Pardon My French cover art

Pardon My French

Food, Faux Pas and Franglish: One Family's Riotous Year in the South of France

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Pardon My French

By: Rachael Mogan McIntosh
Narrated by: Rachael Mogan McIntosh
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About this listen

At the school gate, when she accidentally kissed one new friend on the nose and called another a "beautiful man-horse", Rachael realized that small-town France could hardly be more different to beach-side Australia. The smell of cigarettes replaced the tang of bone-broth and sprouted sourdough, the neighbors sometimes came to blows and under no circumstances would anyone wear active wear in public. Ever.

Muddling through every interaction in terrible French pushed Rachael's family to their limits. Some days, everybody cried and ate their feelings with almond croissants. But the town of Sommières embraced these ragtag Australians, and the family fell in love with their temporary hometown and its outrageous gossip, cobblestoned beauty and kind, eccentric inhabitants.

Pardon My French is a candid, hilarious love letter to family life and France with three valuable lessons for overcoming adversity: make home a beautiful nest, lean into the tough lessons and look for the comedy in everything.

'Uproarious and deliciously wise… A pure delight.' TORI HASCHKA, A Recipe for Family

©2023 Rachael Mogan McIntosh (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Travel Writing & Commentary Funny Witty Heartfelt
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An interesting premise, however she goes on and on about her poor French, and I don't understand why she didn't start learning prior to moving to France, or make a better effort once there! Either learn the language or just deal with the situation you put yourself in! A tedious listen for me, it took me ages to get through because it was nowhere near as good as the blurb suggested it to be. Yeah, nah.

Learn French already, or stop complaining!

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Absolutely brilliant story, beautifully narrated leaving me in stitches & laughing out loud. Highly recommend it, it’s hilarious. Loved it so much have purchased a hard copy for my collection.

Such an enjoyable story.

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Well written, witty and just a fun read! As a Australian mother of 3 this story is so relatable. Can’t wait to read her next book

Loved this story

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A remarkable story which was entertaining and enjoyable to the last word. Would recommend to anyone to read especially if you’re considering a sojourn in France.

Pardon my French

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Loved hearing the author read this one; sound effects and enthusiasm were priceless. I could visualize as I listened. Loved this book and could listen again - rare for me.

Unpretentious and so Australian

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Fabulous and inspiring, honest and gritty and guffaw inducing! Especially loved listening to the author’s, Rachael, own voice. Really peppered the already flavoursome tales with more vibrancy and integrity. Would recommend any dreamer/Gen-Amelie/Francophile who (like me) has dreamed of skipping off to live in the South of France. C’est magnifique!

C’est Genial

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A nice lighthearted story. It unexpectedly made me think about my life, my home and my parenting style while regularly asking my husband if we should move to France for a year. Whizzed through it super quickly and felt good after a listen. I also appreciated my strong Australian late more than ever (having tried French espresso on more than one occasion).

An easy listen

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This had potential but keeps coming back to her lack of language and inner thoughts. The descriptions of day-to-day living and people she met were interesting, but there were areas that were too self-indulgent, and parts were repetitive like her lack of French language, her inadequacies and lack of resilience to cope with this choice that she made. Poor husband didn't seem to get a good deal on this journey. As a fellow Australian, there were Australian references I couldn't relate to at all and found quite crass and at times ridiculous. More preparation may have been required before they embarked on this adventure. I pushed through, hoping for more of the bits I liked, but alas they were few.


Tedious

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Swapping south coast school pick ups for south of France school pick up tales hmmm, I just lost interest after a while.

Same same

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What an amazing story, absolutely loved listening to it. Thank you for showing us that it can be done.

Absolutely fantastic! So inspiring!

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