“’I honestly don’t think we could have put in any more effort to acclimatize to the French way of life...’ adds Joanna...”
Did you try wearing a Burka? *SMIRK*
The ‘French’ way of life is now prayer 5x a day, Lady!
From the article, The fact that she struggled to pick up the language — Ed has learned some French since they’ve been living there, speaking the language would have been better. They moved to a smallish town probably without extensive tourist/expat presence. When they were there as tourists they probably stayed in a hotel and frequented restaurants where English was used. Living there, you can't assume the grocer or handyman will understand you. And making friends, yes, language could be a barrier.
I hope she doesn’t decide to try and live in Amsterdam any time soon. 🙄🙄🙄