Holiday at Madingley Hall

The view from the window

Spending a few days in Madingley Hall is always a treat and a privilege and no matter how "formidable" the discovery of France may be at times for some participants on the course, it usually ends up being immensely pleasurable. This last weekend was no exception.



The glorious weather steeped the magnificent gardens around us in golden light slightly scented with freshly cut lawns and fading roses.  We remained within the thick walls most of the day in the coolness of the shade provided by the heavy curtains drawn over open windows, thus enjoying a constant breathe...  

As the theme was related to "holiday making" in France, such a setting was quite appropriate.  In the peace and quiet of our beautiful room we started our journey through France in to explain some of the reasons the French prefer to remain within the limits of the "Hexagone", rather than flying to the other side of the planet for a holiday.

Letting the summer in

 Having considered the economic factors that prevent a percentage of people from taking a holiday at all (some 16% according to Graham Robb), we looked into the cultural differences that may explain this attitude. One obvious explanation is the vast diversity of geographical settings and climates. When you can reach the seaside or the mountain tops within a few hours' drive, it seems practical to do so, saving  time, travel expenses and the trouble of speaking another language.  One must also bear in mind that France is formed by ancient provinces which not only have from North to South specific and strikingly different landscapes, but scores of  different traditions, architecture, languages even, wines and "cheeses" that make it impossible to govern its inhabitants as General de Gaulle once said. 

The regions occupying these provinces cultivate their differences with a passion and going from one to the other gives you the impression of being in another country.  That is what "monsieur tout le monde" and his family knows or suspects in France and combining a need for a change and the security of feeling at home, most will opt for a holiday in France.  

Ready to take off

 














Holiday makers coming from Picardy, for example, have many choices of coastal destinations. Whether they choose the beautifully cool, luminous and stunning Côte d'Opale, the rocky coast of Brittany, the dramatic Atlantic beaches of surf-lovers or one of the scorching hot Mediterranean sea resorts they will not have to cross the border to Spain or Italy to get their share of exoticism, light or heat. 

In these days of low-cost flights, a greater number of French people will travel abroad on holiday, mainly around the Mediterranean sea, but most families will equally choose to explore a part of France. It is a well known fact that the facilities provided by local camping sites are excellent and make a holiday more economical.  In a similar fashion the majority of French people will be able to spend their winter holidays without making the use of a passport with mountains as different as the Alps, the Pyrenees or the Massif Central.  

On the whole the French tend to choose a type of holiday where there will be things to do and to learn for adults and children alike.  Hence the success of Theme Parks like Futuroscope or Le Puy du Fou, the former exploring the latest technology and the latter recreating events and periods in medieval history.  The French are very keen on History and the many Son et Lumière shows and festivals in Châteaux of all styles, for example La Nuit des Chimères in Le Mans, bear witness to this fact. Paris is also a favourite tourist destination in the summer as well as throughout the year.  This gave us an excuse to set our eyes on the French capital for a few moments.  

All this may account for the fact that the French would seem to be more insular in a way than their Northern neighbours.  It is true that they are very attached to their homeland, to regions, specific villages even, where their ancestors come from.  They tend to return there as often as they can, for the weekend even and the summer. This accounts for the huge traffic jams on Sunday night or mid summer, creating havoc and concern and making headline news. City dwellers very often buy a little "country" house (or inherit one) where they plan to retire one day that they use as a holiday destination for years. France is the country in Europe that has the largest number of secondary homes.  Note that people usually rent for a flat or a house in the town where they spend their working years.

Pam's ready to go....

In the process of studying all these aspects of French mentality and culture, we enjoyed setting our eyes on beautiful images of France and had fun listening to people's memories of their own holidays there.  The group felt comfortable speaking French and a joyful and friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout the weekend. As the course ended on Bastille Day. A vibrant Marseillaise, rehearsed in secret I presume, was intoned in my honour. My surprise was as great as my delight as I had momentarily forgotten the date!  

Do not hesitate to join us at these Madingley Residential Weekends. Consult the ICE calendar. Our next meeting on August 30th will welcome people with very limited knowledge of the French language and the challenge will be to demonstrate how simple it can be to learn to communicate in a foreign language in a few hours. If "jumping in at the deep end" appeals to you, why not contact Madingley Hall right away!

La Loire éternelle…

No matter how often we choose the Pays de la Loire as a destination for our “French on your plate” workshop we always manage to discover new treasures.  This was the case last Saturday when we watched an aerial film showing stunning views of the Loire valley from Nantes to Chambord.

We shared our memories of visits to that part of France whilst sipping a glass of Kir andardais, a local apéritif.  We learnt more about heritage and culture and particularly about the Renaissance days when the magnificent châteaux de la Loire were built one after the other along the river banks of the wild river and François 1 and his sister Marguerite de Navarre enjoyed the company of Leonardo da Vinci.  

 

We mentioned the great literary figures and thinkers who gave the French language its reputation of excellence.  We noted that the region of the Loire is the part of the country where French is said to be the most beautiful and as balanced and perfect as the local weather praised for its “douceur angevine”.  We admired, amongst a few, famous castles including: Chenonceau, le château des Dames, reflecting its arches on the surface of the Loire, Chambord and its spectacular double helical staircase most certainly designed by Da Vinci; the magnificent Château de Blois, François 1's absolute favourite; Amboise where Da Vinci is buried; and the Château de Villandry, the last built in the period with its delightful symmetrical gardens. 

The Loire Valley is like one big garden and the quality of the produce to be found on its thousands open air markets, is outstanding. So are the Loire Valley vineyards and the variety of wines the produce, that we didn’t fail to sample on the night: Touraine, Bourgueil, Vouvray, Sancerre and Chinon.  

On the linguistic side, we analysed and scrutinized recipes and their respective vocabulary. Explained and discussed the various meanings and idiomatic expressions!  

The preparation of the meal under Christine’s expert supervision in the beautiful Lacanche Kitchen at Cook's Barn, went smoothly and we all soon enjoyed getting around the table once more to enjoy all the specialties that had been specially brought from the region for the occasion. 

Apart from the delicious wines there were Rillettes from Le Mans and French “cornichons” for starters, superb regional cheeses such as tomme de Pré en Pail and tomme des Closiers, served prior to the dessert and accompanied by some pain de campagne biologique.

The conversation during the meal was mostly in French, at least at one end of the table! 

We will be in France this summer and can welcome you on the 2nd of August for “La nuit des chimères” in Le Mans, the “place where high speed meets History” as the saying goes….  Why not come and enjoy Les Pays de la Loire with us?  Whatever you do have a great summer! 

Paris, Fête de la musique 2013!

We were needles in a haystack

It won’t be a surprise to anyone, coming from us, to say that Paris is the most beautiful, vibrant and welcoming city in the world! And what better time to be there than on the 21st of June!  Our little group experienced once more the magic of celebrating La Fête de la musique in the heart of the French capital!  Although the music of thousands of bands, choirs or individuals resounds throughout the whole country on the night of the Summer solstice, there is no hesitation on our behalf in choosing to be in Paris for the occasion.

When the saints are marching in...

We gathered in our favourite haunts, enjoyed conversing in French in the company of authentic Parisians, walked through the city avoiding touristic places exploring places such as Le Marché Saint-Paul or Place Sainte-Catherine and the back streets of Beaubourg, took walks along the River Seine and Le Jardin du Luxembourg and caught a bus rather than the metro to be surrounded at all times by the ambiance of Parisian life.

Taking pictures only!

We even went to the cinema and had a peep at the mythical Pâtisserie Mulot in Saint-Germain-des-Près, so famously good that one can see three queues of customers on the pavement outside: one for bread, one for cakes and one for catered meals!
We were blessed with the weather.  After days of rain and storms the skies cleared up on the night and music exploded from everywhere! Hundreds of pedestrians took to the streets and it became more and more difficult to walk through the crowd without losing a member of the group but we finally completed our tour of the Latin Quarter without too much of a problem.  What amazed us most was the joyful, light-hearted and somewhat peaceful quality of the gathering despite the incredible level of decibels at times reverberating around us.  People of all sorts, young and old, locals or tourists, children perched on their fathers’ shoulders appeared from all over, clapping their hands, laughing and dancing on the pavement and the middle of the street to the beat of musical bands whose style would change from one corner of street to the other.

Speaking  French with a Parisian

A visit to Paris with The Way To France would not be complete without a dinner at Le Procope, the oldest café in Paris, where the first tremors of the French and before that the American revolution were felt. We may have sat at the table of Voltaire, Marat or Benjamin Franklin on that night, who knows?

Richard le patriote

Let's go and face the music!

Not everyone is aware of this annual French festival and we would recommend our British friends to cross the Channel if they can and be there for the next Fête de la musique in 2014, with us, why not?  It’s great  and all concerts are free!  Note that it is taking place all over France on every June 21st!