XrisLogbook 186 - week31
Circles , Choices , Chapters 🇫🇷
👍🏻 Some friendships don’t need much to stay alive. We first met in a sandbox at nursery school around fifty years ago. Our lives have taken us in very different directions, yet every time we meet, it feels as if no time has passed. Just days after showing my daughter that very same school, I found myself sharing lunch with the friend I met there. Life has a beautiful way of coming full circle in the most unexpected ways. ☕️
👎🏻 The hardest choices are often about what to leave behind. Not financially, but mentally. We often keep carrying responsibilities, possessions or commitments long after they’ve stopped adding value. Letting go is often harder than building something new. 🤯
✍🏻 Life’s biggest journeys don’t always end with a finish line. Just two weeks after my own British citizenship ceremony, Sophie celebrated hers. Some of life’s biggest milestones aren’t measured by how quickly we reach them, but by the perseverance they require. 🇬🇧
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Sylvestre
🧭 July in one sentence
Moving forward doesn't mean leaving everything behind.
hashtagLifeLessons
XrisLogbook184 - week29
Milestones. Momentum. Mindset. 🇬🇧
👍🏻 Becoming a British citizen, watching Lucy graduate from primary school and finalizing for our move to Mauritius all happened within a few days. Different milestones, yet they all carried the same message: every meaningful beginning starts with closing a chapter. 🌱
👎🏻 Changing countries turns out to be easier than changing habits. London teaches you to move fast, and that rhythm doesn’t disappear just because the scenery changes. Relocation doesn’t automatically install inner peace… it simply gives you a different place to keep working on it. 😄
✍🏼 One thought keeps coming back to me: choosing where to live is becoming part of personal strategy. Technology allows us to work almost anywhere. The real question is no longer “Where are the opportunities?” but “Which environment helps me become the best version of myself?” That’s the journey I’m excited to begin. 🧭
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Stephane , Junaid , Vivek , Frederic
MauritiusLondonRelocationFutureOfWork
XrisLogbook 183 - Week 28
People, Places, Perspectives 🇫🇷
👍🏻 This week felt strangely symbolic. Sophie and I spent a few days in Paris, catching up with close friends before leaving Europe next month. At the same time, Lucy was away on her final Year 6 trip to the Isle of Wight with her classmates. While we were celebrating friendships built over many years, she was creating memories with friends she may remember for the rest of her life. Different moments, different generations… yet both quietly marking the end of an important chapter. Growing up isn’t only about children. Adults go through their own transitions too. We simply call them “life decisions.” ❤️
👎🏻 Moving countries has an unexpected side effect: you suddenly realise how many people have quietly become part of your daily life. The friend you always call when you’re in Paris. The neighbour you wave to without thinking. The familiar café. The spontaneous dinner. None of these disappear overnight, but you become much more aware of them once you know they won’t be around every week. Funny how distance often reveals the true value of proximity. 😄
✍🏻 This week reinforced something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. We spend years investing in careers, businesses and opportunities. Yet when a chapter closes, it is rarely the deals we remember first. It is the conversations. The friendships. The people who quietly shaped our journey. Companies create value. People create meaning. The older I get, the more I realise that Building What Matters has never really been about companies. It has always been about people. 🌍
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Delvis , Sylvère , Arnaud , Olivier , Sandra , Vincent , Emmanuelle
Mauritius Relocation Education FamilyLife ExpatLife NewChapt
XrisLogbook 182 - week27
Britain, Bricks, Becoming 🇬🇧
👍🏻 I received the confirmation that my British citizenship has been officially approved, and, because life clearly has a sense of humour, my citizenship ceremony will take place on the 14th of July… Bastille Day! I’m not entirely sure whether the British are welcoming me or the French are trying to reclaim me! After sixteen years in the UK, it feels like life is reminding me that gratitude doesn’t recognise borders. Britain gave us opportunities, lifelong friendships, our daughter Lucy, and countless lessons that will travel with us far beyond its shores. As we prepare to leave, this feels like the most unexpected farewell gift the UK could have given us. Sometimes the most meaningful milestones arrive just as one chapter closes, quietly reminding us that gratitude is the best way to leave a place before embracing the next one. 🇫🇷🇬🇧
👎🏻 Leaving a house is never really about leaving bricks and walls. It is about closing a chapter. Walking through empty rooms, I kept seeing memories instead of furniture. This is the home where our daughter spent most of her childhood, where she took her first steps to school, celebrated birthdays, welcomed friends after school, and slowly became the young girl she is today. We are excited about what lies ahead, but saying goodbye to the place that quietly held so many family moments has been far more difficult than I expected. 💙
✍🏻 One thing I am learning is that moving country forces you to clarify what actually matters. When everything is up for redesign, you cannot avoid the deeper questions for very long. Where do we want our daughter to grow up? What rhythm do we want as a family? What environment helps us think better, work better, live better? Which relationships do we want to nurture? Which habits do we want to leave behind? Relocation may look like a change of address from the outside. From the inside, it feels more like editing your life with a very strict word count. You keep what matters. You cut what no longer fits. And hopefully, you make space for a better next chapter. 🧭
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Paul , Candice , Lilian , Olivier , Stephane , romain
📚 Each week is a step in a journey I’ve captured for good 👉🏼 https://amzn.eu/d/0g6DUwwG
Relocation Mauritius London ExpatLife FamilyLife NewChapter
XrisLogbook 181 - week26
Boxes, Bridges, Backstages 🇫🇷
👍🏻 The move started to feel very real. Not in the romantic “new life under the sun” kind of way… more in the “why do we own so many cables?” kind of way. Packing a home is a strange exercise. You don’t just sort objects. You sort chapters. Some things go into boxes, some go to charity, some go straight to the bin, and a few make you pause longer than expected. Every move is a quiet negotiation between who you were, who you are, and who you are trying to become next. Mauritius may be the destination, but the transition has already started in every drawer we open. 🌍
👎🏻 I can now confirm that international relocation is not one task. It is a full-time project disguised as a life decision. Schools, banking, permits, housing, insurance, documents, movers, storage, flights, addresses, subscriptions… everything is connected, and somehow everything requires a different password I created in 2010 when I arrived in London. AI may soon transform the future of work, but for now the future of relocation still seems to involve PDFs, scanned documents, and at least one form asking for information already provided in the previous form. Progress is real. It is just occasionally hidden behind admin. 😄
✍🏻 One of the highlights of the week was a private visit to the Opéra Garnier. Our guide showed us details most visitors never notice: Charles Garnier discreetly hid his own name in a ceiling sculpture because the building wasn’t originally meant to bear his name; salamanders carved into the grand staircase symbolised protection against the fires that regularly destroyed theatres; a private entrance was specially designed for Emperor Napoleon III to protect him from assassination attempts, yet he never used it after the fall of the Second Empire, leaving part of it less ornamented than originally planned; and beneath the Opera lies a vast water reservoir where Paris firefighters still train, complete with fish that have become unexpected residents. It reminded me that remarkable places are often defined not by what everyone sees, but by the thoughtful details almost nobody notices. They are also shaped by history itself: plans change, people disappear, but great architecture adapts and endures. Perhaps the same is true of great companies, great leaders… and great lives. 🏛️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Salomé Dubbé , Jean Michel Karam , Isabelle Loc , Isabelle LEUNG TACK , Olivier Mermuys , Stephanie Bisson , Franck Bertoneche , Aurelien Chouvet
XrisLogbook Relocation Mauritius London ExpatLife NewChapter
XrisLogbook 180 - week25
Farewells, Frictions, Foundations 🇬🇧
👍🏻 London reminded me that a city is never just a place. It is a collection of memories, people, routines, shortcuts, cafés, dinners, school runs, meetings, late flights, unexpected conversations, and friendships that slowly become part of your identity. As we prepare to leave after so many years, I realise that the hardest part is not packing boxes or closing accounts. It is understanding that a chapter can be successful precisely because it is difficult to leave. London gave us energy, ambition, resilience, and a second family. Now Mauritius is calling, but London will always remain one of the cities that shaped us. ❤️
👎🏻 The practical side of moving country remains a beautiful reminder that life is not yet fully powered by AI. You can transfer money instantly (or so), translate Chinese in real time, and operate businesses across continents… but somehow changing addresses, closing accounts, redirecting letters, updating documents, and finding the right person in the right department still feels like a quest designed by someone with a deep love for forms. International relocation is not one big decision. It is 1212 small decisions pretending to be admin. And every time you think the list is finished, another “small thing” appears with suspicious confidence. 📦
✍🏻 One thing I am learning through this transition is that relocation is not really about leaving one country for another. It is about redesigning your operating system. Where you live affects how you think, how you work, how your family grows, how your network evolves, and even how you measure success. London optimises for intensity, opportunity and speed. Mauritius seems to optimise for space, relationships and long-term alignment. Neither is better. They simply create different versions of you. The real question is not only where you want to live, but what kind of life that place helps you build. 🌍
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Adrien , Emilie , Asma , Marouane , Benjamin , Olivier , Helene , Arnaud , Charles-Henry , Damien , Christian , Nicolas , Niki , Stephane , Anna , Francois , Karim , Guillaume , Stephane , Ilaiy , Thierry , Sahbi , Vivek , Serge , Guillaume , Junaid , Zouhair , Blandine , Francois , Lionel , Arnaud , Jacques , Thierry , Debu , San , Jean-Luc , Gaetan , Maud , Marc , Sabine and all the friends who made London feel like home.
London Mauritius Relocation ExpatLife Entrepreneurship NewChapter
XrisLogbook 179 - week24
Permit, Platforms, Patriarchs 🇲🇺
👍🏻 I finally got the official paper version of my Mauritius Investor Permit. It only took four visits, a healthy dose of patience, and enough paperwork to keep a small forest busy. But that’s often how meaningful things happen: the exciting new chapter starts with forms, signatures, and persistence rather than palm trees and sunsets. The permit may now be in my hands, but the real adventure is still ahead. Next time I land on the island, the priority won’t be permits or paperwork… it will be enjoying Mauritius with my wife and daughter, and starting to turn this new chapter into a real life, not just a project. 🎉
👎🏻 Apparently, Instagram and Facebook have decided I may not be old enough to use their platforms. At this stage of life, I’m choosing to take that as a compliment. What fascinates me is not the mistake itself, but what happens next: you enter the AI vortex, where something that would take 30 seconds for a human to understand becomes surprisingly difficult to explain to a machine. Verifying my age should be straightforward, yet it feels like navigating an endless maze of automated forms, invisible rules, and circular dead ends. The irony is that I genuinely believe I could rebuild my entire social media presence faster with Claude Code than find a human capable of fixing the problem within Meta. So if I seem unusually quiet on Instagram or Facebook, it’s not by choice… I’m still locked out, waiting for someone, or something, to realise that I am in fact old enough to be there.🌀
✍🏻 One of the most interesting discoveries I’ve made in Mauritius is that many of the island’s largest businesses are not controlled by anonymous shareholders or distant institutions, but by families whose names have been associated with entrepreneurship for generations. Banking, hospitality, logistics, real estate, agriculture, telecoms… the same family groups often appear across multiple sectors, not because they inherited an economy, but because they helped build it. Coming from Europe, where businesses are frequently bought, sold and restructured, there is something fascinating about organisations that think in decades rather than quarters. It is a reminder that while technology may be accelerating everything, long-term vision remains one of the rarest competitive advantages. In Mauritius, it sometimes feels like the biggest startup is called “Family Business”… and it has already completed a few successful centuries of operation.♟️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karl , Stephanie, Emmanuel , Melanie , Angel ,
Nancy , Hasnaa , Junaid
Mauritius Entrepreneurship InvestorLife FamilyBusiness Artificialintelligence
XrisLogbook 178 - week23
Permits, Projects, People 🇲🇺
👍🏻 One step further in my Mauritius adventure. After carefully following the process, ticking every box, and supplying what felt like enough paperwork to start a small library, I’ve officially been granted a 10-year Investment Permit. A reminder that persistence usually pays off. Now the real journey begins… time to build, contribute, and make the most of this incredible island. Let’s rock. 🤘🏼
👎🏻 I’ve been in Mauritius for 10 days now, and despite the island’s reputation, I still haven’t set foot on a beach, taken a swim, or enjoyed a dholl puri. Instead, it’s been construction sites, warehouses, paperwork and permits. But that’s often how new chapters begin: before you enjoy the view, you have to build the foundations. The good news? At this rate, my first roti might end up being a well-earned milestone celebration. 😉
✍🏻 After a couple of rich conversations with locals, I’m starting to understand how Mauritius really works. The island ranks among Africa’s strongest startup ecosystems, yet nobody seems obsessed with becoming the next Silicon Valley; perhaps because the weather is considerably better. What stands out is the density of the network. Organisations like Mo Angels, French Tech Mauritius and the Africa Fintech Hub bring founders, investors and operators into the same rooms with surprising frequency. There is very little posturing, very little time wasted, and remarkably few degrees of separation. In Mauritius, the shortest distance between two deals is rarely a flight. More often, it’s a phone call to someone you met last week. 🕸️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karl , Stephanie, Emmanuel , Melanie , Michel , Vanessa , Florent , Hemlata , Nancy
Mauritius Relocation Entrepreneurship Investment StartupEcosystem
XrisLogbook 177 - week22
Miles , Mishaps , Mauritius 🇲🇺
👍🏻 From Shanghai to Mauritius, with a stop in Saint-Émilion in between, this week felt like a reminder of why I still love the road after all these years. Travel can be tiring, occasionally boring, and airports rarely get more glamorous with age… but more often than not, it stretches your perspective in ways nothing else can. New places sharpen your thinking, unexpected conversations spark new ideas, and when you share those moments with the right people, even a busy week starts to feel less like movement… and more like momentum. 🛩️
👎🏻 A few days back in France reminded me that patience is still an underrated business skill. Sometimes the level of service can be so wonderfully rigid that it feels almost philosophical: “Sorry sir, the booking is under your name, so we cannot give the car to your wife.” “Yes, I made the booking… but she’s driving.” “Exactly. So we must cancel it, we keep your first payment, and offer you a new booking at four times the price.” In moments like that you either lose your temper… or gain perspective. Every country has its strengths, and occasionally its paperwork deserves an award for commitment. Travel keeps reminding me that flexibility is not just a mindset, it can also be your most valuable carry-on. 🤷🏻♂️
✍🏻 Moving to Mauritius is less about booking flights and more about sequencing decisions properly. The most practical order I’ve found is: residency first, banking alongside it, then schooling and healthcare, and only after that housing and logistics. One thing worth highlighting: Economic Development Board Mauritius has built a genuinely efficient online process—clear information, digital applications, quick responses. It creates a reassuring first impression. The interesting part comes next: as with many relocations, the system can be very smooth online… and then delightfully more “human” once paperwork starts moving between desks. A reminder that both things can be true at once: the process is modern and well designed, and it still benefits massively from patience, follow-ups, and local relationships. The bigger lesson: treat an international move like a project, not an escape plan. A checklist beats stress, flexibility saves headaches, and even paradise occasionally asks for one extra document you were absolutely sure you already sent. 🇲🇺
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Olivier , Sandra , Karl , Stephanie , Emmanuel , Melanie , Michel , Pierre , Stephanie , Julien
Mauritius MoveToMauritius FounderJourney GlobalMobility
XrisLogbook 176 - week21
Tech , Tones , Titans 🇨🇳
👍🏻 Mind-blowing and eye-opening week in China. From starting Monday with a Tai-Chi class at sunrise to exploring the future of AI, robotics, EVs, smart glasses, and exoskeletons across Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Shanghai one thing became very clear: China is not just innovating fast… it is deploying innovation at scale. Visiting Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen , Huawei , BYD , Rokid Corporation Ltd , DEEP Robotics sometimes felt like traveling a few years into the future. Although, to be fair, after ordering a personalized AI-made latte yesterday, I’m still not entirely sure whether I visited China… or accidentally walked into 2035. ✨
👎🏻 After my best efforts this week, I can officially confirm that Chinese is a very difficult language to learn. To my untrained ears, many sounds still feel almost identical… while apparently meaning completely different things depending on the tone. One wrong pronunciation and you may accidentally order noodles instead of saying thank you. But this trip also convinced me of something important: understanding China in the future will not only be about business or technology, but also about language and culture. So I will catch up sooner or later… 🗣️
✍🏻 One thing lǎowài (foreigners) often underestimates about China is the sheer size of its domestic market. Some tech companies here are completely unknown abroad… and sometimes even unknown in other Chinese provinces… while already serving a market the size of all Europe. That changes everything: speed, scale, ambition, and competition. What’s also fascinating is how pragmatic many Chinese companies are. When they dominate the technology but feel less strong on branding or storytelling, they simply partner with famous international brands and quietly power the tech behind the scenes. In China, ego seems less important than execution… and honestly, that alone explains a lot. 💹
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Marie-Solenne , Chrisdèle , Chloé , Corinne , Isabelle , Beatrice , Ana , Guillaume , Julien , Maxime , Alessandro , Sylvain , Laurent , Cédric , Cyrille , David
Highlights of the week
👉🏻 Hong Kong
👉🏻 TaiChi
👉🏻 RITS
👉🏻 Huawei
👉🏻 BYD
👉🏻 Rokid
👉🏻 Deep Robotics
China Shenzhen Hangzhou Shanghai Innovation AI Robotics
XrisLogbook 175 - week20
Rites , Relics , Rules 🇬🇧
👍🏻 This week, my daughter went through her SATs , the final exams marking the end of primary school. Truthfully, these exams probably matter more for the schools and statistics than for the kids themselves… and in a world evolving with AI and new ways of learning, traditional exams may soon feel as outdated as fax machines. Yet, there is still something meaningful in these little rites of passage. They teach children how to prepare, manage pressure, finish a chapter, and step with confidence into the next one. Sometimes, the real value of an exam is not the grade… but the quiet feeling of growth that comes with it. 🎓
👎🏻 A few weeks before the big move, I spent a few hours diving into old paperwork and forgotten archive boxes… the kind you haven’t opened in years but somehow keep moving from one place to another like precious treasure. I realised a simple rule makes life easier: if you haven’t opened that box for more than a year, you probably don’t need what’s inside. Throw it away with no regrets. Less clutter, less stress, less CO2 for the move… and maybe the biggest surprise is discovering how much of our “important stuff” was only important to a previous version of ourselves. 📦
✍🏻 Dinner this week with friends at Rules in Covent Garden… London’s oldest restaurant, founded in 1798, just a few years after the French Revolution. Over the centuries, Rules became famous for discreet dinners between aristocrats, politicians, actors… and royal mistresses. King Edward VII was said to use the hidden upstairs rooms to meet actress Lillie Langtry away from curious eyes. More than 225 years later, the atmosphere still feels wonderfully frozen in time: dark wood, velvet corners, impeccable service, excellent food… and probably a few secrets still hidden somewhere behind the mirrors. 🍽️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Nicolas , Pierre , Christophe , Isabelle , Mathieu ,
Marouane , M. Işık Uman , romain
WeeklyLogbook RitesRelicsRules LifeLessons FutureOfEducation
XrisLogbook 174 - week19
Paths, Power & Pragmatism 🇬🇧
👍🏻 This week in Paris, a close friend invited me to dinner to say thank you, and honestly, I didn’t understand why at first. Years ago, I simply introduced his son, whom I’ve known since he was a baby, to a few brilliant Quant minds I know in London. Apparently, that small moment helped him discover his path and changed the direction of his life. But it reminded me of something powerful: sometimes, the greatest impact we can have is not by pushing people toward success, but simply by exposing them to what truly sparks their passion. The rest comes from them. Never underestimate the value of opening one door for someone. ✨
👎🏻 I was left speechless after hearing a friend’s story. By total mistake, he was arrested and kept in custody for 3 days and 2 nights without access to his phone, unable to call anyone, like most of us who no longer remember numbers by heart. In the end, the only explanation was: “Sorry, we made a mistake.” What’s deeply troubling is not only the error itself, but how easily freedom, dignity, and basic human consideration can disappear behind administrative failure. The irony? This friend is one of the heavy taxpayers in France… someone whose years of hard work help fund the very system that failed him. A powerful reminder that no matter your status or success, protecting justice and accountability should concern us all. 🤯
✍🏻 Yesterday , while signing the notary papers for my very first real estate project in Mauritius, I was struck by something fascinating: all the legal documents felt incredibly familiar to what I had known for years in France, written within the traditions of the Code Napoléonien. Yet at the same time, all the documents I had prepared for my newly created Mauritian holding company followed the Common Law structure I was used to in the UK. This perfectly reflects one of Mauritius’ greatest strengths: a pragmatic legal system shaped by its unique history as both a former French and British colony, capable of combining the best of two worlds to create stability, flexibility, and confidence for entrepreneurs, investors, and families building their future there. ⚖️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Chrisdèle , Gaspard , Gwenaël , Stephanie , Karim , Cédric , Pierre
WeeklyLogbook Leadership Justice Mauritius Entrepreneurship
XrisLogbook 173 - week18
Vision , Validation , Value 🇪🇸
👍🏻 What I enjoy most isn’t closing deals… it’s listening to kids or grown-ups walk me through their new business ideas. You can tell within minutes: if the passion is there, half the job is already done. The other half is far less glamorous: trademarks, business model consistency, go-to-market discipline… the unsexy foundations that actually make things work. But still, those early conversations, raw, ambitious, a little naive sometimes, are the ones that genuinely make my day. 👌🏻
👎🏻 In Catalonia, getting online access to your company’s tax account is a beautifully paradoxical experience… you start… offline. It requires a physical visit to the tax office, armed with the right documents, signed in the right way, sometimes even in the “right” color. A small reminder that in a world of instant digital everything, some systems still believe the cloud works best when you walk into it. 🤷🏻♂️
✍🏻 A few days in Barcelona this week, part catching up with friends, part checking in on a real estate investment we made three years ago. The verdict? A classic mix. The good news: prices are up (no surprise there), and yields are still holding strong. The less good news: rent caps from the Catalan government are starting to kick in. It’s a familiar story… well-intentioned, but with predictable side effects. Squeeze returns too hard, and investment slows, refurbishment stalls… and suddenly you’ve solved affordability by making everything equally mediocre. Not quite the upgrade tenants had in mind. 🇪🇸
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Paul , Felice , Antoine , Mathieu , Clotilde , Dominique , Alba
VentureCapital Startups Investing RealEstate Entrepreneurship
XrisLogbook 172 - week17
Capital, Courage, Cycle 🇭🇺
👍🏻 Today marks a turning point in capital market history: Lise, a newly regulated stock exchange, has successfully enabled the first tokenised IPO in the defense sector. A new chapter begins… one where capital can finally flow efficiently toward Europe’s strategic SMEs, where it is needed most. ⚡️
👎🏻 Unfortunately, the biggest institutions often move like oil tankers… impressive, but not exactly built for sharp turns when it matters most. Meanwhile, smaller players, powered by determination and resilience, keep proving a simple truth: you don’t need size to achieve big things… just the courage to move when others hesitate. 🙄
✍🏻 I spent a few days in Budapest this week revisiting real estate investments made five years ago perfectly timed. With the recent political shift and the end of a long-standing regime, a new cycle is emerging: renewed stability, stronger alignment with the European Union, and a visible influx of international investors. The signal is clear… confidence is returning, demand is rising, and the market is heating up, positioning this moment as a strategic entry point for those who understand where the momentum is heading. 🇭🇺
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Mark , Nicky , Mani , Gabriel , Stephane , Muaz , Mathilde , Sophie , Gaelle , Hélène , Barbara , Damien , Frank , Nicolas , Karl , Junaid
ThinkDifferent RealTalk EnergyMatters PowerDynamics
XrisLogbook 171 - week16
Friends , Fury , Frequencies 🇫🇷
👍🏻 Some friendships don’t need frequency to stay alive… they’re built on something deeper. Knowing someone since kindergarten means sharing a version of life that no one else truly understands. Decades later, after completely different paths, different worlds, and countless unshared moments, the connection is still there… intact, effortless. Seeing him in London for the first time feels less like a reunion and more like a quiet reminder: real friendship doesn’t fade, it simply waits… and picks up exactly where it left off. 🫱🏼🫲🏻
👎🏻 In what kind of world can the energy and decisions of one man, with a blond wig and orange skin, ripple out and shape the lives of half the planet? 😳
✍🏻 Different traditions have always tried to name and work with the invisible forces that shape how we feel and act. Practices like fire cutting or Reiki aren’t about mysticism for its own sake… they’re attempts to restore balance, to clear what feels blocked, and to reconnect body and mind through focused intention and presence. Whether one sees them as energy work or simply as powerful rituals of attention, they remind us of something essential: where focus goes, energy flows and sometimes, that alone is enough to shift everything. ⚡️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Stephane , Sylvestre , Roger , Karim , Delvis
ThinkDifferent RealTalk EnergyMatters PowerDynamics
XrisLogbook 169 - week14
Markets , Mindset , Mechanics 🇫🇷
👍🏻 A quiet shift in capital markets is taking shape: France is set to host what is the first fully tokenized IPO with Lise … a project we backed early at ACCURAFY4. Beyond the tech, this marks a structural evolution: lowering barriers for SMEs, simplifying investor access, and paving the way for faster, more inclusive, potentially 24/7 markets. If successful, this could redefine how companies go public… not just digitizing assets, but reshaping access to capital itself. 🚨
👎🏻 After more than two decades investing in real estate in France (at one point managing over a dozen rental properties across short-, medium-, and long-term strategies) I’m now closing the chapter. The last asset I’m holding, my very first acquisition in Lyon, is a strong one on paper, but a wave of tax changes, rent controls, energy regulations, insurance constraints, and finally continuous refurbishments to improve efficiency turned it into a disproportionate burden. When a single remaining property forces full administrative exposure and complexity, it stops being an investment and becomes friction. 🏠
✍🏻 A 20-year-old asked me this week whether he should leverage his student loan to invest in rental property… a smart instinct, especially in France where long-term, low-rate debt can work in your favor. On paper, it makes sense. But in reality, unless he can access off-market, undervalued deals, I wouldn’t invest in French real estate anymore, it’s become too complex for the returns. What I told him instead: his mindset is already his biggest asset. At his age, the real advantage is time and risk capacity… so rather than locking everything into property, he should explore a balanced approach with ETFs and selective exposure to high-potential SMEs. Because in the end, expecting high returns without taking risks is the only strategy that consistently underdelivers. 💰
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karim , Neila , Mark , Arnaud , Karl
✨Star of the week : Lise pioneering the world’s first tokenized IPO
CapitalMarkets Tokenization RealEstate InvestmentStrategy
XrisLogbook 168 - week13
Transition, Tech, Trust 🇬🇧
👍🏻 Almost ready to operate from Mauritius … companies are set up, both corporate and private bank accounts are live, and everything is falling into place. Just one final step to go: a pending governmental approval before we fully switch on. 🇲🇺
👎🏻 Setting up a reliable global mobile plan while relocating outside Europe is surprisingly complex: you need to balance seamless connectivity, cost control, and flexibility across borders without overpaying or compromising efficiency. 🤯
✍🏻 The BBC has built its reputation on something increasingly rare: trust at scale. It once received complaints for broadcasting Big Ben a few seconds late… an anecdote that says everything about the level of precision audiences expect. That standard still holds. Under their new Director General, Matt Brittin, a former Google executive, the BBC continues to adapt to a faster, digital world while doubling down on credibility, notably through teams like BBC Verify, dedicated to fact-checking content before it reaches the public. In an age of instant information, their edge isn’t speed… it’s verification. 🚨
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Olivier , Daniel , Karim , Virginie
WeeklyLogbook GlobalMobility EntrepreneurLife Mauritius
XrisLogbook 167 - week12
Time, Trust , Trajectories 🇬🇧
👍🏻 One of my quiet luxuries is simple: choosing who I spend my time with. Time is the only real wealth we all hold in equal measure … yet we don’t all invest it equally well. So I try to spend it deliberately, with people who energise, challenge, or inspire. And when I get the chance to connect two people who would have never met otherwise that’s where it gets interesting. You never quite know what will come out of it… but often, that’s exactly how the best opportunities are born. 🫱🏻🫲🏾
👎🏻 When someone you truly value receives a strong external offer, you’re reminded it’s rarely just about money, but about timing, growth, and direction. I’ve always believed that if people stay, it’s because something real connects them … trust, purpose, and the journey we’re building together … while some opportunities are built more on short-term incentives than long-term alignment. And if someone chooses to leave, it’s not a loss to resist, but a path to respect. As entrepreneurs, we don’t hold on at all costs; we create environments people genuinely want to be part of… the rest is their call. 🤷🏻♂️
✍🏻 Banks don’t finance potential, they finance predictability. A steady corporate salary fits neatly into their risk models, which is why it unlocks credit so easily. Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, can create far greater long-term value, but with less “visible” income, making it harder to fit into traditional lending criteria. The irony is that risk is judged on stability, not on wealth creation. Yet beyond the numbers, there’s another layer: as an entrepreneur, you choose who you build with… your team, your partners, your culture … while in the corporate world, that choice is often made for you. And then one day, after a liquidity event, the equation flips… the same profile once seen as “uncertain” suddenly becomes highly desirable. Two different games … one about fitting the system, the other about building your own. ⚖️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Marie-Solenne , Cédric , Stephane , Lola , Chloé , Chrisdèle , Ana , Corinne , Julien , Guillaume , Maxime , Aude , Marouane , Guillaume , Pier Paolo , Mathilde , Morgane , Marion , Najia , Phil , Dawood , Serge , Stephane , Bogdan , Laurent , Arnaud , Ludovic , Ambre , Patrick
Leadership Entrepreneurship DecisionMaking Talent
XrisLogbook 166 - week11
Momentum , Mood , Mystique 🇬🇧
👍🏻 Some encouraging progress this week: approval in principle for my Investor Permit in Mauritius, the bank accounts finally opening to start operating locally, and the first real estate development slowly approaching the finish line. None of these milestones happen overnight on the island but step by step the pieces are coming together. The to-do list is still long… but at least we’re now clearly walking in the right direction. 🌴
👎🏻 Is the UK slowly losing some of the momentum ? Real estate prices are softening in London, inflation still bites with every email now seems to start with the classic: “Dear valued customer, next month your bill will increase by 10%.” Even my osteopath told me he’s lost 30% of his clients… which might be the most unexpected economic indicator I’ve heard this year. Maybe it’s just a cycle… but it does feel like the mood of the country has shifted a little. 🇬🇧
✍🏻 Few people realise that Coutts has quietly been one of the most discreet power centers of British finance for more than three centuries. Its famous “Three Keys” crest originally symbolised the keys to the vault where clients’ fortunes, and perhaps a few well-guarded secrets, were kept. In the 18th century it reportedly helped finance the famously extravagant lifestyle of Georgiana Cavendish, while in more modern times it counted Queen Elizabeth II among its clients. But the real mystique of Coutts isn’t about wealth or prestige. It’s about something rarer: discretion. For centuries the bank has lived by a simple rule, when it comes to private banking, the most valuable asset isn’t money… it’s trust. 🗝️
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Cécile, Stephane, Lucie, Anna, Daniel, Fahmi
Mauritius EntrepreneurLife EconomicSignals PrivateBanking
XrisLogbook 165 - week10
Success, Signals & Silver 🇬🇧
👍🏻 Most “overnight successes” are simply the visible result of years of disciplined, often invisible work. What looks today like a successful capital increase for Santexpat.fr is in reality the compounding effect of five years spent building the right foundations: a talented team, solid business model, strong commercial development, rigorous financial structure, disciplined cash management, and careful preparation for scale. Acceleration is rarely created in the moment; it is earned through the quiet decisions made long before the spotlight arrives. 🚀
👎🏻 If tax optimisation is the only reason you choose where to live and work, don’t be surprised when reality eventually sends you the bill. Fiscal advantages matter, of course, but they are rarely enough on their own. At the same time, when entrepreneurs and value creators start leaving a country en masse, it’s usually not a coincidence; it’s a signal. Talent and capital move quietly, but they tend to move for good reasons. 😉
✍🏻 The Bulgari Hotel Group London is a fascinating example of how a heritage luxury brand translates its DNA into hospitality. When Bulgari opened it in 2012 in Knightsbridge, insiders were sceptical. Yet Bulgari did something subtle: instead of copying Italian palazzos, it built the hotel around materials (silver, black granite, Vicenza stone) that echo the brand’s jewellery craftsmanship. The hotel reportedly uses more silver in its interiors than any other hotel in London, a nod to Bulgari’s origins as a Roman silversmith in the 19th century. And given that silver prices have risen roughly +175% since 2012, one could say that, purely on a materials basis, the building might quietly be one of London’s most expensive “precious-metal-backed” properties. 💎
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Jean Christophe, Raphaël, Margaux, Simon, Ludivine, Vicky, Cadfael, Charlotte, Delvis , Anna , Mariana ,
✨ Star of the week : Santexpat.fr, opening a new chapter alongside new strategic partners.
Entrepreneurship VentureBuilding LongTermThinking
XrisLogbook 164 - week9
Structure, Succession, Strategy 🇲🇺
👍🏻 A week in Mauritius, not for holidays but for foundations. The next chapter doesn’t start with a grand announcement; it starts with execution. Schools secured. Local companies incorporated. Bank account nearly operational. Occupation Permit in motion. And the future home rising steadily from blueprint to reality. The process has only just begun, but momentum is already visible… proof that relocation isn’t a dream you declare, it’s a system you quietly build. 🌴
👎🏻 One day, the companies we’ve supported for years will continue their journey with new partners, new chapters, new momentum. That’s the natural order of growth. We never built alongside them for applause or permanence, but because we believed in what they could become. Some will remember the long road we walked together and acknowledge it. Others will move forward without looking back. Both are part of the story. What matters is knowing we showed up, contributed meaningfully, and helped build foundations strong enough for them to keep going, with or without us. 🤷🏻♂️
✍🏻 Mauritius is steadily becoming one of the most strategic lifestyle–investment hubs in the Indian Ocean . The North, especially Grand Baie, is capturing strong European and South African capital through Smart Cities, marinas, and premium residences combining yield with residency optionality. The West (Tamarin–Black River) remains a magnet for luxury lifestyle buyers and remote founders, while Moka is emerging as a long-term infrastructure-driven play. With political stability, a 15% flat tax, and sustained demand for quality coastal assets, Mauritius is shifting from a holiday destination to a structured, internationally connected property ecosystem where micro-location still defines the real upside. 🇲🇺
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karl , Stephanie , Hasnaa , Emmanuel , Melanie , Erwan , Divya , Julien
Mauritius Relocation Entrepreneurship LongTermThinking
XrisLogbook 163 - week8
Precision, Paperwork, Prompts 🇲🇺
👍🏻 My first networking evening in Mauritius felt like stepping into a perfectly engineered watch that somehow learned how to dance barefoot. The Swiss International Chamber of Commerce managed to blend alpine precision with island rhythm. It’s a rare combination: efficiency without stiffness, ambition without noise. If this is what “doing business in paradise” looks like, I’m starting to understand that growth here might follow the same formula … disciplined foundations, relaxed execution. 🇨🇭🇲🇺
👎🏻 Relocation looks glamorous on Instagram. In reality, it starts in waiting rooms and bank branches. A life-changing move to Mauritius doesn’t begin with turquoise water … it begins with blood tests, compliance forms, and politely explaining your existence to three different administrators. It’s less “tropical leap” and more “paperwork marathon.” Painful? Slightly. Necessary? Absolutely. 🌴
✍🏻 Whether we like it or not, AI has quietly moved into the neighborhood… yes, even on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It’s no longer a Silicon Valley toy; it’s electricity. And like electricity, you can use it to light the room… or to stop walking altogether. One option is to treat it like a magic wand: outsource the thinking, get instant answers, feel powerful… until your own cognitive muscles start to atrophy from comfort. The other option is less glamorous but far more interesting: use it as a questioning engine. Throw it your “dark matter” topics — tax, legal, strategy — and let it challenge your assumptions. You won’t become the world’s leading expert, but you will become sharper at framing problems. AI shouldn’t replace your brain; it should be your sparring partner. The future won’t belong to those who have the best prompts, but to those who still have well-trained neurons. 🧠
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karl , Stephanie , Hasnaa , Alexandra , Joel , Stefano T.
Mauritius GlobalEntrepreneur AILeadership StrategicThinking
XrisLogbook 162 - week7
Preparation , Precision , Perspective 🇫🇷
👍🏻 Mauritius is no longer a “one day” idea … it’s turning into stamped certificates, incorporation documents, and residence permit forms in progress. The companies are officially born, the admin machine is moving, and in a few days I’m boarding a flight to check on the school, the building progress, and meet the people who will soon stop being “new contacts” and start being neighbors. Relocations don’t happen in a single bold decision … they crystallize through paperwork, site visits, and quiet momentum. Preparation mode: fully activated. 🏝️
👎🏻 You proudly sign up for “premium, comprehensive, total peace-of-mind” insurance. You pay the premium. You feel protected. Then the moment you actually need it… suddenly you discover a fascinating new ecosystem called terms, exclusions, exceptional circumstances, and sub-clauses written in font size 6. Insurers don’t deny your claim … they simply introduce you to creative interpretation. The real product isn’t coverage; it’s confidence. Until it isn’t. 🙄
✍🏻 Every time you send an AI prompt, it’s tempting to imagine a data center somewhere gasping for air. In reality, a single query usually uses just a few watt-hours … roughly the energy your kettle burns in a few seconds, not a full tea round for the office. Boiling the whole kettle? About 0.1 kWh. One smart prompt? 40 times less. The real issue isn’t your question … it’s billions of them at scale. The better question: if AI saves you three meetings and a 40-slide PowerPoint, isn’t that the most energy-efficient cup of tea you’ve ever made? ☕
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Jean-Fabrice , Nicolas , Neila , Alexia , Rémy , Renaud , Stanislas , Delvis , Karim , Stéphane , Alexandre , Francois , Stephane , Coumar
Mauritius EntrepreneurLife GlobalMobility AI Productivity LongTermThinking
XrisLogbook 161 - week6
Citizenship , Commitment , Cues 🇫🇷
👍🏻 The week I wrote about millionaires leaving the UK (link in comments), I passed the Life in the UK test. I now know when the Magna Carta was signed, can name an impressive number of monarchs, and have strong opinions on parliamentary history. More importantly, I’ve mastered the essentials: queueing without complaint, apologising on instinct, and confidently calling rain “a bit of drizzle.” A flawless score with Winston Churchill doing some heavy lifting in the background. 🇬🇧
👎🏻 Starting the British citizenship process really clarifies the word commitment. Yes, it’s “online”… meaning hours glued to a screen, hundreds of questions, a small forest of documents and the privilege of paying ~£2,000 for the full experience. Commitment confirmed. 💷
✍🏻 I’m French 🇫🇷 by birth, currently digging into my Italian 🇮🇹 roots, halfway through the British 🇬🇧 citizenship maze, and eyeing Mauritius 🇲🇺 as a future chapter by conviction. One thing this journey clarifies fast: passports aren’t about flags or fast lanes … they’re about belonging. Time logged, value delivered, rules followed, patience stretched. Each country asks its own question: the UK tests your stamina (and attention span), Italy checks your family tree (several generations deep), Mauritius looks for real substance and long-term intent. Different paths, same rule: citizenship isn’t a click … it’s earned, slowly and seriously.
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Lucie , Karim , Vivek , Mark , Raphaël , Vicky and my 81-year-old British neighbour Peter for kindly acting as one referee for my citizenship application.
CitizenshipJourney LifeInTheUK Belonging GlobalCitizen
XrisLogbook 160 - week5
Trust , Transfer , Technology 🇫🇷
👍🏻 Turns out some of the best value creation doesn’t happen in spreadsheets, but around a fondue pot next to Churchill with a cigar in hand. No pitches, no pressure just entrepreneurs and investors dropping the armor, sharing stories, and letting trust do the work. Sometimes the cosiest tables are the most efficient deal rooms. 🫕
👎🏻 When LMB Aerospace, a supplier embedded in core French defense programs, can be sold abroad despite expert warnings, sovereignty becomes a slogan, not a strategy. Golden shares may soothe consciences, but they don’t replace real control. The deeper loss here isn’t ownership … it’s credibility in how seriously we protect what we call “strategic.” 🙄
✍🏻 This week was a reminder that real sovereignty doesn’t shout … it engineers. Visiting Nexson-Group felt like stepping into an industrial matryoshka: they design the products, build the robots that make them, and even run their own OS, ERP and CRM. Heat exchangers are the output … autonomy is the strategy. Mind-blowing, and quietly powerful. Huge thanks to Charles and Baptiste for the visit and the short but inspiring deep dive 👏
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Cedric , Lin , Gwenaël , Rémy , Leïla , Hind , Philippe , Remy , Olivier , Jacques-Olivier , Benjamin , Sylvain , Stephane , Stephanie , Marc , Eric
VentureBeyond WhoTaughtYouThat WeeklyUpgrade Trust
XrisLogbook 159 - week4
Patience, Process, Payoff 🇩🇴
👍🏻 For 3 years, we’ve had a cacao plantation in the Dominican Republic. Every January, the ritual with my daughter is the same: make our own chocolate. Long process. Sticky hands. Zero shortcuts. Still one of the most rewarding investments I know. 🍫
👎🏻 Never ask large institutions to help you take risks. Their job is to make decisions so complex that you end up doing… nothing. 😵💫
✍🏻 Watching the World Competition of Choux Farci, organised by Bernardaud, was a great reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t about chasing novelty… it’s about mastering the obvious. Same dish. Same rules. Totally different outcomes. Constraints don’t limit excellence; they reveal it. The best founders don’t reinvent the game every week… they execute the fundamentals better than anyone else. 🥬
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Vanina , Charles , Jean-Michel , Karim
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XrisLogbook 158 - week3
Partners, Perspective, Pragmatism 🇩🇴
👍🏻 Spent the week with my business partners doing what we do best: zooming out, zooming in, and pretending we’re “almost done” with the plan for the next few months. Local moves, global ambition… and the real KPI? Only building all this with people you actually enjoy spending time with. Turns out, that’s the ultimate growth strategy 🚀
👎🏻 Back to reality after our annual partner break … minds refreshed, batteries full… and then Europe reminds us it’s winter… Cold, grey, and suddenly not as charming as it used to be. 🥶
✍🏻 Investing in Europe, especially in strategic assets, remains a core long-term conviction. But let’s be honest: when geopolitics get noisy, smart capital doesn’t argue, it diversifies. Spotting opportunities in places like Dominican Republic and Mauritius isn’t about being exotic … it’s about being pragmatic. Sometimes risk management just happens to come with better weather 🌴
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Frederic , Jean-Michel , Rodolphe , Christophe , Henri , Damien , Alain
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XrisLogbook 157 - week2
Cigars, Chaos & Citizenship 🇩🇴
👍🏻 Fifth year in a row hosting our partners’ seminar in Cabarete: reviewing wins, owning mistakes, and shaping what’s next… all with a glass of rum, a cigar, and a front-row seat to our cacao trees quietly doing their thing. Turns out long-term strategy works better when nature reminds you to think in seasons, not quarters 🌱
👎🏻 This week my luggage clearly had a different life plan: while I went London → Frankfurt → Puerto Plata, it opted for London → Frankfurt → Zurich → a 3-day personal development retreat before finally rejoining me. Bold strategy, poor communication. Lesson learned: always keep essentials with you… suitcases love autonomy ✈️
✍🏻 After 15 years in London, I finally started the British citizenship process. What I learned? Becoming British is less about drinking tea and more about surviving a pop quiz most Brits would fail, proving your English level (again), and accepting that patience is a paid feature. Process: book the Life in the UK test → memorise kings, dates and laws no one discusses at dinner → pass → prove you speak English → pay a four-figure fee → wait politely → keep saying “no worries” while refreshing your inbox 🇬🇧
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Stephane , Stephane , Karim , François-Xavier , Xavier , Yann , Frederic , Rodolphe , Christophe , Henri , Jean-Michel
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XrisLogbook 156 - week1
Flow, Friction & Forward 🇬🇧
👍🏻 Enjoyed a very British closing chapter of the year: a Live Aid musical, a day spa to recover from 2025, the New Year parade on the Mall… all while booking my next flights to Mauritius. A perfect mix of nostalgia, self-care, spectacle and forward planning. Turns out balance is just knowing when to applaud, when to unplug, and when to check boarding gates. 💂
👎🏻 Winter and the Eurostar remain locked in a long-term misunderstanding. Every year, cold weather arrives right on schedule and somehow still catches a high-speed, cross-border icon by surprise. Delays, cancellations, and the famous “exceptional conditions” announcement have become as seasonal as mulled wine. Proof that even cutting-edge infrastructure can forget one basic assumption: winter tends to come back. 🚄❄️
✍🏻 Live Aid remains one of the clearest reminders that impact scales when purpose meets execution. In 1985, artists didn’t just raise awareness … they mobilised attention, trust, and collective action in real time, long before social media. What’s striking is that nothing of that magnitude has really happened since: audiences fragmented, causes multiplied, platforms monetised attention, and consensus became harder to build. The learning still holds though … when a message is simple, the cause is clear, and momentum is shared, people don’t just listen, they act. Influence isn’t about volume, it’s about rare alignment. 🎸
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karl
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XrisLogbook 155 - week52
Busy, Balance, Baubles 🇬🇧
👍🏻 Probably the only moment of the year where “being busy” loses its badge of honour. Stepping away from the noise to spend time with family was the highlight of the week … clarity often comes when nothing is scheduled. ⏸️
👎🏻 Christmas season meant for slowing down that turns into a logistics sprint … planes, plans, obligations. 🎄
✍🏻 China exported $6 billion worth of Christmas decorations in 2024, so around 90% of Christmas decorations worldwide. While Christmas celebrates local traditions and warmth, most of our baubles have travelled more than we did this holiday. Globalisation really does love a good tree. 🇨🇳
🙏🏻 Special thanks this week to Karl Henri Jean Jérémy Carine Delvis
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