About Authors
Barbara Powell and Joe Doniach
Barbara Powell and Joe Doniach enjoy sharing insights, observations, and lessons learned about their life in France. Barbara’s approach is a narration of her day-to-day thoughts, emotions, and takeaways from life abroad while Joe blends history, world events, and statistical comparisons between life in the U.S. and France. Their writing reflects habits formed through meditation, hiking, and sustained intellectual inquiry. Aging, relocation, and language barriers are addressed with candor. Their honest appraisal of the joys and difficulties they faced, the welcome and friendship they received, and their ongoing dilemma about whether they prefer life in France or the U.S. is chronicled in prose that respects the reader’s intelligence and attention.
Community Through Association
From the outset, Barbara and Joe knew that they wanted to truly integrate into their new home. Fortunately, they already had one friend living in the area. His generosity and friendship led to their introduction to some of his closest friends. Barbara, who was less fluent in French than Joe, sought conversation partners through a Nextdoor notice. She cultivated a solid group of women friends with whom to share walks, meals, movies, art exhibits, and conversation. Joe met his first biking and cross-country skiing buddy through the woman who showed them their first apartment. He also joined a local Glider Club and began attending Toastmasters meetings to further enhance his already fluent French. Step-by-step, they found community and diverse opportunities to pursue their interests.
Finding Our Way in France
Finding Our Way in France
The Field Report on Expat Life
Finding Our Way in France
Finding Our Way in France: An American Couple's Life in Lyon chronicles the relocation of Barbara Powell and Joe Doniach from California to Lyon, beginning in 2021. The book grew from their original blog, which they wrote over three and a half years to keep family and friends updated. Structured as concise essays, it captures French administration, national healthcare, language immersion, neighborhood life, and the everyday challenges of adapting to a new culture. Available Now in print and digital formats worldwide, it offers a candid, insightful account of expat life through a seasoned, disciplined perspective
Reader Perspectives
I read an advance manuscript of Finding Our Way in France. It documents relocation without romanticizing it. The sections on French bureaucracy and healthcare were practical, and the writing is observant, grounded, and human without unnecessary sentiment.
Joe’s transition into French aviation was handled with clarity. The manuscript explains technical details while capturing the mental recalibration required for engaging in a different civic system. Insightful and disciplined, it respects the reader’s intelligence.
I read a lot of travelogues and look for stories that feel practical and honest. I got excited about Finding Our Way in France because it focuses on real challenges like bureaucracy, healthcare, and daily life, not just sightseeing.
