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Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
Almost French Love and a New Life in Paris
Author: Sarah Turnbull
The charming true story of a spirited young woman who finds adventure -- and the love of her life -- in Paris. — "This isn't like me. I'm not the sort of girl who crosses continents to meet up with a man she hardly knows. Paris hadn't even been part of my travel plan..." — A delightful, fresh twist on the travel memoir, Al...  more » takes us on a tour that is fraught with culture clashes but rife with deadpan humor. Sarah Turnbull's stint in Paris was only supposed to last a week. Chance had brought Sarah and Frédéric together in Bucharest, and on impulse she decided to take him up on his offer to visit him in the world's most romantic city. Sacrificing Vegemite for vichyssoise, the feisty Sydney journalist does her best to fit in, although her conversation, her laugh, and even her wardrobe advertise her foreigner status.

But as she navigates the highs and lows of this strange new world, from life in a bustling quatier and surviving Parisian dinner parties to covering the haute couture fashion shows and discovering the hard way the paradoxes of France today, little by little Sarah falls under its spell: maddening, mysterious, and charged with that French specialty -- séduction.

An entertaining tale of being a fish out of water, Almost French is an enthralling read as Sarah Turnbull leads us on a magical tour of this seductive place -- and culture -- that has captured her heart.
ISBN-13: 9781592400386
ISBN-10: 1592400388
Publication Date: 8/18/2003
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 20

3.8 stars, based on 20 ratings
Publisher: Gotham Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 232 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Loved this true story. It provides insite about how French people think and behave, why they seem snobby to English speakers in particular. Very entertaining story of culture clashes.
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I thought this was a great book. I love France and have visited there a lot, so this was a really interesting look inside their culture and thoughts of tourists.
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 42 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
A charming story about an Australian falling in love with a Frenchman and adjusting to life in Paris. A very enjoyable book!
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on
Helpful Score: 3
This book is delightful and even funny in parts. But it also contains some wisdom--and not only about learning to live happily in a foreign country: One thing that stuck in my mind was how Turnbull at first disliked the French custom of going back (in her case, going back with her boyfriend) to be with one's family *every* weekend, but after a while, she realized that your mate comes as a package, so to speak, and you can't cut out an important part of his/her life, so she stopped resisting. In the end, she came to love his family and enjoyed them.

I posted this book into the system several months ago so others could enjoy it, too, but it is one that I wouldn't mind reading again!
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 70 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great insight into the French culture. Fun read.
Read All 36 Book Reviews of "Almost French Love and a New Life in Paris"

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reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 5 more book reviews
A great read. I enjoyed her story about the move to and life in Paris.
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 100 more book reviews
The author falls for a French man, moves in with him in Paris, and tries to fit in. It's difficult----she's Australian! The culture clash is funny and entertaining. Looking forward to her next adventure, coming out this fall.
j2smile avatar reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on
Such great fun to read! I learned so much about Paris, a city I've always wanted to call home, and what it might be like to live there. What a wonderful adventure the writer's life has become and it sounds like she found the perfect partner with which to share it (and dog, too!).
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 47 more book reviews
Loved this book - it is an easy but very interesting read and rather lighthearted - a good pick me up !
reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 7 more book reviews
This is an honest, well written and often funny account of what it's like to move to France because of love. Loved it even though I have no intention of moving to France!
mountainreader avatar reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 113 more book reviews
This is a wonderful book if you love to armchair travel like myself! "For anyone who has ever traveled in Europe, enjoyed a holiday romance, dreamed of living in Paris or taken off on an adventure far from home, this is the book for you. Part travelogue, part love story, it documents the experience of an Australian journalist who moves to Paris, tries to adapt to live there, but fails miserably at times, and of the seismic impact this has on her romance with a Frenchman to whom she's now married. Highly entertaining." The Australian Women's Weekly
galnsearch avatar reviewed Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris on + 143 more book reviews
This is a partial autobiography of Sarah Turnbull, an Australian journalist. While on vacation in Bucharest, Sarah meets a young Frenchman who invites her to visit him for a week in Paris. Truly enlightening about how the French treat each other and their cultural differences from Americans (and Australians).

Donna V.


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