Issue No. 16
Bringing you the best of France including captivating towns like sunny Montpellier, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the antiques capital of Provence, Gascony, Chateaux of the Loire Valley, Paris, Lyon, a long lost cheese story, mouth-watering recipes and a whole lot more.
Bringing you the best of France including captivating towns like sunny Montpellier, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the antiques capital of Provence, Gascony, Chateaux of the Loire Valley, Paris, Lyon, a long lost cheese story, mouth-watering recipes and a whole lot more.
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Bonjour and welcome to the autumn issue of The Good Life France Magazine. It's a<br />
lovely time of the year in France, mellow sunshine, spectacular sunsets, a feeling of joie<br />
de vivre as France goes through the unique experience known as la rentrée in<br />
September, the return to normality, to work and school after the long holidays.<br />
In this issue we start two new series: Le Weekend - a look at fabulous weekend<br />
destinations and the best things to do in a short visit. We start with stunning Isle-surla-Sorgue<br />
in Provence, the antiques capital of France. The second series is Du pain, Du<br />
vin, Du train: where to go by train from Paris. Many people visit the city and never see<br />
the rest of France. Paris is of course brilliant, but you can take a day trip by train and<br />
get a totally different experience of France.<br />
Discover Gascony with our insider’s guide, this sunny part of France is authentic and<br />
truly beautiful. Visit five stunning chateaux in the Loire, and meet a legendary florist at<br />
the Chateau de Chenonceau.<br />
Take a look at magnificent Montpellier, Paris in the autumn, Grignan, a tiny town in<br />
Provence that has a Versailles-style chateau and Toulouse. Ever fancied staying in a<br />
mountain refuge in the mountains? Rread what it’s like plus, find out what happens<br />
when you go skiing with your dogs in France! We meet a man with a passion for<br />
cheese who discovered his long-lost cheese love in the Auvergne and share the tale of<br />
an American who has Paris in her soul in a brilliant short memoire.<br />
Competitions, Your Photos, practical guides, Ask the Experts, expat stories and lush<br />
recipes – yep this a bumper, brilliant issue!<br />
Please share it with your friends if you like it – it’s totally free, forever!<br />
with best wishes,<br />
Bisous from France<br />
Janine<br />
Editor
Peter Jones is our regular columnist. A writer and<br />
photographer, he lives in Oxfordshire, UK and is a<br />
freelance writer for newspapers and magazines.<br />
www.jonesphotos.co.uk<br />
Rupert Parker is writer, photographer, cameraman &<br />
TV Producer. His articles appear in national<br />
newspapers, magazines. Read about his latest<br />
adventures on his website Planet Appetite & follow<br />
him on Twitter @planetappetite.<br />
Lucy Pitts is a freelance writer and Deputy Editor of<br />
The Good Life France Magazine. She divides her time<br />
between the UK and France where she has a home<br />
in the the Vendée area, known as the Green Venice<br />
of France. www.stroodcopy.com<br />
Michael Cranmer is an award-winning freelance travel<br />
writer and photographer. He spends most of the<br />
winter up mountains writing about, his primary<br />
passion - skiing – but also manages to sample less<br />
strenuous outings.<br />
Colette O'Connor is a writer from California. Her<br />
stories have appeared in numerous dailies &<br />
magazines. She teaches writing at California State<br />
University, but keeps a bag ever packed for Paris, and<br />
tries to hold on to all the oh-la-la of it she loves.<br />
Editor: Janine Marsh contact editor (at) the goodlifefrance.com<br />
Deputy Editor: Lucy Pitts<br />
Assistant: Sandra Davis<br />
Advertising: sales (at) thegoodlifefrance.com<br />
Digital support: Umbrella Web Solutions<br />
Artistic support: Kumiko at KumikoChesworth.myportfolio.com<br />
Front Cover: Wazim Photos
contents<br />
p.56<br />
p. 8<br />
p. 48<br />
Features<br />
p. 32<br />
8 Lure of the Loire<br />
Janine Marsh visits 5 magnificent chateaux<br />
and has a floristry lesson with a legend.<br />
32 Insider’s Guide to<br />
Gascony<br />
Local, Sue Aran reveals the beauty of the<br />
sunny, southern region.<br />
40 Spotlight: Montpellier<br />
Janine Marsh visits the vibant sunny town<br />
and falls in love with its many faces.<br />
48 Le Weekend...in provence<br />
You’ll fall head over heels for pretry Islesur-la-Sorgue,<br />
antiques capital of France.<br />
54 Du Pain, Du Vin, Du Train…<br />
What to do in one day in Lyon, the<br />
gastronomic capital of France.<br />
56 Paris in the autumn<br />
Festivals, museums, walks in the parks -<br />
ten reasons to take a trip in the fall.
P. 60<br />
p. 86<br />
Features continued<br />
p. 68<br />
60 Grignan, the noble town<br />
of Provence<br />
Lucy Pitts heads to the wild countryside of<br />
Provence and discovers a mini Versailles<br />
chateau.<br />
64 The long lost love<br />
cheese of the Auvergne<br />
Michael Cranmer turns Sherlock Holmes in<br />
search of a long lost cheese love.<br />
68 Discover Toulouse<br />
Peter Jones visits the pink city and is<br />
bowled over by its vibrant beauty.<br />
72 Hiking in France’s biggest<br />
National Park – Ecrins<br />
Rupert Parker takes a break in a high<br />
mountain refuge.<br />
76 Skiing with your dogs!<br />
Lucy Pitts takes the kids, her enormous<br />
dogs and long-suffering husband skiing in<br />
the French Alps.<br />
86 The Making of My Maman<br />
We’re delighted to bring you this wonderful<br />
memoir from author Colette O’Connor.<br />
Regular<br />
82 Your Photos<br />
The most popular photos shared by our<br />
lovely readers on Facebook page.<br />
84 Three fab give aways<br />
1<strong>16</strong> My Good Life in France
P. 82<br />
Expats<br />
90 Buying French Property<br />
Advice to help you prepare thoroughly<br />
when you search for your dream home.<br />
92 I Spy with my Expat Eye<br />
Emily Commander takes a humorous look<br />
at life in France.<br />
94 The Good Life in the Tarn<br />
Meet the friends who've opened a cycling<br />
business in this lovely part of France.<br />
100 The Good Life in<br />
Dordogne<br />
How many of us sit in a pub or a bar and<br />
plan a new life in France? This couple did<br />
and they’re making the dream come true.<br />
104 Ask the Experts<br />
Financial expert Jennie Poate answers your<br />
money questions.<br />
Gastronomy<br />
106 Secrets of Bouillabaise<br />
Author Keith Van Sickle finds out how to<br />
make real bouilabaise and how the famous<br />
fish dish got its name.<br />
108 Tarte au Fraises<br />
Chef and TV presenter Cecile Delarue<br />
shares her strawberry and cream pie<br />
recipe – it’s so YUM!<br />
110 Life Altering Parmesan<br />
Cheese Soup<br />
Barbara Pasquet-James falls head over<br />
heels for a bowl of soup and persuades the<br />
chef to share the recipe with all of us!<br />
112 Gruyère Pamesan<br />
Gougères<br />
Moreish gougeres are easy to make with<br />
Sara Neumeier’s fabulous recipe.
The Lure of the Loire<br />
Janine Marsh falls under the spell of the Loire Valley and its magnificent chateaux…<br />
The Loire Valley is the largest listed UNESCO World Heritage site in the world –<br />
recognised for its architectural heritage, historic towns and world-famous castles.<br />
Covering 800 km sq. the area has more than 1000 chateaux and several nicknames<br />
“The Valley of the Kings” and “the Garden of France” among them.<br />
There are medieval villages with cobble stone streets, topsy turvy houses, grand<br />
cathedrals and buildings that are pickled in the past. Vine covered hills and lush green<br />
valleys make this one of the most picturesque regions in France.<br />
With seemingly a chateau on every corner in the Loire and when you visit this<br />
marvellous area, it’s hard to know just what to focus on.<br />
We take a look at five downright gorgeous castles, legendary places of art and culture<br />
toi this day. Follow in the footsteps of Kings and Queens, legendary artists and<br />
fascinating personalities and feel the past in the present…<br />
Chenonceau – du Clos Lucé – Chambord – Blois – Chaumont-sur-Loire
Photo: IheartFrance<br />
Discover the history and beauty of the “chateau des dames” and go<br />
backstage with the gardener and florist who bring the castle to life with<br />
flowers...<br />
Everyone who visits the Chateau de<br />
Chenonceau in the Loire Valley comes<br />
away with a memory of the exquisite<br />
gardens, the impossibly romantic white<br />
stone castle over a river with its pointy<br />
towers and arched bridge - and especially<br />
of the flower displays in every room…<br />
Jean-François Bouchet is the florist<br />
extraordinaire who creates and directs the<br />
floral displays at the castle and for some,<br />
he is the main reason to visit the chateau.<br />
When I visited and had a lesson on flower<br />
displays with him (I know, I know – how<br />
lucky am I?) we went around the chateau<br />
afterwards to see how it looks when it’s<br />
done by a master. Groups of ladies<br />
gathered round him cooing and praising<br />
and I’m not surprised, he’s thoroughly<br />
charming and anyone who can make<br />
flowers look like he does, deserves such<br />
devotion.<br />
A bit about the Chateau de<br />
Chenonceau<br />
Francis I, the renaissance King of France,<br />
took ownership of the Chateau of<br />
Chenonceau in the <strong>16</strong>th century. Later it<br />
was run by Diane de Poitiers who received<br />
it as a gift from her lover Henry II, the son of<br />
Francis I. She commissioned the famous<br />
bridge over the river Cher so that she could<br />
cross to the other side to hunt.
Photo: Brad Mushrush<br />
It’s said that she would sneak through the<br />
basement kitchens each morning to bathe<br />
in the icy waters of the river to keep her<br />
complexion bright. When her lover died,<br />
Diane lost the chateau to his wife<br />
Catherine de Medici, and was sent to live in<br />
neighbouring chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire.<br />
Catherine built the enclosed gallery on the<br />
bridge that makes it look so unique and<br />
she also developed the gardens.<br />
Chenonceau later passed into private<br />
ownership and is today owned by the<br />
famous French chocolate making family<br />
Menier. Madame Menier adores the flower<br />
displays and often has a hand in choosing<br />
the colours and blooms.<br />
Both ladies adored the chateau and were<br />
famed for their lavish parties in the castle’s<br />
beautiful grounds. In fact, the feminine<br />
touch that’s seen the chateau owned and<br />
developed by a succession of lady owners,<br />
is how it got its nickname ‘Chateau des<br />
Dames’ or ‘The Ladies’ Castle’.
The Flower master of the<br />
Chateau de Chenonceau<br />
Jean-François Boucher is a Master<br />
Craftsman of France, European Junior<br />
Champion of Floristry, French Vice<br />
Champion of floristry and a truly amazing<br />
floral designer whose creations fill every<br />
room in the chateau and who has a legion<br />
of fans worldwide (you can find him here on<br />
Instagram).<br />
Headhunted to do this job, the young florist<br />
gave up his thriving flower store in nearby<br />
Tours to take it.<br />
He is passionate about flowers and the<br />
history of the chateau, and together with<br />
his team of two, creates around 200<br />
bouquets per week, every week of the year.<br />
Some are small, some are enormous.<br />
The displays may be flowers or a mix of<br />
flowers and vegetables, sometimes with a<br />
nod to the past.<br />
“Did you know Catherine de Medici<br />
introduced the artichoke to France?” he<br />
asks. “Because it was believed to be an<br />
aphrodisiac and she thought it might help<br />
her win her husband back from her rival, his<br />
mistress Diane”.<br />
Floral Lesson<br />
Some days you think your fairy godmother<br />
has listened to you and when I was asked if<br />
I’d like to see inside Jean-François<br />
Boucher’s atelier where he creates his<br />
masterpieces I was over the moon. When I<br />
was offered the chance to create my very<br />
own bouquet under his watchful eye, I was<br />
over the moon and the sun.<br />
It’s a surprisingly tiny room. And, as you’d<br />
expect it is filled to the rafters with cut<br />
flowers. Jean-François gave me a small pot<br />
filled with gardeners’ foam and instructed<br />
me to do whatever felt right. I put roses in<br />
and peonies, pinks and whites, a bit of<br />
green. “<strong>No</strong>t bad” he said kindly then told<br />
me you should never be able to see the<br />
foam so “carry on, put more in”. I spent one<br />
of the most creative half hours of my life<br />
there and afterwards took my display home<br />
with me. On the train to Paris I carried it<br />
carefully and I am pretty sure everyone was<br />
admiring it, and then on to my home where<br />
I left it on display until it was well and truly<br />
over. But, I still have the pot – my very own<br />
bit of Chenonceau.<br />
(See end of article for details of how to book a<br />
lesson with Jean-François).
Above: in the atelier; left:<br />
making up a bouquet; below<br />
with one of his stunning<br />
arrangements in the chateau
The gardener at the Chateau<br />
de Chenonceau<br />
Of course, all those flowers and fruits used<br />
in the spectacular displays have to be<br />
grown and that takes place in the stunning<br />
gardens overseen by American gardener<br />
Nicholas Tomlan. He came to France to<br />
take this job from Longwood Gardens,<br />
Pennsylvania - named the best botanical<br />
Gardens in America by USA Today. He’s<br />
now the brilliant botanical director at the<br />
chateau.<br />
“In the old days, they’d grow root<br />
vegetables here” says this affable gardener<br />
“no flowers”. Looking around at the formal<br />
beds with a mix of vegetables and flower<br />
and roses spilling over walls in what is now<br />
the walled vegetable garden I can’t imagine<br />
it any other way. But, it wasn’t until the<br />
Renaissance days that flowers were grown<br />
simply to look good and to decorate the<br />
interior. Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de<br />
Medici both loved flower displays in the<br />
chateau. Records tell us that some of them<br />
were “monumental” taller than a man,<br />
flamboyant, colourful and showy.<br />
“<strong>No</strong>wadays it’s a mix of flowers and veg for<br />
the displays and also for the restaurant”<br />
says Nicolas as he stoops to pick some<br />
lettuce to put in his basket for the chef.<br />
“The queen would have never visited the<br />
vegetable gardens, but the flower<br />
gardens – absolutely”.<br />
I’m sure she would have approved of<br />
Nicholas’ work and would recognise the<br />
style. These gardens were recreated using<br />
drawings from the late 1500s. There are<br />
gorgeous giant wicker bird cages in which<br />
flowers grow, wild flower meadows, formal<br />
parterre gardens and the most beautiful<br />
arrangement of colour and blooms. The<br />
seven gardeners here grow more than<br />
130,000 plants each year and the gardens<br />
are as important a place to wander and<br />
admire as the chateau itself.
Above: gardening in the rain;<br />
below left: Nicholas and Jean-<br />
Francois discuss the flowers;<br />
below: the vegetable garden
“Do you ever feel anything ghostly here” I<br />
asked him. “<strong>No</strong>t really” he says, then adds<br />
“We do have a small greenhouse that has a<br />
double lock and we only ever turn the key<br />
once. But, every week, on at least one<br />
occasion, the greenhouse has been<br />
double-locked, and we’ve never been able<br />
to explain it”. The ghost of the gardens<br />
perhaps, I suggest. Would it be Diane or<br />
Catherine I wonder and decide Catherine,<br />
she was a very determined woman after all.<br />
Diane’s Garden, as it's called, is on the<br />
right-hand side of the chateau. Catherine’s<br />
garden is on the left-hand side. Clearly their<br />
rivalry wasn’t just contained to Henry.<br />
There is also a maze commissioned by<br />
Catherine and a grand Green Garden with<br />
tall trees in which sits the historic<br />
Orangery. In the <strong>16</strong>th century this part of<br />
the estate is where the animals and<br />
Catherine’s aviary were kept.<br />
<strong>No</strong>wadays the orangery is L’Orangerie<br />
restaurant and it is fabulous – both for the<br />
food and the interior. You’ll certainly enjoy<br />
Nicholas’ handiwork here, every dish<br />
seems to be adorned with fruit or leaves<br />
and it’s so beautiful you feel bad breaking<br />
up the artwork! The cheese cloche which is<br />
wheeled around for diners to pick what<br />
they fancy is a masterpiece. Don’t be fooled<br />
into thinking that it’s all just good looks, it’s<br />
not. The chef makes amazing dishes, the<br />
pastries are created by a master and the<br />
cheese is chosen by a legendary affineur<br />
(someone who matures cheese until<br />
perfection – a very French thing).<br />
Every table is decorated with a bouquet<br />
made by Jean-Francois and his team. I have<br />
to tell you – I’d go back just for the<br />
restaurant!<br />
The interior<br />
The chateau is gorgeous inside. There are<br />
tapestries, paintings and exquisite<br />
furniture. The kitchen looks as though a<br />
chef of medieval times has nipped out for<br />
some more vegetables and will be back at<br />
any moment to prepare a feast. But the<br />
flowers are truly the star of the show.
Above left: Amboise; above centre<br />
and right: Dessert and cheese<br />
platter at l'Orangerie; left:<br />
Catherine de Medici's motif<br />
Look carefully and you may notice that the<br />
royal insignia of Catherine de Medici at the<br />
chateau is rather familiar. When fashion<br />
icon Coco Chanel visited she loved the<br />
intertwined Cs topped by a royal crown and<br />
asked if she could use it as her own motif.<br />
She was told yes, but not with the crown –<br />
and the rest as they say, is history.<br />
Practical info<br />
Website for the Chateau de Chenonceau:<br />
www.chenonceau.com<br />
Botanical tour with Nicholas Tomlan and<br />
floral workshop with Jean-François<br />
Boucher is exclusively for small groups, by<br />
reservation only: events@chenonceau.com<br />
L’Orangerie restaurant can only be<br />
accessed once you’re inside the chateau<br />
grounds. You can book in advance at:<br />
restaurants@chenonceau.com<br />
Where to stay<br />
Nearby Amboise makes for a perfect base<br />
to visit the Chateau de Chenonceau, it’s<br />
about 20 minutes by car. I stayed at the<br />
lovely Hotel Bellevue which has a great<br />
little restaurant and fabulous bar and is a<br />
stone’s throw from the incredible Chateau<br />
d’Amboise in the centre of this historic<br />
town.<br />
If you do stay in Amboise, don’t miss out on<br />
a meal at the nearby Le Parvis restaurant (3<br />
rue Mirabeau) where the appetite you’ll<br />
build up walking around will be well<br />
satisfied!<br />
How to get there<br />
Trains from Paris run to Amboise, nearby<br />
Tours and to Chenonceaux station which is<br />
right by the chateau (making for a great day<br />
trip): UK-Voyages-SNCF.
Amboise in the Loire is dominated by a<br />
grand chateau, its turrets reaching high<br />
into the sky and windows giving<br />
impressive views over the ancient town<br />
and the surrounding Loire Valley<br />
countryside.<br />
A few minutes’ walk away is a much<br />
smaller chateau, far less grand. It was the<br />
home of a man who changed the world<br />
with his art and his designs – the great<br />
renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci.<br />
The Chateau du Clos Lucé where Leonardo<br />
lived, has been wonderfully restored to look<br />
as it did when he arrived in 15<strong>16</strong> at the<br />
invitation of King Francis I of France.<br />
Leonardo found himself down on his luck,<br />
without commissions and struggling to<br />
keep going in Italy. Francis I offered him his<br />
dream job: "First Painter, Engineer and<br />
Architect to the King" plus a home for life.<br />
Leonardo was a nomad, he had no home to<br />
call his own and moved from town to city –<br />
wherever the work was. He wasn’t rich, and<br />
jumped at the offer from the French King,<br />
making his way from Italy to France on a<br />
donkey. Among the belongings he took<br />
with him were his precious manuscripts,<br />
and an almost finished painting of a<br />
woman he called La Giaconda or Mona<br />
Lisa. It was to become one of the most<br />
famous paintings of all time.<br />
Francis I had never met Leonardo but his<br />
mother Louise de Savoie had seen the<br />
artist’s work and loved it. The King offered<br />
Leonardo the chance to practice his skills<br />
as he wished, quite an innovative prospect<br />
at the time when a painter was a painter<br />
and an engineer was an engineer.<br />
Leonardo’s genius extended to several<br />
areas and the opportunity to do as he<br />
wished was irresistible.
The Chateau rooms<br />
Leonardo moved into the Chateau du Clos<br />
Lucé and here he stayed until his death on<br />
2 May 1519. The rooms have been restored<br />
with the help of specialist historians and<br />
it’s easy to imagine Leonardo in his long<br />
gown moving through the castle.<br />
On the 4-poster bed in what was<br />
Leonardo’s room where he died of old age,<br />
Minette the castle cat is fast asleep most<br />
days (above). She is oblivious to the<br />
cameras that click, capturing her utter<br />
dismissiveness of the visitors who are lost<br />
in contemplation that here, 400 years ago,<br />
Leonardo snored through the night,<br />
dreaming his dreams and planning his<br />
projects.<br />
Leonardo liked cats and it’s fitting that the<br />
pampered puss has taken up residence in<br />
his former home.
This bijou chateau (at least by the<br />
standards of Amboise) is light and airy –<br />
perfect for an artist. The rooms are not<br />
enormous but big enough for a large<br />
canvas and to spread out the components<br />
for an engineering project.<br />
In one room, there are paintings in progress<br />
and a desk which looks as though the<br />
great man is still at work but popped out for<br />
a break. His cabinet of curiosities is very<br />
curious and somewhat macabre but you<br />
don’t get to draw the insides of bodies of<br />
humans and animals by looking at the<br />
outside so it’s not a surprise to discover<br />
such bits and pieces. He was an<br />
accomplished musician, wrote poetry, was<br />
an architect, botanist, engineer and had<br />
many more skills.<br />
His note books record the minutiae of his<br />
day from what he worked on to the fact<br />
that his cook was calling him to come and<br />
have lunch. Historians can tell the type of<br />
paper he used was French after he arrived<br />
so they’ve been able to date what he<br />
worked on at the chateau. One of the great<br />
projects Francis commissioned was to<br />
design a chateau that in itself was like a<br />
city (150 years later Louis XIV’s Versailles<br />
was to follow this route).<br />
It’s quite astounding to know that he<br />
worked on the Mona Lisa in this room.<br />
The Mona Lisa<br />
Francis I bought the Mona Lisa painting<br />
and adored it. He took it with him to<br />
another of his chateaux – Fontainebleau<br />
where he hung it in his bathroom. It seems<br />
strange to us but in those days bathrooms<br />
were thought to be creative spaces!<br />
If you’ve ever seen the painting in the<br />
Louvre, you might well wonder just what is<br />
it that makes her so very famous.<br />
According to Irina Metzl, the communications<br />
manager at the chateau, there are a
number of reasons not least of all the<br />
painting being stolen.<br />
In 1911 an Italian workman employed at the<br />
Louvre spent the night hiding in a<br />
cupboard, slipped the painting out of its<br />
frame and took off with it. At that time, the<br />
painting wasn’t well-known and the only<br />
way to see it was by going to the museum.<br />
The police printed 6,500 copies of the<br />
Mona Lisa and distributed them to the<br />
public. Every newspaper covered the story.<br />
Millions of people saw the painting and<br />
had an opinion. The Mona Lisa became the<br />
Kim Kardashian of her day – everyone<br />
knew who she was. The painting was<br />
eventually found, just down the road in<br />
what is now the Hotel La Giaconda. She,<br />
with her enigmatic smile, missing<br />
eyebrows, showing the special trademark<br />
technique Leonardo used called sfumato<br />
where you can’t see how the smile ends at<br />
each corner and the veil of craquelure, tiny<br />
age cracks in the paint now resides in<br />
majestic glory in the Louvre. Personally, I<br />
liked to see the reproduction on the wall at<br />
the Chateau du Clos Lucé where her maker<br />
finished creating her.<br />
Leonardo da Vinci passed away three years<br />
after he arrived in France and was buried,<br />
following his wishes, within the royal<br />
château. His tomb can be found in Saint-<br />
Hubert’s Chapel.
“I believe that great happiness<br />
awaits those men who are born<br />
where good wines are to be found”<br />
Leonardo da Vinci<br />
The Leonardo da Vinci Park<br />
Visit the Chateau du Clos Lucé late Spring<br />
through Summer and you'll be able to<br />
admire vibrant scarlet Mona Lisa Roses,<br />
planted in huge swathes in the terrace<br />
garden. The park is magnificent for the<br />
innovative way in which Leonardo’s<br />
artwork is depicted. Some of his famous<br />
creations have been bought to life, you can<br />
sit in a wooden tank made to scale, climb<br />
aboard a boat, cross a bridge, turn a giant<br />
cork screw and more. It brings to life in a<br />
unique way the works of the man known as<br />
the “Florentine Genius”. The trees are hung<br />
with huge translucent representations of<br />
his paintings and sayings – it’s rather<br />
romantic, certainly ethereal and beautifully<br />
done.<br />
Wine tasting in Leonardo’s<br />
Caves<br />
Chenin Blanc is the “royal grape” says the<br />
wine expert in Leonardo’s Caves. And yes,<br />
this is the very passage that linked the<br />
Chateau du Close Lucé to the Chateau<br />
d’Amboise where King Francis I lived. It’s a<br />
strange feeling to know that one of the<br />
greatest artists and thinkers of all time<br />
used to scurry along here, holding a candle<br />
to light the way to his meetings with his<br />
patron who also used this under-ground<br />
walkway to go to see the man he called “my<br />
father”.<br />
You descend via one of the exhibition<br />
rooms in the chateau. With candles lighting<br />
the cave I sipped the wine almost in<br />
reverence though not as much as our wine<br />
guru who tells us his thinks of “wine as<br />
people”. The pensioners he says, go back to<br />
1874 – he doesn’t offer us a glass. “This is a<br />
young adult” he advises pouring a glass of<br />
local red. “This is a baby” he says of a fresh,<br />
fruity white. Monsieur le wine expert speaks<br />
excellent English, has a great sense of<br />
humour and the most delicious wines. It is<br />
without a doubt an incredible way to<br />
connect with the past, to stand in the<br />
footsteps of the great King and the great<br />
artist, and a unique wine tasting.<br />
Book at: www.caves-duhard.fr/en
Dining at the chateau<br />
Take a break at the rather lovely terrace<br />
garden café. Don’t miss the shop with its<br />
gorgeous gifts and Leonardo models in the<br />
courtyard of the chateau.<br />
There’s also a pretty restaurant in the park<br />
alongside the river where you can enjoy<br />
snacks, drinks and meals.<br />
If, however you are in a group – don’t miss<br />
the chance of a medieval feast in the<br />
grounds of the chateau at the Auberge du<br />
Prieuré. The serving staff dress up in<br />
costumes of the middle ages, the food is<br />
from ancient menus. The atmosphere is<br />
great fun and educational as the food and<br />
customs of the times are explained. For<br />
instance, did you know the French word<br />
copain which means friend/mate comes<br />
from the term to break bread (pain) before<br />
prayers?<br />
Practical information<br />
The Chateau du Clos Lucé is open<br />
year-round (except 25 December and<br />
1 January). See the website for details:<br />
www.vinci-closluce.com<br />
Trains from Paris to Amboise take 2<br />
hours. There is a year-round bus<br />
service from the station to the town<br />
centre. UKVoyages-SNCF<br />
Leave time to visit Amboise town, it’s<br />
beautifully preserved and well worth a<br />
wander and of course there’s also the<br />
Chateau d’Amboise to visit too!<br />
www.amboise-valdeloire.co.uk<br />
www.valdeloirefrance.co.uk<br />
uk.france.fr
Photo: Geraldine Baker<br />
Chateau of Chaumont-sur-<br />
Loire hive of fun and frivolity.<br />
This is a stunningly pretty chateau which is<br />
unique for its presentation of art and the<br />
international garden festival that’s held<br />
here annually.<br />
It was bought in 1550 by Catherine de<br />
Medici who ceded it to her husband’s<br />
former mistress Diane de Poitiers. When<br />
Henry II died, Catherine evicted Diane from<br />
the Chateau de Chenonceau where Henry<br />
had installed her.<br />
Chaumont Chateau was sold and changed<br />
hands in ensuing centuries before being<br />
bought by an orphaned 17-year-old sugar<br />
heiress called Marie Say in 1875. When she<br />
married Prince Henri-Amédée de Broglie<br />
three months later, the pair restored and<br />
modernised the chateau and landscaped<br />
the gardens. They held festivals and shows,<br />
and hired the Ballets de l'Opéra de Paris<br />
and the troupe of the Comedie-Francaise<br />
from Paris for entertainment . It cost a<br />
fortune, but then the young woman was<br />
one of the richest women in France. An<br />
elephant roamed the grounds, a gift from<br />
the Shah of Persia and the castle was a<br />
<strong>No</strong>wadays the castle is owned by the<br />
region and is open to the public. Inside the<br />
chateau there is an annual art exhibition.<br />
The rooms are furnished and homely, they<br />
make you feel that the eccentric Marie<br />
might be out in the garden picking flowers.<br />
It’s a bit like Chelsea Flower Show meets<br />
Kew Gardens. There are temporary show<br />
gardens for the festival and all year-round<br />
gardens for general visits.<br />
And what happened to Marie? When her<br />
beloved Prince died, she re-married. At 72<br />
years old, her new husband was 43 and<br />
keen to help her spend her fortune. She<br />
was compelled to sell much of her art and<br />
property and ended her days in Paris<br />
staying at the Ritz and the George V hotels.<br />
The International Garden Festival takes<br />
place from April to <strong>No</strong>vember each year.<br />
www.domaine-chaumont.fr
Above: ethereal exhibit in the<br />
chateau's chapel; below left the<br />
perfume garden; below the chateau<br />
sitting room
Photo: @Toinou1375<br />
Chateau du Chambord<br />
Chateau de Chambord<br />
The Chateaux in the Loire that belonged to<br />
the royals were essentially second homes<br />
in some of the best hunting grounds in<br />
France. They were visual symbols of power<br />
and wealth. On the whole, owners visited<br />
them infrequently, taking their possessions<br />
with them. Unlike today when second<br />
home owners furnish their properties, in<br />
those days people carried their belonging<br />
from home to home. Beds, chairs, cutlery,<br />
dishes, tapestries etc were expensive and<br />
even the royal family rarely decked out<br />
their chateaux with permanent collections.<br />
Take the Chateau de Chambord which was<br />
built by Francis 1, the flamboyant King of<br />
France in 1519. The chateau was said to be<br />
inspired by Leonardo da Vinci (who died<br />
that year). It was one of the wonders of its<br />
time, making other royal families in Europe<br />
jealous. Immense, architecturally stunning<br />
with that double helix staircase. It cost a<br />
fortune. And yet Francis spent only 60 days<br />
there in total.<br />
The chateau has 400 fires and on chilly<br />
days some are lit. It's lovely to see the
embers glowing and the rooms scented<br />
with the smell of a wood fire, just as they<br />
would have been when it was inhabited.<br />
Climb the stairs to the roof top and look out<br />
over the extraordinary newly renovated<br />
gardens. A donation of 3.5m euros from an<br />
American benefactor has transformed the<br />
vast area in front of the chateau.<br />
Don't miss a trip to the shops, restaurants,<br />
maison des vins and the lovely biscuiterie<br />
in the tiny town like estate at the foot of the<br />
chateau. I had to be dragged out of the<br />
biscuit shop and away from the delish<br />
cherry fancies! Here you can do a free wine<br />
tasting and buy Chambord, a sweet French<br />
liqueur that's very more-ish. Made from<br />
honey, vanilla and raspberries, drink it neat,<br />
with white wine or Champagne or even<br />
splashed over ice cream. It's notoriously<br />
difficult to get hold of overseas and even in<br />
France - this really is an exclusive sip.<br />
www.chambord.org<br />
www.biscuiteriedechambord<br />
Stay at: La Maison d’a Cote<br />
it’s a gorgeous,<br />
boutique hotel<br />
and the chef/<br />
owner Christophe<br />
Hay makes the<br />
most delectable<br />
dishes ever, the<br />
chocolate<br />
mousse is<br />
something you<br />
will never forget!
Chateau de Blois<br />
<strong>No</strong>t far away from Chambord you'll find the<br />
chateau de Blois. Again, it's not massively<br />
furnished though there are some wonderful<br />
and quirky pieces. But architecturally, it's<br />
absolutely stunning<br />
Buildings from the 13th to 17th centuries are<br />
before you and the markers of time are<br />
clear. When the early Counts of Blois laid<br />
the stones for their fort-like palace, Blois<br />
was not then a part of the French Kingdom.<br />
Head out the courtyard towards the river<br />
and you'll see a stone tower, the oldest part<br />
of Blois with views over the river.<br />
Walk into the big inner courtyard and<br />
you're surrounded by history. The truly<br />
outstanding stair case is what most people<br />
remember above all else.<br />
Blois was home to several kings and<br />
queens of France including Francis I. It was<br />
his first building project when he became<br />
King in 1515. He lived here with his first wife<br />
Claude who was said to be boss-eyed,<br />
stooped and overweight. The poor girl gave<br />
birth to 7 children in 7 years and died aged<br />
25 - it certainly wasn't all fun being a queen<br />
in those days. Catherine de Medici, who<br />
was married to Francis I son, Henry II, also<br />
died here.<br />
You can feel the history in the chateau, in<br />
those thick stone walls and beamed<br />
ceilings, in the tiled floors and secret rooms<br />
with their wood panelling and paintings.<br />
One of the strangest portraits is of a hairyfaced<br />
girl, Tognina Gonsalvus, a victim of<br />
hypertrichosis ("werewolf syndrome"). She<br />
was kept at the court of Henry II as a<br />
curiosity but I like to think the painting<br />
shows there was some fondness there.<br />
Skulduggery, murder, drama and romance<br />
took place in bucket loads at this chateau –<br />
the audio guided tour explains all.<br />
From April to September, every evening as<br />
the sun sets, a Son et Lumière show takes<br />
place in the courtyard bringing the tale of<br />
the ancient castle to life – it’s terrific.<br />
en.chateaudeblois.fr
Practical information<br />
www.valdeloire-france.co.uk<br />
uk.france.fr<br />
If you're arriving by train, the chateau<br />
is a 500m walk from Blois-<br />
Chambord train station.
Insider's Guide to G
ascony<br />
Sue Aran reveals the beauty of the<br />
sunny, southern region
Long ignored by mass tourism, this tranquil region is fast becoming France's<br />
hot new destination says Sue Aran who lives in the Gers where she runs<br />
French Country Adventures guided tours of Gascony…<br />
Where is Gascony?<br />
The area of Gascony is bordered on the<br />
west by the Atlantic Ocean, the south by<br />
the Pyrénées mountains, the east by<br />
Toulouse and the north by the vineyards of<br />
Bordeaux. It’s a region that’s sprinkled with<br />
ancient Roman ruins and humble bastides<br />
and it remains as historically rich as it was<br />
in medieval times.<br />
Unchanged since the 1950s by industry,<br />
tourism or major highways, its landscape<br />
has remained agricultural for centuries.<br />
Soft white clouds languish in deep blue<br />
skies above fields of bright yellow<br />
sunflowers, sun-kissed vineyards that<br />
stretch to the horizon, and velvet green<br />
pastures dotted with gaggles of geese and<br />
cream-coloured cows, Gascony’s appeal is<br />
seductively earthy, full-bodied and lusty,<br />
like its wines. It’s a culinary heartland of<br />
garlic, foie gras, duck confit, and France’s<br />
oldest brandy, Armagnac, and is as<br />
authentically farm-to-table as it gets.<br />
Gascony entered recorded history during<br />
the reign of Julius Caesar as the core<br />
territory of Roman Aquitania. Its fertile soil<br />
was nourished by the rivers descending<br />
from the Pyrénées to the plains below. In<br />
his memoir, Caesar described the<br />
machinations occurring during his nine<br />
years of fighting the Gauls, an alliance of<br />
nine tribes which included the Vascones.<br />
The Vascones defined a confederacy of<br />
non-Romanised tribes who inhabited both<br />
sides of the Pyrénées and shared common<br />
traditions. By the late 6th century several of<br />
their tribes moved north, over the Pyrénées,<br />
and down into the territory they called<br />
Vasconia, which now comprises the seven<br />
departments in southwestern France called
Salies-de-Béarn<br />
Salies-de-Béarn is a heady mixture of the<br />
Spanish and French Basque regions, rich in<br />
local gastronomie de terroir and robust<br />
wines. Salies is a picture-perfect village of<br />
vertiginous, gabled houses overlooking the<br />
Saleys River. Known from the Bronze Age<br />
as the ‘Salt City’ for having an underground<br />
water source seven times saltier than the<br />
ocean, its signature product was lucrative<br />
until the mid-19th century, when<br />
competition from the Languedoc and the<br />
Camargue weakened the salt market<br />
dramatically. Salies then reinvented itself<br />
as a spa village. In addition to the virtues of<br />
its salt, the local water contains more<br />
magnesium than any other natural spring<br />
in the world. Its spa is still in operation,<br />
offering health, beauty and fitness regimes.<br />
Gascony. The remaining portion in Spain<br />
became the Basque Country.<br />
As were their forebears, Gascons today are<br />
known to be independent, brave, hardy,<br />
boastful and, most of all, welcoming. Those<br />
visitors who venture into Gascony tend to<br />
follow the few well-publicised tourist paths<br />
such as Lupiac, the birthplace of<br />
D’Artagnan, one of the Three Musketeers<br />
made famous in the novel by Alexandre<br />
Dumas, or Lourdes, which, following the<br />
Marian apparitions of 1858, became a<br />
Catholic pilgrimage site.<br />
Undiscovered Gascony<br />
If, like many, you have a desire to escape<br />
the routine, here you’ll find an<br />
undiscovered paradise with some of the<br />
most spectacular scenery in France.<br />
Gascony is truly a land that time forgot.<br />
.<br />
There are many recreational choices to<br />
match your individual taste, including<br />
cycling, fishing, kayaking or rafting on the<br />
beautiful Gave de Pau and Gave d’Oloron<br />
rivers nearby. Whether you’re vacationing<br />
or just passing through, you’ll want to time<br />
your visit to include lunch at Les Fontaines<br />
Fleuries. The menu at this fabulous<br />
restaurant is sourced from local producers,<br />
prepared in-house, and is what memories<br />
are made of.
Lectoure was the first capital of the Gers<br />
department, considered the heart of<br />
Gascony.<br />
During the Middle Ages it became the<br />
capital of the Counts of Armagnac, three<br />
very influential territorial lords who<br />
commanded strategic parts of historic<br />
Gascony. It was sacked and rebuilt by<br />
Louis XI in 1473, and when Napoléon<br />
Bonaparte created the départements de<br />
France, the Gers’ capital was moved south<br />
to the city of Auch.<br />
Today Lectoure is a beautifully re-defined,<br />
Neo-Classical, hilltop village with its one<br />
main street running east to west. Its<br />
cathedral, Saint-Gervais, which was rebuilt<br />
in 1488, stands as a sentinel at the east<br />
entrance of the village. Walking from one<br />
end to the other, you’ll pass lovely old<br />
convents, half-timbered houses, and<br />
remnants of its original, fortified wall.<br />
Lectoure<br />
Book-ending the west entrance of the<br />
village is the château of the Counts of<br />
Armagnac which was recently renovated<br />
into a sprawling antique mall.<br />
The views from either side of the village are<br />
breath-taking, and on a clear day you can<br />
see the Pyrénées and a large swathe of the<br />
Gers Valley. Lectoure’s pièces de résistance<br />
include its annual crop of potently fragrant<br />
cantaloupe melons, rose-pink garlic<br />
(comprising more than a third of France’s<br />
entire crop), and 20 pagan altars from the<br />
2nd and 3rd centuries which are housed in<br />
its museum.<br />
Lectoure holds a fantastic farmer’s market<br />
every Friday. Sample cheeses, olives, fresh<br />
vegetables and wine, and stop at Maison<br />
Baudequin, a magical chocolate shop, for a<br />
thick hot chocolate topped with whipped<br />
cream that rivals those of the famous<br />
Angelina’s on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris.
Labastide-d’Armagnac<br />
Founded in 1291, when Gascony still<br />
belonged to England, Labastided’Armagnac<br />
is the most charming,<br />
medieval village in the Landes department.<br />
Place Royale, its main arcaded square, is<br />
said to be the model for the Place des<br />
Vosges in Paris, commissioned by Henri<br />
IV. When I visit there, I always feel as if I’ve<br />
stepped onto a Hollywood movie set and<br />
you can easily be a flâneur* here. The most<br />
prominent feature of the Place Royal is the<br />
elegant church, <strong>No</strong>tre-Dame de Labastide,<br />
while a visit to the Bar Tortoré, the oldest<br />
bar in the region, offers a chance to rub<br />
shoulders with the locals.<br />
Labastide-d’Armagnac is the annual venue<br />
for the Armagnac Festival which takes<br />
place the last weekend in October.<br />
Considered the nectar of the gods and<br />
superior to Cognac, Armagnac is<br />
showcased in all of its vintages throughout<br />
the Place Royale. For a few euros, you can<br />
purchase an empty glass and taste your<br />
way around the square. As the locals<br />
enthuse, “Wine is the only thing that makes<br />
us happy as adults for no reason”.<br />
*French for wanderer
Nérac<br />
Once home to the court of King Henri IV,<br />
Nérac remains one of the most attractive<br />
larger villages in the Lot-et-Garonne<br />
department. During the Wars of Religion<br />
(1562-1598) Henri’s son, Louis XIII, ordered<br />
the entire city destroyed. Nérac lay<br />
forgotten and fallow until the 18th century,<br />
when it developed into a thriving<br />
agricultural community. So economically<br />
important was the city thought to be by<br />
then, that in 1830, Baron Haussmann, the<br />
architect who redesigned Paris in the<br />
1850s, was sent to rebuild Nérac’s roads<br />
and bridges.<br />
Nérac has one of the best Saturday<br />
farmers’ markets in the department. Arrive<br />
early, indulge in a mouth-watering pastry at<br />
the corner patisserie with a cup of delicious<br />
coffee, then set off on a leisurely stroll<br />
through the many market stalls. You can<br />
also ride one of several riverboats along the<br />
picturesque River Baïse, which dissects the<br />
village, or promenade beneath the shade of<br />
a variety of stately trees in the grand park,<br />
La Garenne. This 35-hectare park, with its<br />
many hidden nooks and crannies, was the<br />
inspiration for Shakespeare’s Love’s<br />
Labour’s Lost.
Bazas<br />
Perched on a cliff and surrounded by<br />
spectacular vineyards – most notably<br />
those of Château d’Yquem – Bazas is a<br />
jewel in the Gironde department. For 2,500<br />
years Bazas was the capital city of the<br />
Celts, then the Romans. According to<br />
legend, its original church held a coveted<br />
relic which gave the town its prominence: a<br />
cloth with the blood of St. John the Baptist,<br />
wiped up by a woman from Bazas. The<br />
building of a church began in 1233 to house<br />
the cloth, which remained there until the<br />
French Revolution in 1789, when a fanatic<br />
ripped it from its shrine and threw it into a<br />
cesspool.<br />
This amazing Gothic cathedral was finally<br />
completed in <strong>16</strong>35 and sits on an imposing<br />
rise at the end of an unusually vast,<br />
arcaded square that provides shelter and<br />
shade for shops and cafés. It’s serpentine,<br />
cobbled streets beckon admirers to view an<br />
eclectic variety of bourgeois houses and<br />
gardens.<br />
Bazas was listed as a UNESCO World<br />
Heritage site in 1998. It lies just off the<br />
Bordeaux-Graves-Sauternes Wine Route,<br />
where you can journey through 7,300<br />
hectares of vineyards and visit some 494<br />
winemakers in 52 villages for wine tastings.<br />
Gascony Essentials<br />
Take a tour with French Country Adventures and discover real Gascony and its<br />
authentic villages, gastronomic restaurants and wonderful vineyards.<br />
Getting there:<br />
By air: the nearest airport is the International Toulouse Blagnac Airport - although<br />
there a few other options within a couple of hours drive. (Carcassonne, Bordeaux,<br />
Bergerac and Pau.)<br />
By rail: There are regular train services from Paris to Toulouse, Montauban and Auch.
Spotlight on...<br />
Montpellier<br />
Janine Marsh visits the vibrant, sunny town of the south of France<br />
and falls in love with its many faces...
Montpellier is very much a tale of two cities.<br />
There's the old town with its wiggly medieval<br />
streets. And, there's the new bit of town which<br />
seems to change week by week. Also, there’s<br />
the seaside bit. Okay that’s three different<br />
faces to this dynamic city – all of which makes<br />
for a very intriguing visit with loads to discover<br />
and a whole lot to fall in love with.<br />
Montpellier used to be a fishing village<br />
many years ago, now it’s a cool town with a<br />
hip vibe. The sun shines pretty much from<br />
spring through autumn and then some –<br />
300 days a year on average of sun. There’s<br />
no need for formal dress or formality – it’s<br />
not that sort of place and with 80,000<br />
students (and the oldest university still in<br />
operation in Europe – it was founded in<br />
1180) it’s got a young and “hipster” feel to it.<br />
I love the sound of cigales squeaking in the<br />
plane trees, the fact that birds flit about<br />
openly and the old-fashioned lamp posts<br />
The old city of Montpellier<br />
add a certain je ne sais quois to the overall<br />
look.<br />
Wandering in the medieval town you<br />
suddenly find yourself on a hill, a reminder<br />
that this is a Mont – hence the name<br />
Montpellier. It’s not though, a hard town to<br />
wander. It’s a small city, easy to get your<br />
bearings and easy to get around. It’s also a<br />
great base for sightseeing in the area. The<br />
train service is very good and it’s a short<br />
distance to such legends as Narbonne,<br />
Carcassonne, Séte and even Barcelona<br />
from the local station.
What to see in Montpellier<br />
The pedestrianised place de la Comedie or<br />
rather Place de L'ouef (Egg Square) as the<br />
locals call it thanks to its oval shape, is the<br />
beating heart of the city and a popular<br />
meeting point. You can’t miss Café Riche in<br />
the square, it’s an institution and is owned<br />
by the same family who own the very<br />
popular La Grande Brasserie a few doors<br />
along. Locals meet at Café Riche for a<br />
Perrier tranche (Perrier water with a slice of<br />
lemon) or Perrier menthe (Perrier with a<br />
shot of mint, very refreshing!). Perrier water<br />
is from a source located between<br />
Montpellier and Nimes so everyone drinks<br />
it here like… well, water!<br />
This big, vibrant café is also popular for<br />
afternoon tea, coffee and aperitifs and is<br />
the perfect people watching perch. There’s<br />
also lots of street entertainment with<br />
musicians, magicians and dancers, it’s not<br />
organised, just spontaneous and much<br />
loved by the locals and visitors.<br />
Musée Fabre<br />
This huge museum hosts permanent and<br />
temporary exhibitions and regular exhibit<br />
swaps with the Louvre in Paris. It was<br />
founded in 1828 by the artist François-<br />
Xavier Fabre in what was his home and<br />
gallery. Since then it has grown and three<br />
buildings now house eclectic collection that<br />
span decades of art from 14th century<br />
religious masterpieces to the enormous<br />
and brooding art of Pierre Soulages, one of<br />
France’s greatest living artists. There are<br />
some fabulous and important works here<br />
including a Delacroix painting which<br />
inspired Monet, who called him the “Father<br />
of Impressionism”. There are paintings by<br />
Courbet, the bad boy artist of the<br />
mid-1800s, who loved to do self-portraits<br />
and why not, he was a handsome man! The<br />
collection is chronological and there are<br />
some 800 works of art so you can easily<br />
spend a half day browsing this huge<br />
museum, by the way it’s very cool inside on<br />
a hot day!
Marvellous marché<br />
The Marchés Les Arceaux is one of the<br />
best street markets I’ve ever been to. It's<br />
located under the arches of the gigantic<br />
aqueduct behind the famous landmark<br />
water tower (from which you can get<br />
magnificent views of Montpellier). Lots of<br />
people think the aqueduct is Roman, it isn’t,<br />
and neither is the Arc de Triomphe in front<br />
of it. It might seem that’s there’s a bit of a<br />
Roman feeling to this town but in fact they<br />
were never there.<br />
there is all manner of fabulous food and<br />
produce here. Most people miss this<br />
market – don’t, it’s wonderful!<br />
There’s also a covered market, Les Halles,<br />
in the old town, where you can buy fresh<br />
produce and sit at a table outside and enjoy<br />
your feast straight away!<br />
Marche des Arceaux is in the Peyroux<br />
district, a little way west of the old town and<br />
easily walkable though you can hop on the<br />
brilliant tram service if you prefer. In the<br />
summer months stalls groan under the<br />
weight of fresh fruit, huge cherries, melons<br />
and strawberries. Old ladies with baskets<br />
and old men with plastic bags wander<br />
along eyeing the produce, occasionally<br />
reaching out to taste before they buy. The<br />
smell of lavender and cheese, just baked<br />
bread, warm fruit and slowly roasting<br />
chickens is nothing short of drool-worthy.<br />
The stalls are shaded by plane trees and
If you only have time to go to one<br />
restaurant in Montpellier, then make it Le<br />
Grillardin in the little Place de Chappelle<br />
Neuve. In a shady little square surrounded<br />
by beautiful old buildings with pastel blue<br />
shutters of a shade you yearn to capture<br />
but seems to be peculiarly French, faded<br />
over decades, perhaps centuries. It’s a<br />
divine setting which nourishes as much as<br />
the delicious dishes. Tables spill onto the<br />
square, servers nip about explaining (in<br />
English if required) what’s on the menu.<br />
“Salmon is our starter of the day” I was told<br />
“smoked in our own chimney” with pride.<br />
Tables fill quickly here so book in advance<br />
or get there for 7.30 when service starts. It’s<br />
loved by the locals and no wonder…<br />
Chez Boris is famous in Montpellier for its<br />
meaty menu, if steak’s your thing you're<br />
going to love it here - and the crispy home<br />
cooked chips. The servers are friendly and<br />
speak English and it’s fun to watch them<br />
dash across the road with trays of food and<br />
drinks to the terraces on the other side<br />
under Plane trees.<br />
Where to eat in the Old Town<br />
Burger and Blanquette is a burger bar with<br />
panache and the most delicious salads<br />
ever. Eat inside the cool restaurant or on the<br />
esplanade outside under shade and<br />
watching the world go by. Seriously lush.<br />
Head to the contemporary art centre La<br />
Panacée for Sunday brunch, you need to be<br />
there by 11.am as there’s no reservation<br />
system but for about 18 euros you’ll get a<br />
great menu. The locals love this place and<br />
for a true taste of Montpellier – it’s perfect.<br />
Stop for a cooling chilled tea at the lovely<br />
Citron Salon de Thé.<br />
Cool bars<br />
Cafe Joseph has been going for nearly 3<br />
decades and makes for a vibrant night out,<br />
good music and dance floor - and it's not<br />
too young.<br />
Le Glougou (which means glug glug) 27 rue<br />
du Pila St Gély – great food and great<br />
atmosphere, there are big wooden tables<br />
that promote friendly chitchat and you can<br />
buy wine by the glass, great for a nightcap.
The new city of Montpellier<br />
Montpellier is a booming area, often voted<br />
one of the places the French would most<br />
like to live and the number of residents is<br />
growing year on year. To cope with the<br />
influx, the town is expanding in an<br />
extraordinary architectural experiment.<br />
The city has been expanding for a while -<br />
at first it went north towards the hills but in<br />
a calculated decision to control the growth<br />
and make it something special, the town is<br />
spreading south to the sea. The initiative<br />
that was hatched in 1977 by then Mayor<br />
Georges Frêche. The goal was to create the<br />
perfect city. The architectural team started<br />
with a blank canvas and turned the<br />
outskirts of Montpellier into a real-life<br />
laboratory of architecture.<br />
Antigone<br />
The Antigone neighbourhood, named after<br />
the ancient Greek play, was erected<br />
principally during the 1970s and 1980s. It<br />
has plenty of grand neo-classical buildings<br />
and wide-open boulevards, including the<br />
central axis nicknamed the Champs-<br />
Elysées by locals. The most innovative<br />
architects in the world have designed<br />
buildings here but it’s happened in a very<br />
organised way. It’s not a messy hotchpotch<br />
of looks, there’s a consistent theme being<br />
woven through this new part of Montpellier.<br />
Wide open spaces, height restrictions, even<br />
the look has to a certain extent been<br />
controlled although architects have been<br />
given a free hand overall while keeping to a<br />
few rules.
Port Marianne<br />
The fast-rising Port Marianne district<br />
features canals and a small lake which is<br />
home to ducks and giant water rats (which<br />
I thought were otters, they’re very cute). It’s<br />
lined by low height apartments of all<br />
different shapes but with a continuous<br />
theme of low central penthouses. The light<br />
in the area is great and the colours too -<br />
from deep blue of the Jean <strong>No</strong>uvel<br />
designed Hotel de Ville to deep chocolate<br />
on a swanky block of flats. Cafés,<br />
restaurants and shops are opening on a<br />
regular basis and the tram service (some of<br />
them designed by fashion legend Christian<br />
Lacroix) reaches all the news residential<br />
areas. The area is an architectural fan’s<br />
dream.<br />
The result is stunning and the NY Times<br />
has placed Montpellier in the top 100<br />
architectural cities to see before you die.<br />
Where to eat in the new town<br />
Terminal # 1 run by the Pourcel brothers<br />
(who at 22 were the youngest Michelin star<br />
chefs in France). Terminal # 1 is a great<br />
place for a drink, the food is quite fancy,<br />
certainly delicious, and though they're not<br />
searching for a star with this one, the<br />
quality is there.<br />
The RBC Kitchen is filled with design items<br />
for the whole home, as well as a basement<br />
area with affordable items. It might not<br />
strike you as the best place to go to eat but<br />
it has a fabulous restaurant hardly known<br />
by tourists but loved by savvy locals for its<br />
architectural style and stylish menu.<br />
La Gazette, Montpellier’s weekly magazine<br />
of events and news, has a cool, organic café<br />
in an old garage that’s popular with arty<br />
types.
The seaside<br />
Get out of the city and take a dip in the<br />
Mediterranean Sea. With an unspoiled<br />
coastline, silky sand beaches and jut 10km<br />
from the centre of town, the beaches of<br />
Montpellier make for a fabulous day at the<br />
seaside.<br />
Petit Travers and Grand Travers (between<br />
the Grande Motte and Carnon), Palavasles-Flots,<br />
Aresquiers in Frontignan, or<br />
Espiguette in Le Grau-du-Roi, are ideal for<br />
water sports or just lazing about. You can<br />
reach them by bus or tram from the city<br />
centre (check at the tourist office for<br />
services/times), for instance Tram Line 3<br />
will take around 45 minutes to Pérols, a<br />
mere 800m from the Mediterranean Sea.<br />
How to get there:<br />
Take the train – just 3 hours from Pars (check) 5 hours from Lille (both on the Eurostar<br />
route). Its extraordinary that in such a short time you’ll find yourself plunged into the<br />
heart of Languedoc Roussillon, Occitainie as the new super region is called<br />
(Languedoc Rousillon merged with Midi-Pyrenees).<br />
By air - Montpellier airport is just 10 minutes’ drive from the city<br />
Stay at<br />
Hotel les Occitanes makes for a great base with roomy studios close to the station<br />
Useful websites: www.destinationsuddefrance.com; www.montpellier-france.com
Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Provence makes for the perfect weekend destination<br />
year-round thanks to its status as the antiques capital of France. <strong>No</strong>t to<br />
mention the fact that it is one of the prettiest towns you’ll ever meet, Full of<br />
charming restaurants, bars and cafés and a buzzing atmosphere.<br />
Janine Marsh falls head over heels for the little antiques paradise<br />
I arrived in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue on a sultry<br />
evening having travelled by train from<br />
Paris. My base was the Hotel Les Terrasses<br />
and the first thing I did when I got to the<br />
room was fling open the windows to drink<br />
in the views. Bang, smack over the top of<br />
the famous Basin de Sorgue or as the<br />
locals call it Le Bassin Bouïgas, dusk was<br />
falling, lights glowed softly in trees, the<br />
reflections shimmering gently on the<br />
surface of the clear water. The sound of<br />
laughter, light chatter and glasses clinking<br />
floated up to my window tempting me to<br />
join the diners below.<br />
It’s an iconic sight that little lake,<br />
restaurants line the terraces around it,<br />
birds sing in the trees and it is the perfect<br />
place for people watching. A glass of rosé,<br />
the favourite drink of Provence, was set in<br />
front of me with a dish of crusty bread and<br />
dark tapenade. The scent of the crushed<br />
olives filled the air, my determination to diet<br />
dissolved, won over by the smell and the<br />
sight of the little dishes.<br />
The warm air and the pink and purple sky<br />
made for a magical moment and I couldn’t<br />
help thinking “it doesn’t get much better<br />
than this”. My salad was delicious, the<br />
ambiance was wonderful and I couldn’t<br />
fault my first night in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. I<br />
slept like a baby and woke up to deep blue<br />
skies and the sound of the town coming<br />
to – it’s enough to make you fall in love<br />
with a place.
I nibbled on a flaky golden croissant for<br />
breakfast on the terrace of the hotel where<br />
I watched a couple of local fishermen down<br />
“keep me awake for a week” espressos.<br />
Across the Basin, the clock on the wall of<br />
the restaurant read the same time as it did<br />
when I arrived, the same time as it does<br />
every day. I felt like it was saying, don’t<br />
worry about rushing, take your time, there’s<br />
nowhere you need to be except here,<br />
enjoying yourself. The word idyllic sprang<br />
to mind.<br />
I had heard that Isle-sur-la-Sorgue has lots<br />
of antique shops and flea markets. I’d seen<br />
some lovely photos of the town. But<br />
nothing prepared me for the sight when I<br />
walked a few yards along the road from the<br />
hotel and turned into Avenue des Quatre<br />
Otages. Filling the pavement and spilling<br />
into the road were stalls piled with things I<br />
wanted to take home from furniture to<br />
antiques heaven<br />
paintings, ornaments, knick knacks, china,<br />
textiles and this and that. Every alley, every<br />
side road, every entrance seems to lead to<br />
another antiques warehouse or shop or a<br />
whole cluster of shops in antiques villages.<br />
Shady squares and ancient buildings - full<br />
of stuff! It’s like the Antiques Road Show<br />
come to life right in front you times a<br />
hundred – or rather times 300 as that’s the<br />
number of permanent dealers here.<br />
And as if that’s not enough, every Sunday<br />
there’s an outdoor antiques market and<br />
there are international antiques shows<br />
every Easter and in August when around<br />
200 more sellers arrive so you can fill your<br />
boots. It's a popular event and a stall holder<br />
told me that each year, a foreign Prince<br />
arrives with his several wives to shop. He<br />
gives each of them a huge shipping<br />
container to fill with antiques and ship back<br />
home. That's what I call retail therapy!
When you’re done rummaging<br />
Through the town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue<br />
runs the bubbling river Sorgue, originating<br />
from the famous source of the Fontaine de<br />
la Vaucluse a mere 5 miles away. Along the<br />
river are a dozen or so historic, green mosscovered<br />
water wheels – they’re beautiful to<br />
look at and are a reminder of the town’s<br />
past when it was a centre of wool, paper<br />
and silk making. Follow the river to the<br />
point where it divides known as “le partage<br />
des Eaux” for a very pretty view and the<br />
perfect selfie spot.<br />
There are plenty of places to shop for<br />
souvenirs, clothes, gourmet food products<br />
and gifts that aren’t antiques.<br />
Eating and drinking<br />
Around Le Bassin, along the river, in cobble<br />
stone squares under the shade of plane<br />
trees – there’s plenty of choice here.<br />
Locals love:<br />
The perfect place for lunch is the Café du<br />
Village in the Le Village des Antiquaires de<br />
la Gare. It’s popular with dealers, locals and<br />
visitors for its shady ambiance and<br />
fabulous menu. In France, its de rigeur to<br />
take two hours for lunch and at this lively,<br />
pretty restaurant you won’t have any<br />
problems whiling away the hours.<br />
2 Avenue de l'Égalité<br />
Dinner at Les Terrasses hotel restaurant<br />
round the Le Bassin. Tasty food, friendly<br />
staff and the view is to die for…<br />
Grab a snack at Le Cri des Crocs food<br />
truck – my friend Marie who lives in Islesur-la-Sorgue<br />
says the food is always very<br />
good, organic salads and tasty hamburgers<br />
that you can eat at the little tables in front<br />
of the river, a picturesque spot.<br />
871 Route d'Apt
Wine and Dine:<br />
Le Vivier restaurant has a fabulous menu<br />
created by a talented team. With a<br />
Michelin star, creative, refined cooking,<br />
stunning location overlooking the river<br />
Sorgue with the sound of a water wheel<br />
gently splashing – it’s nigh on perfect and<br />
very romantic.<br />
800 Cours Fernande Peyre<br />
Aperitif heaven<br />
Sous la Robe, a wine bar with a pretty<br />
courtyard where they do a great planche (a<br />
plate with nibbles) with your drink.<br />
5 Avenue des Quatre Otages<br />
Pop in for a beer, glass of wine or pastis at<br />
the Café du France simply because it’s so<br />
very French and pretty!<br />
5 Avenue des Quatre Otages<br />
How to get to the Isle-sur-la-<br />
Sorgue<br />
By train from Paris via Avignon. In<br />
summer months the Eurostar runs<br />
direct from London to Avignon. The<br />
train from Avignon to Isle-sur-lasorgue<br />
costs a few Euros and takes 25<br />
minutes.<br />
By Air: Avignon Airport or Marseille-<br />
Marignane International Airport then<br />
take the train.<br />
Hotel: Les Terrasses de David et<br />
Louisa, simple, comfy rooms and a<br />
view to die for...<br />
Tourist office website:<br />
www.oti-delasorgue.fr; www.<br />
provenceguide.com
LYON<br />
A shade under 2 hours on a fast train from Paris will bring you to the south of France and<br />
the lovely city of Lyon. The gastronomic capital of France, Lyon is a feast for the eyes, the<br />
soul and the stomach. Janine Marsh seeks out tempting visits for culture vultures and<br />
shoppers and finds that in the old town, almost every other building seems to house a<br />
restaurant, bakery, wine bar or somewhere to tempt your taste buds.<br />
What to do in one day in Lyon<br />
Let’s assume you arrive in time for<br />
breakfast and will stay for an early dinner<br />
catching the 21.04 train back to Paris.<br />
At a Glance<br />
It’s a long walk to the old town from the<br />
station and as you’re only there for a day<br />
it’s worth taking the metro to Place<br />
Bellecour. Get a map from the tourist office<br />
which is in Place Bellecour and from where<br />
you can take a guided tour on an open top<br />
bus. It stops at 13 key sites and you can get<br />
on and off as you like, so you can spend<br />
time where you want and it saves you the<br />
trouble of buying a one-day travel pass,<br />
making it really good value at €19.00.<br />
If you don’t want to take the guided tour,<br />
from Place Bellecour you can walk over<br />
Pont Bonaparte, the bridge that crosses the<br />
River Saône and straight into the Old<br />
Town – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s<br />
a place of medieval towers, renaissance<br />
mansions, cobbled streets, amazing<br />
restaurants and a fascinating history.<br />
Culture Vulture<br />
There are several museums including the<br />
huge, recently opened Musée des<br />
Confluences in the regenerated docklands<br />
area. Its radical design has raised eyebrows<br />
but the exhibition of the story of mankind<br />
shown through a collection of two million<br />
objects is very popular.<br />
You’re bound to come across the word<br />
“traboules” in Lyon. These are a network of<br />
medieval covered alleyways and stairs in<br />
the Croix Rousse district linking courtyards<br />
and houses to the river. Lyon was famous<br />
for its silk weaving industry and the<br />
traboules enabled goods to be transported<br />
without getting wet.
Cinema fans will enjoy the fascinating<br />
museum dedicated to famous residents of<br />
Lyon - Auguste and Louis Lumière, the<br />
world's first film-makers, located in their<br />
former, art deco home.<br />
Shopping<br />
Lyon has a sweet tooth so there's plenty of<br />
opportunity to take home some luscious<br />
memories, Violette & Berlingot is a sugary<br />
feast (52, Passage de l'Argue). You might<br />
not be so keen on the local speciality,<br />
andouilette, a sausage made from offal, it's<br />
a bit of an acquired taste and one day may<br />
not be long enough to acquire it!<br />
Where to eat<br />
It’s hard to know where to start in a place<br />
that has more restaurants per head than<br />
any other town in France including 14<br />
Michelin star restaurants. Eating out is a<br />
passion and hobby for the Lyonnais and<br />
there’s a huge choice. Head to the old town<br />
to experience Bouchons, traditional Lyon<br />
eateries that are very charming. Fun dining<br />
to fine dining, microbreweries, ultra-posh to<br />
gourmet burger – this town has it all, and<br />
then some. Rue Mercier in the newer part of<br />
town is brilliant for restaurants too.<br />
Du Pain: <strong>No</strong>t strictly a bakery but a very<br />
special patisserie and chocolate shop –<br />
Bernachon of Lyon is an institution and a<br />
must visit for any sweet tooth. 42, cours<br />
Franklin Roosevelt<br />
Du Vin: Les Vins des Vivants - a wine bar<br />
that’s run by two brothers, a great setting in<br />
the Croix Rousse district, charming venue<br />
and absolutely brilliant wines. 6 Place<br />
Fernand Rey<br />
Du Train: Trains from Paris (Gare de Lyon<br />
or Bercy) to Lyon are direct and the shortest<br />
journey time is 1h57. Between Monday to<br />
Saturday the earliest train from Paris to<br />
Lyon leaves at 5:50am, arriving at 7:56am,<br />
in time for breakfast. The last train back to<br />
Paris is 21.04 arriving 23.12 (<strong>No</strong>te: times are<br />
subject to change so please check the<br />
departure and arrival times carefully via<br />
SNCF or your ticket operator).
Photo: Vicke Cunningham<br />
Autumn in France means is a time of joie de vivre and in Paris the weather is usually<br />
mellow, culture is on the menu, plus walks in parks where the leaves on the trees are red<br />
and gold is a memorable experience as is hot chocolate in a square and so much more.<br />
Autumn is the perfect time for a Paris getaway and here are ten reasons to<br />
prove it!<br />
Nuit Blanche<br />
Montmartre Wine Festival<br />
For one night only, each year Paris<br />
becomes an open-air museum. There is<br />
nothing quite like this truly astonishing<br />
night of art, culture and surprises. As dusk<br />
falls, the city springs to life as an<br />
extravaganza of luminous installations and<br />
sensory experiences astonish audiences.<br />
Nuit Blanche hands the city over to<br />
contemporary artists to reimagine its<br />
streets and buildings and the public are<br />
invited to join in. This is an exceptional<br />
night of art that will thrill, provoke and<br />
amaze from dusk to dawn. This one event<br />
alone is enough reason to visit Paris in the<br />
Autumn as far as I’m concerned.<br />
7 October<br />
Did you know that Paris has a secret wine<br />
producing vineyard in the heart of the city<br />
at Montmartre?! Each October the Fête des<br />
vendanges de Montmartre celebrates the<br />
art of food and wine. It’s one of the most<br />
popular events with Parisians with free<br />
concerts, exhibitions, parades and tastings<br />
in the heart of the city. Join the locals in a<br />
celebration of the grape harvest right in the<br />
centre of Paris.<br />
11-15 October
Museums museums museums<br />
With around 200 museums in the city to<br />
choose from, you’re truly spoiled for choice.<br />
20 museums are free all year-round<br />
including the Petit Palais which is home to<br />
1300 works of art. Other museums are free<br />
on the first Sunday of the month and some<br />
open late which makes for a special<br />
ambiance, such as the Palais de Tokyo<br />
which is open until midnight daily (except<br />
Tuesdays). Museums are less crowded in<br />
autumn and good for days when it’s raining<br />
or a little bit chilly out.<br />
Hot Chocolate à la terrace<br />
And, if it is a bit chilly out then what could<br />
be nicer than wrapping up warm and<br />
sipping a hot chocolate while you drink in a<br />
wonderful view. One of the most beautiful<br />
spots is by <strong>No</strong>tre Dame where you'll find<br />
plenty of cafés where you can sit outside<br />
and watch the sun set and listen to those<br />
famous bells toll – it’s priceless.<br />
Hit the book stores and chill<br />
There are loads of book stores with English<br />
language books in Paris and lots of them<br />
have cafés and even wine bars so you can<br />
sit and read in an ambient atmosphere.<br />
Two of the best are Shakespeare & Co. near<br />
<strong>No</strong>tre Dame Cathedral, it' has a lovely café<br />
alongside the book store, and WH Smith,<br />
an institution for Brits, in rue de Rivoli with<br />
its upstairs “olde English” style tea room.<br />
Exhibitions Galore<br />
Catch Hockney at the Pompidou featuring<br />
more than <strong>16</strong>0 artworks (ends 23 October);<br />
Gauguin at the Grand Palais (11 October<br />
2017 – 22 January 2018) and see a once in a<br />
lifetime exhibition of Picasso’s “year of<br />
wonders” artworks from 1932, with more<br />
than 100 paintings and sculptures at the<br />
Musée Picasso (10 October 2017 – 11<br />
February 2018).
Fountain Festival<br />
A chance to enjoy the musical Fountains<br />
Show at the Palace of Versailles without<br />
the crowds.<br />
Ends 29 October 2017<br />
Haute Culture<br />
The brand new Musée Yves Saint Laurent<br />
is scheduled to open 3 October, presenting<br />
iconic couture pieces and historic<br />
accessories – a must for those with a<br />
passion for fashion.<br />
Music Maestro<br />
The world’s top singers and musicians play<br />
at famous Parisian venues. This season<br />
brings the divine Lady Gaga and Shakira to<br />
Paris to perform at the AccorHotels Arena<br />
at Bercy. The Philarmonie de Paris begins la<br />
rentrée on 2 September with a full<br />
programme of concerts and shows<br />
featuring the greatest names in classical<br />
music from composers to performers.<br />
In the streets and squares, in the cafés and<br />
bars, music is alive and well in Paris, just<br />
wander and listen you’re sure to hear the<br />
sound of Paris in the autumn sooner or<br />
later…<br />
European Heritage Days<br />
The weekend of <strong>16</strong> and 17 September sees<br />
monuments, museums, sites and public<br />
buildings open their doors for free to the<br />
public in a spectacular weekend celebrating<br />
the city’s heritage. There are free<br />
workshops, guided tours and behind the<br />
scenes visits galore – this is an unmissable<br />
Paris cultural event.<br />
More info from www.parisinfo.com
Lucy Pitts explores The noble town of<br />
Grignan and its Parisian style surprise<br />
What a surprise Grignan is as you round a<br />
corner on your way to Nyons, in southern<br />
Drôme in the south of the Rhône Alpes<br />
region. This 11th century, fortified village<br />
suddenly comes into view, majestic and<br />
proud above the low lying lavender fields,<br />
looking decidedly regal in an area that still<br />
oozes rustic charm.<br />
There are a couple of different roads into<br />
the footings of the village and the one I<br />
chose felt very grand. Plane trees either<br />
side heralded my arrival as I swept through<br />
a small parkland area and arrived at the<br />
first wall of the fortifications.<br />
A farmer was hard at work putting his<br />
lavender fields to bed right up to the village<br />
boundary and the wall is broken by an<br />
imposing gate with large stone pillars<br />
either side, suggesting a medieval village<br />
with a bit more of a story to tell.<br />
A village with a secret<br />
Turn the corner and a broad esplanade<br />
escorts you to the first steps up to into the<br />
heart of the village and to a large, 19th<br />
century, circular bath surrounded by<br />
columns, known as the Lavoir du Mail. With<br />
the Mistral wind constantly pulling at your<br />
hair and the heat of an early September<br />
day, a quick dip and cool off is quite<br />
tempting.<br />
As you climb on, what awaits you inside<br />
the walls is a charming medieval village.<br />
There’s a tiered system of narrow and<br />
cobbled streets that wind their way around<br />
and up to the apex of the hill, with views<br />
across the lavender, vineyards and<br />
sunflowers. It’s predominantly pedestrian<br />
and makes a pleasant morning, walking<br />
fully around the village, stopping at the<br />
boutiques or at a pavement café.
Chateau Grignan<br />
Of course, you can’t help but be aware that<br />
the crowning glory of Grignan is its castle<br />
and as with any medieval village you have<br />
an idea of what to expect. One way or<br />
another the narrow streets of the village<br />
lead you to a grand approach and a large<br />
and imposing wooden door at the rocky<br />
top of the hill. But you can’t see the<br />
chateau until you’ve entered the inner<br />
circle. And even then, there’s one last climb<br />
before you turn the corner and there she is.<br />
In all her magnificent, unexpected and<br />
spectacular glory.<br />
It’s as if someone has transported<br />
Versailles or a large piece of Paris to this<br />
quiet corner of northern Provence. There’s<br />
a vast open forecourt at the far end of<br />
which stands the exquisite Renaissance<br />
façade. Mount Ventoux, the Pre-Alpes and<br />
the Dentelles are all visible behind you and<br />
for a moment you’re caught in a<br />
spellbinding silence. Horse drawn<br />
carriages spring to mind and you can<br />
almost see dainty feet topped by<br />
sumptuous ball gowns stepping out of the<br />
carriage doors to the sound of laughter<br />
from courtiers as they swish their way<br />
inside.<br />
\chateau with a troubled past<br />
The originally 12th century chateau, was<br />
completely transformed in the Renaissance<br />
period into this superb stately home. It<br />
boasts high and beautifully painted<br />
ceilings, grand ball rooms and galleries,<br />
Versailles style parquet floors and beautiful<br />
wood panels hung with huge tapestries.<br />
The ornate bedrooms have far reaching<br />
views to the south and east and the whole<br />
chateau is juxtaposed with the <strong>16</strong>th century<br />
collegiate church who’s roof acts as an<br />
additional terrace for the chateau. A terrace<br />
on the church roof, I hear you say, that’s<br />
sacrilege and that’s what the people of the<br />
time thought too.
Perhaps predictably, during the French<br />
revolution the chateau, like so many<br />
others, was partially destroyed and looted<br />
owing to its strong connections with the<br />
establishment and the royal family. Over<br />
the next two centuries, Chateau Grignan<br />
struggled to recover its glory.<br />
Famous one time owner, Parisian dandy<br />
with a fabulous name - Boniface de<br />
Castellane only added to its woes. He sold<br />
off many of its remaining treasures at the<br />
beginning of the 20th century to pay for his<br />
divorce from American heiress Anna Gould<br />
.<br />
It wasn’t until ownership fell into the hands<br />
of Marie Fontaine in 1912 that a full<br />
programme of restoration began. Today it’s<br />
one of the most prestigious and leading<br />
examples of Renaissance architecture in<br />
the south. So unexpected, so splendid.<br />
Website: www.chateaux-ladrome.fr<br />
Time for tea<br />
Right back down at the foot of the village is<br />
the utterly delightful Clair de la Plume, a<br />
quintessentially French tea house (if there<br />
is such a thing). Its courtyard garden is a<br />
little oasis with tables hidden in amongst<br />
the sage, lavender, honeysuckle, hibiscus<br />
and thyme and a long list of teas, cakes<br />
and pastries served in floral crockery is<br />
hard to choose from.<br />
This former ambassador’s house also holds<br />
a 17th century kitchen and a Michelin star<br />
restaurant, as well as a secret garden, a<br />
short walk from the courtyard. In the<br />
garden, behind the village wall, you’ll find a<br />
lover’s pavilion with views back across to<br />
Grignan, a Mediterranean garden and a<br />
natural swimming pool. If you’re looking for<br />
somewhere to stay while you explore, this<br />
is a sumptuous spot.
Grignan is a surprise and there’s just one<br />
last tip before you move on.<br />
Just outside the village, in the industrial<br />
zone, is a gift shop. It’s called Durance and<br />
you probably wouldn’t have given it a<br />
second glance. But from lavender hand<br />
cream, poppy shower gel and camellia<br />
body lotion, it’s filled with all sorts of<br />
natural produce, everything locally sourced<br />
and deliciously fragrant. If you want to take<br />
home the smells of Provence and Grignan,<br />
it’s worth a quick deviation.<br />
For more information about Drôme<br />
visit:<br />
www.ladrometourisme.com<br />
Transport to Drôme:<br />
Valence has a TGV station and it’s<br />
possible to get trains from the UK or<br />
Paris. ukvoyages-sncf<br />
Although Valence has an airport, most<br />
flights are to Lyon or Grenoble.
The long lost love Cheese<br />
of the Auvergne<br />
Michael Cranmer goes all Sherlock Holmes to find a mystery cheese<br />
he fell in love with in the Auvergne...<br />
It began ten years ago, on Friday 15<br />
February, 2008, to be precise, in a small<br />
hotel, in a small town called Le Mont-Dore<br />
in the Auvergne. I'd stopped for the night<br />
en-route to the Alps. After my long drive I<br />
just wanted a meal and then bed. The food<br />
was decent, the elderly waiter attentive.<br />
Clearing my plate he asked if I would like<br />
any cheese. I don’t suffer ‘cheese-dreams’,<br />
so said “yes”, little knowing that the<br />
memory would haunt me for the next<br />
decade.<br />
He brought a selection. In the centre was a<br />
small volcano, its pale lovely crust covered<br />
in a dusting of ash. How extraordinary! (...<br />
but perhaps not, as the Auvergne is dotted<br />
with dormant volcanoes).<br />
Intrigued, I cut a slice. An eruption of<br />
pleasure filled my mouth. I smiled. The<br />
waiter smiled, “Vous aimez ça?” Oh, yes, I<br />
like it very much. Intensely creamy, slightly<br />
pungent; I closed my eyes in ecstasy as the<br />
flavour held me. Finally, I asked the<br />
name…and promptly forgot it. That was a<br />
BIG MISTAKE, and one that was to haunt<br />
me for the next ten years. If only I’d written<br />
it down. If only my memory was not like a<br />
perforated plastic bag. If only…<br />
But for then I went to bed a happy man,<br />
savouring the aftertaste of my little slice of<br />
delectation. Somehow, as I slept, the<br />
volcanic remembrance embedded itself in<br />
my subconscious, to surface intermittently<br />
and worry at me like the equivalent of a<br />
snatch of a song...<br />
I knew I loved THAT cheese, and I wanted<br />
more. But how to get it? An early start<br />
meant no chance to enquire in the town.<br />
Time passed, the taste nagged at me: I<br />
would gaze wistfully in fromageries hoping<br />
for a glimpse of my lost love (which was<br />
definitely féminin in my mind, not<br />
masculin). I trawled the internet, always<br />
looking. On a visit to Paris, enquiries in the<br />
best cheese shops yielded only shrugs.<br />
But I never gave up. Always searching,<br />
always hoping, always longing.<br />
Then, nine years after that first and only<br />
assignation, whilst in London I bumped
into Corinne from Auvergne Rhône-Alps<br />
Tourism and told her of my plight. She<br />
understood at once, “Leave it with me. I will<br />
make some enquiries”.<br />
Two weeks passed, until, one morning I<br />
had an email from Corinne!<br />
‘I tried to find a pyramid-shape cheese<br />
covered in ash, made in Auvergne. I found<br />
one last Saturday, it is a goat cheese, it<br />
does exist’.<br />
My heart raced as I read her reply. But then<br />
came another email from my French<br />
‘Sherlock Holmes’, this time with a<br />
photograph: “Dear Michael, … there is a<br />
cheese in the centre of the picture which is<br />
the one you are looking for, in La<br />
Fromagerie Nivesse cheese shop in<br />
Clermont-Ferrand and the cheese is a raw<br />
milk goat cheese, from the region of<br />
Courpière, not far away from Clermont-<br />
Ferrand. The name of the cheese is Le<br />
mont de Courtesserre”.<br />
Eureka! I’d been right all along. My lovely<br />
did exist, just an hour and a half from where<br />
I’d had my first-and-only-taste.<br />
I began to study the photo ‘Sherlock’ (aka<br />
Corinne) had sent. It was tantalizingly<br />
ambiguous. Taken from directly above, it<br />
showed nine cheeses, the central one<br />
being square and ash-covered.<br />
As I puzzled over it, a sinking feeling came<br />
over me. This didn’t fit with my ten year-old<br />
memory. Yes, it was obviously a goat’s<br />
cheese. Yes, it was dusted with ash. Yes,<br />
the texture and rind looked right, but the<br />
distinctive volcano shape just wasn’t there.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w in a panic, I contacted ‘Sherlock’<br />
expressing my doubts. She explained that<br />
the overhead viewpoint didn’t show the<br />
volcano shape of my ‘chosen’ (as she so<br />
charmingly called it). It was like holding an<br />
identity parade from above. Phew!<br />
‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ (to misquote<br />
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Three months later I set out for Clermont-<br />
Ferrand and a date with my cheesedestiny.<br />
Crazy thoughts filled my head:<br />
would my ‘Long-Lost Love Cheese’ have<br />
changed? Would that distinctive taste and<br />
look be the same as the memory buried in<br />
my sub-conscious?<br />
Corinne had arranged lunch at La<br />
Fromagerie Nivesse. She laughed at my<br />
nervousness. It felt like a first date. The<br />
waiter fussed around, recommending a<br />
local wine. I couldn’t sit still. I pushed past<br />
the queue of hungry customers to look at<br />
the vast counters of cheeses, trying to spot<br />
‘her’…I felt overwhelmed by the dozens and<br />
dozens of products…but, then, there in the<br />
corner by the door, nearest to where we<br />
were sitting, almost as if ‘she’ was wanting<br />
me to see ‘her’ first, was my ‘Long-Lost<br />
Love Cheese’. There was no mistaking the<br />
soft angle of ‘her’ flanks, the delicate pale<br />
crust, outlined by darker dustings of ash,<br />
and the creamy skin. The hub-bub of the<br />
shop faded away as I bent over to gaze at<br />
this object of desire that had taken ten<br />
years to find.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w to taste! Before us was a plate of<br />
charcuterie, fruit, bread, and a selection of<br />
six local cheeses. I only had eyes for one. I<br />
gently slid a slice onto a piece of bread,<br />
and, oh! The first eruption of pleasure at the<br />
creamy inside overwhelmed me. Then the<br />
velvety sensation of the crust dusted with a<br />
complex bite of ash followed. Every-thing<br />
I’d remembered came flooding back. A<br />
mouthful of wine, and then another slice.<br />
The emotion of the moment I had waited<br />
ten long years for held me. I savoured it to<br />
the full. “So, it is your cheese?” Corinne<br />
chuckled. <strong>No</strong> need to respond. My silly grin<br />
said it all.<br />
“I have arranged for you to visit the farmer<br />
who makes your Love-Cheese” Corrine<br />
said, “He is expecting you this afternoon”.<br />
It took a while to find La Côte Courtesserre.<br />
Forty minutes east of Clermont, the GPS<br />
got me to the general vicinity, but I couldn’t<br />
find it. So I did the commonsense thing and<br />
explored every lane, every track, every byway,<br />
until eventually I spotted a field with a<br />
flock of goats.
This must be it! Sure enough a handpainted<br />
sign announced ‘Fromage de<br />
Chèvre fermier. J-B Navaron’.Jean-Baptiste<br />
peered thought the window of his tiny dairy<br />
as I pulled up.<br />
I’d interrupted his cheese-making but<br />
smiling, he explained he’d taken over his<br />
parent’s farm about eleven years ago and<br />
had around a hundred and twenty shegoats<br />
and a few billys. Out of sight was a<br />
small herd of cows. It was an idyllic spot,<br />
cresting a gentle hill, the Chaîne des Puys<br />
dormant volcano range is the backdrop. It<br />
was clearly not chance that my cheese<br />
mimicked the shape and exact angle of the<br />
slope of these giants.<br />
I asked Jean-Baptiste about his day. “I get<br />
up at six-thirty and milk the goats and<br />
cows”, he smiled. “On your own?” I asked.<br />
“Just me. I do it for love. For passion. Every<br />
single day. My last holiday was three years<br />
ago. Then I go to a Farmer’s Market or take<br />
my cheeses to shops like La Fromagerie<br />
Nivesse. Back in the afternoon to make<br />
more, around sixty a week” He produces<br />
four goat, two cow, and one mixed types.<br />
Mine didn’t really have a name, he<br />
explained, “Customers give their own<br />
name”. The Long-Lost Love Cheese with no<br />
name I thought. I was too shy to tell him.<br />
We crossed the track, negotiated an electric<br />
fence, and he called to his goats. They flew<br />
down from the hilltop to surround us, a<br />
joyful, nuzzling, inquisitive bunch, sleeklycoated<br />
and happy. I’d reached the pure<br />
source of my lovely cheese, a contented<br />
farmer, with his contented animals.<br />
Thus my story ends, but with a twist. In<br />
2013 I had a heart attack, and as part of a<br />
healthier regime, decided I would forsake<br />
cheese. The taste of my Long-Lost-Love<br />
Cheese was the first I’d had for three and a<br />
half years. I’m happy and at ease now. I’ve<br />
found her, and having savoured the taste,<br />
I’ve given up cheese again.<br />
But I have the memory.<br />
Michael Cranmer travelled courtesy of<br />
Atout France and auvergnerhonealpestourisme.com
Toulouse may not immediately come to<br />
mind as a destination for a short break but<br />
this exciting, vibrant and historic city is less<br />
than a 90-minute flight from the UK and is<br />
well served from all over France by the rail<br />
network.<br />
Toulouse is the fourth largest city in<br />
France, well known as the home of the<br />
European Space industry and of airbus,<br />
though I was here for the food, culture and<br />
architecture of La Ville Rose (“the pink<br />
city”).There are no stone quarries nearby<br />
so rich local clay is used to make pinkish<br />
terracotta bricks which many buildings are<br />
made of. In the early morning or late<br />
afternoon sunshine they are a<br />
photographer’s dream.<br />
Making for a great base, the Grand Hotel de<br />
l’Opera, is slap bang in the middle of the<br />
city on the vast Place du Capitole. It is one<br />
of the classic mansions of the city and<br />
boasts two restaurants, both sharing the<br />
same courtyard. Les Jardins de L’Opera is<br />
the gastronomic home of Michelin starred<br />
chef Stephane Tournie while the more<br />
affordable Brasserie de L’Opera run by chef<br />
Gratien Castro is terrific.<br />
Sitting here with a glass of Pastis, nibbling<br />
on amuse bouches, half a dozen plump<br />
escargot swimming in garlic butter and<br />
steak frites, makes for a very French, very<br />
relaxing lunch.
Place Charles de Gaulle is a good starting<br />
point for a visit to the city to find out what’s<br />
on and to pick up a one-day Toulouse Pass<br />
Tourisme at the tourist office. The pass<br />
gives you free entry to the museums and<br />
reduced rates at many of the city’s<br />
attractions. It also includes free travel on<br />
public transport, metro, bus, tram and<br />
airport shuttle bus as well as a guided tour<br />
of the city and a free cruise along the River<br />
Garonne.<br />
The walking tour of Tolouse starts from the<br />
tourist office housed in the historic Donjon<br />
du Capitole. This much-loved building<br />
houses the Hotel de Ville, the Theatre<br />
Nationale Orchestra and Opera House. It is<br />
well worth a visit to see the dramatic wall<br />
murals depicting the seasons of Toulouse.<br />
You can’t help but notice that all over the<br />
city are two symbols, a twelve-pointed<br />
cross and the scallop shell. The cross is<br />
The Occitan Cross also known as the cross<br />
of Languedoc, it is the symbol of Occitania<br />
and appears everywhere. The place du<br />
Capitole has a huge brass one set in the<br />
floor, designed by Raymond Moretti in<br />
1995, each point is a symbol of the zodiac<br />
A short stroll through streets lined with<br />
buildings of pink bricks brings you to the<br />
basilica of Saint-Sernin. This was an<br />
important stop on the Way of St James, one<br />
of the routes of Santiago de Compostela,<br />
which of course explains the appearance of<br />
the many scallop shell symbols in Toulouse<br />
(pilgrim's motif).
Next stop is the massive Jacobins Convent.<br />
To be fair it is not the most beautiful<br />
building from the outside. Don’t let this put<br />
you off because this severe brick built<br />
block is extraordinarily light inside with<br />
massive pillars and palm-tree-like ribs<br />
reaching huge heights. The cloisters are a<br />
welcome cool place to rest up from the<br />
heat of the city.<br />
There is so much more to see on this walk<br />
but rather than listen to me - go there and<br />
follow in my footsteps - you won’t be<br />
disappointed.<br />
Place St Georges is one of the locals’<br />
favourite squares in the city, ringed with<br />
cafés and restaurants. It is the perfect<br />
place to spend a relaxing evening watching<br />
the world go about its business. You<br />
couldn’t do much better than head to<br />
Monsieur Georges for a tasty dinner. The<br />
duck profiteroles are divine, washed down<br />
with a glass of perfectly chilled rosé.<br />
There are lots of hotels in Toulouse to suit<br />
all budgets. Many hotels get full during the<br />
week out of season with business folks<br />
visiting the aerospace and aviation<br />
industries but being empty at weekends,<br />
they offer some great deals.<br />
Toulouse is the sort of place where you can<br />
leave your maps and guide books, GPS and<br />
phone in your hotel room and dive into the<br />
city and got lost in its streets. There are<br />
shops to suit all tastes, great cafés and<br />
restaurants to fit all budgets, food markets<br />
and even a man-made beach on the banks<br />
of the Garonne. There really is something<br />
for everyone in this fabulous city.<br />
Leave room in your suitcase to take home<br />
some Toulouse specialities - saucissons,<br />
tins of cassoulets and other French<br />
gourmet delights.<br />
Toulouse Tourist office<br />
ukfrance.fr
Take a hike in the largest national park in<br />
ECRINS<br />
Rupert Parker finds out what it's like to take a break in a high mountain<br />
refuge, a popular stopover in France, and climbs a glacier to reach an<br />
altitude of almost 3600m...<br />
I’ve always wondered what it would be like<br />
to spend the night in those high altitude<br />
French Refuges, which look so cosy,<br />
tucked in close to the mountains. Better<br />
yet, when I hear about a Tour Gourmand, or<br />
gastronomy tour, walking between them,<br />
I’m even more interested. So I pack my<br />
rucksack and set out for the Ecrins<br />
National Park, about a 90 minute drive<br />
east of Grenoble. It’s the largest National<br />
Park in France and features some of the<br />
wildest and most dramatic scenery in the<br />
Alps. Perhaps because of that, it remains<br />
relatively unknown, its paths less travelled<br />
than those famous trails further north<br />
around Mont Blanc.<br />
I’m told that the walking is quite strenuous<br />
and it’s better to take less rather than more.<br />
I whittle down my load to a change of<br />
clothes, a sheet sleeping bag, toiletries,<br />
sandals and of course a large water<br />
container.<br />
The trail starts at Gîte du Plan du Lac, near<br />
St Christophe en Oisans, and I settle down<br />
to a hearty lunch with a glass of wine to<br />
give me courage, before hitting the trail.<br />
The weather isn’t looking particularly<br />
promising but at least it’s dry and the first<br />
few kilometres follow the valley floor<br />
alongside the River Vénéon.
I see the village of St Christophe en Oisans<br />
perched high above the opposite bank, and<br />
the signpost points me up the steep<br />
hillside, directly adjacent to a magnificent<br />
waterfall. I get glimpses of this as I climb,<br />
but it’s beginning to rain and I’m keen to<br />
reach shelter. Finally, after plodding up<br />
600m, the tiny Refuge de l’Alpe du Pin<br />
pops into view and I collapse with a beer.<br />
It’s been tough and I’m hungry so I ask the<br />
guardian, Sylvie Danjard, what’s for dinner.<br />
She replies that it’s soup, made with<br />
foraged herbs and looks at me. It doesn’t<br />
sound like much but she’s teasing and of<br />
course there's more to follow.<br />
At 1805m, there’s no electricity, the toilet is<br />
outside and the running water comes out<br />
of a plastic pipe snaking down the<br />
mountain. The refuge can sleep twenty, all<br />
packed closely together on one platform,<br />
but fortunately it’s only half full. Sylvie is an<br />
excellent cook and her delicious herb soup<br />
is served with homemade bread and a<br />
glass of organic Cote du Rhone. Next are<br />
Oreilles d'Âne, or donkey’s ears, a lasagnelike<br />
dish of wild spinach, sandwiched<br />
between layers of pasta and cheese. I’m<br />
now thinking I’ve eaten my fill but local<br />
sausages arrive, then pieces of Comte<br />
cheese and finally her delicious fruit tart.<br />
Everyone of course sleeps well, although I<br />
do get complaints about my snoring in the<br />
morning.<br />
The weather is looking better as we set out<br />
early for the next refuge. The track takes us<br />
through the forest and then starts to<br />
descend. I’m worrying that I’m going to lose<br />
all the height I gained yesterday but<br />
fortunately the path takes a right into the<br />
Mariande Valley, then follows the Muande<br />
stream up to the Refuge de la Lavey at<br />
1797m. This is a much larger building than<br />
the previous night and can take up to 60.<br />
Its situation is stunning, surrounded by<br />
3000m peaks, with a snow filled glacier on<br />
the horizon. Facilities are slightly better<br />
than the previous night, as there are inside<br />
toilets, although if you want a shower, you<br />
have to brave the outdoors. They’re famous<br />
for serving world food and dinner is<br />
typically Nepalese – rice, dhal and strips of<br />
grilled meat.
Next morning it’s cold and crispy and<br />
there’s frost on the grass. After crossing<br />
the Muande stream, it’s a steep zig zag up<br />
the mountainside, climbing to 2350m. At<br />
this altitude, I’m feeling short of breath and<br />
it’s a bit of a slog, but the magnificent<br />
views more than make up for it. We<br />
descend slightly to the Lac des Fétoules,<br />
more of a pond really, where people have<br />
camped overnight.<br />
comfort. A taxi whisks us 14km to Vénosc<br />
and we take the cable car to Les Deux<br />
Alpes and check into the three star Hotel<br />
Le Souleil’Or. After a couple of nights<br />
roughing it, it really feels like a palace and<br />
it’s good to have a room of my own. Dinner<br />
at their Le Shakisky restaurant is excellent.<br />
From here it’s a scramble downhill, icy<br />
underfoot, back to the bridge over the<br />
Vénéon River. There’s another bit of<br />
climbing before we reach delightful St<br />
Christophe en Oisans. The amusingly<br />
eccentric Café La Cordée supplies the<br />
beers and then welcomes us into their<br />
Hamman - just the thing for washing the<br />
dirt and sweat of the last few days away.<br />
The Tour Gourmand continues onwards to<br />
a couple more refuges but I’m keen to try<br />
some glacier hiking, and I’m craving some
It’s wise to get on the glacier early, before<br />
the snow begins to melt, so at 8am, we<br />
meet Marc, our guide. We’ll need to be<br />
roped so are equipped with helmets,<br />
harness, crampons and ice axe. It’s then a<br />
ride by cable car and funicular up to<br />
3400m. At this altitude, even though the<br />
sun is shining, fingers are a little cold to be<br />
fumbling with crampons, but they’re<br />
essential on the snow. Marc inspects each<br />
of us, checking the harnesses and<br />
adjusting the positions of our ice axes so<br />
we won’t damage our partners, then leads<br />
us single file onto the glacier.<br />
Of course I’m the one who keeps standing<br />
on the rope, almost tripping the person in<br />
front of me, but I quickly learn from my<br />
mistakes. We climb steadily, across what<br />
looks like plain pristine snow, but there are<br />
hidden crevasses and Marc steers us away<br />
from particular patches which he deems<br />
dangerous. It’s tough walking at this<br />
altitude and any cold is banished by a sea<br />
of perspiration.<br />
Finally the snow runs out, replaced by a<br />
bed of rough slate, and I realise we’re at the<br />
summit. At this altitude the views are<br />
stunning: Mont Blanc to the north is<br />
completely clear and, looking south, I can<br />
just make out the distinctive shape of Mont<br />
Ventoux in Provence. There’s no time to<br />
linger as the ice is melting and we need to<br />
get off the glacier before it’s too late.<br />
The Tour Gourmand is all inclusive, and<br />
can be booked at berarde.com<br />
Hotel Souleil’Or<br />
For more information about the Vénéon<br />
valley, see www.montagne-oisans.com.<br />
For more information about Les Deux<br />
Alpes, see www.les2alpes.com.<br />
For further information about the<br />
mountains of France see www.francemontagnes.com.
It was to be a combined holiday of skiing<br />
for my children (aged 11, 10 and 9 - total<br />
beginners) and dog walking. When you own<br />
two huge hounds, Leonbergers, the<br />
youngest of which weighs in at 75 kgs,<br />
putting them in kennels isn’t really an<br />
option and anyway, they’re part of the<br />
family. Luckily we found a ski company that<br />
accommodates all your family - even the<br />
furry members.<br />
Two days before we left, the husband fell<br />
down the stairs at work and cracked his<br />
shoulder bone. I tripped over whilst walking<br />
the dogs giving myself concussion. As we<br />
pulled out of the Eurotunnel in the early<br />
hours, packed to the rafters, I couldn’t move<br />
my neck and was still seeing stars and he<br />
couldn’t move his shoulder. Things could<br />
only get better, couldn’t they?<br />
Arriving in Saint Gervais<br />
Our apartment was on the third floor so<br />
that was the first challenge. Leonbergers in<br />
a lift! They may be mountain dogs but they<br />
don’t do stairs and perhaps unsurprisingly,<br />
I’d never tried squeezing them into a very<br />
small space before. To their credit, they<br />
weren’t at all bothered (although some of<br />
the other residents might have been - we<br />
tended to exit at speed) but we did have to<br />
travel in two shifts as there wasn’t room for<br />
all of us in one lift.<br />
Once settled in, I think the dogs rather<br />
enjoyed eating their dinner on the balcony<br />
with views across to the Alpes and Mont<br />
Blanc.<br />
Day 1 – Taking it easy<br />
We had a plan. Being a particularly mild<br />
spring, snow was scarce, so our plan was to<br />
ski in the mornings and walk in the<br />
afternoons. We booked 5 days of lessons<br />
for all of us but spent the first morning just<br />
mucking about up the mountain on a small<br />
piece of flat but snowy space. After an hour,<br />
my kids declared they were now of Olympic<br />
standard (despite not yet having gone down<br />
a slope) and we returned to the resort for a<br />
dog walk, relieved to find the dogs hadn’t<br />
eaten the apartment. The temperature in<br />
Saint Gervais for our week averaged at 18<br />
degrees, so I felt a little over dressed in my<br />
thick sweater and woolly hat as we headed<br />
down to the Thermal Park – a well-known<br />
local spa.<br />
The spa sits in a valley, at the end of a tree<br />
lined driveway. Cherry and apple blossom<br />
welcomed us against a background of the<br />
snow tipped mountains and the sound of a<br />
river. Was this really a winter break?<br />
We walked along a woodland path which<br />
runs behind the spa. It was my challenge<br />
number three as in places the path is steep,<br />
rocky and narrow. <strong>No</strong>t so much a path,<br />
more of a goat track, and full credit to the<br />
very elderly lady we passed on the ascent,<br />
they make them tough round here.<br />
The path takes you over a slender<br />
footbridge across a waterfall. I’m all for an<br />
adventure and a beautiful vista but I don’t<br />
ever see the need for there to be holes in a<br />
footbridge with a gapping chasm below.<br />
Especially when I’m still vaguely concussed.<br />
And did I mention that I’m scared of<br />
heights.
Day 2: A flying start<br />
First day of ski school - an overwhelming<br />
success, though I only remembered on the<br />
way up the mountain that number 2 son<br />
doesn’t like heights. I was beginning to<br />
worry that I really hadn’t thought this<br />
holiday through. The lower green runs were<br />
open and we enjoyed meandering down<br />
with our respective classes. My children<br />
declared they were now semi-professional.<br />
In the afternoon, we walked the dogs up<br />
the mountain in Le Bettex. We had two<br />
choices: take the cable car or drive. I’m<br />
ashamed to admit that our courage failed<br />
us and we drove. A combined total weight<br />
of 150 kgs of excited dog in a cable car,<br />
was at this stage, an adventure too far!<br />
his wooden balcony, admiring Mont Blanc.<br />
An old lady doing her spring cleaning with<br />
half her furniture out on the grass after the<br />
long winter.<br />
We meandered through woods and across<br />
slopes with wonderful views. You get the<br />
occasional glimpse of magnificent chalets<br />
set in regal grounds. We rewarded<br />
ourselves with a G and T on our return. Gin<br />
and fresh mountain air in the sunshine with<br />
views across les Alpes. What a cure for the<br />
stresses of life.<br />
The drive from Saint Gervais to Le Bettex is<br />
not hard and it’s worth it. The mountain is<br />
dripping with pretty wooden chalets in all<br />
shapes and sizes and it’s a chance to see<br />
some of the local life. An elderly gent sat on
Day 3: It all falls apart<br />
The exceptionally mild weather meant all<br />
the lower slopes and most of the green<br />
runs were closed and ski school moved up<br />
the mountain. This revealed that my<br />
children were not the professional skiers<br />
that they’d come to believe they were. By<br />
lunch time, my husband swore his knees<br />
were finished and two of the children were<br />
declaring they would never ski again.<br />
Full credit to the ski school instructor who’d<br />
spent 2 ½ hours coaxing no. 2 son down<br />
the mountain as his fear of heights kicked<br />
in. And to my husband who spent the<br />
evening balancing the children on his feet<br />
(whilst wincing in pain) so that he could<br />
teach them about shifting their weight<br />
when they turn rather than shooting<br />
straight down the mountain.<br />
It’s at those moments of your life when you<br />
realise that three boisterous children, two<br />
large excited dogs and a dose of stress and<br />
fatigue is not the best combination for a<br />
small apartment. We went out for dinner<br />
that night.<br />
Our dog walk that day was around the town<br />
of Saint Gervais, our sense of adventure<br />
flagging. The old town is pretty and as you<br />
come into it from below it has some<br />
beautiful, mid-19th century buildings with<br />
intricate iron and glass arcades.<br />
Day 4: A turn for the better<br />
We chucked the kids out at ski school and<br />
ran. My concussion was finally easing and a<br />
combination of Voltarol and knee straps<br />
were holding my husband together. We<br />
reconvened at midday and were greeted<br />
with smiles. The kids had mastered “the<br />
turn”, the snow plough and had a great<br />
morning.<br />
We treated ourselves to an afternoon at the<br />
“Bains du Mont Blanc” back at the Thermal<br />
Park. They do a family session on a<br />
Wednesday and it’s well worth it. The<br />
thermal baths are warm, bubbly, outside<br />
and restorative. My snow burnt, rosacea<br />
covered cheeks needed some love and this<br />
hit the spot. A beautiful setting, a great<br />
chance to unwind and recover.
Day 5: A great day in the mountains<br />
With all of us beginning to find our feet (or<br />
rather our skis) this was a great day. We<br />
spotted deer on the slopes from the cable<br />
car and saw the famous Marmot scurrying<br />
around beneath us. They look a bit like a<br />
beaver but are in fact a large type of<br />
squirrel. The snow wasn’t brilliant but it<br />
was enough for us novices to enjoy the<br />
mountains.<br />
The dog walk was wonderful. We headed<br />
out from the nearby village St Nicolas De<br />
Veroce up into the mountains and back.<br />
With a Baroque church thrown in, it has<br />
awesome mountain views and is a great<br />
way to see what remains of the original<br />
way of life in the Alps. We passed a couple<br />
of little homesteads making and selling<br />
their own local cheese, walked through a<br />
farm yard and the dogs drank from the old<br />
stone water troughs that dotted the route.<br />
This was Heidi country indeed. Remote<br />
wooden chalets, green mountain slopes<br />
covered in buttercups and steep winding<br />
woodland paths. We met a weather-beaten<br />
farmer herding his sheep and an old lady<br />
tending her newly planted beds and we felt<br />
like we’d conquered the world as we looked<br />
down on the Chamonix Valley below. It was<br />
worth every bit of effort to get there.<br />
Day 6: We’ve nailed it<br />
As we were only skiing in the mornings, we<br />
abandoned ski school on our last day in<br />
order to ski together as a family. It’s not<br />
something I ever imagined doing and the<br />
sight of your children whizzing past you at<br />
speed after just 6 days, is both wonderful<br />
and terrifying. What a success! <strong>No</strong> injuries<br />
and everyone saying they wanted to come<br />
back soon.<br />
For the afternoon’s dog walk, my husband<br />
explored the lowest slopes around our<br />
resort while I packed up skis and prepared<br />
for our next adventure.<br />
Day 7<br />
My husband caught a bus from the resort<br />
to go to Geneva airport for the UK. The kids,<br />
the dogs and I were heading to the Atlantic<br />
coast. After all, how hard can swimming<br />
with Leonbergers be?
Top Tips for dog friendly Ski Holidays<br />
We stayed with Peak Retreats and Les<br />
Arolles (Lagrange) in Saint Gervais for 7<br />
nights self-catering. We travelled with<br />
Eurotunnel (Dogs cost extra on the<br />
Eurotunnel – at £18 / dog.).<br />
You can book ski hire, ski passes and<br />
insurance with Peak Retreats or buy/ hire<br />
them in resort on arrival.<br />
www.peakretreats.co.uk<br />
Pre book your visit to the thermal spa<br />
and choose any additional treatments at:<br />
thermes-saint-gervais.com<br />
Read Lucy Pitt's top tips for skiing with<br />
dogs.
YOUR PHOTOS<br />
Every weekend, we invite you to share your photos on Facebook - it's a great way for<br />
everyone to see "real" France and be inspired by real travellers snapping pics as they go.<br />
Every week there are utterly gorgeous photos being shared and here we showcase the<br />
most popular of each month. Share your favourite photos with us on Facebook - the most<br />
"liked" will appear in the next issue of The Good Life France Magazine...<br />
Stunning photo of Mont Blanc,<br />
<strong>No</strong>rmandy by Liz Wiliamson<br />
Montmartre Paris looking gorgeous by Na
Honfleur at dusk by Robin Cox - how lovely is that?!<br />
Join us on Facebook<br />
and like and share<br />
your favourite photos<br />
of France...<br />
netter Gordon
GIV<br />
Win a copy of Vagabonds in France<br />
by Michael A Barry<br />
When a couple lose their home in Florida they<br />
decide not to panic but to go travelling – their end<br />
destination being France. It’s a funny, warm and<br />
uplifting read and an honest account of life in<br />
France and Paris.<br />
Click on the picture to enter the competition<br />
to win an eBook copy of Vagabonds in<br />
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Read our review of Vagabonds in France
E AWAYS<br />
Win a copy of C’est Bon: Recipes<br />
Inspired by La Grand Epicerie de<br />
Paris<br />
Trish Deseine’s delicious and easy-to-prepare<br />
recipes are inspired by the fine ingredients at La<br />
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food shop in the upscale Bon Marché<br />
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Click on the picture to enter the<br />
competition to win a copy of C'est Bon<br />
Win a copy of Voilà!<br />
Effortless French<br />
Cookbook by Cécile<br />
Delarue<br />
Fun and easy to follow recipes<br />
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bonjour to the pleasures of French<br />
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Cookbook
It started, as these things do, without<br />
a lot of hoopla – my mother and I arriving<br />
at the Place de la Concorde during her firstever<br />
trip to Paris. The day was brilliant, the<br />
sun glittered off the Seine, and our jet lag<br />
made us woozy with the city’s beauty. But<br />
then, to my surprise, my mother flung her<br />
arms out wide and let escape a sound loud<br />
enough for every Parisian within earshot to<br />
turn. “I’m baaaaack!” she cried, her joy<br />
bursting forth in a teary laugh. It was at that<br />
startling moment I became convinced that<br />
what she always had felt was true: in a<br />
previous life my mother was French and<br />
had lost her head to the guillotine – the<br />
deadly blade that once stood in that very<br />
spot.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w, she has lost her head in a different<br />
fashion. Or maybe it’s her heart. At 70-<br />
something, this mother of five,<br />
grandmother to seven and lifelong<br />
Francophile is cashing in her fantasy and<br />
becoming a French madame.<br />
Who knew she had it in her, this utter<br />
oneness with a buttered baguette for<br />
breakfast (it used to be plain toast), this<br />
bliss while browsing Monoprix, this<br />
absolutely transcendent expression she<br />
gets when she says to the pear man at the<br />
market in something that’s actually French,<br />
“deux belles poires, s’il vous plait,<br />
Monsieur.” My mom. <strong>No</strong>w she is my<br />
maman.
She has learned to tie a scarf, become a<br />
connoisseur of lemon tarts. And to see her<br />
charming them in the stalls of Saturday’s<br />
marché aux puces at the Porte de Vanves<br />
is to see my mom – excuse me, my<br />
maman – inhabiting a character I suppose<br />
has been there all along. Maybe it just was<br />
hidden within the harried housewife of<br />
classic California suburbia, the Frenchthemed<br />
person that lurked beneath the<br />
surface of the well-to-do, stay-at-home<br />
mom possessed of passions, apparently,<br />
far beyond the obvious: beautifully<br />
prepared meals and a house that, thanks to<br />
her own mastery of a mop and certain<br />
vavavoom with a vacuum, tilted toward the<br />
immaculate.<br />
I don’t know, maybe there were hints. How<br />
her garden behind our modest woodshingled<br />
house had to have precisely<br />
pruned rows of shapely, pointy things,<br />
gravel paths and a fountain – a formal style<br />
I later would learn channeled Versailles.<br />
How she said “lingerie” unlike anyone<br />
else’s mom, or even store clerks or TV –<br />
pronouncing it the authentic French way<br />
(lahn-je-ree) even though she never had<br />
been to France, much less learned a word<br />
of French or even met an actual French<br />
person.<br />
These were things, she said, she “just felt.”<br />
And it is not like translated French books<br />
and romantic French films fed her<br />
imagination. From the day she met my<br />
Army officer-turned-stockbroker dad on a<br />
blind date, married him two weeks later and<br />
gave birth to babies one, two, three, four<br />
and, after a brief timeout, five, her life was<br />
an all-consuming whirl of wifedom, children<br />
and housework. Even if she had had the<br />
slightest second to herself to study a<br />
foreign language or culture, she would have<br />
used it first to collapse, exhausted.<br />
“Endless drudgery,” she called it all. But we<br />
knew underneath the sometime whining<br />
she loved it (didn’t she?). Home and family,<br />
after all, were her pride of accomplishment.<br />
So today when my maman, who keeps a<br />
tiny, pink apartment in Paris’s chi-chi <strong>16</strong>th<br />
arrondissment, doesn’t just say, but wears<br />
sexy French lingerie, I wonder how she was<br />
born one person – my mom – only to<br />
become another: this mom-object of such<br />
major admiration (in me) that I would be<br />
beyond thrilled if I could be even a tenth as<br />
fabulous as she. How can becoming a<br />
French madame do that?<br />
Well, anyway, this is what happened. First<br />
there was the espadrilles and boat-neck,<br />
striped T-shirt thing. Maybe it was how<br />
Jackie Kennedy always was photographed<br />
in St. Tropez wearing the fetching, oh-so-<br />
French summer outfit (with white jeans), but<br />
my mom (who loves Jackie Kennedy, don’t<br />
we all?) wore espadrilles coming and boatneck,<br />
striped T-shirts going, even if it was<br />
only to the grocery store.<br />
Then there was the coq au vin. Maybe it<br />
was how Julia Child in TV cooking class<br />
would reminisce of her days at the Cordon<br />
Bleu while slapping around her chicken<br />
breasts, but my mom (who loves Julia Child,<br />
don’t we all?) started revising our meals.<br />
Coq au vin, remoulade, vichyssoise,<br />
tapenade: <strong>No</strong>t overnight but slowly, as<br />
surely as the Tour Eiffel lights the Paris<br />
night with romance, even magic, family<br />
dinners required a French accent to<br />
describe.<br />
By the time in her 50s she finally, finally put<br />
down the Hoover long enough to take her<br />
first trip to France, it was pretty much over.<br />
My mom was quite far gone as my maman.<br />
She could claim with pride a small,<br />
remaining shred of dignity (trés small) after<br />
being worked over for years by the<br />
terrifying Mme. Bliss, the adult-school<br />
French teacher who was none too<br />
impressed with my mom’s…well, let’s just<br />
say issues with the imparfait (for one).
She now routinely was going by Jacqueline,<br />
her French given name, instead of Gadgie,<br />
her father’s nonsensical childhood<br />
nickname for her – which my mom would<br />
use, but never my maman. She had our<br />
foyer, sunroom and bathroom floors all<br />
rehabbed in black and white tile (see,<br />
Malmaison), named our wire-haired fox<br />
terrier Pierre, and never, ever, even if she<br />
were flat out postal with hunger, eat so<br />
much as a bite between meals. Of course, a<br />
French madame is like that: Emerging<br />
from the boulangerie she might bite off the<br />
butt end of her baguette before lunch or<br />
dinner to avoid a faint, but dive into a sack<br />
of Cheetos? Horreur! I would learn things<br />
like that later, of course, after my mom was<br />
well into her mamaninization.<br />
So after her first trip to Paris and the I’ve<br />
lived before, but I was French! incident at<br />
the Place de la Concorde, my mom could<br />
not get enough of it. Like she was picking<br />
up the misplaced bits of a soul that long<br />
ago had shattered and was scattered by<br />
the winds of time; like she was ecstatically<br />
sticking each one back in place until her<br />
essence again was shining, happy, whole.<br />
She did a trip of French cathedrals, another<br />
of museums, a third of spas – Vittel to<br />
Evian. There was the chateaux tour, the art<br />
trek, the ancient villages drive-by event. If<br />
she didn’t pray to the Virgin at Lourdes<br />
(she did), she was buying a bikini in Biarritz<br />
that was oh-so-Brigitte Bardot. If she<br />
wasn’t getting teary at the beaches of<br />
<strong>No</strong>rmandy (she was), she was flipping over<br />
the faience of Quimper, lost in downtown<br />
Dijon, or found to have friends in Provence.<br />
Over the years each trip would leave my<br />
mom at little more maman-like. Her hair, for<br />
instance. My mom’s graying brunette bob<br />
that in the youth-obsessed U.S. was dyed<br />
(to its eternal shame) a shade not found in<br />
nature became in my maman a glossy bob<br />
of silvery pride, its au natural hue (as<br />
encouraged by her Paris hair people) a halo<br />
of honor for her ageless grace. Her shoes<br />
went down a heel height – the better to<br />
speedwalk Paris cobblestones – her<br />
handbags up in quality, and her closet….<br />
why, if my mom were to get a load of her<br />
closet, practically bare but for a few – a very<br />
few – exquisitely tailored things, she would<br />
wail I have nothing to wear! But not my<br />
maman. She finds her dribs and drabs of<br />
outfit take her from day to hot date with my<br />
dad (I don’t want to know about it) in<br />
something that before her Frenchification<br />
my mom tried for years sans success: total<br />
chic.<br />
" H e r s h o e s w e n t d o w n a<br />
h e e l h e i g h t – t h e b e t t e r<br />
t o s p e e d w a l k P a r i s<br />
c o b b l e s t o n e s "<br />
Weird, no? Or as my maman would say,<br />
non?<br />
And it’s not like my mom’s transformation<br />
is limited to such frippery as style. <strong>No</strong>, the<br />
more and more my maman emerged after<br />
mastering the many mom-challenges of life<br />
in France – the art of just saying yes! to rich<br />
French pastries daily without packing on<br />
pounds, say, or the science of shampooing,<br />
leg shaving, et al. with a shower nozzle that<br />
has an agenda of its own – the more I was<br />
convinced: I am the daughter of a madame!<br />
A madame almost as authentic as if once<br />
upon a time in another life she had been<br />
ruled by a Louis or two. Or has she? Who<br />
else holds family as the raison d’être of a<br />
happy life, and has made long French-style<br />
Sunday lunches a weekly ritual? Who else<br />
infuses grace in moments, charm in hours<br />
and meaning in years of loving and<br />
generous efforts on behalf of those she<br />
loves – never forgetting that nothing says<br />
love like a perfectly made tarte aux<br />
pommes? My maman, that’s who.
Oh, my mom could navigate her 70s<br />
convinced it’s time to slow down, stick<br />
close to home, be content to look back – a<br />
lot – at a fruitful life best enjoyed these<br />
days through the adventures of her<br />
grandchildren.<br />
Well…no. My maman will have none of it.<br />
Racking up Air France miles, she is –<br />
jetting between San Francisco and Paris<br />
with a vengeance bred of the<br />
overwhelming need I’m guessing she lost<br />
at the guillotine: that is, to fly along rue de<br />
Passy in the rain on her way to the Métro,<br />
her shoes French flat, her handbag Frenchfine,<br />
and her part-French heart totally at<br />
home.<br />
We miss her when she’s there, of course.<br />
But knowing my maman, with dad, is snug<br />
in her itsy-bitsy Paris pied-a-terre, which<br />
vacation schedules permitting we always<br />
are invited to share, is to thrill to my mom<br />
knowing a happiness – no, a bliss – that I<br />
hope one day to find for myself.<br />
The day I was born, long before she<br />
became my maman, my mom named me<br />
Colette. I should have seen it coming.<br />
In the next issue of The Good Life<br />
France magazine Colette<br />
O'Connor reveals how her<br />
maman moved to Paris at the age<br />
of 76 proving it's never too late to<br />
make your dreams come true...
BUYING<br />
French<br />
Property<br />
Karine Chariaud, contracts expert at<br />
Leggett Immobilier shares her<br />
advice to help you prepare<br />
thoroughly before you begin the<br />
search for your dream home.<br />
Holiday makers in France often love what they find – the relaxing<br />
lifestyle, sunshine and food. Before long, thoughts can turn to<br />
creating a long-term relationship with this beautiful country.<br />
For more information on buying see: A step by step guide to buying<br />
property<br />
FINDING YOUR HOME<br />
Begin by drawing up the list of things you<br />
need to factor into your buying decision.<br />
Basic points, such as the number of<br />
bedrooms, are obvious. But have you<br />
thought about accessibility? If you make<br />
frequent trips back to your old country or<br />
expect family visits, it makes sense to be<br />
within 90 minutes of an airport. Budget<br />
airlines cover much of the country. There is<br />
also the TGV (high speed train), which<br />
makes travel to Paris and the Eurostar links<br />
easy. If you plan to drive back and forth to<br />
the UK, consider the distance to the<br />
Channel ports.<br />
WHERE TO BUY?<br />
My advice is to thoroughly investigate the<br />
area you have chosen. How are you going<br />
to spend your time here? Will your hobbies<br />
be feasible in your new French home? If<br />
you're an ardent skier, don't buy that<br />
beautiful house you fell in love with far from<br />
the ski slopes. It may seem obvious, but it's<br />
a mistake others have made.<br />
PROPERTY CONDITION<br />
Are you willing to renovate or do you prefer<br />
a house where the hard work has already<br />
been done? Chances are you'll want to do<br />
some work to match the house to your<br />
taste, so factor that into your decision to<br />
buy, and your budget.<br />
VALUE FOR MONEY<br />
France provides an array of opportunities.<br />
This is of key importance in any buying<br />
decision. To international eyes, and in real<br />
terms, French housing stock is good value<br />
at the present time.
ADVICE YOU CAN TRUST<br />
Get professional assistance. An agent will<br />
be familiar with the details of French real<br />
estate law, keep you informed about the<br />
process of your purchase and help you<br />
avoid any potential pitfalls. Leggett is the<br />
only real estate company in France with<br />
their own in-house legal team and notaire.<br />
If you don’t speak French and your agents<br />
don’t provide documentation in English<br />
(we do), get it translated so that there are<br />
no nasty surprises.<br />
It's important to establish the legal status<br />
of exactly who is buying the property<br />
before you sign. If you're an unmarried<br />
couple, you might consider buying on a<br />
joint basis. If you're married and wish your<br />
surviving spouse to inherit all your estate,<br />
you will probably need to adopt a French<br />
marriage contract or buy 'en tontine.'<br />
Unrelated groups of people should<br />
consider establishing a property company.<br />
MAKING AN OFFER<br />
When you've found your dream house, it's<br />
time to make an offer. Once the purchase<br />
price has been agreed, a 'compromis de<br />
vente' is drawn up. You then have a sevenday<br />
cooling-off period. The sale proceeds<br />
through a notaire. You can share the<br />
notaire with the vendor or appoint your<br />
own – in either case the notary costs will be<br />
the same.<br />
Mortgages may be cheaper and may offer<br />
some tax advantages if you are permanently<br />
relocating. If you require a mortgage,<br />
this will be inserted as a conditional clause<br />
in the contract. You will need to pay a<br />
deposit, usually 10 percent of the purchase<br />
price. The buying process normally takes<br />
3-4 months.<br />
COMPLETION<br />
When the day of completion arrives, make<br />
sure your monies are deposited with the<br />
notaire several days beforehand to ensure<br />
the sale goes through smoothly. Should<br />
you have overpaid, the balance will be<br />
refunded. Visit the property to ensure all is<br />
as it should be – particularly the fixtures<br />
and fittings – and the sale can proceed.<br />
A FINAL WORD...<br />
If you do your research and take<br />
professional advice, the purchase of your<br />
dream home should be a simple process!
In France everything has its season: in<br />
February it’s skiing; in May it’s lily-of-the<br />
valley; in August it’s idleness; and in<br />
October it’s tax. This last is why, as the<br />
leaves begin to fall each year, my husband<br />
and I get together for a financial summit.<br />
Our budgetary discussions have a<br />
peculiarly French flavour, however: rather<br />
than generating spreadsheets and<br />
instigating household economies, we hold<br />
our annual discussion about whether or<br />
not we should have a third child.<br />
In the UK, our third child discussions were<br />
all about affordability. A third child meant<br />
maternity leave, a bigger car, an extra<br />
mouth to feed, and a third winter coat each<br />
year. Could our finances stretch that far, we<br />
asked ourselves? In France, our<br />
conversations on the subject take precisely<br />
the opposite course, for it seems that if<br />
French Presidents have one objective in<br />
mind it is that I should procreate. <strong>No</strong>,<br />
calmez-vous, there is no need for another<br />
sleaze probe: Governmental interests in<br />
this area are fiscal rather than prurient in<br />
nature.<br />
French families get to share their tax<br />
liabilities between them, you see. This does<br />
not mean a stingy little contribution via the<br />
child benefit system (though French<br />
families get that too), but a wholesale<br />
division of the family’s tax liabilities<br />
between each member of the family. Thus<br />
the more numerous the family, the smaller<br />
the bill. Whereas the super-rich in the UK<br />
are busy messing around with offshore<br />
bank accounts and dodgy investment<br />
funds, here in France, where all you have to<br />
do is go forth and multiply, tax avoidance is<br />
much more fun.<br />
A third child would not only reduce our tax<br />
liability by 25% but would transform us into<br />
a card-carrying famille nombreuse. Entire<br />
websites are given over to the privileges<br />
enjoyed by such families, which include<br />
state-subsidised reductions of up to 75% in<br />
the cost of train tickets, reduced entries to<br />
museums, cinemas and leisure centres,
and even, in some resorts, free ski passes<br />
for the fifth family member (lest the cost of<br />
the compulsory February activity become<br />
prohibitive). In addition to virtually nonexistent<br />
childcare costs and governmentsponsored<br />
rehabilitation of mothers' babymaking<br />
equipment, reproduction in France<br />
has much to recommend it.<br />
Of course, to benefit from the munificence<br />
of the French state, one has not only to<br />
give birth to additional children, but to<br />
remain in France. Prospective parents<br />
might do well to think this through before<br />
they embark on any course of action. <strong>No</strong>t<br />
only does raising a family in France commit<br />
you to a lifetime of being corrected on<br />
the use of the subjonctif by young relatives<br />
barely out of nappies, it also means that<br />
your children will demand at least three<br />
courses, one of which should be fromage,<br />
at every meal. You will tie yourself in to<br />
years of rote-learned poetry: charming<br />
when it is directed towards your many and<br />
manifold virtues on Mother’s Day, but<br />
rather less so when you are hearing a child<br />
drone on about the rentrée for the fifth time<br />
in their primary school career. You will have<br />
to learn to decipher that French curly script,<br />
le cursive, if you ever want to stand a<br />
chance of understanding a word that your<br />
child writes, and if they show the slightest<br />
glimmer of musical talent, you will become<br />
as expert as Julie Andrews on the subject<br />
of the gender of deer, or how far to run.<br />
In other words, the reduction in your tax bill<br />
comes at a price, which is why at our<br />
annual summit we postponed any decision<br />
until next year…<br />
Emily Commander is a freelance writer and<br />
journalist who lives in Lyon and blogs<br />
about the peculiarities of French life. You<br />
can find her at www.lostinlyon.com
Years ago, expats in France who wanted an income usually took the gite route.<br />
Gites really took off in the 1950s when the French Government introduced a gite<br />
classification system to breathe new life into rural economy and British expats in<br />
particular saw the attraction. These days expats are becoming more and more<br />
entrepreneurial and creating jobs for themselves in less traditional areas of<br />
business.<br />
Janine Marsh chats to a group of young Brits who’ve set up a cycling<br />
business in the Tarn region…
Charlotte Corner and Marcus Gough and<br />
Melanie and James Sewell from Coventry,<br />
England, moved to the Tarn in 2015.<br />
Charlotte and Mel are sisters and the<br />
couples are also great friends who had a<br />
vision. They’re in their 30’s and like an<br />
increasing number of people, didn’t want to<br />
wait until retirement to move to France to<br />
live the good life.<br />
After ten years of taking holidays in France,<br />
and much planning, they gave up their jobs<br />
and moved to the village of Espinas in the<br />
Tarn et Garonne, part of the new super<br />
region Occitanie.<br />
location location location<br />
started with a search for a house big<br />
enough for all of them. And they needed<br />
space to set up their business with lots of<br />
storage and accommodation. And it all<br />
needed to be in a really picturesque part of<br />
France.<br />
The couples fell head over heels for this<br />
area at the junction of three regions Tarn,<br />
Tarn-et-Garonne and Aveyron. “The<br />
landscape is spectacular” Mel enthuses “a<br />
combination of rolling hills and oak forests,<br />
impressive river gorges and medieval<br />
hilltop towns glowing golden in the<br />
sunshine”.<br />
“We were inspired to move to this area<br />
after a wonderful holiday in 2013 – this<br />
place just seemed to ‘click’ and we were<br />
won over by the beauty of local towns and<br />
villages, especially Saint Antonin <strong>No</strong>ble<br />
Val. It felt like there was a lot going on and<br />
that it was a place you could live in, not just<br />
a place for holidays” says Marcus.<br />
They knew they had to earn an income and<br />
their dream was to run a cycling holiday<br />
business – they’re all keen cyclists. They<br />
They love the impressive Gorges<br />
D’Aveyron, perfect to visit by bike, market<br />
day in Saint Antonin <strong>No</strong>ble Val is superb<br />
and they love the chance to enjoy wine<br />
tasting in the Gaillac vineyards. “Taking a<br />
tour of the bastide towns including Cordes<br />
sur Ciel, a trip to the city of Albi (a UNESCO<br />
world heritage site), a visit to the Royal<br />
chateau fortress at Najac, the cascades of<br />
the Bonnette river or the lush Foret de<br />
Gresigne” are just a few of their favourite<br />
things.
finding the dream<br />
“We searched for hours and hours online<br />
making long lists, then short listed those<br />
lists until we had a selection of houses we<br />
wanted to view” Marcus says. In the end,<br />
they had 50 properties that were potential<br />
for their home/business goal. It took them<br />
a month to view them all until they saw<br />
“the one” close to the lovely town of Saint<br />
Antonin <strong>No</strong>ble Val.<br />
Their house is a large, Quercy style<br />
farmhouse with the date of 1786 above the<br />
door. It sits in six acres with its own<br />
woodland and surrounding meadows. The<br />
main house was mostly renovated so they<br />
were able to move in straightaway allowing<br />
them to concentrate their efforts on<br />
renovating the barn and creating cabin<br />
accommodation for their cycling business.<br />
“We also had to claw back the gardens<br />
from a very wet spring which had led to the<br />
grass growing six feet high! We spent a lot<br />
of those early days, weeding, strimming<br />
and mowing!” they say.<br />
Soon after they arrived, they were invited to<br />
take part in the Channel 4 TV series, A New<br />
Life in the Sun. “The camera crew captured<br />
some great footage of our ‘before and after’<br />
transformation which has given us a<br />
fantastic record of our achievements but<br />
did occasionally distract us from making<br />
progress” says Jim.<br />
Starting a cycling business in<br />
France<br />
The couple say they knew it wasn’t going to<br />
be easy to set up their new business in<br />
France. “We had no problems sorting out<br />
the sale of our houses in the UK, buying the<br />
property in France, finances, setting up<br />
websites etc but when it came to the official<br />
paperwork we didn’t want to risk getting it<br />
wrong” Marcus says. They hired an Englishspeaking<br />
company in France that helps<br />
expats resettle, set up business and sort<br />
out life in France. <strong>No</strong>t having to worry about<br />
paperwork freed them up to work on<br />
making their company exactly what they<br />
dreamed of.
“We run our holidays from our base – a<br />
beautifully renovated barn with ensuite<br />
bedrooms and swimming pool. Our guests<br />
can explore the best of the region on<br />
different routes each day but without<br />
having to move their belongings from<br />
place to place. We look after the pick-ups<br />
and drop offs each day, breakfast and<br />
dinner. It’s still a cycle touring holiday, but<br />
all within one region, from one base so<br />
guests can feel at home during their stay.<br />
We use local fresh produce for our cooking<br />
and the wine from the vineyards on our<br />
doorstep and a key aspect of our business<br />
is enabling others to explore and enjoy our<br />
beautiful region.”<br />
They also rent out their self-catering barn<br />
and woodland cabin with wood-fired hottub<br />
belong. “We’ve definitely adapted”<br />
Charlotte says, especially since baby<br />
Amadie arrived in January 2017. “Some<br />
things take a bit of getting used to like the<br />
fact that everything stays closed for lunch<br />
and how much form filling there can be!<br />
And we miss friends, family, even the rain<br />
some days - but those things are<br />
outweighed by all of the other special<br />
things that living in France offers. We<br />
particularly love the French approach to<br />
hospitality, there is something very civilised<br />
about the time and care taken to prepare<br />
and eat a meal – eating in France is an<br />
occasion not just a necessity!”<br />
For these young entrepreneurs the move to<br />
France has been everything they dreamed<br />
of and more.<br />
Living the dream<br />
The support from the town hall and their<br />
neighbours in Espinas has been<br />
overwhelming say the couples. They’ve<br />
been made to feel welcome and part of the<br />
community and really feel as though they<br />
Tours du Tarn run cycling holidays<br />
throughout the year, details on their<br />
website: www.tarncyclingholidays.com
The idea began, as most good ideas do, in the pub. Rebecca<br />
Randall, a criminal barrister and husband Greg who works in the<br />
City came to the realisation that they didn’t want to be commuting<br />
to and working in London until they reached 70. They talk to Janine<br />
Marsh about their plans for the good life in Dordogne...
“Several glasses in and one of us (we still<br />
aren’t sure who to blame) came up with the<br />
bright idea of moving to France and setting<br />
up a gite business. Brilliant. Easy. What<br />
could possibly go wrong?”<br />
Rebecca had spent time in France as an au<br />
pair when she was young. Greg had been<br />
on a boys’ holiday to Le Touquet. “I had<br />
done French at A Level. My husband could<br />
order a beer. We were clearly well equipped<br />
to make an incisive, life-changing decision”<br />
Rebecca laughs.<br />
They did though do considerable and indepth<br />
research of the kind that involves<br />
holidays staying in chateaux, drinking wine<br />
and sitting by a pool. They decided that the<br />
Dordogne was the region for them and that<br />
they could afford to buy somewhere that<br />
needed a little bit of renovation. “We<br />
thought we could cope with maybe a new<br />
bathroom or kitchen, but nothing – repeat,<br />
nothing – major”.<br />
They drove thousands of kilometres but<br />
there was nothing that got their hearts<br />
racing and butterflies fluttering. That is,<br />
nothing until a rainy, miserable day in<br />
March 20<strong>16</strong>.<br />
“On a dull, wet morning we saw an<br />
incredibly beautiful house with a large gite.<br />
It was designed to perfection and we<br />
wouldn’t have had to so much as lift a<br />
paintbrush. I wanted it. In the afternoon, our<br />
agent persuaded us to go and see one<br />
more property that she had on her books. It<br />
was a Mill and she uttered the fateful<br />
words, “you need a bit of vision” - and my<br />
heart sank.<br />
Nevertheless, off we went to see Moulin de<br />
Fontalbe. We got lost on the way and had a<br />
small marital disagreement. By the time we<br />
finally drove though the gates I was in no<br />
mood to have vision for anything, apart<br />
from a glass of wine.
Kitchen before...<br />
Kitchen after....<br />
The Mill was enormous and had been<br />
abandoned for several years. Roofs needed<br />
repairing, there was no kitchen or bathroom.<br />
It felt unloved. It was in a nice spot,<br />
but that was all. It was too big a project, I<br />
told Greg, we should just forget it" says<br />
Rebecca.<br />
They returned to their hotel and discussed<br />
the day’s viewings. Greg was very taken<br />
with the Mill, Rebecca wasn’t, but as they<br />
talked, she says she started to come round.<br />
The next day was beautifully sunny and<br />
they decided to revisit the Mill. “What a<br />
difference a day makes. We realised that<br />
the Mill was effectively on its own private<br />
island, with a huge mill pond and lake, plus<br />
forest either side. The stone walls glowed<br />
in the sun. It was picture perfect and truly<br />
unique. We both felt our pulses quicken<br />
and knew that our search could be over.<br />
What we didn’t know until it had utterly<br />
captured our hearts was that there was no<br />
mains water, a complicated sluice system<br />
and an insufficient and antique electricity<br />
supply. But, it was too late by then…”<br />
Rebecca and Greg are now the proud<br />
owners of Moulin De Fontalbe and say they<br />
feel “privileged to own a beautiful property<br />
nestled in the middle of the Dordogne<br />
countryside, close to Saint-Avit Senieur<br />
with its UNESCO listed medieval abbey,<br />
picturesque villages and a long, winding<br />
river. Everyone that we have met has been<br />
welcoming and helpful”.<br />
Their plan is to turn the Mill into a beautiful<br />
home plus a 6-bedroom gite with a yoga<br />
studio. It's an enormous project, not just<br />
the house and gite to renovate but <strong>16</strong> acres<br />
of land, forest, three fields and a quarry. In<br />
the meantime, home is a caravan whilst the<br />
work is ongoing. “It is tough, stressful and<br />
incredibly expensive but it will all be worth<br />
it in the end” says Rebecca.<br />
“The mill is starting to share its secrets with<br />
us and I'm looking forward to the days<br />
when, once again, it is filled with friends,<br />
laughter, chatter and love. Our agent found<br />
our original brief the other day. It says,<br />
“don’t mind a bit of painting and decorating,<br />
but no major projects”….<br />
Rebecca blogs about her adventures when<br />
she has time at Fontable.com
FIND YOUR DREAM HOME IN DORDOGNE<br />
Local estate agent Corrie Phillips of Leggett Immobillier gives an overview of Bergerac<br />
and picks three fabulous properties for sale in the area...<br />
On the surface Bergerac is a quiet and understated city. Look a little closer and it is not<br />
difficult to understand what is attractive about living here. It has a temperate climate<br />
with longer summers and cool winters, making it conducive to a more outdoor lifestyle.<br />
There is something to do for all ages, from Go- Karting, to canoeing, wine tasting from<br />
one of the 120 wine producers of the region , or shopping at one of several weekly<br />
markets. If all this becomes too much, then people watching from one of the many cafés<br />
offers a welcome rest.<br />
With an International airport and major train station, Bergerac has excellent transport<br />
links to the rest of France and further affield.<br />
€140,000<br />
Situated within close proximity to Mouleydier, and a<br />
short stroll to the shops, with all the village facilities.<br />
This house is ideally located. With a little tender<br />
loving care this charming 2-bedroom house could<br />
make an ideal holiday home or permanent home for a<br />
young family.<br />
Click here for more information<br />
Large stone family house situated in the town of<br />
Bergerac. Sitting on two plots this house has 5<br />
bedrooms, a bathroom and a guest wc, large attic,<br />
large basement, private garden, with an immense<br />
double garage with the possibility to convert to an<br />
independent lodging or commercial business.<br />
Click here for more information<br />
€397,000<br />
€520,000<br />
Exquisite old stone house with far reaching views,<br />
renovated to an exceptional standard. Original<br />
features have been retained, such as bread oven,<br />
exposed stone wall, vaulted ceilings and beams.<br />
Whilst being enhanced by modern features including<br />
underfloor electric heating, bespoke kitchen with<br />
granite worktops, and remote-control Velux window<br />
blinds. It has a fabulous heated salt water pool.<br />
Click here for more information
We’ve had a record number of enquiries about life in France in the last 12 months. It<br />
seems that moving to France is on the minds of many and some questions come up over<br />
and over about financial issues, after all, you want to know that you can afford to live the<br />
dream and making sure that you take care of finances is important to getting that result.<br />
We asked financial expert Jennie Poate at Beacon Global Wealth who is qualified to give<br />
financial advice in both France and the UK to answer some of your questions...<br />
If I take early retirement and move to<br />
France? Do I need to pay the remaining<br />
amount to get a full pension before I<br />
move to France?<br />
The first thing to do is check how many<br />
years contributions you have achieved.<br />
Bear in mind that to receive a full UK Basic<br />
State Pension you will need 35 years full<br />
contributions.<br />
You can check here: www.gov.uk/checkstate-pension<br />
required maximum may mean you are<br />
penalised. The short answer is that if you<br />
retire and are tax resident in France this<br />
would mean the French authorities must<br />
obtain information on your UK state<br />
pension status and you won’t be penalised<br />
for the years accrued outside of France and<br />
in the EU.<br />
If you work in France there are a number of<br />
personal pension arrangements you can<br />
make depending on whether you are<br />
employed or self employed.<br />
Once you have that detail you can ask the<br />
National Insurance office about making<br />
catch up payments which can be done as a<br />
lump sum or regular direct debit.<br />
If I move to France and need to work.<br />
Do I get half a pension from the UK and<br />
half from France?<br />
The retirement ages may differ in each<br />
country depending upon your age.<br />
The UK system works on a number of years<br />
full NI (National Insurance) contributions as<br />
above.<br />
The French systems works on a number of<br />
trimestres or quarters and not reaching the<br />
Can I have my UK pension paid in either<br />
the UK or France if I'm living in France?<br />
Some personal pension providers can pay<br />
in Euros but most don’t in which case it<br />
would have to be paid in pounds either to a<br />
UK bank account or a French sterling<br />
account.<br />
The financial advisers trading under Beacon<br />
Wealth Management are members of Nexus<br />
Global (IFA Network). Nexus Global is a division<br />
within Blacktower Financial Management<br />
(International) Limited (BFMI).All approved<br />
individual members of Nexus Global are<br />
Appointed Representatives of BFMI. BFMI is<br />
licenced and regulated by the Gibraltar<br />
Financial Services Commission and bound by<br />
their rules under licence number FSC00805B
Can I have my UK pension paid in<br />
France and does the pension<br />
department fx it to Euros?<br />
UK state pensions can be paid in Euros to<br />
your designated French bank account. The<br />
amount will vary each month according to<br />
the exchange rate. You will normally get<br />
the ‘interbank’ rate of the day so no<br />
currency company is involved taking their<br />
share of profits.<br />
Is there the equivalent of an ISA in<br />
France?<br />
Yes, it's also tax free but it is a lifetime<br />
allowance as opposed to an annual one.<br />
They are available in sole name only. The<br />
rate is normally the same regardless of<br />
which institution you use:<br />
Livret A €22,950 0.75%<br />
Livret Bleu €22,950 0.75%<br />
LDD €12,000 0.75%<br />
LEP €7,700 1.00%<br />
Livret Jeune €1,600 1.75%<br />
There are tax free accounts for those<br />
saving for a mortgage and of course the<br />
Assurance Vie offers the option for higher<br />
risk investments to that of cash.<br />
If you'd like to ask<br />
Jennie a question<br />
about life in France,<br />
obligation free, please<br />
get in touch at:<br />
jennie @<br />
bgwealthmanagement.<br />
net<br />
www.bgwealth.eu<br />
The information on these pages is intended<br />
only as an introduction only and is not<br />
designed to offer solutions or advice. Beacon<br />
Global Wealth Management can accept no<br />
responsibility whatsoever for losses incurred<br />
by acting on the information on these pages.
Secrets of<br />
Bouillabaise<br />
Photo: Paul Gallagher<br />
Keith Van Sickle, author of<br />
Life in Provence, finds out<br />
how to make a real<br />
bouillabaise and how this<br />
famous fish dish got its<br />
name...<br />
My wife and I live part of the year in St.-<br />
Rémy-de-Provence. We love bouillabaisse,<br />
that magical dish that seems to capture the<br />
spirit of Provence. So when our friend<br />
Pascal, a retired chef, invited us over for<br />
homemade bouillabaisse, we were quick to<br />
accept.<br />
Legend has it that bouillabaisse was<br />
invented long ago by the fishermen of<br />
Marseille. <strong>No</strong>t wanting to eat the high-class<br />
fish that fetched the best prices, they<br />
instead created a dish from the bony,<br />
unappealing rockfish that no one wanted.<br />
Bouillabaisse is made in two stages. First<br />
comes the fish soup called, logically<br />
enough, soupe de poisson. To make it,<br />
rockfish are cooked with onion, fennel,<br />
garlic, tomato and white wine “very<br />
important” says Pascal.<br />
boiled potatoes and other vegetables.<br />
A bouillabaisse meal starts with a first<br />
course of soupe de poisson, along with<br />
little round toasts and rouille, a kind of<br />
spicy saffron mayonnaise with lots of garlic.<br />
The second course is the fish and<br />
vegetables.<br />
When we got to Pascal’s house he had<br />
already made the soupe and had a platter<br />
of fish marinating in olive oil and saffron,<br />
ready to be cooked.<br />
Pascal explained how he had made his<br />
soupe. “I buy the cheapest fish at the<br />
market,” he said. “They are bony and ugly<br />
but delicious if you know how to cook<br />
them.” I looked at the rascasse and could<br />
see what he meant about ugly.<br />
This mixture is seasoned to the chef’s<br />
taste, with top-grade saffron being the<br />
essential ingredient. Then it is ground up,<br />
bones and all, into the richly flavored<br />
soupe.<br />
Meanwhile, other fish are marinated and<br />
then cooked whole in the hot soupe. The<br />
cooked fish are fileted and served with
“Because it will EXPLODE. I know from<br />
experience.” Pascal pointed to the faint<br />
saffron stains still visible on his white<br />
kitchen walls. He explained that putting hot<br />
liquid in a blender, then whirling it around at<br />
high speed, increases the pressure and can<br />
lead to disaster.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w it was time to cook the fish. Pascal<br />
turned up the gas burner until the soupe<br />
came to a boil, then put in the fish and<br />
turned down the flame. “This is the secret to<br />
cooking the fish properly,” he said. “If you<br />
don’t lower the temperature you will<br />
overcook the fish.”<br />
“It’s also where the name of the dish comes<br />
from,” he continued. “You bring it to a boil<br />
(bouiller in French), then lower (baisser) the<br />
temperature.” So bouiller + baisser =<br />
bouillabaisse.<br />
Bottom left: Rascasse; above fishermen at Marseille<br />
"I always use rascasse, grondin (sea robin),<br />
congre (conger) and saint-pierre (John Dory<br />
or Peter’s Fish),” he added. “Look at the<br />
spot on the side of the saint-pierre, we<br />
believe it is the thumb print of St. Peter<br />
himself, the great fisherman.”<br />
Pascal went on to explain that soupe de<br />
poisson should be well seasoned. He uses<br />
at least a dozen herbs and spices, with his<br />
favorite being a mix of five different freshly<br />
ground peppers.<br />
He referred to his well-thumbed copy of La<br />
Cuisinière Provençale, the bible of<br />
Provençal cooking. “I always use this,” he<br />
said, “to respect our traditions.”<br />
“When all the ingredients for the soupe are<br />
cooked”, he continued, “you must grind<br />
them by hand. Never use a blender.”<br />
“Why not?” I asked.<br />
A few minutes later the fish was ready and<br />
we sat down to our first course. We spread<br />
rouille on the toasts and floated them in our<br />
big bowls of soupe, making little islands of<br />
garlicky deliciousness.<br />
“<strong>No</strong>t like the frozen stuff they serve in<br />
restaurants, eh?” asked Pascal with a sly<br />
grin. <strong>No</strong>, not at all - it was so good I had<br />
seconds.<br />
Then we had the fish and potatoes with a<br />
bit more soupe sprinkled on top. It was the<br />
food of the gods.<br />
As we said our goodbyes that night, Pascal<br />
told us, “Bouillabaisse teaches us<br />
Mediterranean history - through the dish we<br />
learn of the diversity of fish and of spices<br />
and of our traditions. Every time I prepare it,<br />
it is a great moment for me to share it with<br />
family and close friends.”<br />
A great moment, indeed.<br />
Keith writes at: keithvansickle.com
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y Barbara Pasquet-James
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Beginning French
What a roller coaster summer it has been<br />
here in the middle of nowhere France.<br />
My book, My Good Life in France became a best-seller on Amazon in the UK and a<br />
hot new release on Amazon in the US in August. It was a massive surprise and I am<br />
most enormously grateful to all who’ve bought my book – thank you so much and<br />
especially to all those who left me such wonderful reviews. You needn’t think any of<br />
this has gone to my head – the animals make sure of that! I had 50 ducklings born<br />
this year and I didn’t really want any of them as I have so many ducks, chickens and<br />
geese already. I was vigilant about collecting eggs from coops but, the sneaky ducks<br />
hid in the fields at the bottom of the garden and then turned up followed by a trail of<br />
babies – one of them hatched 17 eggs! I’ve managed to find new homes for most of<br />
them because I have a plan to make.<br />
For years I have dreamed of living in Paris, but with 6 cats, 3 dogs and around 50<br />
birds, it’s not going to happen any time soon. I thought about taking them with me<br />
but they belong in the country where they can run about. I do quite like the idea of<br />
creating my own Marie-Antoinette style farm in the middle of the city of light but I’d<br />
need to win the lottery to do that. So for now, I’m aiming for a month. Four whole<br />
weeks to discover Paris up close and personal. It’s going to take quite a lot of<br />
organisation and a bit of luck but that’s my dream, and I’d love it to come true next<br />
year… so watch this space and wish me bon courage as I’m going to need it!<br />
One of the things on my plan is to finish the renovation on the house so that<br />
whoever house sits can do so with it looking good. I’ve been thwarted by a freak<br />
hailstone storm which means we need a new roof as it caused plenty of damage and<br />
put us back a few months. But we’re plodding on, rendering the walls, fitting and<br />
painting the shutters, clearing the jungle in the front and the back, getting the roof<br />
fixed.<br />
I have to say living the good life has its challenges but nothing we can’t overcome<br />
with will power and determination!