Les Voisins

When Middlesbrough meets Strasbourg meets #aikido, or how one Northeasterner's Japanese dream came true in the northeast of France #ToujoursVoisins 🇬🇧 🇫🇷.

My best experience in France was being a tour guide. After studying French and History in Paris for 3 years, it was my first post-university job. Although I was working on touristic sites that I had visited myself so many times before, introducing Paris to tourists was a great way of reliving my own first experiences of the city. Nevertheless, I have learned that sometimes you just have to go back home for British comfort food even if you live next to a Marks and Spencers in Paris.

Growing up between two cultures, speaking two languages, and being a Marmite fan in a country of confitures. Does that sound familiar? Les Petits Voisins tell us what it's like to a Franco-British voisins.

I have the privilege of meeting some very interesting people in my job from Presidents of France past and present, to film stars and the everyday people who make the country work. Organising the funeral for the policeman who was shot on the Champs Elysées earlier this year was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done. Without talking about the grass being greener on the other side, I’ve realised that England has a lot to offer on all fronts, whether it be landscape, culture, history to name but a few. I grew up in West Yorkshire, its moors, Bronte landscape and grit. I still miss it every day, but listen to BBC Radio Leeds everyday where my friend Liz Green presents her Breakfast Show.

Martin Walker is a British author who has decided to make a life in the beautiful region of Périgord. It is from there, that Martin continues to writes his famous series on Detective Bruno Courrèges.

When I first started to look for a job in London after my internship, I felt overwhelmed because I didn't have much savings, not much of experience (basically none), nowhere to stay and London was so big and impressive that I felt completely lost. Being in this situation, London made me realise that we can achieve much more than we think ourselves capable of.

Our staff from the British consulates in Marseille and Bordeaux participated in the annual Mer de Glace cleanup, one of the largest glacier located near Chamonix. Two British volunteers shared why they loved spending time in the French mountains.

One of my best memories of my life in France is when, a few years ago, I was sat at dinner with some French friends. Half way through, I realised that I was no longer translating from French to English in my head. It dawned on me that I was thinking in French – it was the most incredible moment! I wanted to cry I was so happy! It felt like one door had closed and a hundred more had opened. It just clicked, then and there and I felt as though I was finally becoming a true Parisienne.

I’ve spent delightful springtime weeks exploring the rugged coast of Brittany, the rolling colza fields north of Paris, the Pyrenean mountainsides and the vineyards of Bordeaux, which is where I now live. Perched on the saddle of a bicycle is arguably the best way to visit France and to enjoy not only its wide open spaces, but also the countless small towns and villages that have managed to retain their own timeless heart and soul.