16.40 - Seeing, Starting, Speaking Up
Tomas k - Senior News Editor 
Today at a Glance: Your FREE weekly newsletter
Bonjour mes ami(e)s !
It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today. Bienvenue !
In this newsletter, you’ll find these wonderful, fresh articles taking you to France beyond the cliché.
And coming later today for PAID subscribers: 16.40.a — It’s not too late to upgrade & to be sure you receive it ←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy
10.10.2026
1. MyFrenchLife™ Magazine new articles
“There are many talented contributors to MyFrenchLife Magazine and I thank all of you for sharing your experiences with us in such an engaging manner.
You take us right across France & deep into many wormholes. We delight in discovering
and learning more about France beyond the cliché”
Merci
Judy
Our list of valued Contributors →
A reminder that ‘The Writers Room’ now resides here →
a) Claude Monet and His Centenary Year
by Suzanne Rietmeijer
I might as well confess: last autumn, I finally went to Giverny and visited Monet’s house and gardens for the very first time. Yes, really. Call me a cultural barbarian, but with 750,000 visitors a year, I had mostly pictured a Disney-esque attraction, all tour groups and guides with little flags. Then, in late October, while trying to come up with a birthday outing for my boyfriend, I suddenly thought: autumn in Giverny. Actually… why not?”
There were no water lilies, of course, but the garden was beautiful: still in bloom here and there, and full of those properly autumnal reds and oranges. The other great advantage? It really wasn’t that busy. Admittedly, it was a very DINK outing – double income, no kids – as we were there on a Wednesday in October outside the school holidays. But still: worth it…” wrote Suzanne.
b) Adventures in Reading
by Keith Van Sickle
Val and I are members of a reading circle in St-Rémy. This is kind of like a book club and kind of not. And the first meeting we attended was rather tense.”
In a reading circle, instead of everyone reading the same book, you read what you want. At the meetings, you go around the table, and each person talks about a book or two that they have read—what they liked, what they didn’t like, that sort of thing.”
Sometimes this leads to a discussion if someone else has read the same book, or maybe something else by that author. It’s a great way to discover new books.”
When Val and I learned of the reading circle in St-Rémy, we figured we should try it out. This was intimidating because it had been running for many years. This meant everyone already knew each other, making us interlopers. And, of course, it was all in French…” wrote Keith.
c) Reinvention: Photographer Style
by Laura L Barkat
Let’s get it out on the table right away (tout de suite).
I love the concept of reinvention (la réinvention). Maybe because it seems to contain within it, quite naturally, beginnings.
And I do love a good beginning.
I know that many beginnings also contain an ending, sometimes dramatic, sometimes more drifty. A letting go. A floating away. In any case, at some point, the thing that is ending crosses a kind of horizon line. And we begin again—fully, or mostly, free of it.
Beginnings are often tender, and though they can be exciting, they can also be hard to… begin…” wrote Laura.
INVITATION RSVP:
2. The MyFrenchLife™ French BookClub is back. DISCUSSION EVENT: 7 & 8 NOVEMBER 2026
Join us
We’ve started reading Live Fast (Vivre Vite) by Brigitte Giraud, 2022 Prix Goncourt winner. I’ll be hosting, together with returning co-host and valued contributor Keith Van Sickle, who suggested this book.
Now’s a great time to get the book and start reading, in French or English; our discussion will be in English. RSVP is essential to receive the access link.
I’m looking forward to many of you joining us in a lively chat.
How much do you know about the author?
Brigitte Giraud, born in 1960 in Sidi Bel Abbès in French Algeria, is a French writer and author of novels and short stories. Brigitte Giraud grew up in Rillieux-la-Pape before settling in Lyon. A bookseller and journalist, she writes and began publishing in the late 1990s. On 3 November 2022, she was awarded the 2022 Prix Goncourt for her narrative Vivre vite (Live Fast), which looks back at the motorcycle accident that claimed her husband’s life in 1999 at the age of 41. She is the thirteenth woman to receive this prize in one hundred and twenty years (since 1903).
HERE you’ll find the invitation and RSVP form→ This event is across many time zones - check the time for your location←
Judy
3. Merci mille fois
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine.”
Judy MacMahon
Merci mille fois d’être ici, mes ami(e)s. Thanks for being here.
Suzanne took us to Giverny in October light. Laura told us about Julia Margaret Cameron, given a camera by her daughters at 48. And Keith told us about a woman who threw her copy of a book down on the table.
That was this week’s France, from three people who see it quite differently, and I’m rather fond of that.
If Keith’s story made you curious, the MyFrenchLife French BookClub, well… yes, it's back! We’re reading Live Fast (Vivre vite) by Brigitte Giraud, the 2022 Prix Goncourt winner, in French or English, and the discussion is on 7 and 8 November. RSVP is essential to receive the access link, and the form is above.
I wonder where our Contributors will take us next week in FRANCE AS IT HAPPENS?
À bientôt !
Judy
judy@myfrenchlife.org
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