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Blogging is like online dating: you connect and meet in person.

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 Muriel and Sonia

Have you ever felt like you know more about your online friends  than your neighbors?

Muriel and I arranged to meet at the Paddington station in London, 6000 miles from Orange County,California, where I live.

“I’ll be wearing a red coat,” she said.

“I’ll be wearing a fuschia jacket,” I replied, knowing full well that we’d find one another as we’ve seen photos on our respective  blogs. In fact, Muriel, submitted a “My Gutsy Story” and I’ve enjoyed her sense of humor. She loves to analyze the Brits from her own French background and makes fun of herself, her accent, and often mentions what her British-raised daughters say about their French mum.

Even without our colored coats and jackets, we would have found one another when I got off the train. Muriel looked exactly as she did on her blog and off we headed to “Little Venice” for lunch.

Muriel in Little Venice, London

Muriel picked an Italian restaurant overlooking the canals. It was 11:40 a.m., and the restaurant was empty. How nice, I thought, we could get any table we wanted until the waiter said, “Sorry, we don’t open for another twenty minutes.”

Sonia in front of a small houseboat in Little venice, London

I’d forgotten the less flexible hours for lunch and dinner in Paris and London restaurants.

“Let’s have a coffee at Starbucks,” Muriel suggested as it was right next door. Apparently coffees are automatically served in ceramic cups, not paper ones, when you say, it’s for here. The Brits and French prefer the real cup experience, and so do I. Getting cream in your coffee does not appear to be common though. Whenever I asked for it at Starbucks in Paris or London, they offered whipped cream, not half and half. It seems to be hidden in the back kitchen somewhere.

We were both eager to talk about blogging and writing, and Muriel shared her ideas about a book she’d like to write. I thought she should write a memoir about life in the U.K. as seen through the  eyes of a French woman. I know she has numerous stories and themes on her blog: FrenchYummyMummy, and these funny stories would make a great memoir.

 

Muriel Demarcus

How far have you traveled to meet a blogger friend?

 

Meeting Blogger friends

 

“My Gutsy Story” by Muriel Demarcus

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My Gutsy Story
By background, I am an Engineer. I used to be able drive trains and my specialty was Signalling (you know, the stuff that always fails on the railways). I have walked down the tracks while new trains were being tested (scary) and opened new metro lines in Paris. I have also investigated train accidents and tried to re-calculate speed profiles using complicated modeling tools to understand what had gone wrong. I am French-born, and it is fair to say that until recently I was a pure French product: I had been to the right schools and universities, and was pretty much brought up to climb the corporate ladder. Oh, and I could barely speak English -let alone write it, because German was my first foreign language (don’t ask, it is a French thing).
But, in 2004, I had to go out of my comfort zone: to cut a long story short, my husband was offered a job in London. Basically, I had two options: change husband, or change job. I chose the latter, which meant that I had to drop my much-loved job (an important part of my identity!) and find something else, in London this time. My industry works a lot by word of mouth and I eventually managed to find something else, less interesting of course, but somehow I felt that I couldn’t be too picky, given that my English was so basic…
Soon enough, I felt that I was wasting my time and my talents. I felt trapped. As a woman with a French accent, I wasn’t being taken seriously at all. I have lost count of the “Do I know you from somewhere?” comments. My notes were constantly edited to make them “Oxbridge-compliant” (I am used to working in bullet points, but it wasn’t doing the trick over here!). So, after a while, I decided to start my own business in parallel. It was about the development and management of commercial properties, mainly to maintain and store boats –I just saw an opportunity and grabbed it when I bought some cheap land close to the coast.
Eventually, my business started to make more money than my day job. It was time to change my priorities. My boring but comfortable job was holding me back. I didn’t like it any more. Still, finding the strength to resign was more difficult than I thought: most people wait patiently for a nice redundancy package, but that was not my mindset, and I knew that the extra-time spend on my business would bring me new clients anyway. After months of procrastination, I finally resigned and left. Most of my colleagues didn’t understand why I didn’t wait to get some more money.
What I love about my business is that it gives me the time and flexibility to take care of my family and explore other side of my personality, such as writing.
I started my blog (www.FrenchYummyMummy.com) as a new year’s resolution. It became addictive. After a few weeks I had more than 4,000 hits a month. I couldn’t believe that my thoughts and worries could be of any interest. I was clearly wrong.
It felt good.
I am now writing as much as I can, with a view -who knows?- to publish a book one day. It is all about explaining how it feels to be French amongst the British. But more importantly, I feel more like myself. I am finally designing my life around what matters to me. I know it is better late than never. But, after years of always doing what was expected from me, I am slowly starting to become what I want to be. Oh, and I am learning to drive boats now!
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Muriel Demarcus is a self-proclaimed French Yummy Mummy living in London. She started working in Paris in the Railways industry and never imagined that she would have to move abroad.
At 32 years, she discovered that life outside of France was possible and even enjoyable when all the family had to move to London due to her husband’s new job. It was 7 years ago and since then she doesn’t feel French any more and isn’t British yet.

Muriel and her two lovely daughters

Her two daughters have now started to correct her bad English accent, which she hates. In 2011, she decided to start a blog and hasn’t looked back since. She can be found at www.FrenchYummyMummy.com or @FrenchYumMummy on Twitter.

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Our First Story for the December “My Gutsy Story” Contest

Thank you Muriel. What a great story about getting out of your comfort zone and adapting to a new life in the U.K. Not only that, but you started your own company, taught yourself English, and started your successful blog French Yummy Mummy. I love reading books about Americans, Australians and British women who moved to France. One I enjoyed in particular is called, “What French Women Know,” by Debra Ollivier. So now finally, Muriel Demarcus will write a book about the reverse: A French woman living in the U.K.  It is all about explaining how it feels to be French amongst the British.

(Please leave your comments below for Muriel to answer. She will be over I’m sure.)

Sonia Marsh

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VOTE for your Favorite November “My Gutsy Story”

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HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN “My Gutsy Story”
To submit your own, “My Gutsy Story” you can find all the information, and our sponsors on the “My Gutsy Story” contest page. (NEW VIDEO) Submission guidelines here.

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