Join Us in France Travel Podcast · Annie Sargent

40 Trips to France: Plus a French Christmas Feast with Annie & Elyse

·1 hr 4 min·4 clips

Janice tracks France’s change from dog poo and smoke to contactless payments and QR-code menus.

1. Join Us in France episode 577 centers on Janice Chan’s 40 trips to France and the Christmas-food segment with Elise Riven. 2. Annie Sargent hosts Janice Chan as a returning guest, and Elise Riven of Toulouse Guided Walks joins for the Christmas foods discussion. 3. The episode asks why Janice keeps returning to France and how she plans trips around races, trains, villages, and language study. 4. Janice says France feels like home, and she recalls a friend telling her in Paris that she becomes “a different person” there. 5. She names the Ardèche, the Aveyron, Brittany, Roanne, Paris, Sarlat, Béynac, Provence, Arcachon, and Carcassonne as places shaping her trips. 6. She describes using travel as a framework, building itineraries around the train de l’Ardèche, the Adidas 10K Paris, and École des Trois-Ponts. 7. The train de l’Ardèche outing included the River Doux, Boussy-le-Ciel, and an eight-kilometer velorail ride downhill. 8. The Adidas 10K Paris ended at the Arc de Triomphe, with no traffic and a large French flag overhead. 9. She says her favorite French regions include the Aveyron and the southwest because they are less touristy and good for practicing French. 10. She also talks about French immersion at École des Trois-Ponts and countryside walks where she had to speak French with other people. 11. Janice calls the Aveyron the only department where she has visited all 12 of its “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France.” 12. She says she has seen 55 of the 182 villages in the national list and does not chase every famous stop. 13. She remembers early France trips with dog poo on sidewalks, heavy smoke fumes, and Paris Metro first class and second class. 14. She contrasts that with today’s QR-code menus, contactless payments, and the recent removal of the Metro ticket system. 15. She says Paris hotel prices have risen from about 150 euros to about 250 euros and restaurant meals often now start around 20 euros. 16. She recommends French phrases like “bonjour” first, slower travel, and sitting at a café instead of trying to cram in 20 monuments. 17. The conversation is relaxed and practical, with Annie Sargent prompting specific examples and Janice answering with trip details, prices, and place names. 18. Janice’s style is conversational and example-driven, with frequent comparisons between older travel habits and current routines. 19. Travelers who like France logistics, regional food, and slow itineraries. 20. Viewers wanting a pure museum guide or fast Paris checklist.

As heard by us

Repeat France trips work best when one experience comes first and everything else follows.

Janice Chan's forty trips to France give the conversation a practical edge: the question is less where to go than what still feels worth doing. Her advice is simple and sturdy, with one experience chosen first and the airfare, museum visits, or long walks arranged around it.

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Learn how a 40-trip France traveler keeps the next visit fresh.

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