From France, at the end of January

Hello, and thank you for being here!

If you’re reading this, it means you signed up for my brand new newsletter — and as January comes to a close, I wanted to say a genuine thank you. This is the first of what I hope will be simple, monthly notes: a way to share what I’ve been writing, a few things I’ve been noticing, and small glimpses into everyday life in France as I experience it.

I’m an American living in France and raising a family here for over 25 years. I write about family life, wellbeing, and the place nourishing food and simple routines hold in daily French life — less from theory, more from long observation.

January has always been one of my favorite months. As much as I enjoy the holidays, I love what comes after just as much. This is the month when I put the house back together: decorations packed away, closets reorganized, drawers emptied and refilled with only what still makes sense. I go through papers and files too — old notes, outdated folders, things that quietly accumulate during the year. I honestly think I could have been a professional organiser if that were really a thing in France. It’s the same instinct that sends me back to simple, nourishing recipes — and, inevitably, to cleaning out the pantry at the same time.

I don’t use January to set big goals. I use it to simplify. And more and more, I realise that this instinct — to remove rather than add — doesn’t just shape how I start the year. As I get older, it shapes who I am becoming. What I keep, what I let go of, and how I organise my days, my home, and my energy.

That instinct shaped much of what I wrote this month.

One small moment from this month

A quiet winter morning by Lake Annecy.

What I’ve been writing this month

→ The Anti-Hack Guide to French Wellbeing
This post is about the French resistance to shortcuts — a way of thinking about wellbeing that relies on routine, limits, and everyday habits rather than optimisation, trends, or injections.
Read it here →

→ French Zucchini Soup (The One Children Actually Eat)
A recipe that shows up again and again in French homes and school kitchens. Simple, nourishing, and exactly the kind of food that fits a month focused on clearing excess.
Read it here →

→ My Favourite French-Related Books
These are books I’ve read and used over time to understand French culture more deeply — a mix of reading, reference, and well-used cookbooks that I actually come back to.
Read it here →

Looking back, these posts all seem to circle around the same idea: how much wellbeing depends on simplification — simpler meals, trusted routines, familiar books, and fewer things competing for attention.

January in France also comes with its own ritual: the galette des rois. It’s a super flaky pastry filled with frangipane — a rich almond paste — and sold only in January, with a small ceramic fève hidden inside. I love the idea of a treat that appears once a year, is enjoyed without overthinking, and then disappears again. I like to imagine I’m the kind of person who could make a galette last a few days. In reality, that has never — ever — happened.

Thank you again for being here.

Xoxo

À très bientôt,
Rebeca