Contributor blog post by Jemma: Lolo has adapted completely to Toronto’s time zone. Which would be brilliant news, except that she is still waking up in Antibes. Theoretically, my pre-teen could obliterate all jet lag as we close up our Côte d’Azur home, Bellevue, and leave this beloved region for more …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: French Lessons welcomes 2017’s guest contributor: Rachael, our friend and dinner party guest whose evening ended badly. She’d only bid us ‘bonsoir’ when she promptly returned to Bellevue’s gate. A call to the police confirmed that yes, indeed, her car had been towed to Antibes’ pound. …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: It is a time of anniversaries. World War I’s centennial commemorations have dotted the globe. Canada celebrated its 150th. Even Lolo’s summer camp in the woods of Ontario proudly handed out t-shirts with “100” on them. World War II anniversaries cannot yet claim three digits. …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: “You drink more [rosé] than a heavy red or an acidic white,” Tom says from his doorstep perch inside Château d’Esclans. That’s “one of the delightful qualities” of this type of wine, he says. It’s the best sort of marketing strategy for a winery: a …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: Last week in Cannes I stumbled on the most stunning sight: Starbucks. Right there on Rue Jean Jaurès, the street extending along Cannes’ revamped train station. The vision was stunning in its most rudimentary sense: I was stunned. True, a few Starbucks already scatter around …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: My dive into France’s linguistic obsession with food began with the summer shoe sales. This dazzling array pulled us into the shoe store – and launched an exploration into the French language. Twelve-year-old Lolo and I were meandering recently through the narrow streets of old …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: Philippe, Lolo and I are driving into nearby Cannes one afternoon, chatting away about something or other, when the insistent voice of Waze breaks in. “Wait!” I say. “What did she just say?” We pipe down inside the car, a bubble of calm amid the …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: N’inquiétez-vous pas, the young man at Nice’s Côte d’Azur airport said. He didn’t need to see Yoko’s papers. Never mind that eight people, a veterinary clinic and a Canadian federal agency had united in preparing the dog’s papers for her entry into France. Our French …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: Vous devez croire! Ah, oui, vous devez absolument croire! Sabine says across the lunch table. Her rich, tenor voice is insistent. She spreads her bejeweled fingers wide. You have to believe! You. Absolutely. Have. To. Believe! The LIFE machine will revolutionize my, well, life. Or …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: A muscular and handsome powerboat swooshes Philippe, Lolo and me, and a week’s worth of luggage, toward the 80-some-meter megayacht that awaits us off the north shore of Sardinia. Perched on the craft’s leather seats, we slice through the salty waves of the Med, our …