This week on Dreaming in French, I’m joined by a special guest, my friend Jessica for a refreshing and honest conversation about life in France. We talk about what it really means to immerse yourself in French culture, the unexpected challenges of city living, and her journey of how she ended up in Paris in the first place.

Along the way, she shares some seriously valuable wisdom for anyone dreaming of making the move to France — from navigating the cultural quirks to finding your footing in a brand new city.

It’s a fun, open, and heartfelt chat that offers both inspiration and reality… and a reminder that while the journey might not always be glamorous, it’s always worth it.

This week, I dive into a mix of nostalgia, frustration, and some long-awaited progress. I talk about missing Thanksgiving traditions back home, surviving the cold Paris weather, and the comfort of a cozy dinner with my boyfriend.

On the practical side of this expat adventure, I finally made real progress with my broker on the investing front and after five long months (and over 200 euros in taxes), I actually secured a date to pick up my visa card.

It’s a week of warmth, complaints, small victories, and figuring things out — slowly but surely — on the journey toward the château dream.

This week’s episode is a full ride. I kick things off with the saga of trying — and failing — to pick up my visa thanks to a date mix-up, a website that refuses to send verification emails, and customer service advice that was… less than enlightening. (If you’ve ever dealt with French bureaucracy, you already know.)

But there was a major win: after weeks of searching, I finally found a U.S.-based broker who can legally invest my money while I live abroad. A huge step forward toward building the financial foundation for the future bed & breakfast dream.

So join me for bureaucratic chaos, a little self-deprecating humor, and a genuinely exciting milestone on this long-term journey.

In this week’s episode, I take a look back at the past ten weeks of chasing the château dream — from saving every euro to diving headfirst into the world of investing. After learning some hard truths about the French stock market, I decided to pivot my focus back to U.S. investments.

I also share insights from my conversation with financial coach Blair Hoover of Choose Your Own Finance, who gave me incredible tools to budget, track, and start building a more secure foundation for the dream ahead. Plus, I’ll fill you in on a few updates from life lately — think long Paris nights, good friends, and very little rest.

In this episode, I talk about celebrating Halloween in Paris, dealing with company politics in the tour scene, and the ultimate adult horror story — trying to invest money as a U.S. citizen in France. Childhood memories meet expat red tape in one messy, magical October night.

In this episode, I start with a story that shook Paris — the robbery at the Louvre and the priceless art that went missing — and how it unexpectedly connects to my own life as a tour guide. From there, I dive into my evolving financial journey: shifting focus toward investing in the stock market to build a stronger foundation for the château dream. Between two countries with very different approaches to money, I’m learning what it really means to create value — in art, in finance, and in life.

In this episode, I share a shift in the château plan — one that’s not about giving up, but about getting smarter. After a conversation with a financial coach, I realized that before I can build my dream bed and breakfast, I need to build something even more important: financial independence. So for now, I’m focusing on investing, saving, and creating a stronger foundation for the future château. The dream is still alive — it’s just taking the scenic route.

This week, I share a story that felt like a breath of fresh country air. I was invited to spend a few days at a family friend’s farmhouse—a weekend filled with slow mornings, homemade meals, wine, and the kind of French countryside living that feeds the soul. It was the pause I didn’t know I needed and a reminder of why I’m chasing this dream in the first place. Somewhere between apple tartes and sunset walks, I found new inspiration… maybe the dream doesn’t start with a château after all, but with a barn.

In this episode, I share the ups and downs of the past week, from bizarre encounters on the job to much needed moments with friends, and even a classic struggle with the French postal service. To top it off, I received an unexpected invitation that might just shape what comes next.

In this episode, I open up about my childhood and the experiences that shaped me—from losing my mother to moving to the ranch with my grandparents. It wasn’t an easy road, but those challenges planted the seeds of strength, resilience, and hope that carries me forward today. The lessons my mother taught me, and the love I found in unexpected places, are all part of the foundation beneath this château dream.