“Noël en Provence” revisited…

Another memorable workshop to discover how the Southern part of France celebrates Christmas!

This very unique fashion of celebrating Christmas inspired both by religion and magic explains the origin of the traditional Christmas “log” as a counterpart to the English plum pudding, the making and the meaning of the "mendiants" and the "fruits déguisés" as well as the importance of the many little characters that people the Nativity scene in true Provençal style: the shepherds, the fishmonger, the miller, the poacher, the old couple, the knife grinder, the water carrier, the milkmaid, the pumpkin carrier, the baker, the huntsman, the lumberjack, the musicians, the village happy man (as opposed to the village idiot!), l’Arlésienne and many others gathered in the “crèche” year after year. People add little “santons” (provençal for little saints), year after year, buying them or creating their own even. Stories and songs surround these local handmade nativity scenes and form one of the most vibrant and original tradition.

Artists specialise in the making of “santons” and reach fame as Maîtres Santonniersand there are international festivals and exhibitions of their work in cities such as Arles. Find out more about it by following la crèche provençale.

Paris again... a treat as always!

Another episode of Paris autrement had us all gather at our usual haunt Carrefour de l'Odéon, chattering in French for hours on end with our Parisian friends over delicious meals.

The whole week-end, with the French capital celebrating the arrival of the Beaujolais nouveau, was packed with action as usual and very much under the sign of food. It was complete with an evening at the theatre appropriately named Les Bouffes Parisiens.

Sunday lunch took place at Le Procope where we ate in style as all the other "citoyens" did. We took moments sampling the Beaujolais nouveau in its organic version at La Dernière Goutte rue de Bourbon le Château, discovered the mythical café of La Palette  rue de Seine, visited Les Deux moulins café down rue Lepic in Montmartre where the film of Amélie Poulain was shot and we were served delicious pastry by a girl whose name wasn't Amélie. There were heaps of oysters at each street corner outside cafés and restaurants announcing Christmas and new Year Eve's "réveillons" and pâtisserie shop windows that made you feel guilty just to look at them!

The stroll through the Quartier des Beaux Arts was a surprise for someone like Richard even who has visited Paris many times. We managed to discover unusual places once again, chatted to people on the way and learnt about various ways of visiting Paris in the future, parking safely and economically.

We also spent a few memorable moments in a little bistrot Boulevard Richard Lenoir... 
Feeling a little peckish (!) after a couple of hours' walking all over l'Ile Saint-Louis, paying a visit to La Maison Berthillon, French Mecqua of ice cream, having a look at Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois restaurant's very ethnic menu, inspecting the crooked courtyards of the Marché Saint Paul and the quaint little Square of the Marché Sainte Catherine crossing the stunning Place des Vosges on our way to Bastille, we entered a café nearby (we'll let you find it all by yourself). We sat down and began to soak the whole ambience in; the place was warm and friendly with a provincial feel to it.  There were banners advertising the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau in the windows, barrels by the counter, straw on the floor. Two young children walking around attracted our attention to one of the barrels on which sat two rabbits and two miniature hens happily munching and pecking side by side. Nice way of entertaining children whilst waiting for the order to come through we thought.  The whole place felt quite unusual, surprisingly rustic but very relaxed and welcoming.  Suddenly to our amazement there was the sound of a cockerel singing and that wasn’t my mobile phone ringing!  People looked totally unperturbed and carried on eating as a magnificent bird flanked by a couple of hens took a few steps between the tables.  They were obviously regular customers. Quite a sight really… and what a symbol too, that proud French cockerel ruling the place!

We were lucky to enjoy a mild autumnal weather as we walked for miles as usual. We hopped onto buses and caught the metro to keep our schedule and even the “funiculaire” all the way up to le Sacré Coeur where we enjoyed the breathtaking view over the capital...

No better way to get to know Paris we believe and so does anyone who joins us…. Enjoy a few photos and keep an eye on the calendar for our next visit to Paris in April 2011!

A day of French cuisine at Comberton Village College November 6th

“La tarte des soeurs Tatin” or the art of turning a catastrophe into a world-famous culinary masterpiece!

The name of this apple turnover dessert was taken after that of two French sisters who ran a family hotel in rural France by the Loire River in the 19th century. 
Stéphanie the eldest was famous for her cooking but was not the brightest of people. So the story goes, she dropped the apple tart on the kitchen floor!) she put all the ingredients back upside down into the dish and hurried it back into the oven where it caramelised. She then served this improvised dessert warm and covered in cream. All the guests went mad for it.

At our workshop in Comberton Village College in November we rounded up a day of French cooking by attempting this now world famous recipe.  We stopped short of dropping our attempts on the floor before baking them!  See participants comments below:

• Friendly, informative, helpful tutor.
• Quiche very good and tarte Tatin superb!
• Very pleasant atmosphere all day.
• Altogether it was a fun day.

Join us there next March for more culinary adventures...

In the meantime, have a peep at a video and watch the Tarte Tatin film from Jamie Oliver's website.

Paris autrement - Food lovers' tour of Paris

Join us for our upcoming trip to Paris in November. Enjoy a long weekend of discovery, sampling the myriad of gastronomic delights in some of the city's finest locales. 

"The Way to France has a very can-do and confidence boosting attitude to language, and I found my schoolgirl French returning, and that I was really enjoying the fact. I also really liked the way that the weekend was not a package – you decide on transport and the dates (I added an extra day) and the sort of hotel and price bracket you want. They will help you sort out a hotel, but all you actually pay TWTF for is the guided programme and the incidental French tuition. Everything else, you sort out to your inclination and budget." Kate P. from Cambridge

Save money by booking early. The tour itself is fantastic value at only £125 per person for the whole weekend and includes language tuition related to gastronomy as well as a full schedule of activities organised and chaperoned by our team (details below). As always we will give you all plenty of opportunity to explore on your own and don't forget you decide where you stay, for how long and how you prefer to get there. Early birds will get the best prices, so book your place now and start to dream of your trip to Paris in the autumn!

OUTLINE

Friday 19/11/10

• 18.00: meet and greet at our favourite bistro, our “head quarters” near Odéon. You will share a meal with the other participants and our team. We will also take a look at the programme of activities for the week-end, so you can best plan your stay.
• 21.00 onwards: “digestive” stroll to the River Seine through Saint-Germain des Prés

Saturday 20/11/10

• 09.00 -10.00: coffee morning at Odéon and preparation for the day’s outings
• 10.00 – 13.00: Visits
• Lunch: en route… place tbc
• 14.00 – 17.00: Visits
• 17.00 – 19.00: your own time
• 19.30: Special group dinner

Sunday 21/11/10

• 10.00: meeting for coffee (and optional croissant) at Odéon
• 11.00 – 13.00: Visits
• 13.00: Lunch time: attendance optional, yet preferred to review overall workshop as a group! Please confirm.
• 14.30: your own time

DETAILS

• Price for the workshop is £125 and includes programme of activities / useful addresses & documents / 15 hours French conversation / guidance and coaching.
• A deposit of £60 is required to secure your place. Detailed programme available upon reception. Full amount payable a minimum 2 weeks prior to departure.

ACCOMMODATION & TRAVEL
We also recommend you BOOK now to save money on your travel arrangements and hotel booking. To give you some options, we recommend booking at least 30 days prior to travel on Eurostar to ensure return rates as low as £69 per adult, pending availability. Note we cannot offer travel arrangements as we are not an agent, yet we know from experience of regular trips to Paris, that deals are to be had the earlier you book. We can however, help you with booking your accommodation, for a small additional fee, if you are not confident using your French. Below are some suggestions of local hotels:

• Hôtel St Pierre 4 rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, 75006 Paris. Tel : +33 (0)1 46 34 78 80
• Hôtel St André des Arts 66 rue Saint André des Arts, 75006 Paris
• Grand Hôtel des Balcons 33 rue Casimir Delavigne, 75006 Paris : +33 (0)1 46 34 78 50
• Odéon Hôtel 3 rue de l'Odéon, 75006 Paris : +33 (0)1 43 25 90 67 

Excerpts from recent article in Cambridge Local Secrets:
Another expedition to make you purr is a gastronomic weekend in Paris (Nov 19th –21st) organised by a Cambridge firm - The Way to France. There are two parallel programmes running through the weekend, and you decide each morning which bits of either you fancy, and chop and change accordingly. Between them they will take in street markets, a guided tour of the Musée du Vin, Saint-Germain des Prés pâtisseries, kitchen equipment, Ladurée macaroons, chocolate Place Trocadéro, Berthillon ice cream in L’Ile Saint-Louis, oysters, butchers and bakers. As for meals during the weekend, it is not the intention to go for top dollar feasts (though you could if you wished), but to have excellent and interesting meals at affordable prices.

I have myself been on a trip organised by The Way to France (on gardens, actually), and during last trip to “Another Paris” the participants were absolutely charmed and delighted by the hidden Paris they were shown – the little arcades, the tucked-away squares, the idiosyncratic, independent shops in back streets.

Terres du Sud HUGE success!

Our newest event celebratated the southern regions of France. This variation of our popular themed "French on your plate" workshops, was very much enjoyed by all participants! Rather than tell you about it ouselves, we have included quotes from everyone who came last Thursday to Cooks Barn, near Cambridge. Francine and Christine of Made in Provence, want to thank Martin Straus of House of Strauss, who joined them at this latest workshop which combined southern food with some of his fine wines. Our thanks also go to Chris and Ros of Cook's Barn for their hopsitality. As always, their wonderful showroom made for a perfect setting. A special thank you also to Pascale who has recently joined The Way to France team. You can enjoy all her photos on our Facebook page!

"Thoroughly enjoyable evening.  Look forward to another evening" 

"I feel like doing a course on wines now! And I will cook those recipes"

"Thank you for letting me speak English … occasionally!! Merci!"

"Have you branded this / trademarked this idea?  It’s very good… You should do this! (if you haven’t already)"

"Keep it going"

"What a great evening and a great group of people.  Merci beaucoup!"

All the way to France - to the very end of Brittany - and back…

As part of the rich and varied activities our little group enjoys running; here’s one for the books. We hope it inspires others to do the same! In case you are new to our bespoke teaching methods, The Way to France offers residential week-ends in France. A group of people gathers in a gîte to learn about individual regions, local traditions and specialties. Activities include going to the market, cooking, singing, watching a film or going for walks. Enjoying cultural activities and local delicacies all the while practising the French language under our guidance... These courses inspired an expat English couple, who’ve already moved to a beautiful part of Brittany near Quimper, to request a custom course, to support and speed up their integration there. Many British people have moved permanently to France and although they thoroughly enjoy their life there, they don’t always get as much opportunity to immerse themselves in the French language and culture as they would like. Understandably, they tend to mix with other “expats” who live nearby and thus speak and hear a lot of English at home. Improving one’s communication skills in French can therefore be slow and arduous. As to the local culture, it is not always readily accessible unless you are guided by French nationals. We're here to help!

Founder and Director, Francine, personally accepted the challenge of tailoring a course suited to David and Mary, a couple who had already established themselves in Brittany. The purpose of this custom course was to speed up their language learning process and gain a deeper appreciation of the region they have chosen to adopt. Providing her own version of “super nanny” (away from the cameras), Francine was able to pass on as many tips, shortcuts, advice, anecdotes in 8 hour day sessions over a 5 day period. She was welcomed by these two delightful people who are already living the dream in their wonderful home in rural France. Each day was divided in different activities which took place in different parts of the house or the garden. There was French spoken all the time, everywhere, complete with plenty of jokes and laughter over various explanations. In addition to the daily tuition, an extra 4 hour “exercise” was organised on the Wednesday night, where David & Mary, accompanied by Francine, joined two other French nationals for dinner! Following a fun evening, everyone needed a change of pace on the Thursday morning by “doing” something different, so discussions revolved around David and Mary's hobbies, a majestic Harley Davidson and delightful dolls' houses respectively.

An amazing amount of cultural knowledge and linguistic precision was added to David and Mary's existing knowledge of French. Not to just mention their discovery of Brittany's comic strip heroine 'Bécassine' as well as perfecting the way to pronounce the dreaded French word for leaves, "feuilles", which came in quite handy in an over the fence conversation with the neighbour!

"I enjoyed the week very much and understand the difference between the passé composé and the imparfait better. I am determined to make more use of the ‘lui, leur and elle’ parts of a sentence. I was amazed that I could make myself understood for a whole 40+ hours speaking French!" Mary

"The week was well structured and I learned (re-learnt?) a lot. We both enjoyed your company (and that of Becasine!)." David

"We would be happy to recommend your services to anyone wishing to learn French." David & Mary

There was also the day spent in the company of an English artist at the week-end. The view from her balcony overlooking Douarnenez Bay was absolutely stunning. Her 8 hours’ tuition on the Saturday was followed on the Sunday by a long walk to “La Pointe du Raz”, a picnic in beautiful sunshine and a visit to the Art Gallery in Audierne where Penella. is going to exhibit her work this winter.

What an adventure for all! If you want custom tuition, don't hesitate to contact us. Our website will give you an indication of the types of options you can choose from, yet above all, our aim is to provide you with solutions that work for you, so tell us how we can help and we will schedule it in! See more photos on our Facebook page and become a fan for updates.

Du pain sur la planche 'Terres du Sud' Thursday October 7th from 6-10pm at Cooks Barn, Cambridgeshire

Learn French through a taste of the South of France

As a perfect follow up to the summer festival of “Les Voix de la Méditerranée” here’s a brand new event to celebrate the southern regions of France. A variation on our popular themed "French on your plate" workshops, this time we thought we’d try and put a little French into your glass too! Francine, in collaboration with Christine of Made in Provence, has devised a brand new event aiming to initiate guests to the best fine food & wine from the South of France. Francine & Christine invited Martin Straus of House of Strauss to join this upcoming workshop so you can sample some of his fine wines.

The event will include up to 4 hours of interactive cookery demonstrations, wine tasting and French conversation for all to enjoy. This is a unique combination of French language & culture presented by Francine in partnership with Christine who will share more mouth watering Provençal food and in combination with Martin's in-depth wine knowledge (including food matching); an experience not to be missed.

Date & Time:
Thursday 7th October 2010 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.

Location:
The beautiful surroundings of Cooks Barn, The Stone Yard, Bottisham, near Cambridge, CB25 9BD. Places are strictly limited to 20 guests.

Prices:

• £50 per head including a three course meal with aperitif & fine wines from France, language tuition and recipes to take away
• Early bird rate £45 (if booked by 25/09/10)
• An additional 5% discount for 2 tickets booked together

To find out more and to obtain a booking form, email or call 01223 46 14 45. You can also visit our website for more general information on these courses.

Workshop Overview:

1. Apéritif & Provençal nibbles
2. Presentation of the South of France and study of recipes French spoken
3. “Hands-on” cookery demonstration and “blind tasting” using authentic handmade French specialities sourced from small artisans in the striking countryside of Provence. Guests will gather round the cooking range - a sumptuous handmade Lacanche made by a 200 year old Burgundian family business. French spoken throughout.
4. Wine tasting (wines from Provence & the Languedoc) and brief introduction to wine & food matching. Presentation in English.
5. Meal with appropriate matching wines from the region. Franglais or English spoken!
6. Final conversation and questions in French, though both French & English will be spoken. 

And a quick reminder that the last Du pain sur la plance workshop will take place on Thursday the 9th December with a Provençal Christmas theme. Register your interest early.

"My dearest dream is for an internationality of poems and poets binding the lands of the earth closer than all treaties and diplomacy" Walt Whitman

Les Voix de la Méditerranée 17 – 25 July 2010

Steeped in balmy, sun drenched July in the Languedoc, the 13th festival of “Les Voix de la Méditerranée” transformed Lodève into a vast stage where music and poetry reading resounded all day long. For 10 whole days this little medieval town, nestled at the feet of the Massif Central, hosted a mix of 80; poets, musicians, dancers, mimes and publishers from over 20 countries from around the Mediterranean Sea.

The shade of its narrow streets offered coolness at cafés terraces, by the cloister of the medieval cathedral or near a disused 'Four à pain'. More respite from the heat was to be found in the shallow waters of the Soulondre River, as well as in deckchairs and hammocks under the scented trees of La Mégisserie Garden. Wherever one turned, hundreds of visitors sat dreaming, dozing, picnicking, all transported into another world by the voices of poets, actors & the sound of musical instruments.

Musicians, dancers, mimes and jugglers adorned every street corner, while streets were lined with stalls where local publishers sold books. Poems written by famous poets and ordinary people alike were used to decorate doors. Some were even written by local children. The town’s museum ‘Musée Fleury’, launched a stunning exhibition of paintings by the group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists known as “Les Nabis”... who set the pace for fine arts and graphic arts in France in the 1890s.

Poetry readings were interpreted by their authors in their mother tongue: Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Occitan, Maltese or French to name but a few. Then, actors would read the translation into French either before or afterward the original version. At the end of each performance, the public was invited to ask questions or share their feelings with the performers.

With the programme in hand and the help of a map, we could choose day after day to attend a series of events while ambling slowly from one spot to the other. Each day followed a similar pattern. The first event in the day took place outside a café with “Petit-déjeuner au café” at 10am. We listened to two or three poets being interviewed and questioned by a presenter and the public in between the readings.

Later in the morning people gathered in the cloister to listen to Bernard Noël the renowned 80 years-old French poet. The latter read different extracts of his works every day. The place was always full and the public sat everywhere in the stairs or on the floor. Many even stood for the whole hour.

Around lunch time there was another presentation in the stunning building of O Marches du Palais exhibiting the works of local artists. The readings accompanied by music were followed by tastings of local wines and specialties in a very convivial atmosphere. We would then walk back to the main square to enjoy a salad or a sandwich at the “Saveurs du Sud”, a little restaurant under the trees, while watching the pigeons bathe in the fountain and listening to the soft familiar noise of the cicadas.

The afternoon offered a well attended “Sieste musicale” where the participants relaxed in a deckchair or a hammock in the shade to the sounds of soothing music; an ideal opportunity to gather a little energy away from the scorching heat, ready for more activities into the night.

The next popular venue was the river for a “Lecture au gré de l’onde” where rows of chairs were aligned and people could listen to the poets sitting on the bank, while wriggling their toes blissfully in the clear cold water… The rest of the day went on in a similar fashion until the evening.

After a couple of days, people’s faces became familiar and there were easy, friendly exchanges between the participants. We began to feel close to some poets that we had met several times and listening to them became an amazing insightful experience. Hearing so many languages and discovering so many cultures in such a gentle, enjoyable fashion, brought us all together.

The fact that all this was available to all ages and for free, with such generosity and human warmth, was quite simply overwhelming.

Our thanks and gratitude go to the people of Lodève who supported the festival with such kindness and simplicity.

The South of France in July - Why not find out more!

Just a quick reminder to book your place now for our annual trip to Lodève for the "Les voix de la Méditerranée" festival in July.

The festival runs for a week or so from 17th -25th July 2010. For the first (long) weekend, we will be giving French tuition and accompanied tours to local residents who have recently moved from other parts of Europe to this beautiful part of France. We will also be sharing insights into the local culture and delicacies as well as enjoying the ambiance and the odd glass of the local wines! Email us now for more information. It's not too late to join our group!

A Taste of Provence Workshop - book now for June!

A Taste of Provence Workshop on the 22nd of April 2010 was a huge success. So much so that we are already preparing for the next workshop on the 24th June at Cooks Barn near Cambridge, but don't take our word for it, here's one of the many testimonials we received from participants!

"That was truly amazing. This variation of “French on your plate” in association with “Made in Provence” was definitely a brilliant idea!"

We had, until now, enjoyed discovering and preparing various regional dishes. We even had had a Provençal Christmas dinner last year and had all agreed how interesting it was to get to know more about the culture and the language as well as have a go at cooking French specialities.

Francine Rouanet-Démocrate met Christine Vidal of "Made in Provence" at the France Show last January and sampled some of her delicious handmade Provençal products - free from any artificial additives - and also enjoyed smelling handcrafted soaps and enchanting house perfumes. It soon became obvious that if we invited her to our workshops and people had a taste too, we could take them on the way to Provence; for real…

By adding blind tastings (in the form of a friendly competition) to our existing workshop format of mixing language tuition with cooking sessions, we enhanced the whole experience for participants.

The workshop “A taste of Provence” offered a similar approach to that of the usual “French on your plate”. However the changes gave the workshop a whole new dimension.

Starting the evening with an apéritif first. Not everyone was familiar with the taste of aniseed in the “pastis” or the taste of gentian in the “Suze”. Both such
typical drinks for an apéritif in the South of France. Some loved it, some didn’t (the “Marmite” principle). Everyone enjoyed the “tapenades” especially the ones without anchovies….
We shortened the tuition to move rapidly onto the cookery demonstration. While the meal for 12 was cooking, we had fun doing the "blind tasting" competition, that was won by Ross, a young Scotsman with a good nose.

Last but not least, we all sat down to dinner complete with Rosé de Provence, “liqueur de violette”, nougats and “calissons “.

All agreed that this must be the best way to learn French in this country!!!!
Make a note of Thursday 24th of June. We’ll be back! Book your place now.

Marathon de Paris

Back from the Paris Marathon… totally exhausted, took two weeks to get over it…. and I didn’t run it! Roz and Linda from Cambridge and Newmarket did and a whole bunch of us were there to support them.
We walked all over the place, crossed bridges and caught the metro here and there, simply to keep up with them and be in the right place at the right time to hand out drinks, pieces of fruit and cheer them on. The group was split into two: those who really had something to do with the marathon, the brave ones, and the “tourists”.


As well as dashing around the
city, people in my company, supporting the runners, had to speak French only or else pay a fine of one euro per sentence uttered in English…. to be spent wisely on some celebratory drinks later on, was the plan!

The others let us get on with it and enjoyed Paris in their own way: cycling along the avenues on a Velib, stopping for a drink or a bite at a café en route…. their own version of the marathon (!), shopping, sightseeing meeting up with the rest of the group in the evening.

After a few chilly days, the weather at the week-end turned out to be lovely, sunny but cool, perfect for the runners … and their supporters, all on foot and pressed for time…

The ambience was amazing. I am told that, unlike London and New York, the Paris Marathon is “quiet”. There was a bit of Jazz or drum playing here and there at a street corner or on a bridge, but on the whole it was more the colourful crowds, the odd friendly chat with perfect strangers and the sweet smells of the parks and gardens that prevail in the Spring.

The 30,000 plus participants ran softly and quietly, cheered gently by the public, along the circuit. Whilst Roz and Linda went on jogging, as fresh as daisies, we rested our feet on the metro and went to watch their arrival the Arc de Triomphe (also where it had all started at 8 in the morning). Our two stars made it in good time (4h40) and were hugged and congratulated for their performance. That way of seeing Paris was definitely different! Another Paris one might say!