Chers amis, je veux que la qualité de mon blog s’améliore. Hors la qualité d’un blog est déterminée par la satisfaction de ses lecteurs. J’ai donc deux questions à vous poser:
- Que devrais-je ajouter à ce blog pour qu’il vous plaise encore plus? Quels sont les sujets sur lesquels je devrais passer plus de temps? Quels sont les ingrédients qui manquent?
- Sur quoi devrais-je passer moins de temps? Y a-t-il des sujets qui vous barbent?
Bref, comment puis-je améliorer mon blog?
Merci infiniment!!
My dear friends,
As my aim is to make this blog as pleasant and attractive as possible, the time has come for me to ask for your feedback:
- What are things that I could add to this blog in order to make it more enjoyable and more attractive? New topics? Different format? More of something I’ve already written about?…
- What kind of things/topics should I spend less time writing about?
In short: how can I make this blog better for you?
Thanks a lot for your invaluable input!!
I wish your e-mail address would start with My French Heaven instead of comment-reply. I love wines, so would like to hear more about them. I’d love to come visit one day, so I’d like to hear more of the wineries available for tours or tastings. You are good at so many things that it’s difficult to find something else that I would like to see in your blog. It takes me some time (enjoyable) to absorb all that is presented to me. I’m trying to learn French and this helps a lot.
I’m a little late chiming in on this but I wouldn’t change a thing! I love your posts and photos and, living her in the U.S., outside of Chicago, your beautiful photos and stories let me live vicariously through you.
Thank you so much Lesley! I used to work in Chicago a long time ago. It was my first US experience. I have fond memories of the city as well as the state. I remember the incredible country side with all the red barns… You live in a magnificent area too, and I hope I’ll be able to return one day if only to see the red barns again…
Yes, there are some beautiful areas here for sure! So nice to hear you’ve been here and have fond memories. The red barns will surely await your return!
I love your posts and the photos, I don’t know how you would improve on that part. The only aspect that I have ever thought I would change is your home page. There is no way to see previous posts such as categories and it is harder to find a previous post if I decided that I needed to try a recipe.
Don’t the categories appear on the right side of your screen? There should also be a search box on the upper right side… If it’s not the case, please let me know so I can look into it:)
Well, I went back to the home page and yes there are categories now, I have no idea why they did not show up before… There are aspects of this computer world that will never make sense to me.
So, I guess that means your blog is perfect!
Good! A perfect blog for my perfect readers:)
I must add Stephane that your Blog is my favorite and I follow quite a few. I am eager each day for your new posts, subject matter and pictures. As other people have said I think partly because it seems to encapsulates a lifestyle which to me seems ideal. More relaxed and appreciative of the simpler things in life i.e. good food, good friends, local availability of produce, etc… Things we in certain areas of the US have gotten away from and would love to return to!
What a nice comment! I am very touched!!
I quite agree with this comment! Couldn’t have said it better.
You guys are just too kind!:)
I agree too!!!! You are an inspiration
Thanks Shelley. I’m confused. I once went on your incredible photo site (the one that I think had brown background) and I can’t seem to find it again… God I wish I could spend a week with you to learn proper photography…
Hello, I most enjoy reading about your trips to those wonderful French markets and the day to day happenings in your kitchen. Your blog is an inspiration and a pleasure to read. Please keep up the good work.
Thanks Lain!! I will post more pictures of the markets:)
Your blog is beautiful, the photography is stunning, especially your food entries – that’s why I follow you! More design is welcome even for us foodies. And I love the French/English, it helps me practice my French when I read. I don’t think there is anything you should do less of, keep ‘em coming!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your feedback! It really helps:) Thanks again!
I love your blog as it is!! The only thing I would like to see is more information on regional wines. Your in such a fabulous wine region and I’m sure you know much more than most of us about the wines. Living in a francophone country has really broadened my wine horizons and made me aware of how much there is to learn:-)
I just posted about a great little château I know. I will post more about wine as quite a few readers have asked me to. We’ll have so much to share and do when you come here:) I can’t wait!
Neither me. I’m so looking forward to it!!
Un homme qui se remet en question…pas banal…
Je crois, et c’est très personnel comme point de vue, je n’en fait absolument pas une vérité, mais pour moi un blog, c’est avant tout un espace de créativité. Cette dernière ne s’exprime pleinement et transmet son énergie seulement si le créateur laisse parler librement son intuition. Si tu définis clairement ton objectif final ton intuition s’alignera sur ton intention et participera pleinement à la conception de ton support.
C’est exactement mon sentiment! Merci d’avoir pris le temps de répondre. Ton commentaire renforce ma conviction:) Merci encore!
J’aime beaucoup votre blog tel qu’il est. Ne changez rien sur le fond, c’est parfait!
Merci!!!
I had to give this some serious thought, as I am enjoying your blog immensely and it is only one of two that I follow.
Your blog has a lot of integrity, i.e., your Mission is, “Cuisine, Design, and Joie de vivre” and you don’t digress too far from these topics…you, “walk the talk”. I see the content primarily as inspiration (poetry, literature), rather than instructional. From what I’ve read form other commentators, we seem to be a fairly competent group at cooking, so that your “recipes” are meant more as food-for-thought (pun intended) rather than a cookbook. I think it is very important to stick to this approach rather than get too instructional.
That being said, I think there is a tremendous hunger (oy, what’s with the puns?) out there for inspiration around living sensually, slowly, and appreciatively of life. For some it may be as a respite from their harried daily lives, while for others, a nearly spiritual path of growth from what, I think it was Erich Fromm, called “having and doing, into being”.
With this in mind, it would be very valuable to provide just a little more “how to” with respect to, for example, selecting wines, buying meats and produce, putting together internal design elements, etc. More articles on French lifestyle, places, people, how they handle the stresses of modern life, etc. I think it’s very valuable to have a model for inspiration, just as the great artists did!
So here are my suggestions:
1. MORE….of everything!
2. Additional focus on “how to”
3. Interviews with locals (vintners, cooks, market people, etc.) about topics related to their metier or lifestyle
Thanks for what you’re doing, it’s a welcome brief respite every day from the stresses of North American consumptive living.
Your comments are, once again, right on the money. I will most certainly add a few “how to” articles as well as a much needed insight into people’s lives in the form of interviews and “documentaries”. Thanks Steve for taking the time!! It means a lot!
Steve said it perfectly!!!
Steve always does:)
A mon sens, tes choix seront dictés par les objectifs que tu te fixes avec ce blog. En attendant, voici un constat personnel
Tes points forts :
- le bilinguisme
- tes photos (ambiance, personne, famille, décoration, vin, bouffe)
- ton envie de partage de la culture française (interprétation de ma part), de certaines valeurs (famille, amitié)
- la simplicité et la candeur de tes posts qui transcrivent tes passions
Les points faibles de ton blog :
- une catégorie “uncategorized” qui ne devrait pas exister
- une catégorie “vidéo” dont l’article devrait être catégorisé dans “recipies”
Ce que j’aimerais y trouver
- des témoignages, des reportages, ton retour sur un restaurant, un cuisinier, un vigneron (liste non exhaustive)
Bonne continuation
Super feedback! Merci! p me servir. Le seul truc c’est la catégorie “uncategorized” dont je n’arrive pas à me débarrasser (j’ai essayé). Merci encore!
De rien
S’il n’y a pas d’article dans la catégorie, je pense qu’elle disparaîtra automatiquement…
I love this blog. The pictures always make me envious of your life and enjoy seeing them greatly. I wish I was as good with the camera ! It is truly making me want to pop over the channel for a holiday. Thank you!
Thank you so much! I do hope you pop over the channel and come visit!!
Love this blog and have shared it with members of my family, being from a franco-american upbringing. You distill the essence of France that I never knew I missed so much reading your blog – you fill a longing that I didn’t know I had. I love it all – the photos, the recipes, your sweet thoughts. Personally, I think it’s (ahem) heaven in an email every day.
Merci bien!
Fano, you are so very kind! I feel very humbled and honored by your comment. I hope I’ll continue to do it justice!!
I love your blog so much I even wrote about you on my own! (See Top Expat blogs of 2012 if you’re interested http://expatlove.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/top-expat-blogs-of-2012/). To reiterate what everyone said above, your blog has many wonderful features: the quality of the bilingual writing, the beautiful photos, varied recipes, great subject matter, and your own unique voice and sense of humor. The one point that someone made above that I think you should change is the shorter “preview” posts, which tend to clutter my email inbox. I like your “meatier” posts enough to come back almost everyday, so I don’t need a heads-up email the same day for the next day’s post. If you’d like to give us a preview, I’d suggest writing at the end of a longer post a sentence or two, as I almost always read to the bottom. Keep up the good work!
Wow Colleen, thanks for this great comment and feedback. All this makes perfect sense. Thanks again. I absolutely love your blog as well:)
Stephane – Don’t change a thing. More than the food you present, I really enjoy your upbeat way with words. That said, I am interested in pairing dishes with wine, and would not mind see some of that from time-2-time.
Duly noted my friend! Thanks for the feedback;)
I back the ‘don’t change anything’ comments. I don’t usually read comments and have email notification of them turned off (no time) but I made an exception here to see whether there were any suggestions which would spoil your blog for me. I love the food stuff, the photographs and the occasional sorties into other things. I also like the posting frequency, generally one a day which is about the most I can manage from any blogger.
Thanks fro the feedback! also thank you for coming so regularly. It really means a lot!
You’re very welcome; I forgot to mention, the French/English is really great! You might think about using the ‘gallery mosaic’ feature when you have a lot of pictures – we get to see them all at once as a set and a click on one takes us into a great slide show, each shot with its caption, which I think is better than having to repeatedly scroll down. You’ll have seen this working on my ‘grumpytykepix’ blog.
Fantastic! I’ll set it up:)
It turns out I have everything set up for the carousel and it still does not work. It doesn’t on your blog either. It must be my browser (Google Chrome)…
I agree with many other comments:
- the blog is a reflection of who you are and the things you love, that clearly shines through and is beautiful as it is — don’t change that!
- bilingual is great to practise my French
- using the ‘reply’ makes it easier to make sense of the comments
- great photos and elegant dishes
- I’d like to see more classic/traditional French dishes, preferably with some pointers on whar can be changed and what can’t to keep it ‘authentic’
- You might want to consider skipping the short posts that only announce what’s coming up the next day
In short: super blog! Keep it up!
Thanks Stefan! I agree on everything you said. I have changed the comment set up so they come in the right order:)
I love it just the way it is.
Thanks L!
Can’t think of a damn thing. I love visiting your blog.
Thanks J!
C’est toujours un délice de recevoir vos publications! Vous me transportez dans un monde qui m’est si familier, cependant avec beaucoup plus de chic et noblesse. Vous me faites rêver et c’est que j’aime!
Merci Eve! C’est vrai que je pense toujours que mes articles doivent plus interpeler les étrangers et ça fait plaisir de constater que même mes compatriotes apprécient. Merci de venir aussi souvent visiter le blog! Cela me touche beaucoup!
I love, love, love your photographs. I love your recipes but because I am from the US and have always wanted to visit France yet have not had the opportunity I especially love the pictures/posts re: French life (i.e. the markets, your home, your friends home etc…) I guess I am a voyeur via your blog!
Very useful feedback Elisabeth! Thanks for taking the time:)
I haven’t been reading your blog very long, but I enjoy reading it! Thank you! Radhika
Thanks Radhika!
Have only recently started to follow your blog so I have no suggestions to make. It appears perfect to me at present.
Thanks for your feedback:)
Your blog is one of the most inviting and worthwhile blogs I’ve seen and read. Just about as perfect as possible:) (So perfect it’s kind of intimidating)…One thing I’m curious about…could you post about “peasant” foods? simple foods that poor people eat in France. (Maybe I’m too curious). Have you watched “Babette’s Feast?” such a good movie.
I’ll try my best! Babette’s feast is the reason why I went into the hospitality industry. It sums up everything I love about cooking and sharing food with the people you love… Thank you so much for your kind comments Brook!!
the point of a blog isnot to look for an audience, to be yourself and see what happens. I started mine 18 moths ago have over 10.000 hits for no good reason at all…just keep going…be yourselfX
Thanks Ann. The main reason I want to make it better is because making people happy with the blog makes me happy. I don’t care how many people come. I care about them being happy they came:) I don’t know if I’m making any sense. It’s getting late:)
Nothing! I love all your food photographs. Simply stunning.
Thank you so much! I will try to post even more then:)
I don’t think you need to change a thing – this is one of my absolute favourite blogs at the moment – I love your photographs, and the fact that I can practice my french when I read your blog! Keep up the wonderful posts!
Thank you! I will do my best to make sure you stay interested:) Thanks again!
I agree with applepiezucchini regarding the french practice. I love that your blog is translated into English. I get to practice my French and then see how I fared. Of course, I’m a fan of all your wonderful recipes, too.
Honestly, since you asked… I don’t think you should change a thing. Otherwise you might be compromising everything you are and do. That’s why I never read another blog for a long time – I didn’t want to be influenced. Now that I’m in my rhythm, I read a lot of them. I’m no expert, having only blogged for a few months, but your blog is perfectly you. You’re bilingual, for heaven sakes, your photos are divine, your recipes incredible, and you make us all want to come to your beautiful home! Just my humble opinion…
You are so very kind Mimi:) I just want to do a good job as this blog (and my conversations with you guys) is pretty much the only thing that keeps me sain these days:).
I’m with Johnny on that… I’d be happy with even more photos! I get the cuisine and joie de vivre, but what are the design elements to your blog? I guess I originally thought you also did interior design? But no complaints at all! I love your blog!
Thanks! The design part was meant for interior design related posts such as the ones I wrote on the Acanthe shop. I’m just worried the readers won’t care for interior design as much as they care for food and cooking… Do you think more photos of my favorite shops and objects could be a plus?
I must have missed those, sorry. Maybe don’t spread yourself too thin? Coming from an older person with lots of interests, It is sometimes difficult to only focus on one or two subjects. Like if you had a cooking show, what would you do? I think the same applies to a blog. I think publishers would want to see that, too. Be who you are and what you do best. I love all of your photo subjects, and love seeing the old photos as well… Just maybe don’t care what we want, and do what you do best! You already wow us!
I love you Mimi!
If there has to be any constructive criticism I happen to like reading through peoples comments. Call me nosy! However, with your response it’s never directed to the individual so I’ve no idea about the ‘conversation’, if you like. It’s just my thing! No offence, as I adore your blog!
That’s a very good point! I need to find the right setting… Thanks Johnny!
It’s easier for me to use Comments, then reply to the individual. I’m always surprised at how many people read through them.
Is that the best way to do it? See, I always use the the drop box… I’ll do it your way from now on.
If you’re in the actual post then click on reply within their comment. It’s just easier for me to use Comments and refresh the page when WP informs me of new comments.
Perfect!