Whilst reviewing sites for A Taste of Garlic  I often come across sites that don’t really fit in with my self-imposed rules about the sort of sites that I should be reviewing.

My general rule is that the site  should have a blog element that has at least 30 posts and has been going for at least 3 months.

Obviously, I occasionally break this rule!

Some of the sites that I can’t review are still good sites though and I’ve decided to mention some of these general sites on a Saturday just so that they don’t get lost.

If you know of a site that should be promoted to readers of A Taste of Garlic, please let me know.

The best way is to get in touch at… contact@aTasteOfGarlic.com

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www.francophilia.com

www.francophilia.com is a massive site full of all sorts of goodies!

Francophilia claims to Frenchify your Life and that it certainly does.

It has an interesting layout in that the menu is at the bottom of the page but, that works very well as links to current articles are detailed with pertinent images higher up on the page so that you know where you are going before you get there.

I was particularly impressed by the article about the Obscure 19th-century portraitist Fanny Fleury.

But perhaps that’s just me?

You could spend forever and a day wandering round www.francophilia.com – take my advice; pack some sandwiches for lunch before you dive in!

I was happy to note that, on their blog list page (Blog Listings at Francophilia) my blog, www.BretonDiary.com was listed along with a few favourites already reviewed in this site.

Visit www.francophilia.com, bookmark it and tell all your friends – a really interesting site!

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www.marseille-provence.info

www.marseille-provence.info If the south of Farnce is more your thing, you really ought to take a look at www.marseille-provence.info

I’m not sure who recommended to to me but I’m very grateful to whoever it was.

As well as details about Activities and Sports and Arts and Culture, there is a great Gastronomy section!

Fancy a Sea Urchin Feast?

Of course, my eyes went straight to the article In Praise of Fanny but maybe that’s just me?

Lots of good things for everyone at www.marseille-provence.info and I’d strongly advise anyone thinking of visiting or moving to Provence to take a good look at www.marseille-provence.info

Hey, there’s information in there that’s useful to people who live there, as well!

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www.parisenimages.fr

www.parisenimages.fr – I really must stop finding beautiful, wonderful sites like www.parisenimages.fr

There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

www.parisenimages.fr does just what it says on the tin; lots and lots of great images of Paris (over 25,000 of them) going back through the years!

You can even use some of the photos on your own blog (details here) as long as you stick to the rules.

I was totally blown away by the Photos of Pierre Jahan – especially the ones about the Liberation of Paris.

This is another one of those sites where you could spend the rest of your life…. just browsing!

But don’t let my warning put you off! Take a look at www.parisenimages.fr and enjoy the visual feast to be found there!

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www.ineedaholidaytoo.com

www.ineedaholidaytoo.com is Carl and Jacqui’s site which details their new concept in accessible wheelchair holidays for disabled people.

As well as information for people looking for wheelchair friendly holidays there is a comprehensive list of activities to be found in Brittany. For example, our famous Thalassotherapy (which Carl describes as “a bit like a mud bath!”)

There’s a story about how I Need a Holiday Too came into being. To find out more I suggest that you take a look at the About Page.

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Edible Idioms

I have to say a big thank you to Jacqueline Brown who pointed me (and all her other Facebook friends) towards www.EdibleIdioms.com Jacqueline has her own great blog at French Village Diaries as well as a self-catering properties website at Special Places in France.

www.EdibleIdioms.com is probably the first website you should ever look at when you move to France!

It explains all those things that all those hours of French lessons at all those evening classes never thought to mention!

Take a look and you’ll understand – after all, French is another language!

The site is the brainchild of Kimberly Lovato who is a writer and has a personal website at http://kimberleylovato.com/ – perhaps she’d appreciate an email to let her know how much you liked Edible Idioms – Kimerbey’s Email Address?

The address of Edible Idioms is…. www.EdibleIdioms.com

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www.Groupon.fr

I’ve got Ksam at Totally Frenched Out to thank for drawing my attention to Groupon.fr – ain’t it lovely when someone else does your work for you?

I’ll just use what Ksam says on her site to explain what Groupon does… “A lot of you are probably aware of this already, but just in case, I thought I’d share a pretty cool website I came across a few months back. It’s called Groupon (the French version of CityDeal), and as the name suggests, is a site for group coupons.”

“The way it works is they negotiate some pretty great deals with companies all over France and then they publish them on their website (or you can choose to receive their daily emails). If enough people decide to participate, the “deal” is validated and they email you your gift certificate. There are several ways to pay – I usually use PayPal. FYI: The payment is only taken from your account if the deal is validated.”

“Here are a few that I’ve chosen – a massage + foot reflexology for 18€ instead of 50€, a 36€ gift certificate for the Happy Days Diner for 18€, a 15€ gift certificate for Jeff de Bruges chocolate for 7€, etc. Plus a surprise for C for our anniversary, but more about that later….”

Groupon.fr also allows Parrainage which means that if you tell someone about it and they sign up, you get some vouchers, or something…

Here is Ksam’s parrainage link to get to Groupon.fr

I am sort of interested in that massage + foot reflexology for 18€ – my bunions would love me forever!

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babybilingual.blogspot.com

Bringing up Baby Bilingual is Sarah’s site. Sarah is a former French teacher who now tutors, cooks, reads, writes, procrastinates, and coordinates an enrichment program called Reading Buddies at the public library. She lives in Colorado, United States.

She emailed me to say…. “since you’re asking for recommendations of blogs to review, including ones that don’t quite fit your criteria, I figured you might be interested in mine. But it’s not set in France! I’m an American who writes about raising children with more than one language, focusing on how I speak exclusively French to my son, even though I’m a non-native speaker. And so far, it’s working.”

Now, I thought to myself… Surely there are plenty of visitors to A Taste of Garlic who might be interested in bringing up their babies bi-lingual – and many of them might not speak French as their mother tongue? Thus, I’m drawing your attention to Bringing up Baby Bilingual here.

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relocation-to-france.blogspot.com

Relocation to France Made Easy is a Brittany based blog that has elements that could be useful for anything who has recently moved to France (or is thinking of doing so.)

Relocation to France Made Easy is run by Rachel Gallard who is a French National. Since 2003 she has been helping English speaking people with their relocation to France.

The information on this site rages from Driving in France to the dreaded Forms and Paperwork for which France is… “slightly well known”, shall we say?

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www.assist-ent.net

www.assist-ent.net is Helen’s site. As a Virtual Assistant, Helen can offer PA, secretarial and administrative office support services on a regular or ad hoc basis.

Your business may be such that demand for office support can fluctuate from month to month and you don’t require the added expense of a part-time or full-time employee.

You may only require help for a small part of your day, week or month, to support your business needs.

If this sounds familiar then Helen can help. Helen can offer professional confidential support, allowing you more time to concentrate on the more important aspects of your business.

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www.bonjourparis.com

Bonjour Paris is a multifaceted site that has been going since 1995 and bills itself as the Definitive Guide to Paris.

As well as a classified sales section there are plenty of articles from a host of talented writers, some already known to A Taste of Garlic.

The subject areas of Wine and Provence are aptly covered by Julie Mautner (www. ProvencePost.com) and Kristin Espinasse (French Word a Day).

Paris is covered by Shannon Vettes (je ne sais quoi)and Paul Prescott (Paris Inspired).

There are plenty of restaurant reviews – some of which live in the premium area which may be worth while checking out for anyone visiting Paris for more than a few hours as there are plenty of discounts available to members.

Overall, Bonjour Paris is a wealth of information and anyone thinking of visiting that city should really spend a few hours/evenings reviewing this site. It’s worth doing that just for the stories and articles alone!

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www.thehemingwayproject.com

The Hemingway Project is an ongoing investigation in Hemingway and his frioends and family.

Although possibly more of interest to someone living in or visiting Paris, I feel that there is enough value in the site for it to be mentioned here.

The Hemingway Project is updated, on average, six times a month and contains interview transcripts, audio clips and videos.

I’ve got to admit… it’s strangely freaky to actually hear Syvia Beach or F. Scott, Fitzgerald talk!

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www.survivefrance.com

Survive France is a brilliant site, of which I’m proud to be a member (although I do worry about the sanity of any sites that allow me to be a member!)

Survive France is a new sort of site; not really forum, not really blog, that has loads of different groups that cater to almost every interest – if there isn’t a suitable one there, you can start your own.

There isn’t, as yet, a group dedicated to Andouillette Eating Competitions but as the site is growing very fast (already 740 members), I’m sure it won’t be long!

As well of plenty of good advice Survive France has a great sense of friendship and support.

Although I said that it’s not really forum and not really blog, there are forums on the site and you can also post blog articles as well.

Rather than let me confuse you by trying to explain it all, you should really just take a peek yourself and ask one of the other members – in other words, someone who knows what they are talking about!

Hope to see you there. I’ll be the one sat in the corner waiting patiently for someone to start up an Andouillette Eating Competition Group!

You can find the site at www.survivefrance.com – please visit and join in the fun!

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www.thefrenchcorner.net

The French Corner is a great resource for learning French and, more importantly, how to have fun learning French.

There really is something for everyone on this site. Videos, music and Comic Books.

The lessons are really fun and you can learn something new every day.

For example, did you know that Ça boume? is slang for How’s it going? No? Shame on you!

You can find the site at www.thefrenchcorner.net – why not take a look and make learning French, fun! Tu piges? (You get it?) – you will!

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www.heraultwhatson.info

Robin Hicks asked me to mention what looks like a thriving community webiste for Anglophones who live – or would like to live, in l’Herault.

The site includes – listings, news, associations, wine, food and all the things which help Anglophones to settle in and get the most out of living in the departement.

I’m especially impressed by the restaurant reviews and the friendly forum.

You can find the site at www.heraultwhatson.info – please visit!

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TIENS! Le Sud-Ouest

Perry (of cartoon fame) asked me to mention his new online magazine all about SW France.

TIENS! Le Sud-Ouest is a new digital magazine for the Francophiles who have discovered and would like to know more about South West France.

Welcome to the pilot edition of TIENS! le Sud-Ouest de la France. The innovative, new online magazine, with slideshows, films and sound to enhance your appreciation of the culture, cuisine, nature, sport, history and events in South West France.

The link… to the teaser edition is http://tiensmagazineenglish.dutchgiraffe.fr

Perry has got a new site to show off his excellent cartoons – I’ll be talking about that sometime next week.

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Our French Impressions

Jean-Marie Liere contacted me to let me know about his site.

Our French Impressions can be found at www.ourfrenchimpressions.com

Now, although he is a Frenchman (married to a Scottish wife), Jean-Marie lives in Australia and so it’s difficult for me to review his site as a Life in France blog here.

Still, it’s a great site and well worthy of a mention!

Jean-Marie says.. “We are based in Sydney, but I am French and my wife is a Scott. You can read
our story on our site. I write about Paris, Provence, food, recipes and wine and any other topic related to France that takes my fancy and falls roughly into those categories. I also post on food and restaurants in Australia, mainly in Sydney, but occasionally in other capital cities, as I regularly travel for work to Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth. I hope you will enjoy reading my prose and look at our photos. We will soon add videos to show some of our recipes in the making.”

Jean-Marie also knows a lot about Hi-Fi which makes him a cool dude in my books!

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All the best

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