Issue No. 20
Inspiring, tempting and gorgeous, this issue is packed with destination features - Chartres with its gothic cathedral, the French Riviera, the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau, the Tarn region, Valence - gateway to the south and more. Mouth-watering recipes, plus useful guides for those dreaming of living in France...
Inspiring, tempting and gorgeous, this issue is packed with destination features - Chartres with its gothic cathedral, the French Riviera, the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau, the Tarn region, Valence - gateway to the south and more. Mouth-watering recipes, plus useful guides for those dreaming of living in France...
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Bonjour<br />
and bienvenue to the Autumn issue of The Good Life France Magazine.<br />
I don't know about you, but that photo on the front cover of this issue makes me long to<br />
go to Paris and sip hot chocolate in the chilly air as leaves float from the tree lined<br />
avenues...<br />
Escape with me to France in this issue and discover the Chateau of Azay-le-Rideau,<br />
about as fairy-tale as a castle could possibly be and to Chartres, famous for its Cathedral<br />
but where there's so much more to do. Discover the Tarn and its UNESCO listed<br />
attractions and Valence, the gateway town to the south of France. Fall in love with the<br />
French Riviera, Grasse, the perfume capital of France and be prepared to be lured to want<br />
to put on your running shoes and join a bizarre marathon in the Medoc region - where<br />
wine is served en route!<br />
There are recipes galore for you to make your own taste of France dishes at home, useful<br />
guides for expats or those dreaming and planning to move to France including a review<br />
of property on the West Coast.<br />
This issue is packed with fabulous features, gorgeous photos and tempting tales.<br />
Bisous from France,<br />
Janine
contents<br />
Features<br />
8 Le Weekend in Chartres<br />
Famous for its UNESCO listed Cathedral,<br />
but there’s much more to this ancient city.<br />
16 Valence, the gateway to<br />
the south of France<br />
Lucy Pitts discovers a place of history,<br />
fabulous restaurants and wonderful<br />
architecture.<br />
22 Cassel, Favourite village<br />
of the French <strong>20</strong>18<br />
Find out why this tiny hill top town was<br />
voted the best loved village in France.<br />
30 Grasse, the sweetest<br />
smelling city in Europe<br />
Kevin Pilley follows his nose in Provence.<br />
38 Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau<br />
This Renaissance jewel of the Loire Valley<br />
is gleaming after a recent renovation and<br />
we find there’s lots to do in and around the<br />
town.<br />
46 My france: French Riviera<br />
Guest photographer Renata Haidle reveals<br />
what she loves about the French Riviera and<br />
shares her favourite photos.
Features continued<br />
54 UNESCO World heritage in<br />
the Tarn<br />
Rupert Parker visits the historic department<br />
and discovers its UNESCO listed<br />
attractions.<br />
62 The Medoc Marathon<br />
The ultimate fun run lures Kevin Pilley to<br />
don his running shoes and drink wine, all in<br />
the name of research.<br />
66 Soap story from<br />
Marseille<br />
Judi Castille looks into the story of the<br />
famous soap from the fat south of France.<br />
70 Destination Samoens<br />
Residents Morag and Andrew Ashworth tell<br />
Regular<br />
us why they love this part of France.<br />
28 New Series: Le Petit<br />
History<br />
In this issue we discover the history Jean<br />
Jaurès, you’ll see his name in almost every<br />
town of France and yet most visitors have<br />
no idea who he was and why he’s so<br />
famous.<br />
52 Your Photos<br />
The most popular photos on our Facebook<br />
page shared here.<br />
68 Give Aways<br />
Enter the draw to win fab books.<br />
102 My Good Life in France<br />
A look back at summer...
Expert Advice<br />
76 Property on the West<br />
Coast<br />
There’s something for everyone along<br />
France’s Atlantic coastline, from Brittany to<br />
La Rochelle and Biarritz, we look at what’s<br />
on offer…<br />
82 French Insurance<br />
Guide to the different types of insurance in<br />
France.<br />
86 How to choose the right<br />
Financial Advisor for you<br />
Jennie Poate explains the types of financial<br />
advisors there are in France and what each<br />
can do for you.<br />
Gastronomy<br />
90 Apple and Blackberry<br />
Clafoutis<br />
92 Scrumptious Crepes<br />
Suzette<br />
95 Tangy Onion-Tomato jam<br />
97 Delicious Ratatouille<br />
98 mouth-watering Poulet-<br />
Roti
From April to October the big draw is the renowned Son et Lumières<br />
which takes over the whole city with installations at 25 monuments -<br />
it’s one of the biggest sound and light shows in the world, Janine<br />
Marsh explores the ancient city...
in<br />
Chartres<br />
The city of Chartres is in the department of<br />
Eure-et-Loir, region Centre-Val de Loire, in<br />
south west France.<br />
It’s famous all over the world for its UNESCO<br />
world heritage listed cathedral and no wonder,<br />
it is an extraordinary and wondrous gothic<br />
masterpiece, a major pilgrimage site to this<br />
day. It is the reason why most people go to the<br />
city but there are plenty of other attractions that<br />
visitors will love in this town.<br />
Just an hour from Paris by train, you’ll discover<br />
the past in its cobbled rues.<br />
There are great restaurants, it’s close to the<br />
chateaux of the Loire, and hosts one of the<br />
best light shows in the world – making this a<br />
city break you should definitely pop on your<br />
bucket list.
The Cathedral of Chartres<br />
The Cathedral of course is no. 1 for any<br />
visitor to Chartres, and rightly so. <strong>No</strong> matter<br />
how many cathedrals or churches you might<br />
have been to, this one sticks out for its<br />
beautiful stained-glass windows, the<br />
extraordinary, ancient crypt, effectively an<br />
underground cathedral, and its mysterious<br />
labyrinth, the biggest and oldest in the<br />
world. It is the only medieval cathedral in<br />
the world to escape war damage - unique.<br />
The first cathedral was erected here in the<br />
4th century, the oldest vestiges date back to<br />
the 9th century, a time when Vikings were<br />
invading England and founding Dublin,<br />
Ireland and Charlemagne was crowned<br />
emperor of Rome. In 876, French King<br />
Charles the Bald gave the town of Chartres<br />
a holy relic, said to be a piece of the veil<br />
worn by Mary when she gave birth to Jesus.<br />
The fabric survived a fire but not the French<br />
Revolution when it was cut into pieces and<br />
dispersed. A few pieces were returned and<br />
you can see them displayed in the chapel.<br />
The main building of the cathedral was built<br />
between 1194 and 1221. The crypt is one of<br />
the longest in Europe at <strong>20</strong>0m long, and has<br />
welcomed pilgrims from around the world for<br />
a thousand years.<br />
Without a doubt, whatever your beliefs, one<br />
of the most extraordinary ways to visit the<br />
crypt is at night, by candle light with a guide<br />
who will share the history and secrets of this<br />
incredible place. Seeing the frescoes on the<br />
walls, the underground chambers by<br />
flickering candle is very special. I don’t want<br />
to spoil the surprise but when the singing<br />
started, the hairs on the back of my neck<br />
rose, it was a moving experience, and even<br />
if you don’t speak French, a truly astonishing<br />
way to experience the history of this<br />
majestic cathedral. The tour, organised by<br />
the tourist office, also includes a tour of the<br />
Chartres light show.<br />
Take a<br />
walkin<br />
cathed<br />
that fli<br />
shado<br />
fresco<br />
www.c
candle lit vigil with a guide<br />
g through the underground<br />
ral and crypt holding candles<br />
cker in the slight draft,<br />
ws moving across the ancient<br />
ed walls and statues of Mary:<br />
hartresenlumieres.com<br />
The famous Labyrinth was built around the<br />
year 1<strong>20</strong>0 on the floor of the nave. It<br />
attracts the esoteric, the curious and the<br />
religious. It is a 261.5m long pilgrimage<br />
walk and each Friday from 10am to 5pm,<br />
from Lent until All Saints Day, the chairs<br />
that normally cover it are moved off, leaving<br />
it free for pilgrims and visitors to walk. Some<br />
walk it slowly, others faster, some cross<br />
themselves as they go, achieving a look of<br />
beatification as they reach the centre. An<br />
astounding 1.3 million pilgrims make their<br />
way to Chartres each year.<br />
The stained-glass windows are sparklingly<br />
exceptional – 172 of them in total covering<br />
an incredible 2,600sqm. Some of them date<br />
back to the 12th century and you can’t help<br />
but love the colours, especially “Chartres<br />
blue” as it's known, a special blue used on<br />
the oldest windows. For the people of that<br />
day, this richness of colour and art must<br />
have been one of the wonders of the world –<br />
it still is. There’s even a tea named after it<br />
“the Blue Tea of<br />
Chartres”, a blend of<br />
black and green tea,<br />
citrus fruits and berries<br />
in a specially designed<br />
tea caddy – the perfect<br />
souvenir! Find it at La<br />
Brulerie Chartraine, tea<br />
and coffee Shop: 5 rue<br />
<strong>No</strong>ël Ballay. And while<br />
you’re there, nip into the<br />
Librairie L’Esperluette<br />
bookshop at no 10,<br />
where to your surprise<br />
you’ll find the wall of a<br />
Renaissance house hidden away at the<br />
back of the shop, books piled around the<br />
centuries old windows and door...
The Old town of<br />
Chartres<br />
The best way to visit the ancient streets of<br />
Chartres is on foot. A good place to start is<br />
the tourist office which is in a Renaissance<br />
building with some impressive wall carvings.<br />
In the 13th century the then Bishop of<br />
Chartres fell out with the count of Chartres.<br />
The Bishop enclosed his part of the city<br />
around the cathedral and today the place<br />
where the entrances once were, are marked<br />
in the road such as Porte d’Horloge, the<br />
Clock Gate, which is in front of a<br />
remarkable16th century 24-hour clock.<br />
One of the most interesting buildings is the<br />
13th century Miason Canoniale opposite the<br />
cathedral. Look up and you’ll see ornate<br />
carvings showing vines, fighting and<br />
gambling followed by hell and dragons<br />
breathing fire - a sobering message for<br />
pilgrims of years gone by to warn them of<br />
the dangers of drinking too much!<br />
If you’re a fan of Renaissance buildings,<br />
you’ll spot plenty in Chartres. You can<br />
recognise them by their mushroom shape,<br />
smaller at the bottom and spreading out<br />
from the 1st floor, an attempt to save money<br />
on taxes as owners paid according to how<br />
much ground they took up.<br />
You can take the little tourist train with an<br />
audio guide to see the historic districts from<br />
spring to autumn. Take a guided tour via the<br />
tourist office or visit with a Greeter,<br />
volunteers who are locals who love to share<br />
their knowledge of the city they love.<br />
www.chartres-greeters.com<br />
Chartres Tourist Office<br />
8 Rue de la Poissonnerie<br />
Where to eat and drink<br />
Locals love: Les Feuillantines is authentic<br />
and friendly. The chef creates his own<br />
house cocktail, the one I had was of<br />
limoncello, sparkling local wine and a lemon<br />
liqueur - deliciously decadent...<br />
Tea and cake : La Molière, gorgeous<br />
gardens in a historic home famous for its<br />
17th century owner, a miser who inspired<br />
the famous French playwright Molière to<br />
write Le Misor based on the meanie's penny<br />
pinching by commissioning a grand house<br />
but scrimping on the brick work, hence when<br />
you see it today, you may wonder why the<br />
lovely local white stone first level is topped<br />
with red brick - it was cheaper in the 17th<br />
century!
Wine and dine: Michelin starred Le Georges<br />
restaurant, the Grand Monarque Hotel. A la<br />
carte or tasting menu, the chef’s dishes are<br />
innovative and truly delicious.<br />
Snack - Maison Monarque in front of<br />
cathedral serves a delicious brunch,<br />
sandwiches, patisseries and macarons.<br />
They also make “le Pèlerin” (the pilgrim). A<br />
soft cake with an almond and fruit paste<br />
marked on top with a design symbolising the<br />
labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral.<br />
Awesome aperitifs: L’Academie de la Bière,<br />
rock music, buzzy with a feel good<br />
atmosphere, it's hipster say the locals,<br />
French for a cool, rocking place to go.<br />
Bake my day: Head to Maison Ioos for<br />
great breads and pastries. Don’t miss the<br />
chance to munch on a Mentchikoff! A sweet<br />
made of praline chocolate covered with<br />
Swiss meringue! Close to the Cathedral at<br />
2bis rue du Soleil d'Or<br />
Ice ice baby: Ice cream heaven awaits at La<br />
Chocolaterie, hand-made ice cream and<br />
macarons!<br />
Market day: In the centre of Chartres you’ll<br />
find the covered market on Place Billard<br />
near the Cathedral. From 7am to 1pm<br />
Wednesday and Saturday mornings, the<br />
place buzzes as stalls piled high with<br />
delicious local produce tempts the locals to<br />
buy! On Wednesday evenings there’s an<br />
organic market – don’t miss the bread stall,<br />
it’s excellent!
Must-sees in Chartres<br />
Chartres isn’t just home to the majestic<br />
Cathedral, there are more than a dozen<br />
churches in the town and close by dating to<br />
between the 11th and 17th centuries (get<br />
details from the tourist office).<br />
The International Stained-Glass centre is<br />
the only one of its kind in France. Next to<br />
the Cathedral, housed in a listed monument<br />
is the stained-glass museum, you can get<br />
up close to ancient panels of stained glass,<br />
join in workshops and discover the history of<br />
stained-glass.<br />
Maison Picasiette, a little bit out of the<br />
centre, but well worth the detour and fans of<br />
Naieve Art will adore it. The house was<br />
decorated with pieces of broken china<br />
between 1930 and 1962 by Raymond<br />
Isidore, an iron foundry worker. His decades<br />
of laborious love are astonishingly bright<br />
and vibrant, every inch of surface covered<br />
and sparkling, like an enormous mosaic<br />
jewel box.<br />
Top tip: Pick up Le Pass from the tourist<br />
office for 10 euros and get discounts and<br />
saving at 50 of their partners including<br />
shops, hotels, restaurants cultural and<br />
tourist sites and more.<br />
What to see nearby:<br />
800-year-old Chateau de Maintenon, home<br />
of Madame de Maintenon, the secret wife of<br />
Louis XIV. Open all year with several<br />
events, the most fabulous of which is the<br />
Christmas event from end <strong>No</strong>vember to mid-<br />
December with a performance involving 800<br />
volunteers in costume who bring to life the<br />
history of the castle and its inhabitants.<br />
You can reach the chateau by train from<br />
Chartres<br />
https://www.noelmaintenon.fr/
Far left: Maison Picasiette;<br />
left: the elegant Chateau de<br />
Maintenon, it belonged to<br />
Madame de Maintenon, the<br />
secret wife of Louis XIV. The<br />
gardens are lovely and the<br />
chateau is beautifully<br />
furnished.<br />
The main events<br />
There are loads of events year-round, of<br />
course The Sound and Light show is the no.<br />
1 but there’s also the quirky Henri IV<br />
weekend each February. A celebration of<br />
Henri IV, the only king to have been<br />
crowned in Chartres, in 1594, sees<br />
restaurants put on “poule au pot” menus,<br />
plus wine tastings.<br />
When Henri IV got sick, he declared “If God<br />
allows me to live, I will make sure that there<br />
is not a single labourer in my kingdom who<br />
does not have the means to enjoy a boiled<br />
chicken on Sundays”. It’s still a popular dish<br />
more than 400 years later!<br />
There are also wine events, music, stained<br />
glass and medieval festivals as well as flea<br />
markets, art and craft events and a grand<br />
Christmas market.<br />
Practical information<br />
Chartres is perfectly doable as a day trip<br />
from Paris with the train taking from 59<br />
minutes. Chartres station is very close to<br />
the Cathedral.<br />
Getting around in Chartres is easy - you<br />
can walk to most of the sites in Chartres,<br />
hire a bike, or jump on the free shuttle bus<br />
(Monday to Saturday), or the Flilibus<br />
network (MyBus Chartres app gives you all<br />
the bus timetables, schedules and status).<br />
There's plenty of choice for hotels and<br />
B&Bs in Chartres. If you're looking for<br />
luxury then you won't do better than to<br />
splash out at Le Grand Monarque - pure<br />
indulgence and utterly lovely. By the way,<br />
you may see the name Grand Monarque<br />
everywhere in France, it refers to Louis<br />
XIV!<br />
Eure-et-Loir Tourism: www.tourism28.com
Spotlight on:<br />
VALENCE<br />
The Gateway to<br />
the south of<br />
France
Valence, the gateway city to the<br />
south of France, a place of history,<br />
fabulous restaurants and wonderful<br />
architecture as Lucy Pitts discovers<br />
Just an hour south of Lyon, Valence is a beautiful and<br />
surprising city. It’s known as the gateway to the south of<br />
France and from Paris, you can be there in a couple of<br />
hours on the TGV which steams its way through and on<br />
south to Montpellier and beyond.<br />
Perched on the banks of the Rhône River, a stone’s throw<br />
from the Ardèche, Valence is a city of narrow cobbled<br />
streets, parks, canals, the regal Champ de Mars, a<br />
marina, and a diverse mixture of architecture. It has<br />
history, culture and cuisine in abundance and all basking<br />
in the reach of the Vercours Mountains and the Pre Alpes.<br />
In the footsteps of pilgrims and<br />
popes<br />
The TGV station is about 10km out of the centre but the<br />
city’s Gare de Valence Ville is a beautiful 19th century<br />
structure which brings you right into the heart of the city<br />
(or sends you off on its many tendrils to explore the<br />
region). From here walk straight down Avenue Pierre<br />
Sémard and it will being you out into the grand Esplanade<br />
du Champ Du Mars.
You find yourself wondering why<br />
you don’t know more about this<br />
elegant city<br />
This 3-hectare site has lime trees, lawns<br />
and fountains and the romantic Kiosk de<br />
Peynet. With views across to the Vercours<br />
and Ardèche mountains and the old ruins of<br />
Castle Crussol, it’s a captivating start and<br />
has access to one of the city’s eight parks,<br />
the Jouvet Park. With the impressive line of<br />
19th century façades bordering the Champ<br />
du Mars you find yourself wondering why<br />
you don’t know more about this elegant city.<br />
From the wide Boulevard du Général de<br />
Gaulle head into the narrow back streets<br />
where you’ll find a melting pot of architecture<br />
and intriguing pockets of interest.<br />
This city was on the pilgrims’ trail and the<br />
cathedral (built and rebuilt in the 11th, 17th<br />
and 19th centuries) has a special ambulatory<br />
for pilgrims and monument to Pope<br />
Pius VI, who died in Valence. Then there’s<br />
the Maison des Têtes, a 16th century house<br />
built on the cusp of the transition from Gothic<br />
to Renaissance and covered in sculpted<br />
heads representing wind, wealth and time,<br />
as well as theology, law and medicine. And<br />
there’s the Pendentif which, built in 1548,<br />
broke new architectural ground with its<br />
spherical triangles.<br />
In fact, almost every twist and turn in the<br />
narrow streets of Valence reveals something<br />
intriguing, from narrow steps in the city walls<br />
to art galleries (the city has an impressive<br />
collection) to three Michelin starred<br />
restaurants. There’s even an Armenian<br />
centre here and the different architecture<br />
seems to sway gently through the centuries.<br />
A bite of Valance<br />
Valence has food and the gourmand at its<br />
heart. In every boulangerie you’ll find a local<br />
speciality: the Suisse and the Pogne. The<br />
Suisse is shaped and decorated as a Swiss<br />
soldier in honour of Pope Pius’ guards, it's a<br />
sort of orange blossom flavoured brioche<br />
while the Pogne is a rounded brioche.
The very best place to try these is the<br />
Boulangerie Nivon, a short stroll from the<br />
station and where they’ve been serving<br />
these delights to commuters since 1856.<br />
They're possibly the best in the city and the<br />
bakers’ passion is palpable, (or should I say<br />
edible?).<br />
In every restaurant, you’ll come across<br />
another speciality, their tiny Raviole du<br />
Dauphiné, made of white cheese and<br />
parsley. Then there’s Anne Sophie Pic and<br />
her family. An award winning, third<br />
generation chef, she has followed in her<br />
grandfather’s footsteps by winning 3<br />
Michelin stars. Their influence is felt<br />
everywhere and of course, they’re not the<br />
only Michelin starred chefs in the city or the<br />
region.<br />
A weekend for the<br />
gourmand<br />
And then of course there’s the annual Fête<br />
de la Gastronomie at the end of September.<br />
At this time of year, the weather’s still balmy<br />
and the city throws its doors open to<br />
embrace all the flavours of the region as<br />
well as the cuisine of the world.<br />
Centred on the Place des Clercs but<br />
spreading out through the city, you can<br />
enjoy local celebrity chefs preparing their<br />
favourite dishes, markets, musico –<br />
gastronomic (yes cooking to the rhythm of<br />
the DJ), workshops and a tour of 8 of the<br />
city’s historical monuments who host fine<br />
food tastings. The streets are filled with<br />
music and teasingly delightful aromas and<br />
lots of the restaurants embrace the festival<br />
spirit with special offers and dishes.<br />
Each year the festival celebrates a specific<br />
theme that encourages “the reflection and<br />
discovery of French Gastronomy” and in<br />
<strong>20</strong>15, the festival saw some 2 million<br />
visitors. If you love France and you love<br />
food, it’s a little slice of the idyllic.<br />
Linger a little longer<br />
Valence feels sophisticated and elegant, yet<br />
quiet and very personal. There are regular<br />
markets here on Tuesdays, Thursdays,<br />
Fridays and Saturdays and other cultural<br />
events going on throughout the year. In July<br />
there’s a large and free music festival on the<br />
Champ Du Mars and of course, there’s the<br />
many places to visit beyond the city and in<br />
the surrounding Drôme. Valence is Lyon’s<br />
beautiful but shy cousin and a city that you<br />
should take the time to get to know much<br />
better.<br />
More information<br />
www.ladrometourisme.com<br />
www.valence-romans-tourisme.com/en/<br />
Details for Fête de la Gastronomie at:<br />
valenceengastronomie.fr<br />
Where to stay:Les Négociants is in the<br />
centre of the city, a few steps from the<br />
station and almost next door to the<br />
Boulangerie Nivon. It has a quirky and fun<br />
feel and is a great place to explore from.<br />
www.hotelvalence.com
Cassel Village prefere de<br />
France<br />
CASSEL
Favourite<br />
Village<br />
of the<br />
French<br />
<strong>20</strong>18<br />
Approach the town of Cassel<br />
from the flat countryside, fields<br />
of wheat swaying in a light<br />
breeze in summer, car winding<br />
its way helter-skelter-like, up<br />
and around the mountain of<br />
Cassel until you suddenly<br />
reach the cobbled roads that<br />
lead into the small town with<br />
big views at the top of the<br />
famous hill of French Flanders.<br />
Janine Marsh explores the<br />
newly award-winning favourite<br />
town of the French <strong>20</strong>18<br />
View over the countryside around<br />
Cassel
Favourite garden of the French in Cassel<br />
An essential stop when you visit Cassel has<br />
to be the multi award winning garden known<br />
as the Jardins de Mont des Récollets. This<br />
rather unusual garden is famous in France,<br />
in fact it was voted favourite garden of the<br />
French in <strong>20</strong>13 and has an unusual history.<br />
Owner and gardener extraordinaire<br />
Emmanuel de Quillacq took over what was<br />
his grandfather’s farm, in 1986. Having<br />
always worked in an office, he developed an<br />
overwhelming passion for the glorious<br />
countryside and the town of Cassels. After<br />
studying at the famous Versailles school of<br />
gardening, he devoted his life and every<br />
working day to turning the once neglected<br />
farmland into a fabulous garden that visitors<br />
fall head over heels for.<br />
You enter via an alley of apple trees to<br />
discover a grand “room” of topiary, of<br />
hydrangeas, roses, wild meadow flowers.<br />
These “rooms” in the garden are of all<br />
different styles but flow effortlessly, one to<br />
the other. You can’t help but think it looks a<br />
bit like something out of a Breughel painting.<br />
“It’s Flemish renaissance” says Emmanuel,<br />
“that’s what inspired me and drives the<br />
design, over time the style has slowly<br />
evolved…”<br />
The view from the garden over the<br />
surrounding countryside is breath-takingly<br />
beautiful. “When I first saw this place, it<br />
reminded me of Breughel’s painting the<br />
Hunters in the Snow” says the green<br />
fingered Emmanuel, and if you see the<br />
painting, you’ll see what he means. “It’s like<br />
a window on nature here, framing a different<br />
view every single day.” Indeed, there are<br />
windows cut into hedges all over the place<br />
offering a different perspective on the<br />
landscape. It’s said that on a clear day you<br />
can see the English coast from here and the<br />
Belfry of Bruges!<br />
This is a spectacular garden to visit,<br />
peaceful, lush and beautiful. You can also<br />
take a break at the little café which is full of<br />
charm – as well as artefacts of yesteryear.<br />
Lunch is of the traditional Flemish style,<br />
made with local products and fruit from the<br />
garden and is open daily through July and<br />
August, at other times by appointment for<br />
groups.
Cassel – favourite village of the French <strong>20</strong>18<br />
Those gorgeous gardens are not the only<br />
winners around here. The town itself took<br />
the first prize in the hugely popular “Le<br />
village préféré des Français” contest in<br />
<strong>20</strong>18. When much-loved TV host Stéphane<br />
Bern announced that Cassel had beaten<br />
much more famous rivals to the title,<br />
including Mont-Saint-Michel in <strong>No</strong>rmandy<br />
and Roussillon in Provence, the locals were<br />
more than delighted. You may never have<br />
heard of this place but taking this title<br />
almost guarantees that Cassel is about to<br />
get a lot more well-known.<br />
The charm of Cassel lies in the fact that it is<br />
typically Flemish, that it has outstanding<br />
views over the beautiful countryside, friendly<br />
folk, the gardens of Mont des Récollets and<br />
a strong sense of the authentic and of the<br />
past. It’s been likened to something out of a<br />
story from Père Castor, beloved stories for<br />
children originating in the early <strong>20</strong>th century<br />
with a fairy-tale, folklore vibe.<br />
It’s a small town with an excellent museum<br />
with a good collection of paintings and<br />
regular temporary exhibitions.<br />
It’s a nice place in which to take an amble.<br />
Enjoy the views from the ramparts, the<br />
castle having long gone, or from the gardens<br />
at the highest point of Mont Cassel, 176m<br />
up, where you’ll find a windmill on the site of<br />
the former castle. You can drive to the top<br />
but its much more fun to climb the quirky<br />
Alpine stairs. While you’re there, you should<br />
definitely take a break at the enchanting<br />
Estaminet Kasteelhof, a Flemish word for a<br />
tavern. It’s actually the restaurant of<br />
Emmanuel de Quillacq of the Jardins de<br />
Mont des Récollets and reflects his love for<br />
tradition and Flanders with a fabulous rustic<br />
menu, local beers, home made lemonades<br />
and wonderful traditional décor. The terrace<br />
has stunning views and inside is<br />
atmospheric and fun. There’s also a little<br />
shop where you can buy local products (8<br />
Rue Saint-Nicolas).<br />
Don’t miss the Musée de Flandre which has<br />
a beautiful 16th Renaissance façade. It’s<br />
home to a rich collection of paintings, prints<br />
and sculptures and presents the history of<br />
French Flanders.
Photo: Remy Catelain<br />
Enjoy the ambiance of Cassel<br />
There are plenty of charming cafés and<br />
restaurants to lure you.<br />
Locals love: Kasteelhof (above) and Le<br />
Kerelshof II at the heart of the Grand Place.<br />
It gets very lively at the weekends and is<br />
friendly, fun with a great range of beers and<br />
a decent menu of local foods and<br />
specialities from carbonnade (beef stew with<br />
ale and brown sugar) to potjevleesch (cold<br />
meats in aspic) and sugar pie!<br />
Take a break: Café aux Trois Moulins, like<br />
something out of Maigret story. It’s great for<br />
a coffee, beer and robust plates of food like<br />
steak frites, friendly staff and very good<br />
value. 50 Grand'Place<br />
Wine and dine: Fenetre sur la Cour, this<br />
Michelin starred restaurant offers a fabulous<br />
menu at a non-Michelin price. With a 2-<br />
course lunch menu starting at Euros 23.50<br />
or Chef Jean-Luc Paulhan’s 5 course choice<br />
with 3 wines at just €62.50 in beautiful<br />
surroundings. 5 Rue du Marechal Foch<br />
Local specialities and artisans<br />
At La Ferme des Templiers, you’ll be<br />
tempted by Le Boulet de Cassel, a local<br />
mimolette made with milk from a local breed<br />
of cow, the Rouge Flamande.<br />
Ferme des Récollets is run by the Beun<br />
family, and you’ll receive a warm welcome<br />
before you fall in love with their cheeses<br />
which are mostly made from goats milk.<br />
Try the new local brew Bière du Reuze,<br />
named after the famous giants of the area<br />
You can buy local products in the town at<br />
shops in the town at 2 rue Bollaert and 32<br />
Grand Place as well as at the Estaminet<br />
Kasteelhof.<br />
More info: https://www.coeurdeflandre.fr/<br />
www.tourisme-nordpasdecalais.fr/
Le Petit History:<br />
Jean Jaurès
New Series<br />
He was famous for his eloquent speeches,<br />
for standing up for workers’ rights and as<br />
one of the founding members and leader of<br />
the French Socialist Party, the forerunner to<br />
France’s Socialist Party. He also founded<br />
the socialist newspaper L'Humanité, still<br />
sold today.<br />
On a Friday evening July 31, 1914, a 29-yearold<br />
French nationalist by the name of Raoul<br />
Villain arrived at the Café du Croissant<br />
(which is still there) at 146 Rue Montmartre,<br />
Paris. He pulled a pistol from his pocket<br />
and fired two shots at a diner, striking his<br />
target twice in the head. The hits were fatal<br />
for Jean Jaurès, the victim, dining with the<br />
editor of L'Humanité.<br />
Anti-war<br />
<strong>No</strong>wadays Jaurès is best remembered for<br />
his anti-militarism and attempts to avert the<br />
outbreak of the First World War.<br />
Wherever you go in France you’re sure to<br />
come across a Place Jean Jaurès, a rue Jean<br />
Jaurès, Avenue Jean Jaurès, schools and<br />
even metro stations of that name – Paris<br />
and Lyon.<br />
Every French school child will learn about<br />
Jean Jaurès, he is one of the most wellknown<br />
figures of French history, though he<br />
is hardly known outside his home country.<br />
Who was Jean Jaurès<br />
Born 1859 in the Tarn region, Jean Jaurès<br />
became one of the most celebrated figures<br />
of French history, a social thinker, anti-war<br />
campaigner and politician. A man who has<br />
left his mark on French culture.<br />
“Never, for forty years, has Europe been in a<br />
more threatening and more tragic<br />
situation," he warned in the spring of 1914.<br />
He had been trying to force governments to<br />
find a path other than war by organising<br />
workers strikes in Europe. It didn’t please<br />
everyone.<br />
His assassination brought the strike<br />
actions to an end. Just hours later, Germany<br />
declared war on Russia and two days later<br />
on France. By August 4 when Jaurès was<br />
buried, all the major powers of Europe were<br />
officially at war.<br />
Jean Jaurès final resting place is in the<br />
Pantheon, Paris.
Grasse<br />
The sweetest smelling city in<br />
Europe<br />
Kevin Pilley follows his nose in Provence
I had my own “<strong>No</strong>se”.<br />
All to myself.<br />
Grasse, the perfume capital of<br />
France, the most fragrant place on<br />
earth... Kevin Pilley takes a tour<br />
with his "nose"...<br />
The town didn’t always smell this nice. It<br />
used to stink,” my <strong>No</strong>se told me. “It was a<br />
leather tanning town and the stench was<br />
unbearable. The first fragrance produced<br />
was for designer gloves. Rose water to<br />
mask the ghastly smell. Catherine de Medici<br />
endorsed them. And Grasse quickly<br />
became the perfume capital of the world.”<br />
I was being shown round “The Galimand<br />
Studio des Fragrances” in the Route de<br />
Cannes. My <strong>No</strong>se was a perfume expert<br />
and professional petro-chemist. “Every<br />
perfume has its own unique composition<br />
made from one hundred and forty-seven<br />
notes,” my private <strong>No</strong>se said.<br />
“Each perfume has the peak, the heart and<br />
the base or, fond note. The job of professional<br />
noses is to create a harmonious<br />
formula. When you visit Grasse you must be<br />
prepared to be seduced.”<br />
For four hundred heady years, the tiny<br />
village in the foothills of the Alps-Maritimes<br />
above the French Mediterranean coast has<br />
been the centre of the international perfume<br />
industry. “Chanel <strong>No</strong>.5” was invented there<br />
in 1922. It was the first perfume to use<br />
synthetic materials - aldehyde. But, every<br />
year twenty-seven tonnes of jasmine are<br />
still harvested from the surrounding<br />
countryside and used by the local<br />
“fumeries”. There is also a weekly market in<br />
the Genoa-inspired square, a rose festival in<br />
May and a jasmine festival in August. And<br />
the perfumeries are busier than ever.<br />
My “perfumerie” crawl moved on to the<br />
museum on the third floor of the yellowwalled<br />
“Fragonard” factory where I was<br />
given a new <strong>No</strong>se who invited me to take a<br />
deep breath. “You are standing in the most<br />
fragrant place on earth,” my <strong>No</strong>se informed<br />
me. “You can smell the whole world from<br />
here. The finest smells the earth can<br />
produce.”<br />
"You are standing in the most<br />
fragrant place on earth"<br />
My nose swooned and reeled off the<br />
aromas. “Turkish roses picked at dawn,<br />
Egyptian orange blossom, lavender from the<br />
plateaux of Haute Provence, local petal-less<br />
wild mimosa, Madagascan ylang-ylang,<br />
Californian lemons, Calabrian bergamot,<br />
Israeli grapefruit, Indian Ocean vanilla,<br />
Russian coriander, Somalian frankincense,<br />
Sri Lankan sandalwood, Philipinno cloves,<br />
Japanese ginger, Kenyan cedar, Italian iris,<br />
Guatemalan cardamom, South African<br />
geranium…”
I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. The spiel<br />
was highly concentrated, and I was starting to<br />
hyperventilate. But my <strong>No</strong>se asked me to<br />
muster one more inhalation. She wanted to<br />
educate my nostrils. Her nose told her I didn’t<br />
know my “Intuition” from my “Knowing”. Or, my<br />
“Youth Dew” from my “Brut”.<br />
“If you want to smell the world you need only to<br />
come to the French Riviera. We can now<br />
simulate the world’s most arousing animal<br />
musk. Did you know ambergris is a substance<br />
secreted by the digestive system of sperm<br />
whales? And castor is produced by beaver<br />
glands?”<br />
There was a lot of talk about modern, high-tech<br />
techniques and meeting the qualitative and<br />
quantitative expectations of the modern<br />
marketplace and making human beings smell<br />
desirable in an ecologically desirable way.<br />
Having finished the maceration rooms and<br />
proud of myself for finding out that ylang-ylang<br />
comes from a tree belonging to the custard<br />
apple family, my next stop was “The<br />
International Museum of Perfumery”.
It’s a glassy modern makeover of an<br />
eighteenth-century hotel and crammed with<br />
perfume-making paraphernalia, “olfactive<br />
stations”, “essence fountains” and “vapour<br />
trails”, telling the same story of distillation,<br />
absorption, supercritical carbon dioxide<br />
volatile solvents and how it’s become<br />
possible to smell like Beyonce and Lady<br />
Gaga.<br />
Feeling sufficiently up on molecular science,<br />
I read the walls for some more background.<br />
Using donkey-drawn carts, the earliest<br />
French “parfumiers” carried their primitive<br />
and very crude distilling vats into the<br />
mountains around Grasse, gathered wild<br />
flowers and extracted scents on the spot in<br />
the open air by steaming the plants in large<br />
copper cauldrons. The still had been<br />
introduced from Arabia and an Italian monk,<br />
Mauritius Frangipani, had discovered that<br />
perfumes can be preserved in alcohol.<br />
In 1759, using skills learnt from the pomade<br />
(hair ointment) makers of Montpellier, the<br />
people of Grasse began supplying Parisian<br />
scent-makers with their raw materials.<br />
Business grew and soon Grasse was<br />
producing iris, hyacinth and rose scented<br />
soaps in special containers. Antoine Chiris<br />
founded one of the first perfumeries in the<br />
town at the end of the century. There are<br />
now three times more artificial, man-made<br />
fragrances on the market than natural ones.<br />
Approximately six thousand essential oils<br />
are used by the cosmetic industry.<br />
Today, the Grasse perfume industry<br />
employs a workforce of several thousand.<br />
The global cosmetic industry is thought to be<br />
worth $72.7 billion. Four factories in Grasse<br />
are open to the public and guided tours<br />
explain the series of washing, filtration,<br />
purification, evaporation and impregnation<br />
which constitutes the highly involved and<br />
painstaking production process. All this is<br />
overseen by one expert who is affectionately<br />
known as “The Chief <strong>No</strong>se” or “Le<br />
Composeur”.<br />
“La Musee International de la Perfumerie”,<br />
which opened in 1989, has a collection of<br />
antique amphorae and stoppered bottles<br />
from famous manufactures like Lalique and<br />
Baccarat. Also exhibited is Marie<br />
Antoinette’s travel case and “chatelaines” –<br />
private perfume bottles on chains.<br />
In 1990, one bottle of “Bouchon Mures”, an<br />
electric blue flagon by Lalique, fetched a<br />
staggering £38,000 at auction.
Fine scents are like fine wines. But the<br />
bottle is almost as important as what is<br />
inside. Many, like Ernst Beaux’s Chanel<br />
<strong>No</strong>.5 bottle, have become design classics.<br />
The story of perfume contains a few<br />
surprises. Russian astronauts went into<br />
space with phials full of perfume and<br />
essential oils to remind them of home. From<br />
its earliest documented use perfume has<br />
put man in touch with the heavens. The<br />
word “perfume” derives from the Latin “per<br />
fumum” meaning “through smoke”, The<br />
ancient Greeks and Egyptians burnt<br />
aromatic substances in their temples to<br />
placate the gods and mask the smell of<br />
burning flesh during human sacrifices.<br />
As Christianity spread perfume was frowned<br />
upon as a vanity until it was revived by the<br />
Crusaders returning from the Middle-East.<br />
In Tudor times, Europeans sprinkled<br />
pleasant-smelling love-in-the-mist seeds<br />
into their hair to prevent lice.<br />
Perfumes fall into three basic categories –<br />
floral, orientals and oceanics. The top<br />
sellers include Chanel’s “Chanel <strong>No</strong>. 5”<br />
which Marilyn Monroe wore (“and nothing<br />
else”), “Gucci’s “Envy”, Givenchy’s<br />
“Organza”, and Calvin Klein’s “Obsession”.<br />
Paris perfume makers Lubin make Black<br />
Jade, said to be based on a perfume<br />
recipe loved by Marie-Antoinette,<br />
entrusted to a friend, passed down<br />
through the centuries...
Grasse is especially known for<br />
its fragrant May rose, the pale<br />
pink flower that blooms in May,<br />
and jasmine. Both flowers are at<br />
the heart of more than a few<br />
famous fragrances, including<br />
Chanel’s star, <strong>No</strong>. 5.<br />
A Multi-billion dollar industry - not<br />
to be sniffed at<br />
Today’s perfume industry is very profitable.<br />
It's predicted that the US perfume market<br />
alone will exceed sales of 7 billion dollars in<br />
by <strong>20</strong><strong>20</strong>. Multinationals now control the<br />
major perfume houses. Paris-based<br />
“L’Oreal” , founded in 1907 by chemist<br />
Eugene Schueler who invented the world’s<br />
first synthetic hair dye, has a portfolio of<br />
twenty-one leading brands including<br />
“Lancome“,” “Giorgio Armani”( acquired in<br />
1980 and including “Mania”, “Acqua di Gio”<br />
and Armani Pour Homme“), “Ralph Lauren”,<br />
“Cacharel” and “Lancome” (bought in 1964)<br />
perfumes and fragrances.<br />
Someone once worked out that more than<br />
eighty-five of its products are bought every<br />
second - every day. Which is a stat not to<br />
be sniffed at.<br />
Along the Boulevard Victor Hugo in the<br />
“Molinard” (depuis 1849) workshop, I<br />
achieved my lifelong ambition of creating my<br />
own fragrance. A smell that is uniquely me.<br />
One day soon I hope to create a whole<br />
range of smells. That will turn heads.<br />
I learned the art of alchemy and seduction<br />
and was allowed to indulge in my mad<br />
professor fantasy in order to create my own<br />
toilet water. Using pipettes, I concocted my<br />
own personalized scent and received a<br />
“diploma l’eleve”, certifying that I had<br />
attended the “tarinology” workshop and<br />
graduated as a “trainee nose” from one of<br />
Grasse’s highly-respected perfume schools.<br />
I am now qualified to boast that I know what<br />
it takes to smell well.<br />
I haven’t named my scent yet. But I have<br />
dedicated it to Giorgio Armani who once said<br />
“For those who live with style<br />
and elegance, dressing is a<br />
ritual. The final act in that<br />
ritual is fragrance.”
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Like "a faceted diamond set in the Indre<br />
bathing in the river like princely creature".<br />
Honoré de Balzac<br />
On a hot summer’s night, after dinner at the<br />
lovely Hotel Le Grand Monarque, in the bijou<br />
town of Azay-le-Rideau I decided to stroll<br />
through the pretty little streets and take a<br />
peek at the famed Chateau through its<br />
ornate iron gates, ahead of a day time visit<br />
scheduled for the next day. Imagine my<br />
surprise to discover that at 10pm the gates<br />
were open, and visitors were welcomed in<br />
for free to wander the fragrant gardens and<br />
ooh and ah at the sight of the fairy-tale castle<br />
lit up against a twilight sky, its reflection<br />
shimmering in the moat, perfectly still except<br />
for ripples caused by a dipping dragonfly, a<br />
lazy fish or an amorous frog looking for<br />
company. A full moon hovered over the<br />
castle, a glowing homage to its beauty as the<br />
silhouette of small bats flitted through the<br />
beams of the moon. The scent of lavender<br />
was heady. It was like a dream chateau<br />
come to life…<br />
History of Azay-le-Rideau<br />
Standing on an island in the middle of the<br />
Indre River, the Château of Azay-le-Rideau<br />
was built combining the latest technical<br />
innovations from Italy and the art of French<br />
architecture.<br />
In around 1510, Gilles Berthelot, Finance<br />
Minister of King Louis XII and Mayor of<br />
nearby Tours, became owner of the ruins of<br />
a fortress in Azay-le-Rideau. He had plans<br />
drawn up for a château, putting his wife<br />
Philippe (in those days, a name for both men<br />
and women) in charge of the construction. By<br />
1515, the year Francois I came to the throne,<br />
the Renaissance influence was in full flow.<br />
Philippe proved to be an excellent project<br />
manager, ordering slate from Anjou, ensuring<br />
masons, carpenters and workmen were on<br />
site at the right time.
Photo Terry Webb<br />
photo: Terry Webb<br />
Gilles paid homage to King Francois and his<br />
wife Queen Claude by having their initials<br />
carved on the walls. Flattery did no good,<br />
the proud owners never had time to enjoy<br />
their home. A general investigation ordered<br />
by Francis I revealed embezzlement.<br />
Berthelot fled, abandoning his wife Philippe<br />
and his château, he died in 1529. Francis I<br />
seized the unfinished Château and gave it<br />
to one of his loyal followers. In places you<br />
can see carvings begun and doomed to<br />
never to be finished, it adds to the romance.<br />
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau<br />
today<br />
The Chateau today is under state ownership<br />
and it is one of the absolute jewels of the<br />
Loire Valley. Incredibly pretty inside and out,<br />
the river that surrounds it reflects its beauty<br />
in a thousand ripples.<br />
Recent renovations (completed in <strong>20</strong>17)<br />
revealed some of the chateau’s secrets, for<br />
instance the practice of bulrush matting for<br />
the walls. The tradition was spotted by an<br />
eagle-eyed historian in a 16th century<br />
tapestry of a man getting dressed. You’ll<br />
now see this in the bedroom that was<br />
Philippe’s. In her day, it wasn’t just a place<br />
to sleep but to live, she would receive<br />
visitors there, eat and work in the room, so<br />
keeping it warm in winter and cool in<br />
summer was essential and the wall<br />
coverings helped as did raising the bed off<br />
the floor on a platform. It was also believed<br />
that the smell of the reeds expelled bad<br />
moods and cleansed the air!<br />
Centuries of pigeons roosting on the roof<br />
had left the famously white castle a rather<br />
dull grey – not any more. Artisans and<br />
craftsmen have repaired and restored the<br />
chateau to glory using authentic methods,<br />
creating a new path which goes all around<br />
the castle and giving it a whole new lease of<br />
life.
The turrets, moat and cobbled sentry walk<br />
are token gestures towards the look of a<br />
fortress because this is in reality a dream<br />
home of the 16th century – and no one<br />
would mind it today either! The staircase<br />
was incredibly innovative for its day, inside<br />
(a novelty then), running centrally through<br />
the chateau and giving fabulous views at<br />
every level.<br />
The rooms are exquisitely furnished and<br />
decorated with tapestries and paintings and<br />
the most extraordinary artworks. Automatons<br />
bring the castle to life, whirling figures,<br />
twirling cake stands, swishing curtains – it’s<br />
all very fairy-tale like and perfectly suits this<br />
most romantic and elegant of chateaux.<br />
From early July to end August – the chateau<br />
is lit up at night for evening visits.<br />
www.azay-le-rideau.fr/en/<br />
What to see in Azay-le-<br />
Rideau<br />
Take the time to discover the town while<br />
you’re there - it’s charming and authentic<br />
and there are some lovely shops and<br />
restaurants.<br />
Don’t miss – the Thé Salon with its gorgeous<br />
artisan cakes (top left) at 23 Rue nationale.<br />
Stroll down rue de Balzac, the road which<br />
leads to the gates of the chateau, it's lined<br />
with galleries, boutiques and cafés and is<br />
very pretty.<br />
Relax in the secret garden in front of the<br />
chateau, filled with seasonal flowers and<br />
herbs.<br />
Enjoy the wine... this is an area of<br />
magnificent vineyards producing Touraine
A very small part<br />
of a very large<br />
collection at<br />
Musée Maurice<br />
Dufresne<br />
wines including dry whites, sweet wines,<br />
reds, rosés and sparkling wines. Follow the<br />
Loire Valley wine route and explore the<br />
vineyards and domaines along the counrtry<br />
lanes of this lush region. There's evidence<br />
that vines have been grown here since<br />
Gallo-Roman times and the wines of<br />
Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau reflect the<br />
centuries of savoire-faire.<br />
Don't forget to sample the delicious<br />
Touraine cheeses such as Sainte-Maure de<br />
Touraine, a tangy goats cheese that's<br />
perfect with the regional wines!<br />
Just outside the centre of Azay-le-Rideau in<br />
Marnay you'll find the quirky and fascinating<br />
Musée Maurice Dufresne, the latter an<br />
obsessive collector of things. Set on an<br />
island, it holds an authentic and amazing<br />
collection of ancient vehicles, cars, bicycles,<br />
planes, trucks, motorbikes, tractors,<br />
agricultural or military machinery, vintage<br />
posters and peculiar objects - including a<br />
mobile guilotine. With more than 3000<br />
pieces, allow a minimum of 2-3 hours to see<br />
it all. There's also a restaurant on site which<br />
is popular for lunch, so book your slot on<br />
arrival if you can.<br />
Also close by is the Chateau de l'Islette, a bit<br />
of a hidden gem and not on the main tourist<br />
route. Still lived in, the pretty Renaissance<br />
chateau is known locally as the little sister of<br />
the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau. Here, the<br />
great Rodin conducted his stormy love affair<br />
with fellow artist Claude Camille, it's<br />
charming, authentic and has lovely gardens,<br />
perfect for a picnic or a boat ride on the<br />
small lake.<br />
Hotel: Grand Monarque a former 18th<br />
century post house in the centre of Azay-le-<br />
Rideau is charming; lovely restaurant too.<br />
Take a tour with Val de Loire Travel<br />
Tourist office: www.touraineloirevalley.com;<br />
www.loirevalley-france.co.uk
Renata Haidle<br />
I love the tiny medieval villages, with<br />
their warm, worn stone walls covered<br />
with abundant, beautiful blooms. I love<br />
the bright, vivid colours of Vieille Nice<br />
and Villefranche-sur-mer, and their lively<br />
atmosphere of a perpetual holiday. The<br />
powdery blue shutters, the Cypress<br />
trees, the sound of cicadas at night, the<br />
blue of the Mediterranean, the red<br />
geraniums in flower boxes, the scent of<br />
jasmine as well as the briny sea. I love<br />
the narrow alleys of Èze and La Turbie,<br />
where you feel like you're lost in a<br />
fairytale. I love Vence, Cagnes-sur-Mer,<br />
and Saint-Paul-de-Vence for their<br />
artistic heritage, the names of so many<br />
famous artists that once called these<br />
places home still alive in the locals'<br />
hearts and minds, and still inspiring<br />
visitors decade after decade. And cliché<br />
of clichés but oh so true, I love the<br />
people, their culture, their beautiful,<br />
enviable joie de vivre, and their<br />
impeccable style that shows in<br />
everything they do.
One of my favourite<br />
restaurants is Au Vieux Four<br />
in tiny Gourdon, where I had<br />
a scrumptious risotto<br />
piémontais with roast<br />
chicken, followed by a<br />
chocolate gâteau with mango<br />
sorbet for dessert. It was one<br />
of the best meals I had in the<br />
south of France, also made<br />
memorable by the fact that it<br />
was preceded by a strenuous,<br />
steep, two hour-long<br />
hike up the mountain, all the<br />
way from Pont-du-Loup to<br />
Gourdon!<br />
I love the unpretentious Loco Loco in<br />
Villefranche-sur-mer. Last year, after<br />
having a delicious seafood salad there,<br />
I wanted to pay with a credit card,<br />
unaware of the fact that they only took<br />
cash - which I didn't have. Jean Pierre,<br />
the waiter (and co-owner, but I didn't<br />
know that at the time), graciously<br />
directed me to the nearest cash<br />
machine (which wasn't really that<br />
near), trusting that I'd go back and pay<br />
him, which I did, of course. It felt good<br />
to see him again upon return to<br />
Villefranche-sur-mer one year later,<br />
although I only saw him briefly in the<br />
narrow alley outside the restaurant. I<br />
didn't talk to him but posted this story<br />
on Instagram with a photo of him, and<br />
was surprised in the most pleasant<br />
way when a young girl left a comment<br />
saying, "That man is my father!" Isn't it<br />
lovely how we're all connected<br />
somehow in this digital age!
The beautiful Negresco Hotel, which is<br />
utterly deserving of its great reputation, is<br />
undoubtedly the most beautiful hotel I've<br />
had the good fortune to stay in. <strong>No</strong>t only is<br />
the Art Deco architecture breathtaking, but<br />
everything inside is curated with the utmost<br />
attention to detail. The interior decor<br />
elements are impeccably chosen to create<br />
a space that is luxurious yet welcoming<br />
and warm. There are countless wonderful<br />
antique furnishings and decorative objects<br />
throughout, and the art collection gracing<br />
the walls is worthy of a small museum. An<br />
experience not to be missed, for sure!<br />
Renata Haidle is a Billings, Montanabased<br />
travel, architecture, and fine art<br />
photographer. She travels to Europe<br />
regularly, mainly to France and<br />
England, where she photographs<br />
beautiful architecture and snippets of<br />
everyday life. Her travel photos have<br />
been featured in numerous<br />
publications and exhibitions. You can<br />
find her at: www.renatahaidle.com
YOUR PHOTOS<br />
Every weekend, we invite<br />
you to share your photos<br />
on Facebook - it's a great<br />
way for everyone to see<br />
"real" France and be<br />
inspired by real travellers<br />
snapping pics as they go.<br />
Every week there are<br />
utterly gorgeous photos<br />
being shared and here we<br />
showcase the most popular<br />
of each month. Share your<br />
favourite photos with us on<br />
Facebook - the most "liked"<br />
will appear in the next issue<br />
of The Good Life France<br />
Magazine...<br />
Sunset over Carcassonne by<br />
Lisa Felmingham, most<br />
popular photo in July<br />
The colourful town of Dinan,<br />
Brittany by David Jurivcevich,<br />
most popular photo in August!
The Chateau of Versailles through<br />
its gilded gate, by Jerri Freeman,<br />
most popular photo in September<br />
Join us on Facebook and like<br />
and share your favourite photos<br />
of France...
UNESCO world heritage<br />
In Tarn
The historic department of Tarn is awash with<br />
UNESCO listed attractions, Rupert Parker<br />
explores
UNESCO World<br />
heritage in the Tarn<br />
Tarn, in the Occitanie region, is one of those<br />
places in France that confuses people. They<br />
automatically think of the wild Gorges des Tarn<br />
which are in Lozère, some 140kms to the <strong>No</strong>rth<br />
West of Albi, Tarn’s capital. The River Tarn flows<br />
through both but there the comparison ends. The<br />
département has a landscape of green hills, lush<br />
vineyards, medieval Bastide villages and some<br />
notable UNESCO World Heritage sites.<br />
Albi<br />
I start in the capital Albi, around an hour west of<br />
Toulouse. From my room in the Mercure Cité<br />
Episcopale Hôtel, overlooking the River Tarn, there’s a<br />
picture postcard view of the city, dominated by the<br />
fortress-like Sainte-Cécile Cathedral. It glows red in<br />
the early morning, a monstrous mountain of brick,<br />
erected from 1282 to 1392, as a powerful show of<br />
strength, after the Cathar revolt was finally quashed.<br />
Bishop Bernard de Castanet didn’t just build this<br />
cathedral, he also started a vicious inquisition<br />
accusing many prominent townspeople of heresy.<br />
I cross the Tarn into the city by the 11th century Pont<br />
Vieux and make my way up to this Fortress of God.<br />
Up close, it’s even more intimidating, a brick bunker,<br />
with windows nothing but slits, topped with the<br />
highest brick tower in Europe, rising to 78m. It’s part<br />
of the UNESCO rated Episcopal City which also<br />
includes Bishop Bernard’s own stronghold, the Palais<br />
de la Berbie plus the palace’s riverside gardens, the<br />
Saint Salvi church and the Pont Vieux.<br />
After the Gothic gauntness of its exterior, the inside of<br />
the Cathedral comes as something of a pleasant<br />
surprise. The vault is covered in richly colourful<br />
frescoes, the largest example of Italian Renaissance<br />
painting in France. At the back is an enormous<br />
depiction of the Last Judgement, four stories high and<br />
taking up the entire width of the building.
It was painted by Flemish artists between<br />
1474 and 1480 and the reptilian demons,<br />
torturing sad souls for eternity, are a stern<br />
reminder of the wages of sin. It’s missing<br />
its central section, knocked through to give<br />
access to a more recent chapel at the base<br />
of the bell tower. Sadly, that means that<br />
God, the judge of the Last Judgement, is no<br />
longer to be seen.<br />
At the other end, surrounding the choir is a<br />
Gothic rood screen, carved out of<br />
limestone, housing dozens of statues in<br />
niches. By the central doorway, you can<br />
make out Adam trying to cover himself,<br />
facing Eve, striking her model’s pose.<br />
Before the Counter Reformation, access to<br />
this part of the church was only available to<br />
the clergy, keeping out the common people<br />
who could only hear, but not see, the<br />
celebration of mass.<br />
Son of Albi - Toulouse-<br />
Lautrec<br />
Albi’s most famous son is the painter Henri<br />
de Toulouse-Lautrec and the house where<br />
he was born in 1864 still exists, although<br />
it’s closed to the public. What you can see<br />
is an almost complete collection of his<br />
works in the Palais de la Berbie, next to the<br />
Cathedral.When he died in 1901 of<br />
alcoholism and syphilis, nobody was<br />
interested in his paintings and they<br />
struggled to find a home. Fortunately one<br />
of his cousins was Mayor of Albi at the time<br />
and the Toulouse Lautrec museum opened<br />
in 1922.<br />
"Toulouse-Lautrec probably<br />
influenced Van Gogh and<br />
Picasso was a great admirer"<br />
Lautrec had bone disease, probably a result<br />
of inbreeding in his family, and broke his<br />
right thigh bone when he fell off a chair<br />
when he was 13. Recuperating in the<br />
Pyrenees, he tripped and broke the other<br />
thigh bone and both never completely<br />
healed. He started drawing and painting<br />
during long periods of convalescence and<br />
went to Paris to study with Bonnat and<br />
Cormon. During this time, he had his first<br />
encounter with a prostitute and started<br />
painting the low life of Montmartre.
What surprises in the museum is that he<br />
really was an accomplished painter although<br />
he never seems to have settled on a style.<br />
You can detect expressionist, impressionist,<br />
classical, even chiaroscuro in the 240<br />
canvases on display. He probably influenced<br />
Van Gogh and Picasso was a great admirer.<br />
Towards the end of his life, in 1891, he taught<br />
himself lithography and made the 31 Moulin<br />
Rouge posters for which he’s justly famous.<br />
Yvette Gilbert,<br />
raunchy cabaret<br />
singer of the Belle<br />
Epoque and<br />
favourite subject<br />
for Toulouse-<br />
Lautrec<br />
The other UNESCO listed attraction in Albi is<br />
the parchment Mappa Mundi, dating from<br />
the 8th century, and one of the oldest<br />
representations of the world. It belonged to<br />
Albi cathedral and you can see a facsimile in<br />
the Treasury with information panels<br />
explaining the content and the history.<br />
I’m privileged to be shown the original,<br />
now kept in the Pierre-Amalric Library<br />
and only brought out on special<br />
occasions. As well as being exceptionally<br />
delicate, its surprisingly small, the size of<br />
an exercise book. It represents the world<br />
in the form of a horseshoe, centred<br />
around the Mediterranean, orientated to<br />
the East and features some fifty names of<br />
cities, regions, rivers, seas and winds. I<br />
can just make out the shape of Europe<br />
and even India is represented, although<br />
it’s not as close as they thought.
Castres<br />
Around 45 minutes south of Albi is the city<br />
of Castres, which developed around the<br />
Benedictine abbey of Saint Benoît, founded<br />
in AD 647. Don’t miss the Saturday morning<br />
market which fills the whole of Place Jean<br />
Jaurès. From Quai des Jacobins there's a<br />
striking view of the medieval multi-storey<br />
tanners' and dyers' houses lining the River<br />
Agout, known as the Venice of Languedoc<br />
All have basements, opening directly onto<br />
the river where animal skins were cleansed<br />
and rinsed and then put in tanks full of lime.<br />
The ground floor was occupied by the<br />
workers with the masters living above. On<br />
the top two floors were the drying sheds,<br />
with shuttered openings protecting the<br />
hides from the sun during summer and from<br />
the frost during winter. Under the roof, the<br />
“soleiller”, or second drying shed was left<br />
wide open to let the air and light in.<br />
The Bishop's Palace is now the town hall<br />
and has immaculately laid out gardens by<br />
Le <strong>No</strong>tre, a famous 17th century landscape<br />
gardener who also laid out the gardens at<br />
Versailles. It’s also home to the Goya<br />
museum, dedicated to Spanish artists, and<br />
contains a handful of works by the master<br />
himself. Don’t miss their Picasso, the "Bust<br />
of Man Writing", on loan from the Picasso<br />
Museum.<br />
Royal School-Abbey of<br />
Sorèze<br />
Half an hour south west from here is the<br />
Bastide village of Sorèze. The Benedictine<br />
abbey became a Royal Military School under<br />
Louis XVI, then a college for the rich and<br />
famous and only closed in 1991.
The main attraction here are the UNESCO<br />
World Heritage tapestries of the master<br />
weavers of Aubusson. It was a monk, Dom<br />
Robert, from the nearby Abbey of En Calcat,<br />
who revived the tradition in the early<br />
twentieth century.<br />
In the new museum, located in the Abbey<br />
School, there are 60 stunning examples of<br />
his tapestries, featuring motifs inspired by<br />
nature, plus sketches and paintings. Other<br />
works by the Aubusson weavers are also<br />
featured and there’s an exhibit outlining the<br />
process of creating a tapestry.<br />
Les Cammazes<br />
In the southwestern end of the Tarn, in the<br />
Black Mountains, is the tiny village of Les<br />
Cammazes. It’s an unlikely UNESCO site<br />
but its claim to fame is the Rigole<br />
de la Montagne, or Mountain Channel,<br />
which supplies water to the Canal du Midi.<br />
It was built in 1666 by engineer Pierre-Paul<br />
Riquet and later modified to pass under the<br />
mountain through a vault designed and<br />
built by Vauban twenty years later. This<br />
122m underground aqueduct has been<br />
recently restored and is open to the public.<br />
It’s not for the faint of heart as the pathway<br />
is dark and narrow, but armed with a torch,<br />
it’s a unique experience.<br />
Useful Information<br />
Tarn Tourisme: information on the region.<br />
Albi Tourisme: information about the city.<br />
Castres Tourisme: information about the<br />
city.<br />
Hotels<br />
Mercure Cité Episcopale Hotel overlooks<br />
the river in Albi.<br />
Hotel Abbaye Ecole de Sorèze is inside<br />
the Abbey.<br />
Villa de Mazamet luxury B&B, Mazamet<br />
Restaurants<br />
Restaurant Le Lautrec has regional fare<br />
opposite the painter’s birthplace in Albi.<br />
La Table du Sommelier offers local wine<br />
pairings with each course in Albi.<br />
La Part des Anges has a Michelin Bib<br />
Gourmand in Castres.<br />
Les Collets Rouges is a stylish<br />
establishment inside Sorèze Abbey.<br />
Le Salon de Vauban serves home grown<br />
produce in Les Cammazes.
The ultimate Fun Run<br />
Kevin Pilley is lured to put on his<br />
running shoes and drink wine for one of<br />
the most unique marathons in the world<br />
Photo © Yves Mainguy/AMCM<br />
Photo © Yves Mainguy/AMCM
The Medoc<br />
Marathon<br />
There comes to every person the realization<br />
that they are not as young or athletic as they<br />
once were. It came to me in Bordeaux. When I<br />
was overtaken by Obi-Wan Kenobi and lapped<br />
by Darth Vader. Even a Dalek overtook me.<br />
Going uphill, only Jabba the Hutt was slower.<br />
There are several ways to see the famous<br />
vineyards of Bordeaux and Medoc. You can go<br />
by car, by bicycle or do them on horseback.<br />
You can see them by hot air balloon or boat.<br />
And even by all-terrain vehicle. Or you can be<br />
chased through them by the Incredible Hulk.<br />
Every year, the world's largest fine winegrowing<br />
region which produces more than<br />
800 million bottles of wine every year, stages<br />
Le Marathon du Médoc - a 42.195-kilometre<br />
"fun run" which takes in 55 vineyards and<br />
passes 50 chateaux.<br />
The course runs through famous winegrowing<br />
towns such as Saint-Estèphe,<br />
Leyssac, Marbuzet, Saint-Julien-Beychevelle<br />
and Le Pouyalet, home of Château Mouton<br />
Rothschild which, with Lafite and Latour, is<br />
one of the region's three Grand Crus classés<br />
appellations.<br />
Photo © Yves Mainguy/AMCM<br />
Each year, this unique race and sporting<br />
challenge has a different theme. From<br />
“Carnivals of the World” to this year’s theme<br />
“Funfair”.<br />
I didn’t run or even amble in the race. I didn’t<br />
want to be humiliated by Carmen Miranda.<br />
And I'm too old for a monokini. And I have a<br />
feather allergy. I ran in the “Science Fiction”<br />
theme race.<br />
Le Marathon is a resolutely convivial run. It's a<br />
good-time race.
"It's all about taking on liquid and making<br />
friends," winked a RoboCop. He wagged a<br />
finger. "But not too much wine!" A health<br />
certificate (physical rather than mental) is<br />
required to enter the race.<br />
"It's hectare after hectare of<br />
hospitality out there"<br />
Photo © Yves Mainguy/AMCM<br />
"It sums up l'esprit du Medoc" Jean-Yves<br />
Saint-Céran of the PR department said as<br />
we stood at the starting line in Pauillac,<br />
beside the Gironde estuary.<br />
"On this day we celebrate health, sport and<br />
joie de vivre."<br />
A Wookiee in shorts offered me a wine<br />
cork to chew on. "To keep up my energy<br />
levels," he explained.<br />
Les Bouchons de Bordeaux are delicious<br />
almond sweets made to look like wine<br />
bottle corks.<br />
"You should try and eat three corks a day<br />
to keep the cramp away," a passing<br />
Romulan smiled. "C'est l'Aquitaine way."<br />
I limbered up among a sea of Ewoks. You<br />
could tell the serious runners from the fun<br />
runners. The elite runners weren't wearing<br />
Batman suits or Superman capes. "It's<br />
hectare after hectare of hospitality out<br />
there. The friendliness is almost<br />
unbearable," said a gentleman dressed as<br />
a Borg.<br />
I was surrounded by tentacles and green<br />
faces, Timelords and Jedi. "This run's about<br />
your tastebuds. <strong>No</strong>t your lungs and legs,"<br />
said a Joker.<br />
From start to finish, degustation stations, or<br />
"les postes sauvages," offer local<br />
specialties such as "grenier medocain"<br />
(flattened paunch of pig) and Bayonne ham.<br />
People hold out cheese to you as well as<br />
ice cream cornets. Whereas most<br />
spectators at marathons encourage you<br />
with cries of "Keep it going" or "Allez!<br />
Allez!" in Médoc they just say, "Paté?<br />
Paté?"<br />
At the time of the marathon, a roadside<br />
sign of cow does not mean you are<br />
approaching a cattle grid or crossing.<br />
It means: "Warning! Complimentary<br />
gourmet barbecued entrecôte steak ahead<br />
washed down with a rather nice local rosé."<br />
There are 29 wine tasting stops en route.<br />
Local producers pitch tables by the<br />
roadside to tempt you with their wonderful<br />
wares. The Cap Ferret oyster stands were<br />
my downfall and the sponge stations<br />
offering the local "Lillet" fruit liqueur made<br />
in Podensac.<br />
Before I got to the "Vers St-Julien" signpost,<br />
my face was the colour of Merlot and I felt I<br />
had aged <strong>20</strong> years.<br />
I started walking like Frankenstein within a<br />
half a mile of the start. <strong>No</strong>t because of<br />
cramp. But because of gout. I began to<br />
hallucinate when four Godzillas bounded<br />
past me pursued by Bilbo Biggins.<br />
Fortunately, for a while I found myself in the<br />
slipstream of R2-D2 and Willy Wonka. I<br />
remember being passed by Dumbledore. Or<br />
was it Gandalf? And a number of Buffies<br />
and Brainiacs.
Then came real humiliation. When you are<br />
overtaken by a Yoda in a pram, you know<br />
your athletics career is over. Or never really<br />
started. It was a pity. My training had gone<br />
well. The roadwork had been put in. For three<br />
months, I had gone to as many cheese and<br />
wine parties as I could. I had miles of cheese<br />
strips under my belt.<br />
After a short nap among the vines, I followed<br />
the smell of gastronomy back into Pauillac to<br />
see the victor cross the line and win himself<br />
roughly 80 bottles of wine - his body weight<br />
in wine.<br />
Every competitor gets a T-shirt, a knapsack<br />
and, at my race, an optional handshake from<br />
and photo opportunity with King Kong. A<br />
Klingon appeared beside me and blurted out,<br />
"Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam!"<br />
Photos © Yves Mainguy/AMCM<br />
He bore his teeth, crinkled the frown lines on<br />
his cheese-grater forehead and handed me a<br />
post-race digestif.<br />
"Today is a nice day to die!" Obi-Wan Kenobi<br />
collapsed nearby. "Un vignoble effort, mon<br />
ami," a voice said.<br />
It came from the direction of Aslan. Although<br />
it may have been Conan the Barbarian.<br />
Or Gollum.<br />
Only in France…<br />
For further information:<br />
Medoc Marathon takes place each<br />
September, you can run or join a walking<br />
route: www.marathondumedoc.com<br />
If you want to register for next year's race:<br />
http://www.marathondumedoc.com/<br />
reglement/<br />
www.tourisme-aquitaine.fr<br />
Hotel Continental
A Soap story from<br />
Marseille<br />
In 1688 Louis IV passed the Edict Of Colbert allowing the<br />
use of Savon de Marseille label for olive oil soaps. By 1924<br />
there were 132 soap makers, but by 1950 there was an<br />
explosion of petrol-based soaps and the olive oil soaps went<br />
out of fashion. <strong>No</strong>w there are just five savonneries who can<br />
claim the true title Soap de Marseille and they have a<br />
certification mark to prove it too – a small square soap block<br />
with the Union des Professionals du Savon de Marseille<br />
stated clearly on their packaging. Without that, the soap is<br />
in effect – a fake. Judi Castille investigates...
Genuine Marseille soap is made by<br />
artisans with the provenance, passion and<br />
long-standing tradition in their blood to lay<br />
claim to makers of genuine Marseilles<br />
soap. A bar that contains 72% olive oil –<br />
and once tried, you will always be loyal to<br />
its soapy concoction.<br />
Fer a Cheval, Marius Fabre, Savonnerie du<br />
Midi, Le Serail and Pre de Provence<br />
produce the ever popular green olive oil<br />
soap bars. To earn the classification of<br />
Marseille soap, it has to fulfil certain<br />
criteria. It must be made in Marseille, in a<br />
cauldron, have plant-based oils and be<br />
fragrance free, no dyes, no preservatives.<br />
Any chemicals, additives or mention of<br />
allergens and you’ll just have an ordinary<br />
soap. Many soap makers buy flaked soap,<br />
soften the flakes through rollers and add<br />
perfumes and colourants. The genuine<br />
article is hard, homogenous. Its angular<br />
imperfectness wears down slowly, the<br />
special soapy lather lasts for about six<br />
weeks even with daily use.<br />
Using it for the first time was a revelation -<br />
good for skin and for hair. My skin felt<br />
clean, but not dry and it left my hair soft.<br />
The area around Marseille provides all the<br />
ingredients – olives, salt from the<br />
Camargue and from the port, palm,<br />
groundnut and whale oil to stabilize the<br />
soap. Olive oil on its own produces a<br />
sloppy soap, the other oils enable the soap<br />
to clean, not break but still dissolve in<br />
water. There's a five-step soap making<br />
process and the genuine bars must have a<br />
minimum olive oil content of 72%.<br />
Using antique machinery, the soaps pass<br />
through several stages. First there is<br />
empatage, pasting all the ingredients<br />
together in large cauldrons, like a witch’s<br />
brew, until homogenous. The second stage,<br />
cuisson et lavage, is the process of cooking<br />
the soap and then washing out the salts. A<br />
taste test is made, physically with the<br />
tongue, and if too much “sting”, more water<br />
is washed through. Washing removes<br />
glycerol and fatty acids, leaving soap<br />
behind.<br />
Like boiled treacle, the soap is poured into<br />
cooling vats to sit for 48 hours. It’s then<br />
sliced into strips and put into miniature<br />
blocks and cut using wire or traditional<br />
soap cutting machines. The bars are then<br />
stacked on wooden shelves to dry. They<br />
range from 1000g to 100g blocks. For<br />
Marius Fabre, Le Mistral wind passing<br />
through the drying room allows the soaps<br />
to dry slowly to avoid splitting. Their soaps<br />
are cut and scraped to create a crisp edged<br />
soap. The final touch is estampillage –<br />
stamping the soaps with their trademark<br />
names and proudly advertising the 72%<br />
olive oil content. Marius Fabre hand stamp<br />
their soaps before cutting. Le Serail use an<br />
old stamping machine with four plates that<br />
emboss and give the soap a softer shape<br />
as the machine squeezes the soap in the<br />
process. Once stamped, the soaps are<br />
simply packaged, nothing fussy.<br />
As with many artisan skills, it takes a long<br />
apprenticeship to learn how to make soap.<br />
Family run Marius Fabre was founded in<br />
1900. Secrets kept and passed down the<br />
generations. Le Serail was founded in 1949,<br />
by Vincent Boetto. His grandson continues<br />
the business. Producing soap is a passion<br />
and not about time saving. It is the process<br />
of creating, getting close to the product,<br />
using your hands, the physicality of the<br />
process that deems these soaps worthy of<br />
their status. A commercial soap can be<br />
made in just four hours, packed and<br />
shipped within the day.<br />
Marseille soap takes weeks, space is at a<br />
premium, and because of this the price is<br />
higher. But you will have an authentic<br />
product and a supporting role in keeping<br />
these traditions going and soft skin to boot.
Give A<br />
Click here to<br />
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Win a copy of best selling food writer<br />
Trish Deseine's lovely hard book of<br />
recipes inspired by the Grand Epicerie<br />
de Paris—the famous gourmet food<br />
shop in the upscale Bon Marché<br />
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Trish shares her twist on both traditional<br />
French classics and dishes with a<br />
distinctly British flavour: from smoked<br />
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from Welsh rarebit to Guinness cake.<br />
Ever mindful of the home chef’s tight<br />
schedule, the recipes—divided into<br />
appetizers, soups, and salads; main and<br />
side dishes; and desserts—are quick<br />
and easy to prepare. . Each recipe is<br />
accompanied by tips and a suggested<br />
drink pairing.<br />
Click here to enter the draw which<br />
ends on October 18, <strong>20</strong>18
ways<br />
Win a copy of Catherine de Courcy's tale<br />
of the Cathars of France in the 13th<br />
century.<br />
Click here to<br />
enter the<br />
History and drama fans will really enjoy<br />
this terrific blend of fact and fiction.<br />
Montségur is a novel that’s about bravery,<br />
love, faith and passion. Catherine de<br />
Courcy’s descriptive writing brings alive<br />
the struggles faced by the Cathars every<br />
day from the Roman church and the<br />
inquisitors. The history of the high Middle<br />
Ages has been integrated well into the<br />
novel, using details of well researched,<br />
documented historical figures, adding<br />
depth to the saga. There are twists and<br />
turns, details about the Cathar beliefs and<br />
practices and about a dramatic period of<br />
history in France that continues to<br />
fascinate to this day.<br />
Click here to enter the draw which ends<br />
on <strong>No</strong>vember 10, <strong>20</strong>18
Destination<br />
Samoëns<br />
Morag and Andrew Ashworth from Scotland fell in love with<br />
Samoëns, an alpine town, famous for its skiing, in the Haute<br />
Savoie. They have a rental holiday home, The Lodge, there<br />
and tell us why this part of the French alps is the perfect place<br />
for both winter and summer fun…<br />
What makes Samoëns a really great<br />
place for a summer holiday?<br />
Beautiful landscapes with stunning<br />
waterfalls and summer pastures, plus<br />
there’s so much to do for all ages and<br />
levels of fitness with activities from rafting<br />
to parapenting to road and mountain<br />
biking. It’s like living in a large playground!<br />
The village is beautiful and authentic with<br />
wonderful botanic gardens and lovely town<br />
centre<br />
What makes Samoëns a really great<br />
place for a ski break?<br />
For beginners and learners, Samoëns 1600<br />
offers an ideal base, with a nice variety of<br />
green and blue runs to challenge you as<br />
you progress, and a great kids area. The<br />
rest of Samoëns, Morillon and Les Carroz<br />
offer mainly intermediate skiing with fast<br />
blues and red’s, although at the top of<br />
Samoëns there are some tough blacks and<br />
great off piste.<br />
The “green” Marvel run in Morillon is often<br />
portrayed as one of the world’s most<br />
picturesque ski runs (after heavy snow fall<br />
there’s nowhere prettier), and it’s a 4-5km<br />
cruise down to Morillon 1100.<br />
The Flaine bowl is one of the premier ski<br />
areas in France and has a great snow<br />
record due to the “Mont Blanc effect”. There<br />
are views of Mont Blanc from Tete de Saix,<br />
en route to Flaine, and from Flaines Les<br />
Grandes Plantiers.
Samoëns is a historic town, with a traffic<br />
free centre, the streets are full of gourmet<br />
food shops providing mouth watering<br />
locally made cheeses, bread, cakes and<br />
produce. The weekly market is one of the<br />
best in the region. It's a great place to visit<br />
- year-round.<br />
and across the top of sheer limestone cliffs,<br />
eventually arriving in Sixt which is a small<br />
ski area in its own right.<br />
Ski season this year runs from Saturday,<br />
December 15 to Monday, April 22, <strong>20</strong>19.<br />
Tell us about The Lodge<br />
Flaine’s pistes are superb and there is<br />
plenty of scope for off-piste skiing. There is<br />
also an enormous variety of skiing.<br />
The Serpentine piste is tremendous, a<br />
favourite with ski instructors on their day<br />
off, it is wide, fast and rolling. Lucifer lives<br />
up to its name with unexpected<br />
depressions interrupting your beautiful<br />
carving. Diamiant <strong>No</strong>ir is a black off piste<br />
couloir – definitely not for the faint hearted.<br />
One of the most picturesque runs in Flaine<br />
is Mephisto Superieure, with awesome<br />
views across the Mont Blanc massive -<br />
Mont Blanc is the big one in the middle!<br />
From the top of Flaine you can also access<br />
Cascades, this runs for 14km by waterfalls<br />
The Lodge at Samoëns is an incredibly<br />
beautiful and spacious chalet, which<br />
comprises of contemporary split-level<br />
living for families and groups in a luxury,<br />
fully equipped home from home with<br />
comfortable furnishings and a wood<br />
burning stove. There are three south facing<br />
balconies and the mountain views are<br />
stunning, sitting out here, or lying on the<br />
loungers just contemplating the majestic<br />
scenery is a fabulous experience.<br />
We benefit from Samoëns’ low-lying Alpine<br />
climate - when it’s ski time up at Samoëns<br />
1600, down in the town it can be 23°C! The<br />
house is set in a large extremely private<br />
garden with such amazing scenery it’s like<br />
wandering through a photo album. We’ve<br />
gone for cosy, comfy and stylish and there<br />
are 5 bedrooms, loads of garage space and<br />
storage – essential for all that ski<br />
equipment!
What is the winter season like in<br />
Samoëns<br />
Many people think the winter season is just<br />
for downhill skiing but there’s so much<br />
more on offer. We love to try cross country<br />
skiing which is great for fitness and for the<br />
incredible views from the top of the Col de<br />
Joux plan; or traverse the valley by the river.<br />
Tailor-made snowshoe adven-tures can be<br />
organised and are a real escape from daily<br />
life and a chance to discover utterly<br />
magical, Narnia-like land-scapes.<br />
Snowshoe walks make snowy winter terrain<br />
accessible to anyone and everyone.<br />
Whether you take a half or full day to<br />
conquer a summit, stroll through the woods,<br />
or build an igloo as a family, there’s an<br />
excursion to suit your needs.<br />
A very different après-ski experience can be<br />
a snow shoe walk through snowy forests<br />
with nothing but the moon and flickering<br />
flame of your handheld torch to guide you,<br />
enjoy the quiet, calm of the mountain after<br />
dark as you make your way to Ludo’s<br />
Yurts – traditional Mongolian roundhouses.<br />
There you will enjoy a traditional meal in a<br />
cosy, friendly environment.<br />
Where to rent equipment<br />
We tend to use Xtreme Glisses which is<br />
efficiently run by Francois, who has a<br />
fabulous team. It’s extremely close to the<br />
Grand Massif Express Gondola, by the<br />
roundabout near to the Bridge over the river.<br />
As part of the ski rental package, you are<br />
provided with overnight storage for your<br />
skis and boots, this is a huge benefit as<br />
there is no need to haul all of your gear<br />
back to The Lodge. A good alternative is Jay<br />
Sports Ski Loc which is a great ski shop<br />
with rental, run by Thierry Jay. They have<br />
three shops, two in the town and a third on<br />
the Samoëns 1600 plateau.
Best places to eat out in Samoëns<br />
Au Relais Septimontain: The food is great,<br />
especially the Tartiflette but leave enough<br />
room for their desserts, the crème brulee is<br />
delicious!<br />
8 M des Monts: With husband in the<br />
kitchen and wife running the show in the<br />
restaurant, the whole experience is perfect.<br />
Lovely local organic wines and products -<br />
just make sure you leave room for a<br />
gorgeous desert!<br />
Best Mountain Restaurants<br />
Lou Caboens: A lovely varied menu and<br />
Cedric is the perfect host. Lou Caboens is a<br />
sun trap and provides one of the best<br />
terraces in the Grand Massif. This is also<br />
one of the best places for après-ski.<br />
The Igloo – Morillon: Wonderful outside<br />
deck. It is situated at the top of the Bergin chair<br />
lift or can be accessed via the Marvel piste.<br />
They serve great food, the Pila is fabulous, it’s a<br />
similar dish to Tartiflette.<br />
Both restaurants open year round. A great<br />
day out in summer is to take the lifts to<br />
Morillon 1100 on to Igloo, take a hike before<br />
lunch and after walk to Morillon 1100 (1.5-2<br />
hours).<br />
Best Village Bars<br />
La Reposette: Great atmosphere, great food<br />
and drink, great people and comfy vouches<br />
by the fireplace, just a short drive from<br />
Samoëns centre. It’s no wonder it’s so<br />
popular with both tourists and locals alike –<br />
it's the perfect après-ski meeting place.<br />
Vin sur Vin: Marco’s wine bar is an ideal<br />
little bar in summer and winter and a great<br />
favourite with the locals. Enjoy a glass from<br />
a vast selection of local and international<br />
wines, accompanied by a plate of Italian<br />
antipasti, snacks or a menu.
What are your must-see places in<br />
Samoëns?<br />
Cirque Fer à Cheval: Walking past the<br />
immense cliffs and imposing waterfalls of<br />
the spectacular Cirque Fer à Cheval is<br />
almost unreal it’s so beautiful. Continue all<br />
the way to the back of the cirque and you<br />
will find yourself at the end of the world (Le<br />
Bout du Monde)! You can also enjoy a great<br />
lunch in beautiful surroundings at the<br />
Restaurant du Fer a Cheval.<br />
The cirque is unique, a horseshoe of<br />
limestone mountains rising to 3000m from<br />
the valley floor with huge waterfalls<br />
cascading down rock faces. Plenty of great<br />
walking, from easy to extreme, all marked<br />
clearly. The easy walks are along the valley<br />
floor, although a favourite (but tougher<br />
walk) is up to Chalet du Boret (only in<br />
summer). Simple food at the chalet is a<br />
treat.<br />
The Botanic Garden: This alpine botanic<br />
garden was created in 1906 by Marie-<br />
Louise Cognacq-Jaÿ who founded La<br />
Samaritaine department store in Paris. It is<br />
an exceptional garden classified "Jardin<br />
Remarquable". Carved out of the southfacing<br />
side of the mountain, overlooking<br />
the village, La Jaÿsinia covers an area of 3.7<br />
hectares on steeply-sloping terrain (there is<br />
a difference of 80 metres between the top<br />
and the bottom of the garden). It is the only<br />
botanic garden of its kind in the Alps, with<br />
5000 varieties of mountain flowers from all<br />
5 continents, as well as a laboratory where<br />
wide-ranging research is carried out.<br />
Walking the narrow path winding its way up<br />
the mountainside passing waterfalls and<br />
fountains before reaching the ruins of the<br />
12th century Tornalta castle and a 13th<br />
century chapel is a wonderful experience.<br />
The higher you go, the more panoramic the<br />
view of the small town below.
The<br />
France’s Atlantic coastline offers<br />
something for everyone, from Brittany’s<br />
wild and rugged Finistère to the chic<br />
beach towns around La Rochelle, to<br />
surfing meccas around Biarritz. Liz<br />
Rowlinson asks the experts at Leggett<br />
Immobillier to pick five tempting places<br />
for you to consider...<br />
Starting in the north, where Brittany juts far<br />
out into the Atlantic, the western coast of<br />
France offers a diverse choice of seaside<br />
towns. Whether the wild coastlines of<br />
Brittany and the Vendée, the sandy beaches<br />
of the Charente-Maritime, with chic resorts<br />
beloved of the Paris set, or the forest and<br />
dune-backed beaches of Aquitaine there’s<br />
just about everything. At the southern end<br />
things change again with the surfing spots of<br />
the Basque coast and a Spanish flavour to<br />
beach life.<br />
Whether you're after an apartment in chi-chi<br />
Biarritz, or a simple little granite cottage in<br />
Brittany, there are homes to suit budgets<br />
from €100,000 to €1 million.<br />
Prices inevitably go up closer to the<br />
coastline, wherever you are, but if you're<br />
prepared to drive 10 minutes inland, you will<br />
get more for your money. However, balance<br />
this with the convenience of walking to the<br />
beach or the seafront restaurants - if you<br />
want to rent out your home these sort of<br />
homes will usually be in greater demand.<br />
Enjoy a tour down the Atlantic coast, starting<br />
in northern Brittany...
ST-QUAY-PORTRIEUX<br />
CÔTES-D’ARMOR, BRITTANY<br />
A pretty little town located north of St. Brieuc<br />
and south of the beautiful historic port of<br />
Paimpol. As the name suggests, St. Quay is<br />
all about the sea. It retains all the charm of a<br />
Breton fishing port, with a very modern<br />
deep-water 24-hour marina that is home to a<br />
scallop fleet but also from where cruises can<br />
be taken out into the Bay of St. Brieuc, a<br />
sheltered stretch of water popular for<br />
regattas. There are also lovely beaches, and<br />
north of the town, hidden coves around the<br />
highest cliffs in Brittany - the Pointe de<br />
Plouha. In the town there are tennis courts,<br />
shops, hotels, fish restaurants and<br />
créperies.<br />
best of what Brittany has to offer - the clean<br />
beaches, pretty coastline and harbour - and<br />
buyers (including Parisians) that have a<br />
slightly higher budget and are willing to pay<br />
to be near a particularly pretty bit of coast,”<br />
says Lisa Greene, head of Leggett’s Brittany<br />
network. She says the mainly French buyers<br />
tend to buy apartments in the town, rather<br />
than houses outside. You’ll pay around<br />
€150,000 for a one-bed apartment or<br />
€190,000 for a two-bed compact house or<br />
fisherman's cottage.<br />
“This area appeals to people who like the
CAMARET-SUR-MER<br />
FINISTÈRE, BRITTANY<br />
This charming fishing town is the most<br />
westerly on the Crozon peninsula. It's a<br />
beautifully rugged coastal area of towering<br />
cliffs and rocks with coves and sandy<br />
beaches, gently sloping hills, and ancient<br />
megalithic sites. It's a wild and remote piece<br />
of Brittany so you really need a car - and the<br />
nearest ferry is Roscoff 96km away. But it’s<br />
a favourite among French holiday makers<br />
as well as visitors from across Europe who<br />
come for the water sports - boating, sailing,<br />
fishing - but also those in love with the outdoors.<br />
Artists and writers also love the light and<br />
colours, and the town has an artists' quarter<br />
with over <strong>20</strong> galleries. In the town there’s a<br />
great fishing port, marina, many fish<br />
restaurants, crepéries and a sandy beach.<br />
So what do people buy? “There are lots of<br />
types of properties for sale in this region<br />
from ruins to fancy modern villas, beautiful<br />
character properties and everything in<br />
between,” says local agent, Clara Bay.<br />
Expect to pay €100,000 for a 50m2<br />
apartment in the town, or for a threebedroom<br />
house in the surrounding Crozon<br />
area, from around €125,000.<br />
ST-JEAN-DE-MONTS<br />
Vendee, pays de la Loire<br />
This popular modern seaside resort in the<br />
northern Vendée is located at the corner of<br />
the ‘Côte de Lumière’ between <strong>No</strong>tre-Damede-Monts<br />
and St. Hilaire de Riez. It’s a<br />
fantastic stretch of coastline blessed with<br />
beautiful beaches and 2,300 hours of annual<br />
sun, so little different from the climate of<br />
southern France. Split in two by a long<br />
plantation of pine trees, stretching from<br />
north to south along the coast, the centreville<br />
lies to the east of the cordon, while the<br />
seafront forms a lively centre to the west.<br />
The recently restored seafront offers a<br />
network of footpaths and cycle tracks.
LA ROCHELLE<br />
CHARENTE-MARITIME,<br />
POITOU-CHARENTES<br />
Whilst the pathways between the sea, sand<br />
dunes and forest are great to explore by<br />
foot, bicycle, rollerblade, horse or even by<br />
sand-yacht, there are traditional nautical<br />
activities and a superb golf course 300<br />
metres from a 15km long sandy beach and<br />
700-hectare forest with trails. The laid-back<br />
town with such a choice of activities attracts<br />
both retirees seeking a full-time base and<br />
families seeking a second home. “Expect to<br />
pay around €<strong>20</strong>0,000 for a two-bedroom<br />
home, €300,000 for a thatched-roof home in<br />
the marshes or €450,000 for something<br />
close to the sea, or with more prestige,”<br />
says Anne-Sophie Gaultier, local agent.<br />
Sitting in the hub of the sun-drenched Bay of<br />
Biscay, the historic old port of La Rochelle<br />
should be on everyone’s bucket list. It’s<br />
known as the sunniest town of the southwest<br />
of France, and it's true, thanks to the<br />
region’s microclimate.<br />
This buzzy capital of Charente-Maritime is a<br />
university town and yachting centre. It is a<br />
great place for both relaxing, or exploring<br />
this fantastic area.<br />
“Choose between having a drink or a meal<br />
in the historical old port or the market<br />
square, wander the streets admiring the<br />
many architectural styles or join in one of the<br />
many local festivals,” suggests Elinor<br />
Murless, local agent
For nature fans, a base around La Rochelle<br />
is ideal to explore the marshlands of the<br />
“green Venice of France” by flat-bottomed<br />
boat, the Vendée’s long sandy beaches,or,<br />
right on your doorstep, the chic summer<br />
playground of Ile de Ré with its traditional<br />
little villages. The beaches and many nature<br />
reserves are only 15 minutes away. This<br />
area attracts Parisians and French buyers<br />
from other parts of the north but also golfers<br />
- there are two good courses nearby, and<br />
also international second-home owners.<br />
Flights to La Rochelle serve 11 UK regions<br />
whilst Poitiers and Bordeaux offer even<br />
more flight options. You can get an<br />
apartment in the old harbour with change<br />
from €180,000, or a four-bedroom<br />
townhouse from €530,000. Buyers can get<br />
better value looking a little inland, or further<br />
down the coast - <strong>20</strong> minutes from La<br />
Rochelle, in Yves, and very close to the<br />
popular seaside resort of Chatelaillon-Plage,<br />
its possible to find properties that are<br />
cheaper than in La Rochelle.<br />
BIARRITZ<br />
PAYS BASQUE, PYRÉNÉES<br />
ATLANTIQUES<br />
The Basque surfing town of Biarritz oozes<br />
glamour, ever since Coco Chanel created<br />
her first fashion show there. Located near<br />
the Spanish border, Biarritz sits on one of<br />
the best stretches of surfing beaches in<br />
Europe - but there’s so much more too. The<br />
narrow streets of the former spa town are full<br />
of pretty shops and superb restaurants, then<br />
there’s the famous art-deco casino on the<br />
Grande Plage where grand palatial hotels<br />
remind us of its illustrious history - it was a<br />
favourite haunt of various European royals -<br />
but there are also fashionable nightclubs<br />
that draw top DJs. If putting is more your<br />
thing than partying, there are also ten golf<br />
courses within 50km.<br />
But Biarritz is an excellent base for exploring<br />
the Pays Basque, from its beautiful beaches<br />
to the inland landscape of green and<br />
wooded hills and mountains, and with<br />
property prices relatively high in the town<br />
itself, many buyers may opt to be<br />
somewhere accessible, says local agent<br />
Mathilde de St. Martin. It’s a highly<br />
cosmopolitan resort that is very fashionable<br />
with the French but also famous globally.<br />
“You can expect to pay €300,000 for a 50m2<br />
property with a nice view - even a studio<br />
apartment will be at least €130,000,” she<br />
says. Many British buyers prefer to go inland<br />
<strong>20</strong> minutes where they find that the prices<br />
plunge to €3,000 per m2.
www.ofx.com
The Experts guide to<br />
French Insurance<br />
French Home and Contents<br />
Cover<br />
Protecting your property, whether it’s a<br />
secondary home, main home or rented out<br />
on a short term, holiday or long term basis,<br />
is vital for peace of mind and also includes<br />
something very important: Public liability<br />
cover.<br />
What is Public liability cover?<br />
Public liability cover is included in your<br />
Home and Contents insurance with many<br />
insurers. As a rule the cover is against a<br />
claim for damage caused by the<br />
policyholder to a third party or their<br />
property.<br />
As mentioned above the level of cover<br />
varies according to the type of property<br />
being insured. For example the level of<br />
cover offered on a second home covers<br />
damage caused by the property to a third<br />
party. Cover for a main home extends to<br />
damages caused by the policyholder or a<br />
member of their family to a third party.<br />
For a property you may be renting out for<br />
short holiday periods Public Liability would<br />
continue as long as those staying at the<br />
property were there no longer than 3<br />
consecutive months. For a longer term the<br />
tenant would need to subscribe to their own<br />
Public Liability policy.<br />
Levels of cover<br />
When choosing the level of cover for your<br />
property make sure you have the basics<br />
included such as storm, hail, snow, fire and<br />
water damage to mention a few. You may<br />
then want to add other options depending<br />
on the use of your property to your<br />
insurance such as a swimming pool pack,<br />
garden furniture pack or gîte cover if you run<br />
this type of business. Don’t forget if you do<br />
have a gite talk to your Mairie to make sure<br />
you are registered correctly as if not even if<br />
you are insured for your gite the insurance<br />
will not cover you in the event of a claim.<br />
Make sure you have measured all your<br />
rooms as well as outbuildings correctly<br />
when setting up your cover as in the event<br />
of a claim this is the type of element that is<br />
very important if a pay out is made.<br />
If you build an extension or change the use<br />
of one of your rooms think about calling the<br />
insurer or CA Britline if the insurance is set<br />
up with us, and check that the changes are<br />
reflected in your policy.<br />
French Vehicle Cover<br />
If your residence in France is your main<br />
home the chances are you will have at least<br />
one car. Whether you have opted to bring<br />
your right hand drive car over with you or<br />
have purchased a left-hand drive, insurance<br />
is obligatory.
If your vehicle is on UK number plates, visit<br />
your nearest prefecture to find out the<br />
process of changing to French plates. The<br />
process varies in the amount of time it takes<br />
depending on the make, model, age and<br />
country of origin of your vehicle. During this<br />
process your vehicle must be insured. Some<br />
UK insurers, if you have just moved over to<br />
France, may allow the insurance to continue<br />
for a set amount of time. If not, when taking<br />
out a French insurance policy make sure the<br />
insurer knows you are in the process of<br />
changing registration and find out how long<br />
they will insure you for whilst you are still on<br />
your English plates.<br />
If your residence in France is a holiday<br />
home and you have your car in the garage<br />
back home in the UK, do not make the<br />
mistake of thinking if it’s locked away and<br />
not in use no insurance is needed. For<br />
public liability purposes, the car must remain<br />
insured so you might want to change the<br />
level of insurance so a minimum level of<br />
cover is still in place.<br />
Car cover is very similar in France to what's<br />
provided in the UK. You will find ‘Third Party<br />
only’, ‘Third Party Fire and Theft’ and ‘Fully<br />
Comp’ equivalents along with a range of<br />
extras and options that can be included. Via<br />
CA Britline the basics of driver protection,<br />
public liability and legal assistance are<br />
included within each type of cover. Other<br />
options such as Homestart breakdown<br />
cover, glass damage and zero excess<br />
amongst others can also be set up at the<br />
outset or during the life of the contract.<br />
You may also have other types of vehicles<br />
at you property you wish to cover. Ride on<br />
lawn mowers, scooters, motorbikes and<br />
boats can all be catered for to keep all<br />
insurances under one roof.<br />
Legal Protection Cover<br />
If you are resident on a permanent basis in<br />
France Legal Protection is an inexpensive<br />
insurance cover giving you access to a team<br />
of French legal experts in the event of<br />
private, consumer and labour disputes.<br />
Some Home and Contents policies may<br />
have limited Legal Protection cover included<br />
however if you wish to have complete cover<br />
a stand-alone contract is the best option. If<br />
you're a UK resident, in some cases the<br />
cover can be taken out, however it will apply<br />
strictly to French litigation only.<br />
Health Cover: Holidays in<br />
France /Residing at your<br />
Secondary residence<br />
It is very important to apply for an EHIC card<br />
before you leave for your holidays abroad<br />
whether travelling to France or another<br />
European country. The card covers you up<br />
to 90 consecutive days for any medical<br />
treatment you may need when away. If you<br />
pay for any treatment, keep your receipts<br />
and proofs of treatment for a reclaim on your<br />
return home. For more information, to apply<br />
for or renew an EHIC card consult the NHS<br />
website.<br />
Health Cover: French Residents<br />
Once resident in France you will need to<br />
contact your local CPAM: Caisse Primaire<br />
d’Assurance Maladie to find out if you will<br />
automatically be covered by the French<br />
social security system for a certain percentage<br />
of your medical costs. If you are<br />
covered you will be provided with an attestation<br />
and then a Carte Vitale, which you<br />
have to present at all medical appointments,<br />
hospitals and chemists. You may<br />
wish to take out Top-Up Health insurance to<br />
cover the costs not reimbursed by CPAM.<br />
Depending on your needs, age and budget<br />
you will find a Top-Up cover to suit you.<br />
If you find out you are not covered by the<br />
CPAM you may need 100% Private Health<br />
cover. This can be obtained through CA<br />
Britline as is the case for Top-Up cover.
How to choose the<br />
right adviser...<br />
for you<br />
Did you know that there are different type of financial advisers?<br />
When you search for a financial adviser, how can you be assured that they are<br />
right for you? In principle there are three categories of adviser:<br />
Tied – Restricted - Independent<br />
Tied Advisers:<br />
In France there are insurance company<br />
agents working almost in every town - they<br />
typically represent just one company, AXA<br />
for example. They will offer you only the<br />
products of that company and will be limited<br />
to “French only” products. They are unlikely<br />
to have a specialisation in UK or international<br />
pensions or investments. Typically,<br />
any product will only be in euros rather than<br />
a choice of currency. The person you deal<br />
with is known as a ‘courtier’ or a broker,<br />
they are usually trained in knowing only<br />
their products and will ‘sell’ those they think<br />
are appropriate for you. They don’t<br />
generally look at other areas of financial<br />
planning.<br />
You certainly need a French bank account<br />
when you are living in France and products<br />
like a Livret “A” can be useful for your liquid<br />
cash - up to certain limits. But, you may<br />
wish not to tie yourself into products or<br />
accounts that might have a limited<br />
investment selection or which do not work in<br />
other countries outside of France.<br />
Some savings vehicles the UK has such as<br />
ISAs are not available in France, similarly<br />
there are French savings and bank products<br />
that are not available outside of France.<br />
These companies - whether banks or<br />
insurance companies may offer a limited<br />
range of investments and savings and funds<br />
and some may be tied to just one company.<br />
Restricted Advisers:<br />
A restricted adviser is limited as to who and<br />
what they recommend. In the case of the<br />
popular (and essential in good investment<br />
and tax planning in France) Assurance Vie<br />
investments for example, they may only<br />
offer one or two alternatives as well as a<br />
limited range of investment funds for you to<br />
invest in.
There may be charges for this type of<br />
product and there could be restrictions on<br />
how much you can withdraw in the early<br />
years, thereby limiting your flexibility.<br />
There is of course nothing wrong with this,<br />
but you may be ‘limiting’ your advice and<br />
missing out on a wider market approach<br />
and a significant range of investments and<br />
investment companies which ultimately<br />
may be more suitable for you.<br />
These advisers may not have the<br />
experience or opportunity to look at other<br />
areas for financial planning for you.<br />
Independent Advisers:<br />
This is an adviser who can offer you advice<br />
rather than product placement. Known as a<br />
‘conseiller’ in France. They are highly<br />
trained and will not ‘sell’ you anything.<br />
Independent advisers aim to plan and<br />
collect information on all of your financial<br />
assets and provide a full report across<br />
areas such as inheritance/estate planning,<br />
pensions and investment.<br />
They will search the whole marketplace for<br />
a product that is appropriate for you and<br />
consider your needs and wishes to achieve<br />
the best outcome.<br />
In France this can mean for instance that<br />
you will have a choice of a number of<br />
assurance vie products, a portfolio can be<br />
tailored to your specific needs and<br />
requirements and you are not limited to any<br />
particular Assurance Vie product.<br />
Everyone’s needs are slightly different - you<br />
might be moving across different countries<br />
in Europe or moving to Europe from another<br />
jurisdiction. Having an adviser who<br />
understands your needs may be fluid, can<br />
certainly be an advantage.
On the investment side, you will have<br />
access to a wide selection of funds, tailored<br />
to your aims and your individual risk profiles.<br />
An independent advisor should meet with<br />
you regularly to ensure your choices are the<br />
best for any given time.<br />
This also applies to your pension investments<br />
where you don’t have a “one size fits<br />
all solution“.<br />
Every client’s needs are individual and<br />
family/personal financial requirements are<br />
personal to that individual.<br />
When you’re searching for an adviser, look<br />
for flexibility in approach, independence in<br />
selecting providers and in your investment<br />
selections.<br />
Conclusion<br />
Given the choice, you might have to pay a<br />
little more for a highly trained independent<br />
adviser, but you will get good service,<br />
regular contact and may have far better<br />
value for money in the long run.<br />
www.beaconglobalwealth.com<br />
enquiries@bgwealthmanagement.net<br />
The financial advisers trading under Beacon<br />
Wealth Management are members of Nexus<br />
Global (IFA Network). Nexus Global is a<br />
division within Blacktower Financial<br />
Management (International) Limited (BFMI).<br />
All approved individual members of Nexus<br />
Global are Appointed Representatives of BFMI.<br />
BFMI is licensed and regulated by the<br />
Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and<br />
bound by their rules under licence number<br />
FSC00805B.<br />
And the information on these pages is<br />
intended 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.
y P<br />
Apple<br />
and<br />
Blackberry<br />
Clafoutis<br />
Clafoutis is one of the most versatile French desserts and finds its origins in the Limousin,<br />
a lush, green region situated in the heart of the Massif Central. If you’ve never made or<br />
tasted clafoutis before, think of it as a ‘custardy’ type of cake. It doesn’t call for that much<br />
flour, so there isn’t much of a crumb to the dessert. I guess you can also compare it to a<br />
crustless quiche.<br />
Besides the original cherry clafoutis, I have made clafoutis with strawberries, blueberries,<br />
plums, apricots and even vegetables for a savoury variation (perfect for lunch with a<br />
green salad) and a glass of wine. This autumnal variation calls for apples. For a tart<br />
touch, I added a small handful of plump blackberries.
Apple and<br />
Blackberry<br />
Clafoutis<br />
Serves 4-6<br />
Ingredients:<br />
400g apples (I used Granny Smith)<br />
125g blackberries<br />
250g crème fraîche<br />
50ml whole milk<br />
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod<br />
3 eggs<br />
100g all-purpose flour<br />
60g fine sugar<br />
1 tbsp brown rum<br />
Powdered sugar, to serve<br />
Instructions:<br />
aola Westbeek<br />
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a<br />
rectangular baking dish of approx. 26 x 18.5cm<br />
with butter. Peel, core and chop the apples.<br />
Spread them over the baking dish together with<br />
the blackberries. In a large bowl, whisk the crème<br />
fraîche, milk and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk<br />
the eggs, flour, sugar and rum. Add this mixture<br />
to the cream, eggs and vanilla and whisk well.<br />
Pour the custard over the fruit and bake the<br />
clafoutis for 35-40 minutes. Delicious warm or<br />
cold. You can dust it with powdered sugar or<br />
serve with ice cream for a more decadent<br />
dessert.<br />
Paola Westbeek is a food, wine and travel<br />
journalist. For more of her recipes, visit<br />
ladoucevie.eu, thefrenchlife.org and her<br />
YouTube channel, LaDouceVieFood
In 1896, legend has it that a<br />
dropped alcohol on hot panc<br />
he served them anyway and<br />
dessert, the wily Chef said h<br />
however, asked that the nam<br />
name was Suzette.<br />
Others attribute the creation<br />
Henri Charpentier served as<br />
the ingredients are somewh<br />
Grand Marnier but Curacao<br />
The mystery could end there<br />
dessert for Suzanne Reiche<br />
<strong>No</strong>body will ever truly know
Crèpes Suzette<br />
young pastry chef called Henri Charpentier, working at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo,<br />
akes he was preparing for the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII. Unable to salvage them,<br />
luckily for him, the dish was a great success. When the prince asked him the name of this<br />
e had invented it especially for the Prince and would call the pancake after him. The Prince<br />
e of the young woman who was dining with him be given the honour. And you guessed it: her<br />
of crepes Suzette to the legendary Auguste Escoffier, creator of the Peach Melba, under whom<br />
an apprentice. The recipe is even included in Escoffier’s Guide Culinaire, released in 1903. But<br />
at different: the orange juice is replaced with mandarin juice and doesn’t mention the classic<br />
.<br />
, but some stories also mention Joseph Marivaux, a restaurant owner in Paris who invented the<br />
nberg, an actress at the French Comedy, whose stage name was Suzette.<br />
for sure the origin of this dish, but one thing that never changes – the delight is in the tasting!<br />
See over page for recipe
Crèpes Suzette<br />
Ingredients for 8-12 crêpes (I serve 2 per person)<br />
1<strong>20</strong> grams of flour<br />
1 heaped teaspoon of sugar<br />
a pinch of salt<br />
33 cl of milk<br />
3 eggs<br />
Sauce<br />
1 untreated orange, with peel<br />
1/4 cup of sugar<br />
10 cl of Cognac<br />
<strong>20</strong> cl of Grand Marnier<br />
25 grams of butter<br />
Crèpes<br />
Mix with beaters the following ingredients: flour, sugar a big pinch of salt, milk and the 3<br />
eggs. The batter needs to be quite liquid to get nice thin crepes.<br />
Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a crèpe pan and when heated pour out the excess. (you may<br />
need to slightly re-oil the pan after a few crèpes). Evenly spread a very thin layer of batter<br />
in pan. When slightly browned on one side, turn over and then take out quickly as you do<br />
not want crèpes to become crispy. Stack them on a plate.<br />
Sauce:<br />
Slice orange peel very thinly, using only the orange part of the peel (the white part is not<br />
pretty).<br />
In a pan, put orange peel, butter, sugar, orange juice, 10 cl of cognac and 10 cl of Grand<br />
Marnier. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 30 minutes. The alcohol will evaporate<br />
and it will become syrupy.<br />
Dip each crèpe into orange syrup and turn to coat each side. Fold into quarters and place<br />
in a serving dish that you can keep warm in oven.<br />
When ready to serve pour the remaining sauce (hot) over crèpes. Then heat the other 10 cl<br />
of Grand Marnier in a pan, pour over crèpes and light with a match to flambé them in front<br />
of your guests. This is nice plated and served with a scoop of vanilla icecream<br />
Recipe by Mary Pochez, at La Vie du Château, all inclusive culinary holidays in an<br />
18th century chateau in the Pays de la Loir, France
Onion-Tomato Jam<br />
Ingredients (makes about 2 cups)<br />
2 cups red or yellow onions, thinly sliced<br />
1 large shallot, thinly sliced<br />
2 pounds plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped<br />
2 tsp good quality olive oil<br />
2 TBS lemon juice<br />
1/2 cup honey<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground<br />
1 tsp smoked paprika<br />
Warm the olive oil in a small pot over medium/high heat and<br />
then add the onions, shallots, and salt. Use a wooden spoon<br />
to throughly coat the onions and shallots with oil and turn the<br />
flame down to low. Let the mixture soften for about 10<br />
minutes and then caramelize for another 15-<strong>20</strong> minutes,<br />
stirring often. Transfer the onion mixture to a large pot and<br />
add the tomatoes, lemon juice, honey, ground pepper and<br />
smoked paprika. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 40-50<br />
minutes, stirring often, until the mixture has reduced and is<br />
translucent and thickened to a jammy texture with very little<br />
liquid. Jam may be prepared up to 2 days in advance. You<br />
will have more than needed for the tart so consider freezing<br />
half and saving it for another time.<br />
Recipes by Martine Bertin-Peterson at<br />
Gout et Voyage, Gourmet Tours of Provence.
Ratatouille Tart<br />
Ingredients (serve 4 as a main course, 6 as a<br />
starter)<br />
1/2 -3/4 cup of onion-tomato jam<br />
Pâte brisé for a 9” tart or pre-packaged pie dough<br />
1 small eggplant, skin on & sliced into 1/4 inch thick<br />
rounds<br />
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds<br />
1 medium yellow squash, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds<br />
2-3 plum tomatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds<br />
2 roasted red or yellow peppers, sliced into thin strips<br />
Pre-heat the oven to 425 F. (215 C.) Place the pâte<br />
brisé or pie dough in a 9” deep dish pie pan, prick<br />
the bottom in several spots and bake for 10 minutes.<br />
Reduce oven temperature to 400 F (<strong>20</strong>0 C.) When<br />
the tart shell has cooled slightly, spread the oniontomato<br />
jam evenly on the bottom. Create circles and<br />
layers of zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and<br />
tomato, sprinkling 1/2 of the fresh oregano and<br />
seasoning with salt and pepper between layers. Add<br />
the roasted pepper strips to the top layer. Bake for<br />
25 minutes, uncovered and then cover with<br />
aluminum foil for another <strong>20</strong> minutes. Remove the<br />
tart from the oven and sprinkle with crumbled goat<br />
cheese and remaining fresh oregano. Serve hot or<br />
allow to cool to room temperature.<br />
Serve with a crusty peasant loaf or baguette and a<br />
chilled rose or crisp white wine. Refrigerate any<br />
leftovers.
Poulet - Roti
Serves 4<br />
Prep time: 25 minutes<br />
Cook time: about 1 1/2 hours<br />
INGREDIENTS<br />
2–3 cups roughly chopped assorted root<br />
vegetables (carrots, parsnips, potatoes)<br />
2 medium (12 oz/350 g total) yellow onions,<br />
thickly sliced<br />
2 tablespoons olive oil<br />
2 small lemons, grate the zest of one and<br />
use both for the chicken<br />
6 sprigs fresh thyme<br />
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt<br />
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper<br />
1 whole chicken (3 lb/1.5 kg)<br />
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled but smashed<br />
A few sprigs fresh thyme<br />
1/4 cup (57 g) salted butter, at room<br />
temperature<br />
1–2 teaspoons dried Herbes de Provence or<br />
dried thyme<br />
Freshly ground black pepper<br />
FOR BASTING<br />
1/4 cup (57 g) salted butter, melted<br />
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled but smashed<br />
1. Preheat the oven to 425˚F (2<strong>20</strong>˚C).<br />
2. Scatter the chopped vegetables in a roasting pan with the olive oil.<br />
Add the lemon zest, thyme, salt and pepper to the vegetables and, using your hands, mix<br />
until all the vegetables are coated. Make sure the vegetables are sitting evenly on the<br />
bottom of the roasting pan.<br />
3. Pat the cavity of the bird dry using a paper towel.<br />
4. Cut both the lemons in quarters and place them in the cavity of the bird with the<br />
smashed garlic and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. If all the lemon quarters don’t fit, you can<br />
pop them in the pan with the vegetables, just don’t forget to take them out when you are<br />
serving the chicken.<br />
5. Cut about half of the butter into small pieces and place them under the skin of the bird.<br />
To do this, start at the cavity end of the chicken and slide one or two fingers between the<br />
meat and the skin. Work slowly, separating the skin from the meat as far as you can reach.<br />
Squish the butter pieces slightly and fit them under the skin as best you can.<br />
6. Spread the remainder of the butter over the outside of the skin. The easiest way to do<br />
this is with your hands. Season the bird with the Herbes de Provence or dried thyme and a<br />
touch of pepper.<br />
7. Place the bird directly on the vegetables in the roasting pan and place in the oven for <strong>20</strong><br />
minutes, until the skin starts to brown nicely.<br />
To smash a garlic clove, place it on a cutting board and place a large knife that's wider than the<br />
garlic clove flat on top of the garlic with the blade facing away from you. Press down hard until the<br />
garlic clove splits. Voila! you've smashed it. This is also an easy way to peel garlic
8. Add the smashed garlic to the melted butter<br />
and place this over very low heat on the<br />
stovetop. You will use this to baste the chicken<br />
while it’s roasting.<br />
9. Turn down the oven to 400˚F (<strong>20</strong>0˚C) and<br />
roast the chicken for 60 to 70 minutes more, or<br />
until a meat thermometer inserted into the high<br />
part of the thigh registers 165˚F (74˚C). <strong>No</strong>rmally<br />
you can count on about <strong>20</strong> minutes’ cook time<br />
per pound (454 g) of chicken but to be absolutely<br />
sure, a meat thermometer is the way to go!<br />
TIP<br />
Kids might be squeamish about<br />
touching raw chicken (especially when<br />
it comes to placing the lemons, garlic<br />
and herbs in the cavity and the butter<br />
under and over the skin). The more<br />
they see you doing tasks like this,<br />
though, the more normal (and less<br />
gruesome) it will appear. In the<br />
meantime, get them busy chopping the<br />
vegetables and mixing in the oil and<br />
seasoning in the roasting pan.<br />
10. While the bird is cooking, baste it every <strong>20</strong><br />
minutes or so with the melted butter and<br />
smashed garlic. This will season the bird even<br />
more.<br />
11. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from<br />
the oven (leave the vegetables in the roasting<br />
pan), place it on a cutting board (preferably one<br />
that has a drain ridge to catch any juices), cover<br />
it loosely with aluminium foil and allow it to rest<br />
for about 10 minutes before you carve it.<br />
12. Give the vegetables a good stir and place the<br />
roasting pan back in the oven until you are ready<br />
to serve the meal. If the vegetables are not<br />
crispy enough, you can set the broiler to high<br />
(around 400˚F/<strong>20</strong>0˚C, if your broiler has a<br />
temperature display) and broil them for about 5<br />
minutes but do keep an eye on them as they<br />
might burn.<br />
In the French Kitchen with Kids: Easy, Everyday Dishes<br />
for the Whole Family to Make and Enjoy by Mardi<br />
Michels. From the prolific blogger behind eat. live. travel.<br />
write comes a new cookbook for parents, children and<br />
Francophiles of all ages. Fuss free, simple, delicious<br />
French dishes with Mardi Michels as your guide. From<br />
savory dishes like Omelettes, Croque-Monsieurs or<br />
Steak Frites to sweet treats like Profiteroles, Madeleines<br />
or Crème Brûlée, readers will find many French classics<br />
here. With helpful timetables to plan out baking projects,<br />
and tips on how to get kids involved in cooking, this book<br />
breaks down any preconceived notion that French<br />
cuisine is too fancy or too difficult for kids to master. With<br />
Mardi's warm, empowering and encouraging instructions,<br />
kids of all ages will be begging to help out in the kitchen<br />
every day of the week.
My Good Life in France....<br />
This year’s summer was extraordinary in the far north of France, pas-de-<br />
Calais. In the south I’ve heard my region referred to as “the north pole of<br />
France” – but not this year. We had a late sunny spring which turned into an<br />
early sunny summer. While the rest of France suffered from rain and storms,<br />
the tip of France basked in record heatwaves. It was so nice, we even took<br />
our coats off! Seriously, this year, the north was the new south.<br />
Every day on my walks with my three dogs, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Bruno and<br />
Churchill, through the village, the main topic of conversation was the<br />
weather. I’d learned long ago not to respond with “je suis chaud” which<br />
literally means I’m hot but is taken to mean “I’m sexy”, you have to say “J’ai<br />
chaud”. Mostly people said “it’s too hot to work” watching us render the<br />
walls, paint shutters (one day it was so hot the paint bubbled as I applied it),<br />
lay tons of gravel and replace the roofs on two outbuildings.<br />
We finished just in time to join in the end of summer harvest party at the<br />
Town Hall. Called a ducasse, this sort of party has been held for centuries in<br />
small rural villages. Whole familes attend these events from babies in<br />
pushchairs to wizzened and bent over ancient great-grandparents.<br />
We were told to be there for 7.30pm. The wine was flowing and it meant<br />
there was lots of time for welcome-to-the-party-kisses-on-cheeks and lots<br />
of chat so that everyone was ready when the starters arrived just after 10pm.<br />
The DJ-with-a-muffly-voice (he does all the local parties and no one can<br />
understand a word he says) played lots of Johnny Halliday music which got<br />
everyone up dancing and waving their arms in the air. Well everyone except<br />
the tables nearest the doors, they were taken by the village oldies, mamies<br />
and papies in their 80's and 90's who wouldn't miss this annual event for<br />
anything, for some of them it's the 97th party they've attended! They left by<br />
midnight but the rest of us partied on until well into the next day.<br />
The morning after the night before, the village returned to its usual trainquil<br />
and silent self, save for the wild birds gathering in hordes in the trees getting<br />
ready to take off as fall approaches.<br />
Welcome to autumn...