Mark Brenner was born in Norwich, England. He studied at Norwich School and Wymondham College, before turning-down an opportunity to study Drama at Exeter University. Instead, he opted for music, which resulted in lots of ups and downs with a number of bands, and included a spell as a DJ and nightclub manager.

Mark eventually left Britain (for entirely personal reasons) in a tiny two-seater Cessna light aircraft. After stopping-off at Cherbourg to buy a pack of Gaulloises (“the taste of France”), the plane finally landed at La Teste, in the south-west. That’s how Mark Brenner arrived in the Bordeaux region of France. He sold the plane, grabbed his acoustic guitar and began busking in Arcachon and Cap Ferret (two popular seaside resorts). By late September 1995 he realised to his horror that the weather had become pretty much as bad as in his native Britain, and he launched what is probably one of the most unlikely of any international pop singers’ careers.

Combining a wide range of influences (from pop, rock, jazz and world music), mixing his own excellent songs with a number of carefully-chosen covers, Mark has become a kind of International star within his own chosen circuit. He could have become any number of things, but thanks to his talent and charisma, watching him in action on stage with his superb band of musicians, you can tell he’s picked the right vocation.

Article taken from Mark-Brenner.com 

www.facebook.com/mark.brenner

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by Jill Hanby

So, in my last post (frowns and hopes you have read it) I talked about the practicalities, the worry and the concern of moving from the UK to France brightening up the post with the reality of the wonderful area that we find ourselves in in Bordeaux and the fact that never are we Expats are never really alone.  

See, beautiful Bordeaux! Bloggers own photo.

Today is Tuesday, with thoughts on culture and the reality of moving abroad. Now I very nearly didn’t make it to Bordeaux. The December before we permanently arrived here, my boyfriend and I spent a cold, wet and sad weekend in Bordeaux looking for accommodation –somewhere that we could live for 2 years and be happy. 

Now the 1st point, this was difficult because I liked our home back in the UK, in fact, we owned our own flat so it was truly ‘our home’. Nothing could compare/replace that,  could it? And the second difficulty about this whole process came down to language and culture. How did you go about finding a ‘nice’ apartment, what documentation did we need (turns out the question should have been what documentation didn’t we need?!) and how long would it take?

Luckily, my boyfriend’s Dad is a French teacher, so he called some letting agencies in advance to make appointments for us and checked what we needed to take with us (everything but the kitchen sink it felt like). So, on a grey, December day back in 2009, we entered our first letting agency relying on my school girl French and some notes from the boyfriend’s Dad to start our French life. And I have to be honest, it was horrible, I hated every minute… 

• The receptionist was snotty, rude and did not understand anything. I am still shocked by how rude, unwelcoming and fairly dire she was… I now realise this was not ‘French’ at all, it was just one individual who should have been in a different job behind closed doors away from all members of the public. 
• Apparently we didn’t have the right documentation, although they had assured my boyfriend’s Dad we would need no more *sigh*.
• It appeared not to matter at all that my boyfriend had a 2 year contract for a good job here, we had money in the bank and owned a property in the UK – none of that would help us here.

One agent helpfully told me that once we had worked in France for three months, then we could rent a property with her…. In the meantime where should we live where exactly?!?!

We waited for an hour outside an apartment waiting for the agent to show up, only for him to forget us…. Cue feeling as lost as you possibly can.  

Now I was convinced this was all because we were English. No other question, it was ‘ze stupide eenglisssh’, this is the reason why people were unhelpful and at times rude (this is not an exaggeration!) I was sure of it. 

However, do not despair – although tears were shed and feet were stomped (mine), it turned out OK in the end. I can say that now, although it might have felt like the worst weekend ever and the decision to move here seemed like the craziest thing in the world (especially for an organised Madame like myself) it all turned out fine. 

Could it be anymore French? Bloggers own photo.

The said agent who had let us down and left us waiting outside on a cold French street for an hour took pity on us, gave us a ‘special showing’ of an apartment and said that if we liked it he would hold it for us without question…. Ha ha some French men can be helpful! 

Of course by this point we had:

• found a ‘garant’ – definition: someone who will guarantee a sum of money in case you (the tenants) do not pay rent – i.e: a guarantee of rent for a period of time, however, this person has to live and work in France – quite a tricky find for someone moving from abroad!
• spent two days looking around (fairly aimlessly I think)
• signed a million and four documents (this is somewhat of an exaggeration) 
• started using sign language instead of my pidgin French!  

Yippee, the flat we saw was perfect, 3 pieces (oops little bit of French terminology coming in there), in a good part of town, near to tram stops and shops and could happily be home to us whilst here. The interesting thing which still leaves me a little bit open-mouthed was/is the size of the kitchen (seriously huge) but wait a second, there was nothing in this kitchen – there was just a sink. Nothing more, nothing less. Ahh yes, another education into French life, often you can rent a property and it does not have a fitted kitchen – ho hum (this is very weird by English standards). Needless to say there was a fairly full white van shopping trip when we moved which was full of cupboards, ovens, fridges and other useful things, a fairly high additional cost to renting in France but somewhat essential too! 

Possibly not the best picture – but enough said, blank walls, blank floor space – nothing, nada, rien!

So, although at times the language and culture were confusing and difficult. As was the ability for the French to be abrupt/rude/unhelpful, however, please note, this does not mean that everyone is really like that, without our one agent coming through for us I am not sure where we would be now; but we are still happily in our flat after nearly three years (way longer than anticipated), our kitchen is still functioning even if it was bought to last only two years on a tight budget and possibly more importantly even after technical household issues, like a hole in the roof, a leaking bathroom and a huge breakdown in electrical circuits we have survived. We have lived in Bordeaux, managed the culture and ‘Frenchness’ and are still here! Whoop Whoop! 

Even on a grey day, a sad day, a day when you feel a million miles from home, you can still see the attraction of the city. Bloggers own photo.

What about you? Did you have a moving nightmare? Or did it all go swimmingly (I’m a bit jealous if it did, but still happy for you!)

If you would like to contact Jill for more information, please click here or check out her blog!

The post Expat Living in Bordeaux – Jill Hanby II appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

The best and the worst of being an Expat

by Jill Hanby

Hello *waves manically* hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine we currently have… let’s hope the umbrellas don’t make an appearance too soon!

Today I am wondering about your best and worst of life in France? It’s often an interesting discussion that I have with friends back home. They call or I visit and the questions are often ‘what do you like about France?’ (meaning: why do you live in France!?!) and ‘what is difficult out there?’ (meaning – how do you manage with the language!?) So I would love to hear your thoughts on the best and worst of being an Expat in France.

Here are mine…

St Emilion, a great place to take the family/friends

BEST…

Well, in many ways the best parts of my life here changes day in day out. If you were to ask my boyfriend he would tell you (quite openly) that one day I love living in France and the next day I might hate it and possibly even say I hate him for making us come here… sounds extreme but that is quite close to the truth. I will be honest, I swing from one day to the next – am I the only one?

But ultimately, for me, the best part of life here is the adventure, the opportunity to travel, to visit new places, to experience new things. In summary, to do something completely out of the ordinary. Now I understand living in France is not like living in China or on the other side of the world in Australia, but still, it’s a different culture to my home country of the UK, there are very different approaches to life, work, food and so on… so for me, it has been and continues to be my mini-adventure.

I am an organised planner… my life needs a plan, it needs to have things organised for the future. Living here has changed that somewhat, there is no plan! Who knows how long we will be here for, who knows what will happen in 2014 when the job contract finishes… I HATE that, but at the same time, embrace it as part of the adventure. How do you manage the uncertainty of life? Any handy hints out there?

My top 5 best parts of my mini adventure:

1. Spending the weekend in the Pays-Basque in May and enjoying the mini heatwave, the countryside (greener than England in many ways), the beautiful coastline and the culture (oh, and of course the food, my first taste of ‘axoa’!)
2. *soppy sentence alert* becoming closer to my boyfriend-now fiancé. Coming here, on our own, without any friends or family surrounding us has definitely made us nothing but stronger. As my Mum says to us every time we visit our family and then return to France “look after each other” – there is no one else but us to rely on, so we do. In every sense of the word.
3. A week in Calvi, Corsica in 2010. This is a somewhat hidden department of France and words simply cannot do it justice.
   

   The Citadel at Calvi
4. Getting a job in France. Yes, I work in France. I might use my mother tongue 90% of the time, but still I spent 6 months unemployed and wondering what on earth I would do here, feeling a bit low and very unsure of myself. So now, I work, I pay my own taxes and I am making my own way in a job (a little piece of French independence) in a foreign country with a foreign language – go me!!
5. Generally, enjoying life in a town that is warmer than the UK (where isn’t I hear you shout!) Here, summers can be long, sunny and beautiful; with weekends spent at the beach, on a picnic or by the river on the quays. Compared to the British summer (yes, apparently there is one!), the Bordelaise summer is bliss! 

Even in the winter, the clear blue skies are amazing.

WORST…

However good life might be here, of course it is not always like that and there have been many days when I have asked to go home! Now, I have to be honest and tell you dear reader, that I don’t really know where home is… is that the house that my boyfriend and I own back in Blighty? Is it where my parents live, is it back to the life that I had pre-Bordeaux or is it just back to a country where I generally understand *everything* that is happening?!  I just don’t know!

The worst for me was definitely the first six months in France, it didn’t help that it started in January, so was cold, grey and a little sad or that my boyfriend had a new, exciting, full time job so I spent 9 hours on my own every day. I found France to be a lonely place. I tried to take French lessons but ended up sitting amongst university students who were temporarily in France and made me feel very old and also fairly unambitious. I never realized how much a job created my identity, in my first six months here, I felt like nobody. If I only I had seen this blog then, maybe I would have met other people in my situation at the time…

However, I’m pleased to report that the ‘worst’ is all over with and it’s only the good times now!

Of course, when you live outside your country you miss lots of things, friends and family the most. It’s hard trying to be a good friend when you don’t live in the same country, let alone that you are not around the corner. It’s hard to be a god parent when you only see your god children every six months, by which time they have pretty much forgotten who you are. It’s hard to see your family and friends get on with their life, their routine without you, but it’s fairly fantastic when they visit and treat your home like a holiday destination, it’s also great when you make excuses to meet them in other parts of the world just so you can see each other and its even nicer when you go home – it all means so much more when you don’t visit all that often.

And then there are the creature comforts, do you miss any of these from your home? I sometimes miss sweets (Haribo Starmix if anyone wants to send me some!) and at times I can be found craving an old fashioned country pub lunch. I love French bistros and restaurants, but sometimes I want a comfy chair, in front of the fire with a ploughmans lunch!

But by not having these things, I have decided that it makes it all the better when you get to go home and fulfill that craving or … when you find a new restaurant in town that takes your mind off what you are missing because it is often then that you realize YOU are experiencing your own mini adventure!

It would be great to hear your best/worst of living abroad, so please drop us a note with your experiences and stories!

Read Jill’s article about arriving in Bordeaux and getting set up in Bordeaux.

If you would like to contact Jill for more information, please click here or check out her blog!

The post Expat Living in Bordeaux – Jill Hanby III appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

By Jill Hanby

I am currently writing in a post-lunch haze. You know the feeling, you are all nice and warm, full of delicious food with the after taste of your post-lunch cafe…. ahhh bliss.

But hang on a minute, this is something French!

Yes, before I moved to Bordeaux I was not a lunch girl. In fact I think I was quite possibly very British and would often eat lunch at my desk, in my office. Some days …. (wait for it) I didn’t have lunch. I know, gasp! Mon dieu! But it is true, caught up in office life, a busy job, the phone ringing, people knocking on the door and the general nature of my job and life in the UK, I just didn’t always have time or even fancy lunch.

Dare I even mention that in my office we generally either ate lunch at our desks (the general office rule was that someone would always have to be in the office, which didn’t make going out for lunch all that feasible!), we didn’t eat anything or we just snacked throughout the day – you know the sort – a cracker here, a biscuit there and a carrot stick a little later … no real lunch but grazing, nibbling or for a great French word ‘grignoter’!

But here in France that has definitely changed. At the weekends, there is nothing better than a ‘menu fixe’ and a pichet du vin with my other half. Watching the world go by and enjoying good food what more could we ask for?

Escargots…

Although I would like to point out that I am not one of those many people you see in a restaurant/cafe during the week at lunchtime, I still have lunch in some form, be it a baguette en route or some soup/salad chez moi. Yes, somehow, the French lunch has crept into my life…. and do you know what? I think I like it!

I love seeing everyone sitting outside a restaurant at 12.30 eating lunch with their work colleagues. Could there be anything more sociable and pleasurable? What a nice break from the day job, a change of scenery, a step outside and a good meal to set you up for the afternoon to come!  Although I do have to ask, how to people NOT fall asleep after a big lunch and glass of wine half way through the day… especially with work looming afterwards? Although I enjoy seeing the full restaurants and think how great it must be to get out of the office I am still not fully convinced that a ‘big’ lunch like that would partner too well with an afternoon of work and thinking!!

The French staple of Steak and Frites

A good lunch has to beat sitting at your desk brushing crumbs from your keyboard or getting home at 6pm with a rumbling tummy, eating things you shouldn’t do before preparing the evening meal! So, I make my boyfriend lunch to take to work everyday (yes, I know, model housewife in the making!), every evening I craft a baguette sandwich, concoct something to re-heat at work or dig something out of the freezer so he too can enjoy the fun of a French lunch with work colleagues! Then the next day I ferret through the fridge to find something tasty for me to have at midi.

Why is this I wonder? Back home, for six years, I never bothered with lunch. It didn’t interest me at all. I was happy to nibble as and when or to eat nothing until tea time. Do you enjoy the French lunchtimes or have you maintained your own ‘food culture’? Is it important to you or am I the only one with this new routine? Dare I ask, am I becoming French?!

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No doubt if you pull up the concert listings for any given week, he’ll be listed playing somewhere in and around the city. He also hosts open mic nights on Tuesdays at the HMS Victory and Wednesdays and the Houses of Parliament.

Where are you originally from? 
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Where are you living at the moment and what’s it like?
I live in Quartier Saint-Pierre. I like it here. Everything is 2 mins away. Great for going out and for concerts. I don’t have to travel too far.

How long have you lived in the region? 
7 years

Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux? 
I lived in Barcelona for 2 years before and met a French girl. So I moved to Bordeaux.

Did you find it easy finding accommodation when you first moved here? 
It is a lot more difficult finding accommodation in Bordeaux compared to Belfast and Barcelona. When you don’t know anyone in France to be a guarantor plus the big deposits you have to pay and admin fees with the agencies here. My only option was to go private.

What do you do for a living? 
Musician- intermittent du spectacle.

Was it easy finding work? 
I worked in an Irish bar for a couple of years. Now I have some contacts. I’m playing music full time. Its a little easier but it’s still a lot of work to books concerts (phone calls, emailing and asking in bars etc.. Lots of leg work)

Has it been easy meeting people? 
Not in the beginning, but from going to Irish and English Bars and playing music. I’ve met a lot of people.

Are most of your friends Expats or French?
Most of my friends I guess would be expats. Although i do at some french friends and im married with a french girl. I would say about 60/40 – Expats/French.

Did you already know French? 
I had 5 years of French in school which helped a little but most of what I learnt in school was useless.

How do you find the cost of living in Bordeaux? 
I find the cost of living here a little expensive compared to Belfast and Barcelona. Especially accommodation.

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a summers day? 
Sitting on a terrace with a nice cold beer or going to the beach.

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a rainy day? 
Go to a nice restaurant.

What are the positives of living here? 
Nice food, nice weather most of the year and a nice way of life.

What are the negatives of living here? 
The Winter

Catch Mark play at Café des Moines on the 4th May or check out his websites for further information about how to get in contact with him.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mrmarkrowe/videos
https://www.facebook.com/mrmarkrowe
http://www.myspace.com/mrmarkrowe
 

The post Bordeaux Expat Interview – Mark Rowe appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Where are you originally from?
I was born in India and I moved to the UK almost 20 years ago. I lived in Bristol, London, Dundee and Cambridge during those years.

Where are you living at the momen?
We live in Floirac about 15 mins from Bordeaux.

How long have you lived in the region? 
We moved to France at the beginning of June this year so, not so long ago. I am still finding my way around the place.

Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux? 
My wife was offered a better position in her company with the option to move either to Paris or Bordeaux. Of course, as a wine lover, I swayed her to move to Bordeaux. Also the climate of the region played an important part in the decision making process.

What do you wish you knew before moving here? 
I wish I had known that it wasn’t going be easy to find a job!

Did you find it easy finding accommodation when you first moved here? 
Yes. Actually, my wife’s company helped us find so we had a relatively unadventurous house hunting!

What do you do for a living? 
I have been a scientist all my adult life. I spent most of that time trying to understand how changes in proteins cause cancers. It is a fascinating microscopic world with macroscopic consequences.

Was it easy finding work? 
No! I am still negotiating with laboratories in Bordeaux University to support my research. There is a saying in the academic circles in the UK which goes, ‘it is easy to break into the Sicilian mafia than the French academia!’. I am not the one who easily gives up so, I will continue negotiating hard! In the meantime, I started blogging about the funnier times of my life. Here is the link: http://lordofthegrump.wordpress.com/

Has it been easy meeting people? 
I have been frequenting the play areas with my two year old and I met a few Anglophones, Russians, and a few Polish. I haven’t been to the English/Irish pubs but I am sure I will meet a whole variety of people!

Did you already know French?
My wife and I have been together for 11 years and in that time I have managed to learn French. I wouldn’t say my French is perfect but it is competent. Moreover, it flows when the wine is flowing!

How do you find the cost of living/lifestyle in Bordeaux? 
Having lived in London and Cambridge where the cost of living is quite high, I find it refreshing that I get more bang for the buck (so to speak) in Bordeaux. I particularly like the price of wine here! Overall, I think the lifestyle and the cost of living are definitely better than Cambridge!

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a summers day? 
The water mirror on the riverside is mine and my daughter’s favourite place when it is hot and sunny!

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a rainy day?
Stay indoors and curl up to watch cartoons on the tele!

What are the positives of living here?
Easy access to the grandparents! My family is spread all over the world and it is nice for my daughter to be close to one set of grandparents. We are not so far from best beaches in France and I, for one, am a beach person.

What are the negatives of living here?
Limited jobs for non-french speakers.

Are you involved with any groups / associations / teams, etc? 
Not yet but I am keen to join some organisations that involves parents with young kids. I am also keen to start/join a cricket club. I am a keen cyclist and I would like to join a cycling club or something.

Do you have a business / website / blog?
I blog about funnier side of life which can be found here: http://lordofthegrump.wordpress.com/

Any closing comments?
I would like to meet other Anglophone families to share experiences and find out more about being an expat!

The post Bordeaux Expat Interview – Ravi Nookala appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Where are you originally from? 
I’m from the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia.

Where are you living at the moment?
I live in La Bastide, Bordeaux.

How long have you lived in the region? 
I have lived in Bordeaux for three years but spent 6 months in Bayonne before moving here. I spent 3 years in Italy before moving to France.

Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux? 
I have been living in Europe for over 6 years because my husband is a professional rugby player. We have been fortunate to move around as he has played for various teams. He is now into his third season with UBB.

What do you wish you knew before moving here? 
I wish I knew how to speak French. Having lived in Italy and learnt Italian, it helped to learn French but it can be very daunting when you first arrive and can’t communicate even the simple things.

Did you find it easy finding accommodation when you first moved here? 
We had a friend recommend La Bastide to us and so organized to look at three apartments. We managed to lease one within a couple of days.

What do you do for a living? 
I am a Primary Teacher at the Bordeaux International School. We focus on teaching a bilingual curriculum and I love being in the classroom and building relationships with families in the community.

Was it easy finding work? 
I sent my CV to BIS hoping and willing to do whatever was available. I was very fortunate that they actually had a position open and so interviewed for the job and was successful. I have managed to teach English in every place that I have been as the Europeans really value learning from someone who is “mother tongue”.

Has it been easy meeting people? 
I am very fortunate to have met some wonderful people through my husband’s rugby team and also through my work. I feel as though I have made life-long friends.

Did you already know French? 
No. I couldn’t even count to 20! I studied in Bayonne and also when I arrived in Bordeaux as I think it is important to assimilate as much as possible. My job has me speaking English all day but I try to take risks with my French and am proud of the level I have achieved, although I’m certainly not fluent.

How do you find the cost of living/lifestyle in Bordeaux? 
Coming from Sydney we find Bordeaux very affordable. I love how accessible the city is and feel that the French definitely have their priorities right.

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a summer’s day?
Take a bottle of wine across to the river and have a picnic with friends. We also love riding our bikes across to the markets on Sunday and eating the freshly shucked oysters.

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a rainy day? 
Go to the cinema.

What are the positives of living here? 
The lifestyle.

What are the negatives of living here? 
Being so far away from family and friends.

Are you involved with any groups / associations / teams, etc? 
No. I work full-time and spend my free time exercising, socializing and relaxing.

The post Bordeaux Expat Interview – Belinda Treloar appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

I really like the city and have no plans to move just yet! I’ve also been lucky enough to meet my wife here and we have a 5 year old daughter who can harass me in both English and French.

Where are you originally from?

Totnes, Devon in the UK

Where are you living at the moment?

In Saint Michel, Bordeaux

How long have you lived in the region?

Since late 2001

Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux?

I studied French as part of my Media degree back in the UK. And at the end of my time at University when I had no idea what to do some French friends suggested I come to Bordeaux, to work for a while and to keep speaking French. 12 years later I’m still here!

What do you wish you knew before moving here?

How much the French love paperwork. I’m not sure what I’d have done differently but at least I would have been warned.

Did you find it easy finding accommodation when you first moved here?

Fairly easy yes. I went through a couple of rental agencies and changed flats a few times before I found a rent I could budget for and an area I liked. Most agencies were really helpful and I didn’t have any unpleasant experiences.

What do you do for a living?

When I first came to the region I worked in graphic design for an internet sales company in Begles, on the outskirts of Bordeaux. I stayed with the company for a long time (working on all those flashy internet adverts and popups which drive you crazy) before moving on to start my own business. I now run a sublimation sportswear company with a friend of mine, we’ve just set up a workshop in the north of Bordeaux. We work on custom designs for sports teams which we print on industrial printers and then cut and assemble into our own range of sportswear.

Was it easy finding work?

It wasn’t very easy finding a job in media no. At the time there weren’t a lot of opportunities and there were a lot of French people who spoke much better Français than I did! But I guess it’s the same when you move anywhere new, you have to be patient and wait for the right opportunity. I worked a lot of different jobs when I first came to Bordeaux (bars, shops, hotel receptions) and often I didn’t have enough hours to make up a decent salary. I was lucky that only 18 months after arriving in Bordeaux I found a job I liked and could stick with.

Has it been easy meeting people?

Yes, people in Bordeaux have a reputation for being a bit stand-offish but I’ve not come across too many people like that. It helped that I was more or less on the student scene when I first arrived, which was a lot of fun and I met some great people. And then once you’ve been here for a while and are a bit more settled meeting new people just comes naturally. Pubs and wine bars are a good place to start!

Did you already know French?

I spoke pretty good French because I studied it at Uni but it took me a while to get used to living and working in France.

How do you find the cost of living/lifestyle in Bordeaux?

A lot cheaper than the UK. Food especially, if you go to the markets in Bordeaux you can find some great quality food at very reasonable prices. Eating out is cheaper than in the UK too. The French do have a nice standard of living and seem to make lifestyles and leisure activities very accessible.

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a summers day?

A cycle ride up the newly renovated riverside and across the Chaban-Delmas bridge, followed by frisbee in a park and a couple of pints somewhere on a terrace.

What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a rainy day?

The art cinema Utopia is always a good bet. Although if you get your wet-gear on there’s no reason not to go for that cycle ride!

What are the positives of living here?

The weather is generally very good. And Bordeaux is a good sized city, just big enough so there’s always something interesting to do and just small enough to allow to you bump into friends. It’s also very close to the Atlantic coast and only a few hours from the mountains for hiking or skiing. If you get up very early on a winter’s day you can be on the slopes mid-morning.

What are the negatives of living here?

The paperwork. And the French administration. It’s really painful. But then again, having set up a company I’ve been doing paperwork for months now. Maybe it’s not as bad as I imagine.

Are you involved with any groups / associations / teams, etc?

Yes, I play Ultimate Frisbee with the local Bordeaux team the “33tours”. We’re organising the Ultimate Frisbee European Championship finals in Bordeaux at the end of September. It’s going to be a huge event with 1600 frisbee players coming from all over Europe to compete in their Champions League. Come along, it’s being held at the sports complex at Bordeaux Lac from the 25th to the 29th of September.

Do you have a business / website / blog?

My company is called Force Sportswear, we have a website at force-ultimate.com and run a Facebook page at facebook.com/forceultimate. For the time being we produce a lot of Frisbee kit for teams all over Europe but we’re looking to branch out into other sports this Autumn. Have a look at what we can do, sublimation is an exicting technique. We can print pretty much any design and colours and all our gear is 100% made in Europe. We’re aiming to bring back as much of the textile industry to France as we can and we refuse to work with admittedly cheaper suppliers in North Africa or Asia. Shop local!

The post EXPAT INTERVIEW – BEN FRANK appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

With the most restaurants per capita in France (numbering over a thousand, Bordeaux certainly doesn’t lack for variety in choosing where to dine out.

The bustling Place du Parlement

The list of expat-run eateries is fairly extensive; from authentic Italian, Spanish and Portuguese to Lebanese, Turkish, Armenian, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Brazilian and even Ethiopian our city offers a truly eclectic multi-cultural gastronomic mix.

Adding a touch of Nordic style to the Bordeaux culinary landscape is Le Café Danois, 36 rue du Maréchal Joffre. Open since April 2012 the café can be found nestling behind the court house between Pey Berland and the Hôpital Saint André. The owner, Jesper Gotthard hails from Copenhagen and has spent the past 24 years living and working in Bordeaux. Developing a passion for French culture and wine from his student years he later worked in the wine industry as well as for Camus cognac. Looking to settle down and to cut down on all the international travel he embarked upon the NOMAD ‘streetfood’ course offered in Blanquefort by Thierry Marx until 2012 (now moved to Paris)

All dishes are made on the day by Jesper

His café offers a Franco-Danish fusion menu with a wide range of freshly sourced produce. All the dishes are homemade daily with takeaway available; Jesper offers a sideline in events catering with an épicerie offering salmon and herring by the kilo as well as homemade bread, a variety of French and Danish desserts and canapé trays.

The menu changes everyday and is posted on his facebook site – “This keeps the choice diverse and also ensures that the produce is as fresh as possible”. The Scottish salmon is sourced direct from the wholesaler which means a maximum of three days from catch to dish. Mains are from €7.90 and meals from €9.20.

A hefty catch! Scottish Salmon sourced direct from the wholesaler

Starters on offer are dishes such as Smørrebrød – marinated Herring, roast beef with red cabbage served with homemade bread or Herring with mustard à l’ancienne, frikadeller of red cabbage served with homemade bread. Assiette de Saumon – homemade Gravelax, Salmon tatare, toasted house bread or duo of Salmon tartare with toasted house bread.

Duo of Salmon with a homemade sauce

For mains there are dishes such as the ever popular Assiette Copenhague – homemade Gravelax, spiced Herring, roast beef with red cabbage, homemade bread, Assiette du Sud – Duck confit with Bruschetta on house bread, Dish of the Day – pasta with homemade Bolognaise or Roast Chicken served with oven roasted potatoes amongst others. Organic Shrimps are also available on certain days.

A Dish of the Day.. Gnocchis, tomato sauce and meatballs

The freshly homemade desserts are also original and innovative…  Crumbled speculoos with yoghurt and fresh fruits (served by the glass), Chokoladekrans med Pralin – chocolate and praline Danish speciality, Æbleskiver (Danish fluffy pancakes), Galette de « la Reine » (from Denmark), Kanel Snegle – a Danish cinnamon bun , and Konvolutter – a Danish ‘envelope’ pastry.

‘Brunsviger’, a popular Danish dessert

There are also a range of AOP local cheeses such as Ossau Iraty and quality Bordeaux red served by the glass. (Based on menus from January 2014)

The Epicerie offers Salmon Gravelax in a range of Danish styles – lime olive oil, dill, smoked, tatare or cut of fresh salmon. Herring comes marinated, flavoured with dill, curry, spices, tomato and old fasioned mustard. The homemade bread is superb and is available in loaves of black bread, white, white with grains, with carrot, dill or cumin. His desserts are a blend of French and Danish and include Cinnamon Rolls – Danish pastries to the English… Brunsviger – a doughy brown suger pastry, Danish carrot cake and Drømmekage – a vanilla, caramel, coconut ‘dream cake’. The Franco offerings come in the familiar Basque cake, Tarte Tatin, Breton Tatin, Brioche, Cheesecake, Melting Choc pudding as well as Amarettis and Lemoncello.

Le Café Danois also offers specific events catering for parties, birthdays and cocktail receptions having previously supplied the nearby courthouse, a wedding for 100pax as well as personalised Christmas trays. A wide range of tailormade canapés is on offer both sweet and savoury with quotations available on demand.

Canapé trays Danish style…

When I went down there I received the warmest of welcomes and was instantly offered an expresso. I asked Jesper his ideas behind opening a restaurant as well as why he chose to settle in Bordeaux – “There are quite a few Danish here (most living in the French countryside) as well as a consulate; the wife of Prince Joachim is French and there have always been ties between Bordeaux and Denmark through trade.”

Indeed there is another Danish restaurateur in town – SILD caterer in Le Haillan offers a complete events catering service with a temporary restaurant currently up and running in the Bassins à Flot…

On the subject of opening a food outlet here – “Running a succesful restaurant revolves round a very simple formula: TURNOVER… you need a decent location with enough customers coming through the door on a regular basis. This is the reason I am only open from 9.30am to 3.30pm on weekdays and keep the menu straightforward, aimed at a specifically French clientele”. Indeed the café does appear to have found a niche market. Offering quality fresh menus to the nearby workers at the hospital, court and town hall has proved a big hit with locals. He plans to stay in the same location for a minimum of three years then maybe look to branch out or expand.

As for the question ‘Why Bordeaux?’, I imagine the response is the same for most expats living here: “It’s the ideal location, great wine, restaurants and cuisine, the ocean on your doorstep, the mountains for skiing and Spain within a couple of hours drive”…

For something a bit different head down to:
Le Café Danois, 36 rue Maréchal Joffre, 33000 Bordeaux,
Open: 9.30am to 3.30pm weekdays
Tel: 05 56 52 71 69
email: lecafedanois@orange.fr
facebook: www.facebook.com/lecafedanois

GODT NYTÅR 2014!

The post Expat Snapshots – Le Café Danois appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

1. Where are you originally from?
I grew up in Amersham, just outside London. It’s in the Chilterns and had the perfect balance of town and countryside. As it’s on the Metropolitan line we could all get up to London quite easily which was perfect for hanging out on Carnaby St with our DM boots and bottles of Strongbow.

2. Where are you living at the moment?
We are renting a place off rue Judaique.. To be honest it’s the perfect location – within 5 mins walk we have Meriadeck, the mediateque, the tram, piscine Judaique (one of the only Olympic size pools in the SW), the 3bs and at least 5 pubs. The only trouble are all the drunk students running around shouting at night and waking us and the baby up.

3. How long have you lived in the region?
We moved down from Paris about 3 years ago in search of a better lifestyle. But I came through Bordeaux in 2004 when I was cycling across France. Back then the whole town centre was buried in roadworks and everyone kept saying “come back in 7/8 years when everything’s finished”. Here we are.

4. Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux?
I met the missus in London and we were both working crazy hours and paying extortionate amounts of hard earned cash on rent, bills, food, travel and nightlife. We figured there had to be more to life than being crushed on the rainy rush hour commute to work especially as we were looking to raise a family. Since I’d already done seasons in the Alps and on the Med, worked for the AA in Lyon and spent a year teaching in Toulouse we set our sites on France and le Grand Sud Ouest. After moving to Paris in 2010, I started reasearching different cities like Toulouse and Bordeaux and we did a couple of weekend trips to various places. I also got the opinions of everyone I was working with in various companies such as IBM, Eurosport, Canal + and a handful of law and pharma firms. All signs were pointing to Bordeaux and once we started looking at all the amazing things Juppé and the mairie have been developing and planning the decision was made.

5. What do you wish you knew before moving here?
I went auto-entrepreneur as a translator in 2012 and should have done it way earlier. Having the independant status meant that companies were willing work with me straight away as they didn’t have to pay charges to take me on. Once your foot is in the door in Bordeaux you can start networking like mad and working your way up. It also helps being fluent in French and having a French missus to help you navigate the system!

6. Did you find it easy finding accommodation when you first moved here?
We had an adventure on our first attempt down from Paris flathunting and almost folded the whole project. It was a Friday and we started at Direct Location, Pey Berland. Without realising the whole ‘list scam’ thing we were asked for €200 up front by the agency for a list of potentially available flats (being the holiday weekend most tenants weren’t in town anyway!). We did a runner and set up shop in Macdonalds rue Ste Catherine as they had WiFi and began looking through Le Bon Coin etc. After some scary flat visits with various weirdos we more or less packed it in and went to the Blarney Stone for commiseration pints before our train home. On the second beer my wife suddenly saw a flat advert that had just gone live. We phoned them up straight away and ran over to visit the place. We immediately hit it off with the flat tenants and offered an up front cash deposit. When they asked if we had CDI jobs lined up the answer was obviously “YES”! The deal was done two weeks later and those guys are now out best mates here in Bordeaux.

7. What do you do for a living?
I work for an international company as a French English translator and proofreader. I have been in the translation game for years so have hit the ground running. There are however tons of new technical terms and processes to learn so have been working hard to get on top of everything.

8. Was it easy finding work?
As I already mentioned, the key to working in France is speaking the lingo then it’s network network network contacts contacts contacts. Bordeaux is rapidly becoming an international city in terms of Oenotourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) as well as sectors such as Aeronautic, Maritime, Pharma, Agriculture and IT. Hopefully the development planned for the future (Rive-Droite, Euratlantic etc) will open up more opportunities for English speakers.

9. Has it been easy meeting people?
We have kind of avoided the expat communities working in the pubs so most of our mates are French who we’ve met through work. The wife works at the Montessori school in Chartrons so gets to meet loads of expat parents which is handy. I also went along to the Bordeaux-USA club in Quinconces recently and they are all super cool and friendly. They have a pot luck followed by a guest talk every Thusday night and are keen to recruit expats of all ages and backgrounds so that’s a great way to meet people. Aside from that there are tons of sports clubs and associations – the key is getting out and about.

10. Did you already know French?
I studied French at Uni and immediately moved to France when I graduated in ’99 so was straight in at the deep end. My first job was washing pots in Morzine surrounded by psychotic chefs with big knives so had to get the French going fairly quickly. I later worked in pubs in Lyon and for AA international assistance which was a bilingual job. We were helping Brits who had broken down all over France so had to phone up dodgy mechnics at four in the morning and beg them to get out of bed to go and rescue our AA customers lost in the wilderness.

11. How do you find the cost of living/lifestyle in Bordeaux?
Compared to London or Paris, Bordeaux is cheap. Once you know your way around town there are plenty of shopping deals to be found as well as cheap nights out. House prices are rising all the time though and we’re keen to get on the ladder ASAP especially before the new LGV gets on the horizon. As for the lifestyle – Bassin d’Arcachon 45mins, Lacanau 1hour, Dordogne 1hour, Spain + Pays Basque 2hours, Pyrenees 2hours; vinyards everywhere, a gorgeous picture postcard city centre and the most Anglo/Irish pubs per capita outside the UK – Who’s complaining?!!

12. What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a summers day?
I’ve always been a huge fan of the St Aubin, Place Victoire. The happy hour’s from 6-9pm – pints from €3.50 and a bowl of homemade chips is €2. On a hot summers day you can kick back in the sunshine with a cold one and are perfectly placed to get to Rue Ste Catherine, Place des Capucins or Fernand Lafargue. For matches they also have about 10 screens and there’s always a decent atmosphere.

13. What’s the best thing to do in Bordeaux on a rainy day?
Unfortunately it does indeed rain a lot in BDX. Utopia is always a good bet as are the tea/board game cafes and many a Saturday afternoon has been spent at the 3bs playing pool and darts. Otherwise I like to get over to the mediateque to research and write blogs about Bordeaux or get down the pool.

14. What are the positives of living here?
Bordeaux is large enough to give plenty of variety for going out and shopping but small enough to keep its local feel and get around on foot. The tram and quais are fantastic and compared to Paris and London, Bordeaux feels like Disneyland here in terms of the low crime/dodgyness rate. There are the highest number of restaurants per capita in France and plenty of world cuisine (such as the awesome Brazilian, Carioca we went to last night). The youth scene is also buzzing with all new bars and cafes springing up everywhere. Pick up a copy of Junk Page at the Apollo or the TNBA to get the local heads up and have a look at the Bordeaux Pas Cher web and Cubeek websites…

15. What are the negatives of living here?
Call me an old man but being repeatedly woken up on any given night by drunk students screaming at 4am is starting to get a little bit taxing. It would also be good if cars were more friendly to cyclists, although Bordeaux has come on leaps and bounds with its cycle lanes.

16. Are you involved with any groups / associations / teams, etc?
I was a member of the St Bruno swimming club last year which sorted my fitness out. I also got invited to join the 3b darts team but it never materialised! Once the baby gets a bit older we plan to get along to the USA club and start meeting more young parents.

17. Do you have a business / website / blog?
I was in the process of doing a website for my freelance translation business but landed a CDI instead. As for blogs, I’ve guested a few articles on this site and published one in January about the Brasserie de l’Aquitaine for Invisible Bordeaux.

18. Any closing comments?
We chose to come here in search of a better quality of life without knowing anyone or having any family here. Effectively starting from zero it’s been a fair challenge to get set up but with tons of hard graft and cold beers it looks like we’ve kind of made it. Bordeaux is a gorgeous city with so much potential and is expanding fast. In the next five years or so with all the projects underway it could well become one of the top cities in Europe to raise a family. Can’t wait!

The post Bordeaux Expat Interview – Chris Tighe appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.