Our view of France
We had a love affair with France. From the moment we arrived in Montpellier to the time we left, 6 months later, we found so much to enjoy, amaze us, inspire us and awe us. Of course there were frustrations - learning French for Alan was so much harder than he anticipated, the bureaucratic wranglings with La Poste are now established in the annals of our trip, the difficult signage on French roads that always appears after the turn you needed, never before! and of course the interminable smoking by everyone!
But the good things certainly outweighed the bad. We have gone on and on about the architecture and history and I could still bore you witless, but I will refrain. You know we loved it. The same for the cathedrals and floral decorations in nearly every town. Civic pride and good town planning are noticable everywhere. We discovered lots we didn't know, like the enormous quantity of wheat, corn and canola that France supplies, predominantly for its domestic market but also for export within Europe and North Africa. there are areas of Fran
ce that could be mistaken for Australia! The food and wine also deserve mention and we only ate at the proletarian level (as Alan put it)! Cheap, good, drinkable French wine is available everywhere. The most interesting observation for us was how easily obtainable it is and how it is integrated so seemlessly into the supermarkets. You can also buy wine by the litre with a byo bottle from many wine shops!
Food could take a whole blog entry on its own, but the things we noticed most were: the French value fresh food very highly. Yes you can buy packaged food in the supermarkets, but nearly all French people buy some of their food at a local market as well. Even in the supermarkets, there are still butchers, fishmongers and delicatessen people who serve you and prepare the food in front of you. If we wanted fresh mince, the butcher would mince at the counter for you, even in the supermarket. Also all the poultry and usually the rabbits were displayed skinned, but with their head and feet still attached, so that you knew exactly what you were getting. They would chop off the head if you wanted. A bit gruesome at first, but then you get accustomed to it. We found there are 365 different cheeses in France and we made a valiant, but vain attempt to try most of them! They sell cheese from sheep's milk, goat's milk and cow's milk and they are all quite different. Food is also very regional and very seasonal, so in many ways you have less choice than in Australia, but the available food is good. What else? No-one does duck like the French. However we had it, it was superb. The same for their sauces - just amazing. Their bread is the best we ever tasted and the only bread with gluten that Alan has been able to tolerate. The French nut loaves with whole nuts in them are to die for - pure heaven. However their sandwich selection is boring and for some strange reason they rarely make them in front of you. They are nearly always prepared in the morning - most unusual for a country that values freshness in everything else.
The only other thing to say is the French do not serve huge meals. A dinner party or a full night out at a restaurant may involve several courses, but they are all sized accordingly and you rarely get bloated or overfull as is common in Australia or America.
Other comments. the French treat the American language as a different language to English. we were frequently told that they could not understand the Americans and were often asked if we spoke English or American! This was a new concept to us. Language is a fascinating thing. As you know I loved relearning my French and progressed well. Alan had problems but overall is pleased he tried and actually talks more French now he is in Italy!
Tourism - well we still were tourists, even though we had more time to enjoy and relax and revisit places. France has so much to offer tourists and caters for them very well. The tourist facilities are good and easy to access, and most of the time parking is good. We managed to avoid a lot of the crowds, but not all of them, and overall survived the summer onslaught.
Driving - once you get used to it driving in France is good. Signage is not! Roads are narrow and in the old villages you have blind corners, buildings that jut into the road, no footpaths and no centre line. If you are throwing up your hands in horror, don't! French drivers are very patient, very polite and very good at judging tight spaces. They are used to this and take it for granted and we found that we grew into it. If you want to go somewhere fast, you use a freeway, many are toll roads, but they do move. If you want the scenic, village route, allow lots of time and enjoy. In the bigger cities, you aim for centre ville, which is sign posted, and
you will always find a good parking area and the tourist office. We learnt this very quickly.
Finally the people - they are lovely, even in Paris! They are very friendly and really appreciate any genuine attempt on your part to speak their language. If you really try, they will help you. Even Bonjour (hello) or mercie (thankyou) or s'il vous plait (please) will reap rewards. Every French shopkeeper always said hello and goodbye / have a good day, whether you bought something or not and it was genuine! It was a pleasure to shop because they like the interaction even if you don't buy. The conversation exchange group we have already mentioned to death. All our landlords were friendly, helpful and we still keep in touch with some of them. They knew little about Australia but many people stopped us in the street and asked our views on politics or local issues. Re Australia they knew about our wildlife and our Aborigines (very informed on this issue and our poor treatment of them) and some people knew about our wine, but not much else, but they like Australians and always made us welcome. Even in Paris we met friendly people and no unfriendly ones.
Enough. Our love affair with France is on hold while we try to navigate our way into the Italian psyche. So far there are noticable differences. We will return to France to sell our car at the end of our Italian sojourn and we are counting down the days. Viva La France!
The Photos:
These are just a few of the photos that didn't make it into other blogs, but I thought you might enjoy. They show the quirky, unusual and a few scenic shots I liked. I have avoided the half timbered buildings and grand cathedrals as you have been flooded with them in other emails.
Firstly, the French knew little about Australia, but they did know about Kangaroos - you could even get a French version of the Skippy TV series!!!!!!! However they don't have road signs for Kangaroos, but they do for deer and wild pigs, and they do exist as you will see! Following that a few quirky but nice window decorations - French windows are very photogenic! Then the best tourist train we saw. Although they exist in every town, the one in Palavas won hands down. For your interest, we did not ride in it! We actually found an Aussie themed pub in Montpellier - no more needs to be said. Needless to say we didn't drink there!! Then a shot of one of the fabulous tromp l'oeils that were all over Montpellier and France and one of the Arceau in Montpellier with our little "housetown" because we couldn't do a goodbye without at least one photo of Montpellier!
Followed by some of the very elaborate and colourful window displays and signs for the Tour de France, and then the loch keeper at Bannay near Savigny. Next my 3 favourite sunset photos, all taken over the wheat fields at Prunay.
Now some scenes from Brittany - the famous prehistoric standing stones at Carnac, the walled fishing (now tourist) village of Concarneau and some typical French curtains. Denise, Heather & I lost count of the number of designs for curtains but everyone had these lovely lace curtains on themes relevant to their area. These boats were taken in Lorient. Our gite at Savigny had deer, etc. Then some seaside scenes from Lorient, including the jetty as seen from our place, the fisherman and their boats, a sandcastle building competition and the old tax collecting office! More of Brittany with some lovely folk art porcelain plates on display in Quimper, and some traditional Breton costumes in the Folk Museum plus a local lace seller dressed in costume.
Then we come to our trip through the Dordogne, first Beziers Castle and then the narrow streets of Toulouse, famous for their red stone buildings. Then the domed cathedral and quaint timbered building in Perigaux, Cordes - a mountain village, old buildings and goose statue in Sarlat (justifiably famous for its foie gras), a castle near Dome, an ornamental light and a fountain in Limoges and some lovely evening reflections in Moissac.
Finally an odd choice, but nuclear power stations are very common in France and the steam from this one could be seen from our Gite at Savigny. Then Alan at our regular cafe in Cosne sur Loire (near Savigny). I took this photo more for the typical Frenchman sitting at the next table - a real cliche: dressed in black trousers with white socks, smoked Gitanes, drank a short coffee. The only thing lacking was the beret, but it was summer! What more do I say! And last a sunflower, because most of you know that I had a love affair with sunflowers following our previous visit to France, so I couldn't let the chance go by! and a field of wildflowers, because one of the nicest memories of France are all teh flowers in the fields and villages. It's a happy note to end on! There are obviously lots more, but I hope this leaves you with a taste of our France.
Now we come to memories of the people we met and our visitors plus the food and wine, of course!!!!
The People
The people we met and the people who visited us contributed significantly to our enjoyment.
Montpellier: our landlady and her mother Denise, our lovely neighbours -Jose and his wife, Pam's French language class and friends made there, our conversation group shown here at the farewell party we held, Nicolas who practised English on us in exchange for cocktails and French, and even the gentleman we bought our car from - all contributed to the experience. And of course John, our good friend from Birmingham who was our first visitor in France.
Prunay (the farm gite):
Once again our lovely landlords - Didier & Veronique, Mimi & Pierre at the local pub who sold us mushrooms, rabbit, wine, bread, etc., the friendly crowd at the local chateau d'eau (camping ground), and of course all our visitors - Dot & Joyce(shown here enjoying Paris), Ross & Fi, & Denise who went to Lorient with us.
While at Prunay we went to Lorient with Denise and rented a small but fabulously located studio from a lovely woman called Danielle, who even put us up in her home the first night and showed us round the festival site to help us get our bearings. And of course we also explored a bit of Brittany. Here Denise & Alan are lunching in Quimper.
Savigny en Sancerre:
Again very friendly and helpful owners in Katia & Pascal, and lots of visitors - Denise, Richard & Cecily all together, followed by Heather. Lots of touring and having fun. And of course we named one of the roosters after our friend Pierre Henri, so he is included!
Finally, Food & Wine:
As you know, no holiday for us would be complete without sampling the local products, and in France it would be sacrilidge not to sample the food and wine, so a few memories revisited and some new ones: the wonderful duck foie gras pizza in Chateau Renault, wine tasting in the Loire Valley, a local Cheese shop in Carcassonne and my favourite cheese (from the Toulouse region) - a creamy goats cheese covered in sweet red / yellow currants, a selection of cakes from Blois and the beautiful way they are wrapped courtesy of Montoire, sampling the seafood in Sete, dining out in Sarlat a selection of fabulous sausicon. Oh sorry, I forgot the "Pub with / for beer"! And last but not least the brilliant shopping trolleys in France - a cross between the standard large trolley and the carry basket. Perfect for a small shop.
I've signed off with me typing the Blog!! Au Revoir.
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