Home, finally! A month ago, I moved back to my hometown, in Brittany, France. Yes, after 12 years in Canada, including 2 pandemic-years of waiting, it was time. Although I am grateful for the people and experiences that crossed my path in Canada, I am so immensely thrilled to be back in France, and to be reunited with the beautiful sea, buttery foods and friendly people that never ceased to feel like home – in Brittany.
On the professional side, I wanted to let you know that nothing is changing! I will keep posting recipes here on this blog and focusing on sharing authentic, simple French recipes accessible to the North American audience, and that can be made with ingredients available and affordable in US/Canada as well.
I am keeping one foot in Canada (by marriage), so speaking English and vacationing in Canada occasionally remains! But of course, you can also expect more snippets of my French life from now on… culture, lifestyle, and food, obviously. I will be sharing most of them on social media, but occasionally on the blog as well.
Here are a few snippets of the past month… Mostly making and sharing good food with old and new friends, and spending time on the beach with our dog Sophie, who’s learning to love the sand and crabs!
77 comments
I am glad you are back to Brittany, France, a city I love to visit. My friends are from Canada and they both married US citizens. So both of them live in USA long ago.
Congratulations and best wishes! It must be wonderful to be home. Your blog (and foods) are something my family looks forward to, and we’re thrilled you’ll continue.
🙂🙂🙂
Thank you!
Congratulations on your move back home. Glad you will keep up with the blog. I live in NOTL (I think you did too ?) so was always happy to support a local. Best wishes!
Yes I was living in NOTL. My husband is from Niagara, so we’ll come back for holidays!
Tremendous news
Love your recipes
Thank you!
Lucky you! I hope you will continue sending us recipes, I have come to rely on them
for our family dinners. What a cute pup.
Thank you!
Oh I am happy for you. Enjoy.
Thank you!
Audrey, I’m so happy for you! There’s no place like home😃 I am looking forward to all your recipes and updates! I know the Niagara area will miss you! Be safe, and be happy!❤️
Thank you!
Congratulations! I know you are happy to be back home! I can hardly wait to get back to OUR second home this summer (it’s in Brittany, too!). I could live there full time. It’s so beautiful and kind and full of fabulous options for eating well! I have made your Coq au Vin – both rouge and blanc many many times. It is so straight forward and everybody loves it. Thank you for being an inspiration to me. Oh, last night for dinner we had your beef bourguignon and sighed delightfully when we laid our napkins down!
Amazing, thank you!
Voilà une bonne nouvelle ! Bienvenue ! J’habite à Vitré…
Merci!
When I think of Brittany I think of my Grandfather who came ashore in Brittany September 1944 to help liberate France.
Now my focus is on really good amazing French food. I hope one day to visit this region to walk in my Grandfather’s footsteps and enjoy the amazing country and food!
Thank you!
So very happy for you ! Bless you in all you do. Regards, R.Copton
Thank you!
Be happy at home.
Thank you!
I’m so very happy that you are thrilled to be home. Most of us can never return to the place we were born and have those feelings. In the USA we have a sad saying; “ you can never go home.”
Thank you for kindly sharing your journey! We are all looking forward to more excellent recipes from France!
Thank you!
I am 100% of French descent, through Canada and now the US. I have been to France mostly in Paris and Normandy. After over 400 years of my family being in the new world it was like coming home. I look forward to following you.
Thank you!
Congratulations. It’s alway great to hear about happiness. I love your website, and this move can only inspire you even more.
Thank you, it sure inspires me!
I’m from the US but love everything French, food, language, lifestyle and the country (I’ve been there three times and would love to go back some day. I truly enjoy your blog and hope you continue it.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
Thank you!
Hi Audrey! I love your recipes and I’ve been enjoying them from where I live in France! I’m so glad you are back in France and can now maybe share recommendations for local products:)
Thank you!
I am so thrilled that I came across your site several months ago. I live in rural Kentucky in the USA. I fell in love with Paris in early 2016. I long to visit other regions in France to experience different cuisines and cultures. I am excited to continue to follow you as you move back to your home! What a wonderful way for me to experience French culture through your eyes and recipes (my favorite is your Spinach and Cheese Quiche) which comforted me during some rough chemotherapy days recently). Thank you for sharing such beautiful things with those of us who wish to travel more!
Thank you so much!
Lucky you to be back in your Homeland. Such a stunning country. My husband and I will be in Brittany this coming August. Still haven’t settled on a town to stay in. Any recommendations? We were looking at Dinard and Dinan but any suggestion would be lovely. Including places to eat. I love oysters so let me know where to go.
Thank you Julie! Dinard is lovely, so is St Malo just 5 minutes away – and this part of Brittany is the best for oysters. I live on the Southern Coast of Brittany (Morbihan Gulf), which to me is the most beautiful part of Brittany 🙂 I highly recommend Quimper too, such a lovely rustic city center.
Well done you ! My young cousin with two small children live in Saint Thegonnec (sp) in a converted school house. The best iof both worlds, the countryside and the sea
Thank you!
Is Sophie a labradoodle? She looks like she could be Snowball, our dog’s sister. I am thinking of making a similar move, from Portland Oregon to Brittany this summer. My daughter starts her freshman year at Utrecht University in August, and I promised her that if she went to school in the Netherlands I would move to Europe (not too close, not too far from her). In May I’m going to look for a place. I grew up near the ocean and spent many summer days in the sea, so top of my list of places to look is Brittany. Any recommendations for where I might look? (By the way, we have your cookbook and have tried many of the recipes from your blog. Pork chops in the grainy mustard and mushroom sauce is our favorite.)
Hi Don! Thank you for your comment! Sophie is a mini goldendoodle 🙂 I would honestly recommend anywhere in Brittany for looking for a home, the whole region is beautiful and relaxing. Cities like Quimper, Rennes and Vannes are lively, yet not too big and kept a rustic charm – great places to start looking.
Je vous souhaite un beau retour dans ce merveilleux coin de la France que j’ai eu la chance de visiter il y pas mal d’années.
Franco-Suisse j’habite dans l’ouest du Canada et suis vos très bonnes recettes.
Merci!
Bonne chance dans votre pays d’origine!
Merci beaucoup!
Lovely! I was in Dinan a long time ago and is a place I could easily live. So glad you were able to move back.
Thank you Dana!
Always a joy to experience a “slice of French life” through your photos and writings. Congrats on the return…onward and forward!
Thank you Trish!
Je vous souhaite beaucoup de bonheur. Je suis française et vis à Los Angeles depuis 28 ans. Je regarde vos photos et j’imagine cet étrange sentiment que vous devez ressentir. Rentrer chez soi… en se sentant appartenir ailleurs aussi. Le Canada fait partie de vous également et vivre au-delà de chez soi, c est changer, c est évoluer autrement. Ma famille m’appelle l’Americaine parce que je vois les choses différemment. Je vous souhaite de pouvoir garder cette double identité parce qu’elle est riche et fait grandir.
Je suis heureuse que vous ayez décidé de continuer à partager vos recettes avec nous. J’aime votre simplicité et votre façon de voir les choses. Vos recettes sont délicieuses et je me tourne toujours vers vous lorsque j ai besoin d’inspiration. Profitez bien et nourrissez nous de cette belle énergie. Bien à vous. Céline
Merci beaucoup Celine!
We are always drawn home! Congratulations on making the move! Will continue to follow and make your fabulous recipes!
Thank you Joanne!
Congratulations!
Life moves in rhythms; now must be your time to return home. Good for you!
Please fill us in on your experiences as you get settled into your new (old) home 🙂
Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Will do, thank you!
I am making the Classic French Strawberry Tart today. Oh so long ago I, my husband and a friend were in Paris together. Every Strawberry Tart I passed, I ate. And since they were usually sold at a bread shops, we ate lots of ham sandwiches, slathered in butter on perfect baguettes. What a wonderful memory.
Thank you for your comment!
Congratulations and best wishes on your happy return home. Looking forward to more good recipes and now added bonus of lifestyle and French culture updates.
Thank you!
home is always a comfy place to be and the best place to return to.
Couldn’t agree more!
I must say, I am jealous! Also, very happy for you 😊
Thank you Amy!
Congratulations, Audrey! Good luck with your new home (old as the location to you may be). Please do continue posting recipes. I so enjoy them and have even attemtped a few of them.
Sheryl
Thank you!
Congratulations on relocating to BRittany. I love France. We do long stays (4-6 weeks) in Antibes though we have explored a fair bit of France. We used to do motor trips which were exciting. Did get to Normandy but never Brittany.
I look forward to following your journey.
Thank you!
Audrey, how wonderful for you to be home! I have your cookbook and just love it. Thank you thank you!!
Thank you Paula!
I feel happy for you! I have enjoyed your recipes and articles and blog! I studied French cooking with Madeleine Kammon From Anecy!
Warmly,
Sally
Thank you!
Best wishes on the move back to your home. Your recipes are deeply appreciated. With cheers from Downunder.
Thank you!
Such a good resource — I look forward to reading about your life back in beautiful Brittany and turning to you for cooking tips and great recipes. 5 stars. Thank you. TW
Thank you!
I had the opportunity to spend a week in Brittany this past spring (2022), and I so enjoyed the fresh air of the sea and the beauty of the area. The food was delicious and the people were so friendly. I was born and grew up in French-speaking Louisiana, and consider myself French-American. I know you will enjoy being home again. I look forward to your cooking and recipes.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed my area of France, it really is something special. Make yourself welcome at the blog and I hope you get a chance to try a few things out, as I love how you embrace your French culture.
Is that Locquirec?
It isn’t, but it is very close by and very beautiful. A lot of the areas around my parts have a very similar style and feel to them, but each with their own unique twists that you feel when you’re there.