Why I’m starting this blog…

Ile St-Louis from Quai de la Tournelle

Seven reasons why I’m starting a blog called ESCAPE TO PARIS…

1. Ever since I was a child, I have loved France, and especially Paris. Born in the UK, where I lived during my childhood, I always felt that I was growing up on the wrong side of the English Channel.

2. I also adore writing, so a blog about escaping to Paris combines my two great loves very nicely…

3. Since my first escape to France as a child in 1968, I spent a long time dreaming of more escapes to that country. I now manage to escape, mainly to Paris, a few times a year. This blog will recount those adventures…

4. Because I research and teach communication, I want to communicate with others via this specific medium, and share some of the insights I have gained over many decades of teaching people to communicate. The vehicle for this will be my blog about Paris…

5. I am an enthusiastic, if struggling, Francophone. I read and listen to French media every day, and regularly learn many useful new words and expressions. I’d like to share these with other Francophiles and would-be Francophones…

6. Paris is my favourite city in the northern hemisphere (not that I’ve seen them all), and Melbourne is my favourite city in the southern hemisphere (although there’s not a lot of competition!), so this blog will partly be a tale of two cities…

7. I already write articles about Paris, France, and about learning French for travel e-zine Bonjour Paris; I’ve also started a book about France. This blog will centralize these ventures, and give me a quick and easy way of collecting and sharing my writings…