It’s September! C’est la rentrée! I hope you all had a great summer…I can’t believe it’s already time for another session of All About France, the place to link up and read the best articles about France in bloggerland.
The summer holidays have whizzed by filled with all the good things summer should be about; we caught up with old friends, drove miles and miles exploring new parts of Europe and France, (I’m linking up our day in Biarritz to this month’s #AllAboutFrance) camped in a National Park, swum in the Mediterranean, Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Ocean, all to the rhythm of late nights and lazy mornings. But while the routine has to change now with early starts and the return of homework we are so lucky on the Côte d’Azur that summer isn’t over. The good weather usually lasts well into October and if anyone wants to benefit from this we still have some availability in the gîte, just get in touch!
But I seem to have got sidetracked, dreaming of summer which was made even more relaxing thanks to Diane from Oui in France who kindly hosted last month’s All About France linky for me. Un grand merci à Diane! Here are her 3 favourite posts, I think she’s chosen a great selection. If you haven’t already read them I recommend you pop over and have a look.
Visiting Versailles: 5 tips for a great visit by Arnie and Jo are on the go
The Préfecture: hell in France? by La Vie en C-Rose
Easiest best ever French flourless chocolate cake by Girl Gone Gallic
I’m making a FEW CHANGES to the linky from now on (regular linkers please note):
Please only link up ONE post (it can be old or new, but no longer 2 – save others for future months).
I’m experimenting with a new way to encourage comments: I love this community of travel and lifestyle bloggers who write about France and I really enjoy reading all the very varied posts each month, but I must say I have been hugely disappointed with the amount of comments in recent months. I hate to say it but the vast majority of linkers seem to think it’s OK to link up and run. It’s not! This is a community who should be supporting each other and helping each other connect and this can only be done by reading, commenting and sharing other bloggers’ articles. Every month there are between 35-50 new posts to check out, surely everyone can find a few of interest, we are all linked by a love of (or interest in) France after all!
So to encourage comments I will make a big shout-out to the blogger who comments the most and share their blog more on social media. But I will not being sharing posts by bloggers who haven’t commented on the host’s and at least 2 other posts anymore. Please do join in with the comments, don’t forget you can (and should) come back after the linky has closed to see who linked up at the end, there are often some gems that barely get seen. Please use the #AllAboutFrance hashtag so we all know where we’re coming from. I’m sorry to go on, but without interaction there isn’t much point in the linky.
What is All About France?
All About France is a monthly blog linky, linking up blog posts about France. These posts can be freshly scribbled or from your archives as a way of bringing new life to an old article. There is no date limit and the only rule for subject matter is that it is about France in some way. This can mean French language, French food, French style, French literature, expat life in France, French expats abroad or travel in France among other things. The linky opens on the 1st Thursday of each month and stays open for a week.
Here’s how to join in the fun:
• You can link up one post, old or new as long as it’s about France/French.
• Please make sure you include the All About France badge at the bottom of your post or in the sidebar of your blog, or a hyper-link back to me (the code is below).
• Please comment on the host’s posts and at least two others, the more the merrier. Blog linkys only work if you’re generous with your comments and shares.
• Please use the hashtag #AllAboutFrance when sharing on social media.
• Don’t forget you can join the Pinterest board and pin your post to it for extra exposure.
Bonne rentrée everyone!
Grab the code for the AllAboutFrance badge here:
<a href="https://loumessugo.com/all-about-france-link-up" title="Lou Messugo"><img alt="Lou Messugo" src="https://loumessugo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/AllAboutFranceBadge.jpg"></a>
I know you’re usually a good commenter Rosie and I know you’ve had extenuating circumstances recently, but thanks for your support despite that. Top of the class for you!
September is probably the best time here for the beach as the water’s still warm but the crowds have gone. Happy to hear you discovered some more good blogs through Diane.
Thanks for the support Tanja.
Thanks Susan! It must be so quiet when your 5 go back to school/uni. Here it’s only 2 and even that seems quiet. Here I am replying to you weeks later and it’s still very much summer. I hope it is in your part of France.
Prefecture ranting sure is timeless. I could go on and on….but I won’t!! I’m glad you discovered some new blogs and got some new reader too.
No need to read everything Vanessa, although if you do that’s amazing and thank you!
I’ve seen comments go down across the board too but I don’t like it happening on MY linky!!! 🙁
Hey GGG I know you’re one of the good eggs, and everyone can have an off month! Thanks for your continuing support.
Thanks for joining in, I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for hosting the linkup. Looking forward to reading all the posts!
I know…how did that happen???
Thanks Diane, you too!
Have a great holiday Ashley!
That’s such a lovely thing to say, thanks for taking the time to let me know Clare, glad to have you back, your posts are always so inspiring.
Hi Phoebe, I just wanted to say how much I love your All About France linky. I haven’t been able to link up in ages as I didn’t have a suitable French post but now I have I remember what I’ve been missing. I just love reading all these wonderful French posts. So much inspiration and information for a die-hard Francophile. Cx
I’m going on vacation tomorrow but I’m going to go through all these posts soon!
Hello, thanks for hosting! Happy September!
I just can’t believe we are at September again already!
Thanks for continuing to host this linkup! I usually read at least half of the entries – those that peak my interest the most – and then try to comment on those. I admit and have been feeling guilty that August I never really got around to commenting, but I did share and like! I like the idea of just one post per blogger, will make it easier to keep up with things. Thanks again, GGG
Thanks for hosting, and thanks for the reminder to fulfill our duties as participants. I’ve seen the link-up comments waning on other sites I participate in, too… I want to hope it’s just a busy time of year, but it seems more than that. May you enjoy these last days of summer!
Hear, hear! I can never get around all the posts every month, but I try to read as many as I can. I might not have time to link this month, since I’m going away tomorrow for a few days and in a flat spin, but will try to do it when I get back on Tuesday. Look forward to reading this month’s other posts, anyway.
Thanks for hosting, and thanks to Diane for putting my post on her list! It was an old one, but I think prefecture ranting is timeless. Last month was my first time participating, and quite a few lovely people came to visit my blog for the first time, and I discovered some great new blogs too.
Bravo, well said. I am feeling supremely sad today as two of our five have returned to school, tomorrow the two teenagers go back and then soon Izzi will return to University. It’s been such a fun summer holidays, too sad it’s all over 🙁 But you’re right, the weather should last a couple more months, one of the many things we love about France!
I don’t have a post for now but I’ll have a look and read some!:)
Just to say I ‘met’ some more new France bloggers at Diane’s linky last month, so thanks for continuing the linky despite your well deserved holidays. Talking of which, I agree that we’re lucky in France because I also feel the holidays continue once we’re home: it’s still sunny, there are lots of tourists lazing about and the sea is warm. In fact, I thoroughly recommend September for beach trips.
Oooh – a challenge! But on a serious note I am sorry so many people think it is acceptable to link and run but I know they do from running my own Animal Tales linky. In fairness, I have been guilty the odd time of not commenting on too many posts, or being very late, especially when I had to go back to the UK so much earlier this year, but I do get there in the end. Good luck and I really hope your challenge works! Interestingly I have only read one of the posts Diane chose (I bet you can guess which one too) but I will head off and read the other 3 now 😉 … can I have a gold star and go to the top of the class please?