Living Alone in The South of France as an American | A Realistic Day #nicefrance

Living Alone in The South of France as an American | A Realistic Day #nicefrance

currently leaving my apartment right now because 
yeah so this has been happening for the past week I don’t know what they’re doing I thought they 
were just supposed to be painting but apparently   not So let’s go to a cute coffee shop Hi I am 
Jean I’m an American that lives in Penise France And today I thought I would take you along with 
me to show you what a day in my life looks like living here Right now I am heading to a coffee 
shop My goal is to go to one new cafe coffee shop a week so I can really get to know Nice Honestly 
even though I live here and it’s beautiful outside I get a bit caught up in my head and love to stay 
home Um but when I’m out I love being out but um I get like really deep into work when I’m 
home but force myself to get out And especially because they’re doing construction I literally 
cannot do work in my apartment So maybe it’s a   sign that I just need to get out the house Um 
and I’m working towards just creating more of a schedule for myself Um so I’m not working till 
1000 p.m but I definitely have been making a lot of friends Last week I was doing something every 
single day Um I have not had a problem with making friends at all Um so that’s something to know 
Um if you really put yourself out there and you utilize social media and you go to different 
events you can definitely meet people But yeah now we are heading to this new um cafe I can’t 
remember what it’s called but it’s on my phone I know Once I get up to this tram stop up here then 
I’ll look um cuz it’s close to there And what I love about where I live is I can literally walk 
to pretty much everything Multiple grocery stores markets I could have take taken the tram to where 
I’m going Um but it’s such a beautiful day that I just rather walk And I can also walk from where 
I live as well But there’s literally everything here that you could possibly need There’s Sephora 
there’s grocery stores there’s cafes So I just feel like it makes my life so much easier and not 
having a car just and not having having to pay for a car or worry about a car also just makes life a 
lot more easier and freer So I don’t know I love the walkability for some people Nice is too small 
and I think for me this would be like too small to live wherever But um I think it’s perfect for what 
I need right now I’ve always lived in big cities I’m from Chicago I lived in LA Um I think having a 
mix of both is good I think the long-term plan is to be able to go between LA New York um and Europe 
But this is also like I feel like the perfect place to be during the summertime And um even 
just getting a place here um like a studio I think would be amazing and like be able to own that Um 
see cuz you can definitely find studios here that   are like 150 Um so apparently here as a foreigner 
which I’ll do another video on um because I have a real estate agent friend but basically you have 
to put 40% down and then you figure it out with um the lenders here But basically you have to put 
40% down and then there’s something with a notary and whatever but essentially you need to come 
prepared to put 50% down to purchase a place And then I would feel like the monthly payments would 
probably be around €1,000 or so So the payments actually aren’t bad at all but you just have to 
have the money to put down the down payment Um okay Now I need to figure out which direction I’m 
going So I’m going to bring out my phone The cafe I’m going to is called Foodie Um I feel like it’s 
very not European to bring your laptop to places Um but this one I went on the Instagram and they 
were actually promoting you going there to work on your laptop So that’s something to keep in 
mind that some places won’t just let you pop   out your laptop which on one hand is nice Um 
but on the other hand it’s like okay I would love to get outside the house and be in a good 
place where I can get work done Um another place that I really love is um going to the Meridian 
Hotel and going to the second floor where the reception is It’s very quiet There’s always space 
and uh there’s internet and you get to look at the water which I love too So trying to discover 
all the places that you can do work at [Music] Okay Okay Let’s see They actually serve brunch all day So 
something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a place to eat during the 
day because most places close down um between like 2:00 and 5 So if you’re looking 
for a place to have a little nibble that’s central to things you can check out Foodie But 
let’s see how this smoothie is that I ordered [Music] Hades paradise Wait Wi-Fi guest Flex guest Flex the cat Flex the eggs Okay And then uh or 
my phone say we’re trying English is bad No messy So I have my French class in an hour So I am going 
to head to the grocery store and grab something to make for dinner I’m probably going to get some 
just like pasta and sauce I really like going to Mono Pri to get things that are quick They 
have a lot of pre-made stuff that’s actually pretty good You just need to add like some salt or 
pepper to it Um but typically I go there to grab some things because they have organic stuff 
And then there’s also another store that’s um close to me as well where they have all organic 
There’s actually a couple organic stores near me So it’s definitely easy to find produce isn’t too 
expensive but when it comes to organic stuff when it comes to um like meats and fish and stuff like 
that it’s a lot more expensive for organic And the portion sizes are very tiny I mean I’m a small 
girl so it’s even small for me I would say but uh if you know for anyone a bit bigger or needs to 
eat more it definitely is not enough So something to keep in mind is that the grocery costs I feel 
like I’m spending the same as I was when I was in LA Honestly I mean I’m probably going to the store 
and spending like 90ish euros for the week which is what $110 $120 Um so that’s a lot for a month 
I mean I also sometimes get like specialty things Um if you stick to just like you know chickpeas 
and vegetables and things that are like just regular whole foods then it’s not that bad But if 
you you know want to get specialty things or ice cream or things like that um or pre-made like 
soups and things like it can definitely add up Um so something to keep in mind This is also a 
um the place where I go for the pharmacy has a very big pharmacy inside And you can find pretty 
much everything in this pharmacy which I will come back and show you guys another day Um but yeah 
in Nistol I can’t pronounce it correctly but um that’s where I would recommend going to the 
pharmacy It’s it’s ginormous Um maybe I’ll put in an insert cuz I’ve been there before I’ll put an 
insert clip on the side Um but this main strip is um where the red tram um goes and it goes to 
Oldtown goes to Liion Um and you can take this tram to get to um the tram that takes you to the 
airport but you could also walk to the tram that takes you to the airport as well Um if you go 
to Jean Mitsong there’s a blue and green line train that can take you there Um but yeah very 
easy If you don’t have a lot of luggage highly recommend just taking the tram into the city 
when you come to Nice It’s really easy really simple and you’re probably going to stay 
somewhere in the city center Um so yeah I would just highly recommend because it it would 
literally be like anywhere from like 25 to 40 uh euros for an Uber which such a ripoff when you 
could just get on the tram for a couple euros Um and you’re going to be pretty close to where you 
are I mean I think when you come to visit Europe   anyway you shouldn’t be bringing a bunch of stuff 
Um but yeah something to keep in mind Okay so this is the monop that I go to This is like the biggest 
one There’s also a closer one near me too But this one has like pretty much everything you could 
think of Like imagine like a Target They have um food beauty stuff um all the things you 
can think of So yeah they have a beauty section They have a beauty section They 
even have like a little bakery section as well And it smells so fresh 
But now I’m going to go to where they have like the pre-made pastas and 
things Um yeah it’s actually not bad at all Got some fresh fish And they also have like a pre-made Asian section as 
well Um but where I like to go is here This is like typical Niswah food It’s 
like meat uh like beef stuffed in peppers And then they have all this fresh pasta as well [Music] Um 
and then they also have like individual sauces as well which is really cool because a lot of times 
I feel like especially when you are by yourself   like you don’t want a huge thing of pasta like 
you just need a small little thing for that one little thing of pasta So it’s great that you can 
just get like individual ones They even have a   smaller one here as well that you can get So 
I think I’m going to get Let’s see They have ravioli Maybe I’ll try the ravioli actually And then I have a basil sauce 
that I got with it But I love how like you can just throw this together And there’s 
so many things where you can just get like a   small one versus getting the large thing Like 
even for like let’s say something like goat cheese or things like that Like you can 
get just the small the small version So you don’t have to like buy a ginormous thing 
and waste it which I think is pretty cool Okay let’s go check out all my things People 
always bring their reusable bags as well I have a backpack on Hopefully it fits 
Let’s see Do a little selfch checkckout [Music]   So as you can see that came out to 20 
which honestly is kind of expensive um for one meal They have some where it’s like 
individual supposed to be one meal for like five I mean I guess that pasta technically 
is like two servings for me Um and then I got sauce and a little cheese but yeah I think 
an average serving when you’re cooking here it can be anywhere from like five to like 12 euros 
So it just depends on what you’re buying Um and then also when you go to bigger grocery stores 
like that one something to know is that they um give you a ticket so you can scan in order to 
exit because usually there’s like a little gate Um for the small like organic stores they don’t 
have that but for bigger grocery stores you have to scan So when you check out at the grocery or 
when you check out at the selfch checkckout thing um they ask if you want like a ticket or not and 
you can say no to a receipt cuz you don’t really need a receipt but it will still give you like a 
little ticket to put to scan when you are exiting Um so just something to know because you don’t 
want to be like stuck and just think it’s like a receipt and throw it away You actually need 
it to skin it to get out of the grocery store But it is such a beautiful day today I am going 
to I’m walking home and going to have my French lesson which I will show you Um yeah my French is 
definitely not where I want it to be The problem is not the problem is I’m not doing something 
every day for French and I know I need to be   Right now I’m doing once a week 1 hour tutoring 
When I first got here I did a month at Alian Fones and that was from 9 to 11 Um yeah I mean I 
think it’s you kind of have to try and see what works for you I think for me the class size was 
too big It was like I felt like almost 20 people in there It was just too many people Um I think I 
do better with one-on-one intention that I might do is join a conversation class because I think 
it’d be good to have the one-on-one when it’s   like explaining the grammar part cuz I think for 
me I need someone to like really walk me through it and I don’t want to like hold up the class if 
I don’t understand something So I think in terms of understanding grammar and stuff that can be 
good to have a one-on-one tutor um and then going   to conversation classes could be good like twice a 
week Um so I might try to do that But yeah classes also aren’t Oh this guy just spit Also aren’t 
cheap Um so yeah we’re on a we’re definitely on a budget Um not trying to spend too much Um 
so yeah I also don’t really have French friends I have one friend that’s Polish and she speaks 
French but other than that I don’t have any French speaking friends Um yeah I guess the international 
people kind of gather together Um and some move with their like husbands and so maybe they don’t 
learn French as quickly as they should Um oh but yeah I don’t want to leave this year not 
speaking French I didn’t come all this way to not be able to speak it at the end of the year 
but it’s just going to take a lot of time and patience Um I do watch like TV with subtitles in 
French Um I think sometimes at the end of the day because what’s really helpful too is also watching 
a TV show in French where they’re speaking French but I think for me it takes a lot of like focus 
and by the time I’m watching TV at the end of the day I’m like too tired and I’m like I just 
want to watch something in English So um yeah I mean when I was studying abroad in Germany for 6 
months when I was 15 I was literally around German all the time more than English like pretty much no 
English at all for 6 months So you definitely have to immerse yourself and you learn every things 
every day But sometimes when I’m like home by   myself I’m not really interacting with anyone Um 
it can be difficult I think also confidence like building that confidence to be able to speak 
French um as well because I think when people uh well what’s nice is people don’t assume 
that I’m American until I open my mouth which   I think is nice but you can definitely move here 
without speaking French of course learn the you know the basics the bonjour bonjour is really 
important um people definitely greet you when entered into a store So just out of respect 
you always say bonjour bona Um yeah your or mercy Thank you And it’s just so interesting 
the way languages work like when you say um like when you’re ordering something at a 
restaurant um and they do something for you they’ll say which is like with pleasure Um which 
I guess maybe in British English they say that I don’t know Um but it’s just so interesting how 
things are like phrased and worded They’re defin I feel like French is like a formal uh English or 
like how the British kind of speak English but the way that they speak I think is actually quite nice 
Um and like the way you like directly translate it um I don’t know there’s something very elegant 
about French that English just could never can never do Um but yeah it is my goal to speak fluent 
French one day the level that I’m trying to get to is more you know like honestly be able to do a 
video like this fully in French Um and be able to obviously understand people and read at like 
you know probably like eighth grade level Yeah I feel like eighth grade level um is pretty good 
But yeah it’s going to take a lot on my part and um It’s just so many things that I’m balancing 
at once It’s like I feel like learning French is a full-time job I feel like making friends and 
keeping those friendships up is also a full-time job Um trying to make money and pitch brands 
is a full-time job Uh trying to make sure I’m taking time to rest and my mental health I feel 
like is also a full-time job But very grateful I love being here I wouldn’t change it for anything 
Um there’s pros and cons to every place that you live but I don’t know I really like being here 
I love the slow pace of living I love that I can walk to everything Um which you could never 
really do in LA I guess you technically could but you would have to be paying a lot to live 
in a place that has um that access Um but yeah you definitely still get some traffic Um but it’s 
cool that there’s just also so many places nearby So I’m working on my travel series called the 
Mindful Traveler which is basically me going to different cities and countries and showing what 
to do cultural things um just having fun but doing it from a mindful p perspective Because I think a 
lot of times when people travel they don’t really care about the culture and learning Whereas I’m 
definitely not that Like I want to do cooking classes and learn the history um and not just 
like vacation cuz I’m definitely not that type of person So we’re working on that The first episode 
is going to be Portugal Um hopefully that comes out soon I just want to make sure I’m like editing 
it really well um because I want it to feel like a show So that’s something that I’m also pitching 
to brands as well Um but yeah it is it has been a process Okay I’m almost home It is warm outside 
I have 20 minutes until my French class starts I wanted to show you these mealins These were 
like €2 something Um so good They just taste like straight up butter It’s bad but it’s so good Um 
I’ve had ones in the US but I don’t know Nothing compares to these They’re just so buttery You 
can find these at Mod Pri or like any bakery So good The butter [Music] Bonjour I don’t think I can hear you Let’s see No Oh there we go Okay Let me see if 
I’m not connected to I hear you Can you hear me you can hear me okay Yeah Yeah 
I can hear you Yeah I’m very sorry I   cannot access to our class like I don’t 
know what’s going on this moment [Music] [Music] Okay Um videos editing or like I have 
to edit a lot of videos Mhm Um and [Music] um what did you say at the end okay [Music] [Music] Okay Okay Um wait That’s all I got [Music] Okay Okay [Music] Okay Document Did you receive the document [Music] oh we’re going to see like the past What 
I notic is that you’re already using the past So you probably know some of the things 
So we’re going to go a little bit deeper and see how you can make sure to always use the 
correct time the past like when is the right time because if you notice there are different 
paths We’re going to see how you’re supposed to use this path that we’re going to see and 
how you’re supposed to build it also Okay Just the beginning of the first 
page you have like a little text Super [Music] weekend for shoes [Music] In [Music] bloodad pu on [Music] restaurant [Music] [Music] [Music] vocabul in the middle the big chunk A lot of other things Okay How 
would when would you use that versus [Music] Okay more standard is like more in 
French orally when you’re talking Okay Um like how do you make it first you always need 
to use you always need to use one of the two We’re going to see how you’re supposed to 
choose and then you’re using the verb you   want to use in the past but in passive compos So 
we also going to see how you build that So first we’re going to see when are we supposed to use 
a because this is like the difficulty the first difficulty to know should I use or should I 
use So what you can remember is like you’re going to use most of the time and is like 
the exception So you’re only going to use with specific verbs There is the list but we’re 
going to proceed Page three So on the document is called page three Okay This page you have 
all the verb where you’re supposed to use it Um wait where are you sorry Am I looking 
at the Oh page three on the I was looking at page three of the Hold on Yeah Yeah Sorry 
page three on the document and page four on the um not not next Uh what does that 
mean next is to be born born Okay For example when you say so I was 
born in the US Okay Um entreprene [Music] Uh transform [Music] um and patia [Music] So this is like the le of the verb you’re going 
to use Okay For everything else for example the verb you’re not going to use You’re 
going to use and all the reflexive verbs So this is just like the first step 
for you to understand when you should   use when you should use a I’m going to 
send you also this Can you read it um [Music] Sort [Music] salty Fore foreign foreign [Music] [Music] insect Insect [Music] [Music] the first sentence Oh okay That’s the name So I 
just got out the shower after my French class I feel like at the end of my French class I’m always 
just like it takes a lot of brain power to be able to learn another language Um but yeah I don’t know 
I feel like for me I’m not the type of person that learns by like drilling things into my head in 
terms of like sitting down and writing things over and over It’s more of like oh I learned that 
like this sounds right this doesn’t sound right Like over time just like when we speak in English 
it’s like you’re not thinking oh this is how you conjugate this this and that It’s like you just 
know what sounds right Um but of course obviously I need to like learn grammar stuff too But a 
lot of things that I do know it’s just like from   hearing it’s not necessarily from like memorizing 
or thinking to myself okay what is this conjugate what is this conjugation so but it is a process 
Um but yeah my days aren’t anything too crazy on like a daily basis Um there are definitely days 
where I’ve like gone to Monaco Um but I keep it I try to keep it pretty simple during the week Uh 
honestly I feel like so many people don’t see the behind the scenes of what it takes to work for 
yourself And I’m not going to lie it is a lot of work Like being in the south of France I feel 
like hasn’t necessarily helped me work-wise cuz my inbox used to be so full when I was in the US 
in terms of brand partnerships So now I’m having to like really pitch brands which I haven’t had 
to do in like three years at this point Um but pitching brands just take more work because the 
way that I go about doing it is like I custom make   a pitch for each brand I’m not just like oh like 
here’s how much a real is I’m like no like this is the real this is a mood board for what I would 
pitch you or for the content I’m trying to create So it just takes a lot more work having to reach 
out to brands Um yeah you’re like DMing them and then you sometimes get a response sometimes 
you don’t then you have to follow up Um but yeah that part in and of itself is a full-time 
job There’s a couple things I’m thinking of like there’s this management company that I used to 
work with um and they used to send me things so   I need to reach out to them again Um I’m 
also working on building out my LinkedIn And then I also have um my course that I want 
to revamp about like how to become a creator and how to build your personal brand Um cuz 
I think I’ve done a pretty good job of doing   that I’ve been doing this full-time um for 
over four years now And I’ve been full-time all just through like brand partnerships and uh 
a little bit of like media work as well Um so I definitely think that I have a lot to teach Um 
but yeah I’m just in a figuring it out situation Um yeah I I knew coming here that partnerships 
would look different because brands don’t want to ship me things [Music] Um yeah it’s just 
it’s been a bit of an adjustment but I knew that there was a reason that I came here I’m 
not sure completely what that is Um but there was something that was calling me to come here 
So I’m here and so I’m trusting that it’s all going to work out and taking it one day at a time 
Um but one thing I am really working on is this um sort of TV show concept I’ve always wanted to 
have a this I’ve always wanted to have my own TV show and instead of waiting for a brand 
to or waiting for a Netflix or whoever to um create a show I am or you know book me in a 
show I am um just going to create it myself and pitch sponsors for it I do definitely want to grow 
out my YouTube Um it’s not as big as I would like but it is a start and I’m so happy to have all of 
you here Um but yeah I’m creating a series that’s just like all about uh traveling mindful like 
traveling mindfully Um sharing like culture and um showing you me and showing things to do and 
cooking classes um and just really making it fun um but with a mindful and elevated focus So 
I’m excited to get that series going I’m going to start by doing the south of France Um I’m 
obviously so close to different cities so it’s really putting together a production schedule like 
where am I going to go what am I going to do like   really planning it out And I’m also doing this on 
a budget as well I’m trying to see if I can get someone to sponsor it Honestly even if it’s like 
a few hundred but it just like covers the cost of me making it um would be great But yeah we are 
definitely building from the ground up Um again is what it feels like Um part of me is like maybe 
I need to go back to New York or LA for a couple months Um because definitely more opportunities 
flow my way when I’m in the States Um but yeah I’m figuring it out Figuring out what this next 
chapter looks like for me But it does feel really   good being here So I’m trusting that me feeling 
good being here means that I’m supposed to be here and that it’s just figuring out okay what are ways 
so that I can actually stay here and not have to go back to the US completely Um so taking you guys 
along this journey with me now I’m about to warm up some dinner So funny It literally says three 
servings I think it says three servings I don’t know how this is three servings This is like maybe 
two Portions are definitely a lot smaller here see all the construction they’re doing in my uh 
building Like they literally have like stuff on the Let’s see if I can show you stuff on 
the ground So all my stuff is indoors Like my laundry thingy is here I’m like I thought 
they were just supposed to be painting But clearly I don’t know what they’re doing cuz 
you heard those sounds earlier They’re like   destroying the whole building I don’t know what’s 
happening Um but going to make me some dinner

Living Alone in The South of France as an American | A Realistic Day #nicefrance

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Chapters
Intro 0:00
Walking to Cafe: 0:17
Foodie Cafe 04:26
Walking to grocery store 06:47
Grocery store 10:40
walking home , thoughts on learning french 14:20
French class 24:22
Unwinding for the day, things I’m navigating 34:37
Dinner 38:36

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☀️About Me: I’m Jhánneu, a sustainability content creator, speaker, and expert based in Los Angeles and Nice, France. I’ve built a successful lifestyle brand dedicated to helping others live more sustainably and intentionally. My work focuses on solo travel, eco-friendly living, slow living, and wellness, inspiring women to explore the world while making mindful, sustainable choices.

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