterparts were not too happy with one another. Paul tries to assimilate but finds himself struggling to adjust to French culture, especially its bureaucracy (something many foreigners in France can relate to).

Of course, these days Paul would need a visa. 

The New Parisienne: The Women & Ideas Shaping Paris 

Paris women are often the subject of stereotypes, presumed to be white, thin and effortlessly stylish. English-language women’s magazines still try to sell readers on tips about ‘how to be more French’.

But Lindsey Tramuta, journalist and author of ‘The New Parisienne’, disagrees with these presumptions.

In her book, she explores the diversity of Paris, hoping to break away from the monolithic view of Parisian women with vignettes of modern Parisiennes who hail from different backgrounds and cultures.

READ MORE: ‘Romanticised and commodified’ – why France is rejecting the ‘Paris woman’ cliché

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong

Authors Jean Nadeau and Julie Barlow are on a mission to decipher the mysteries of France, as they reveal the foundations of French culture and social cues. From land and food to privacy and language, Nadeau and Barlow try to explain the most puzzling aspects of French life. 

Like ‘A Year in the Merde’, this book is a little dated these days; it was published in 2003. Some of the norms the authors explore might feel distant from life in 2024, while others remain just as pertinent today as they did 20 years ago. 

‘Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong’ is both a time capsule and a timeless exploration of French culture. For instance, the authors discuss French concerns about globalisation and anti-American sentiment. While young French people might love American fast-food chains like McDonald’s these days, there are still semi-frequent rows over the encroaching ‘anglicismes’ taking over the French language.

The Bonjour Effect: The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed

As you learn French, you’ll also learn that there are a lot of rules around conversations. Politesse requires that you greet everyone with a bonjour before getting on with your conversation.

Once you get the hang of these rules, speaking French will feel a lot less daunting. You can begin by reading ‘The Bonjour Effect’ to decode French conversation.

History of Modern France: From the Revolution to the War with Terror

Veteran journalist and historian Jonathan Fenby, has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to France – so much so that he was awarded the Légion d’honneur “for his contributions promoting Anglo-French understanding”.

READ MORE: Readers recommend: The best books, TV series and podcasts about France

Looking at 200 years of history, Fenby asks ‘what does France stand for’, as he tracks the country from its first revolution and forward through subsequent revolutions, empires, returns to monarchy, wars with Germany, and the post-war era, decolonisation and the bits of stability interspersed. 

As with most countries, understanding history and the founding myth (in France’s case: the Revolution) helps to understand the people, government and what they aspire toward. 

Big Pig, Little Pig: A Year on a Smallholding in South-West France

For those looking to explore life in rural France and animal husbandry, ‘Big Pig, Little Pig’ by Jacqueline Yallop is a good place to start. 

The author starts out with her dream of moving to France and raising two pigs, which will eventually be slaughtered for food. She finds herself struggling with the decision as she grows closer to the pigs. 

Reader of The Local Margaret O’Hare suggested it in a previous survey. She said: “[It is a] beautiful read, adored by the Francophiles in my life that I have given it to. My husband isn’t a great reader but even he gobbled it up. It is both a debunking and a celebration of life in rural France. Meat-eating foodies will be enthralled to the end.”

Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic

Foreigners tend to view France with rose-tinted glasses, so perhaps it is best to take those off ahead of time and learn about some of the not-so-positive realities of French life in ‘Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic’ by Nabila Ramdani, a French journalist with Algerian origins.

Ramdani, who grew up in the Paris region, is able to diagnose the country’s shortcomings and how it often fails to live up to its motto ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité’ – whether that be from terrorism, social inequality, racial and religious discrimination, or the rising influence of the far-right.

And while she can pinpoint France’s problems, Ramdani can also prescribe solutions, looking to a brighter future for the French Republic.

Do you agree or disagree with any of the books listed here? Let us know in the comments below.

Member comments

  1. Year in the Merde? This book is so sexist and just gross. If you want to read about some smug dude gawking at women’s breasts and constant obsession with his own erection, sure go for it but insights on living in France after the 1980s? Nope. Nope. Nope. You guys recommended it. I bought it. I’m only sorry I don’t have a fireplace to properly dispose of this merde. Thanks for reading my subtle book review. 🙂

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FRANCE EXPLAINED

Why are berets so synonymous with France?

If you walk by a tourist shop in Paris, the chances are very high that they will have a full assortment of berets to choose from. But why is this fashion choice even associated with France?

Published: 13 May 2024 14:36 CEST
Why are berets so synonymous with France?

If you were to believe the TV shows and movies about France’s capital, everyone in the city owns a beret, drives a moped, smokes cigarettes, and carries baguettes under their armpits.

While some of these stereotypes might be more true than others (hint: baguette transportation), the anglophone world has been convinced that berets never go out of style.

READ MORE: Baguettiquette: Weird things the French do with bread

These days, a person walking around Paris in a beret is just as likely – if not more likely – to be a tourist than a French person.

That being said, the English-speaking world does have good reason to associate berets with the French.

The word beret is thought to be of Gallic (pre-French) origins, dating all the way back to the Romans, though similar styles of headgear have been found in archeological sites across the ancient world.

Officially, beret begins to appear in the French dictionary around the 15th century, and by the 19th century the waterproof headgear had become popular.

Napoleon associated them with the Basque country and the Pyrenees, though different versions of berets were worn across the French countryside, including the people who would go on to be known as ‘onion johnnies’ in Brittany.

French Onion Johnnies

Brits have a specific reason to associate the French with berets, according to writer Margo Lestz with the Curious Rambler blog.

From the mid-1800s to mid-1900s, it was common for Brits to see French men in berets, riding bicycles and carrying onions.

“These beret-wearing, onion-laden cyclists arrived in the UK every summer to peddle their wares. They came from the area around Roscoff, Brittany in western France. This area was (and still is) known for its special pink onions. They were sweet, had a long storage life – and the British loved them.

“As it happened, many of these onion-sellers were called Yann, a common Breton name which is the equivalent of Jean in French and John in English. The British soon took to calling them “Onion Johnnies”. The Johnnies didn’t mind and happily adopted their new English nickname.

“They would go door to door from July through December across the UK, then would return to Brittany. Since the Onion Johnnies were the only contact that many Brits had with a Frenchman, they naturally assumed that all Frenchmen wore berets,” Lestz wrote.

READ MORE: Why we think the French all wear berets and carry onions

Military gear to street fashion and revolutions

Another reason we associate the French with berets has to do with official military uniforms. Beginning in the 1880s and continuing into World War I, France’s Chasseurs Alpins, infantry soldiers the Alps, began to wear berets as part of their uniform. 

Aloïs Guinut, the author of the book ‘Dress like a Parisian’ told 20 Minutes that “Shepherds wore them first, then soldiers, schoolchildren, and then golfers, mountaineers, and even cyclists adopted it.”

Guinut said that once the headwear became popular with athletes, it started to became stylish in general.

“Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel was one of the first to use it as a fashion accessory in the 1930s,” Guinot explained, noting that around that time French cinema was growing in popularity, and more French actresses were sporting berets, including the leading lady Michele Morgan in the film ‘Le Quai des Brumes’.

READ MORE: Where does the ‘romantic, sexy French’ stereotype come from?

By the 1940s, berets were so connected to French identity that they became an essential accessory for the resistance during World War II.

Afterwards, other resistance movements began to incorporate berets too, including the revolutionary Che Guevara.

What about now?

Several military uniforms across the world include berets, including parts of the French military like paratroopers and the French foreign legion.

As for Parisians, “there are [some] who do wear berets. I see them regularly. But it’s true that tourists love wearing berets when they visit Paris, so it is a bit of a tourist accessory,” Guinut said.

It continues to be part of the ‘Parisienne’ appearance as luxury fashion companies use it in their yearly collections – like Dior in 2017.

Meanwhile, tourist shops play up the beret, while pop culture continues to give us images of the beret-wearing Frenchwoman – most recently, Emily in Paris, with the main character frequently accesorising with a bright red beret.

Let us know what you think about berets in the comments below. Do you consider them stylish?

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