A Starbucks-Shaped Hole in the Côte d’Azur

Jemma Antibes

Jemma was born and raised in the US Midwest. A banker by trade, she slogged away at a Swiss investment bank in the UK and South Africa before moving – for decent spaces of time, anyway – to the South of France. At a similar stage, she also moved to the right side of her brain as a writer. She has published articles in Maclean’s, SuperYacht World, and various travel and university presses.

At this point Jemma lives mostly in Canada, but she spends the whole of every summer in the Côte d’Azur town of Antibes, from where she writes her blog French Lessons. Now (rather unbelievably) in its ninth year, the site is a summertime gift to readers, each note aiming to capture a snapshot of the remarkable, real life along the French Riviera. Jemma still holds her MBA from the University of Chicago, though, and for this reason she apologises if France’s quirky economic system captivates her attentions more frequently than perhaps it ought.

When not engrossed in things French, she is – not in any particular order – taking a stab at writing a book, making music, performing motherly duties, expanding education in bits of Africa, promoting Canadian writing, and travelling off-the-beaten-track: 84 countries, and counting.

You can reach Jemma through her blog site at French Lessons.