For many people, France is more than a travel destination.
It’s a place that sparks a dream — a quiet village life, a coastal town, or a historic city where daily life unfolds at a slower pace.
But France is also incredibly diverse. Every region has its own personality, culture, and rhythm of life.
Dreaming in France helps you discover the towns and regions where you might truly belong.
Through town guides, regional insights, and lifestyle explorations, this site helps readers imagine what life might look like in different corners of France. Whether you’re a retiree, digital nomad, long-stay traveler, or simply someone who feels drawn to life here.
Why I Created Dreaming in France
My connection with France grew through years of exploring its towns, villages, and lesser-known regions. I’ve been coming here since I was a child.
For the past three years (and counting) I traveled extensively and pretty well continuously across France, often seeking out places that many travelers overlook, small towns, historic villages and regions where daily life still follows local traditions.
These journeys for me were about:
Where could I belong in France?
Which towns would suit my lifestyle?
What would daily life actually feel like there?
Over time, I realized that many of my readers were also asking these deeper questions.
It’s a place where many people imagine building a life.
So Dreaming in France has grown to help answer those questions.
What you’ll find here:
This site focuses on helping you explore the lifestyle side of France.
You’ll find guides that help you imagine what life might be like in different towns and regions.
- Town & Village Guides – Explore what it’s like to live in towns across France. From historic villages to coastal communities.
- Best Towns by Lifestyle – Discover the best towns in France for retirees, artists, countryside living, or peaceful village life.
- Regional Guides – Learn how life differs between regions such as Dordogne, Brittany, Normandy, Provence, and the Loire Valley.
- Living in France Insights – Understand what daily life in France is really like, including the rhythms, traditions and realities of living here.
Why Trust Me?
Because this site is built on first-hand discoveries. Most of the photography you see here is mine, and I spend months at a time traveling through France, documenting what’s beautiful and what’s overrated.
For around 3 years I’ve pretty well been in France full-time, just popping out of the country once in a while. I stay in spots anywhere from a week to months at a time but I haven’t settled yet.
I’m a professional photographer and photo encaustic artist, as well as a Dutch-Canadian with a lifelong fascination for atmosphere, craftsmanship and the feeling of a place, probably due to my immigrant experience.
I notice the details many travellers miss, the way morning light hits the stone in a village square, whether locals actually linger at cafés, how a town feels once the day-trippers disappear. Those details matter when you’re trying to decide if somewhere could fit your life, not just your holiday.
For the past three years, Maurice and I have been moving through France with one specific question: where would we actually want to live? (We still haven’t decided but are getting closer).
That’s not the same question a travel writer asks. It changes what you notice.
You start paying attention to things like community, seasonality, walkability, markets, train access, internet reliability, and whether a place still feels magical after two weeks instead of two hours.
We’ve stayed in tiny villages, lively cities, coastal towns, and quiet countryside corners, always looking beyond the postcard version of France.
My goal here isn’t to sell you a fantasy. It’s to help you discover the parts of France that genuinely feel like home, whether for a season, a slower trip, or a whole new chapter of life.
The best moments in France rarely shout, they whisper.
My Philosophy of Exploring is Simple
It’s about slowing down and really seeing a place for what it is. I find most travel guides move too quickly racing from one “must-see” to another. Slow travel lets me savour moments, really discover and connect more deeply to a place.
That’s what I share here.
Interested in collaborating, featuring my photography, or just saying hello? Drop a note through the contact page, I’d love to hear what you’re dreaming up!