First of all, this list of French bloggers was made with you in mind if you’re :
- Fascinated by or looking to learn the vocabulary for topics like travel, food, DIY, fashion, beauty or high-tech trends
- Used to spending your nights/weekends on English blogs and wouldn’t mind switching to some French bloggers
- Not used to reading in French and want to start with something reasonably short and easy to understand
If you’re none of that, then you may prefer reading my suggestions for French newspapers & magazines.
Last week a student of mine reminded me that not everyone is so confident yet about reading real articles in French, and that made me think.
I know that when you’re busy, you don’t want to add more things to your to-do list. And for some of us, reading online newspapers isn’t part of our habits. And then I thought, there’s something else I’m sure you like doing while browsing Pinterest or Instagram.
You guessed it right : blogs ! Blog posts are usually shorter than news articles, they’re sprinkled with amazing pictures and cool tutorials or recipes, they’re updated all the time with new content and best of all, you can read them in French too.
So to help you browse this list and avoid “choice overload” (erm, I wouldn’t want you to open 15 tabs at once), I divided the most attractive French bloggers I could find into small groups based on their main topics.
Go and have a look for yourself :
PS : If you're looking for ways to turn French reading into a real habit, then don't miss the tips I added at the end of this article!
TRAVELBLOGS
1 Trace ta route
Sound advice for travelling around the world
Difficulty : Intermediate, posts are medium to long in length though most have lots of pictures with short paragraphs.
Similar to : Neverending footstepsNice article : Guide de préparation pour randonnée solitaire de 15 jours en Corse
2 Vie de miettes
Thoughtful travel memoirs to help you dream
Difficulty : Intermediate to Advanced because of the longer length of articles. Easy to follow as it's written in the form of a thoughtful diary.
Similar to : I found none!Nice article : Dormir dans un phare - Ile de Ré
3 L'oiseau rose
Your go-to guide to prepare for big trips
Difficulty : Intermediate to Advanced because of the longer length of articles. However, short paragraphs make it an easy read.
Similar to : Nomadic MattNice article : Les bonnes raisons pour partir en voyage hors saison
DIYDESIGNBLOGS
4 Les Gambettes sauvages
Let's make a stop at the most cheerful DIY website
Difficulty : Easy to Intermediate depending on your knowledge of technical words related to DIY and crafts. Lots of pictures and videos to illustrate so it makes it easier to follow. The length of posts is usually short.
Similar to : Lovely IndeedNice article : Bulles sonores, Mama Petula
5 Frenchy Fancy
Scandinavian Hygge vibes are infused in this French blog
Difficulty : Easy, little text with lots of images. A bit of home and interior design vocabulary but nothing too technical.
Similar to : Little green NotebookNice article : Mes envies déco pour 2017
6 Make my Lemonade
Frenchify your clothes with this insanely peppy platform
Difficulty : Intermediate to Advanced depending on your knowledge of technical words related to DIY and sowing. Lots of pictures and videos to illustrate tutorials so it makes it easier and length is usually reasonable.
Similar to : A beautiful MessNice article : 5 tutoriels express pour customiser ses chaussures André
FOODRECIPESBLOGS
7 Un déjeuner de soleil
For the days when you want some sun in your plate
Difficulty : Easy to Intermediate, a few cooking terms. Usually the articles are either medium length or list posts for a quick read.
Similar to : Pinch of yumNice article : 18 recettes qui utilise le lait ribot (fermenté) ou buttermilk
8 Papilles et pupilles
Delight your brain, your eyes and your taste buds all at once!
Difficulty : Intermediate, a little more advanced cooking and cultural vocabulary with a medium length for articles.
Similar to : Fresh off the gridNice article : Le tour du monde des boulettes en 8 recettes internationales
9 Carnets parisiens
This blog will make you want to eat your screen...
Difficulty : Intermediate with medium length articles and a little slang. A little technical for the baking recipes, but generally easy to follow.
Similar to : Lark & LinenNice article : Mon buffet enfantin à l'occasion de ma pendaison de crémaillère
BEAUTYFASHIONBLOGS
10 Mercredie
A personal French fashion blog with a lot of character
Difficulty : Easy to Intermediate. Lots of short articles sprinkled with pictures. A few more thoughtful articles that are easy to follow. A little difficult because of the French slang.
Similar to : I found none!Nice article : Ton sur ton
11 Confidentielles
A light, refreshing online guide to French beauty secrets
Difficulty : Easy with a lot of French slang and idioms. Most posts are lists or short articles.
Similar to : I found none!Nice article : Les 10 paires de chaussures que toute femme devrait avoir
12 Atelier Doré
The most popular French blog in the fashion world!
Difficulty : Short to medium length, slightly more difficult words but mostly related to beauty and fashion.
Similar to : I found none!Nice article : The great backpack debate
Why it's great : I first had a doubt about adding Garance Doré to this short list because she's already so known all over Internet. She deals with accessories and trends in fashion quite naturally and the whole blog gives you an intense feeling of elegance.
HIGHTECHTRENDSBLOGS
13 Topito
21456 lists to make your day a little more entertaining
Difficulty : Easy, little text in the format of a list or a Q&A with quite a lot of French slang and idioms.
Similar to : Buzzfeed Nice article : Top 30+ des podcasts à ecouter en urgence, mieux que la radio!
14 VDM (Vie de Merde)
Perfect to cheer up when you're feeling a little down
Difficulty : Easy, little text and simple daily vocabulary with some French slang.
Similar to : F my lifeNice article : Grosse déprime et jalousie
15 Presse-citron
All the latest trends on high-tech products, in French!
Difficulty : Reasonably easy, most posts are about 500 words which is a quick read but the "Tests" have quite a lot of technical vocabulary
Similar to : TechCrunchNice article : Google pourrait presque tuer le copier/coller sur mobile
If the French bloggers I introduced today weren’t really what you were looking for, then I have another tool for you to find brilliant blogs.
It’s called Hellocoton and it’s very similar to Pinterest or Bloglovin’. All you need to do is type keywords that interest you in the search bar then look through the stream of suggestions.
When you find a French blogger you like, click on “S’abonner” and create an account so you can receive notifications for new blog posts of your favorite French bloggers. Or just click on a blog link and bookmark it, though it’ll be easier to forget.
How creating a routine will help you improve faster
Before I let you go, I’d like to make a last comment on using French bloggers to learn specific vocabulary.
Unfortunately, this method won’t work if you don’t find the time to read on a regular basis, at least once or twice a week. Seriously, your reading sessions don’t need to be longer than 20 minutes but they do need to happen frequently enough for you to start remembering and assimilating words you’ve read in different contexts.
Don’t worry though, I won’t leave you to wonder how to organize your schedule around this new task. You could have followed these blogs via Facebook or Instagram but then you’d easily be distracted by all the other things going on and you’d have no control on when you read in French.
Instead, let me present you to Feedly and Bloglovin’, perhaps you even already use one of those.
Both platforms work like a personal feed where you can choose which blogs to follow. This technique will help you create a feed just for French and if you set a reminder on your phone for 2 days every week, then you’ll just need to go to Feedly or Bloglovin’ to practice your French vocabulary.
Easy, right?
Now it’s time to explore the French blog scene. Enjoy and let me know in the comments if you found any French bloggers you’d like to recommend!
Hello Abigail,
I just discovered this article.
Thank you for this amazing description which touches me 🙂
All the best xoxo
How sweet of you Vanessa for passing by! I just wrote what I felt was the truth 🙂 Happy it made your day
Oh WOW, thank you so much for mentioning my blog Abigail. So so honored and flattered to be introduced as “personal with a lot of character” 🙂 have a lovely Sunday. Priscilla
Avec plaisir Priscilla! Keep on grooving with style 🙂
Great selection ! I knew many of them and I am eager to discover the other ones your recommend.
We have a language blog written in French about how to learn languages and we give tips to those who would like to become a polyglot. Here is the link to our website, we hope you will like it : http://www.polyglotworld.wordpress.com
A bientôt !
I’ll have to check this out, thanks for passing by Marie!
I’m not sure if this was intentional but it’s difficult to read the blog descriptions and translations for each blog but I can see the pictures. Is it just me? Checking to see if it’s the same on another browser… The first part was on safari on a MacBook pro. Now, I’m on opera on the same MacBook pro and I can read the descriptions and not see the pictures. Cheers. Au revoir!
Hi Christa, how odd! Thank you for letting me know, I’ll have to check what’s going on. I’m not on Mac myself so I never saw how my posts look on Safari and Opera.
Oh merci.A few of these I already knew but love the additions especially Mercredi…
Bonjour! Thank you very much for your great selection. My favorite one is Atelier Doré (also known as We Are Doré now). I discovered and loved many of those you’ve recommended! Merci
https://leoncechenal.com
Love !