French Lessons - Highly recommended

My friend Sophie of Roussillangues is an excellent French teacher. Here's her new timetable for the 2011/2012

ROUSSILANGUES classes are starting again from September 20th with weekly classes, intensive sessions and weekend sessions in Bélesta

Belesta is 10 minutes from Estagel, Millas and Ille-sur-Tet, 30 minutes from St Paul de Fenouillet and 20 minutes from Prades.
WEEKLY CLASSES

There will be 5 sessions in 2011 and 2012.
Classes will take place on Tuesday in Belesta from 1.30 to 3.30pm for group 1 and 3.30 to 5.30pm for group 2.

Session 1 : 20 Sept to 8 Nov
Session 2 : 22 Nov to 13 Dec
Session 3 : 3 jan to 7 Feb
Session 4 : 28 Feb to 3 April
Session 5 : 24 April to June 5th

INTENSIVE SESSIONS

10-14 October
16-20 January
5-9 March
7-11 May
>> or on request

INTENSIVE WEEKENDS
15-16 Oct
21-22 Jan
10-11 March
12-13 May
>> or on request

ONE TO ONE and TWO TO ONE classes are available all year.

funny signs in france

Part one

A week of fêtes

A feast or a famine; this week in our village , we are spoilt for choice of fêtes : 21 June was La Fete de La Musique, tonight is La Fete de Saint Jean and on Saturday, we have La Fete des Voisins ( Neighbours Party)
For our neighbourhood bash, the mairie (town hall) provide music, an aperitif, tables and chairs and we can party as late as we like on our street ( 'tis a great country all the same ;))
I registered with the town hall ( much paperwork) and notified the neighbours. A meeting was promptly called and an aperitif was organised - the lady of the house spent all day preparing a delicious spread of nibblies and all kinds of drinks imaginable. Serious nom nom nom.
There then proceeded a three hour debate as to to how we would run the party - a note needed to be dropped into everyone's letterbox on the street to ask if they would be attending .... it took at least an hour to decide on the layout and vocablary to use.
Where the party would be held was another long and heated debate... should it be at the top of the street, the middle or the end or in the park?
What shall we bring? How shall we arrange the tables and chairs? Should there be defined courses? Entrée, Mains, Dessert? Major Hoo Hah. I'm reminded of Stephen Clarkes "My Tea is Rich" meetings in A Year in the Merde as I knock back another glass of muscat..
After three hours of talking around in circles with nothing at all decided on, another meeting was called where we could finalise the details. Yawn.
So two strategic meetings later, our fete des voisins will take place on Saturday. The tables and chairs are stocked in my garden and copious bottles of rivesaltes ambré have been delivered to chez moi ( note to self ; do not drink!).
Allez, C'est Party!!

Team Try

With my mid life crisis in full swing after hitting the 40 mark last month, a group of us 'Fit and Forties' are going to take part in a "triathlon découverte" this weekend in Argeles plage.
This all seemed like a great idea way way back in January when it was 24 weeks to go and we had plenty of time to train and prepare - summer days in June seemed like a distant dream. Now with less than 48 hours to togging off, the butterflies are doing their own triathlon in my tummy and the rest of the team are getting pretty jittery too!
We'll be fine, I keep telling myself, the distances are very do-able : a 250m swim, a 7km cycle and a 2km run. The only problem is, all our mates are coming to see us drag our sorry triathlon asses around the course - the slagging, will no doubt, go on for years..
We aim to complete the course and in fairness have been doing alot of training, both in and outside of the bar!
C'Mon Team Try!! We Can Do It!
Yes we can, can't we?

Chez Alco

What a great appropriate name for this local bar in Toulouges!

The Art of French Small Talk

The French can talk , no body is going to dispute that but when it comes to small talk, idle chit chat and just plain shooting the breeze with strangers, they, frankly, haven't got a clue.
I teach English to a group of retirees locally and we've organised a rencontre with English speaking people next week for an hour of conversation ; 30 minutes of English and 30 minutes of French, so that both parties can practice their oral skills. In preparation for the 'talk off" we've been planning what to say to the English speakers who all live in France.
Me : 'Ok class, give me a few suggestions as to what we will ask them'
Class : Blank faces
Me : 'Right, they are English speaking people, not from here and have relocated to France for some reason or another .. any ideas what you might want to ask them/talk about"
Class : Furrowed brows, deep concentration
Me : 'Okaaay, forget about the English, just give me your thoughts in French and we'll translate them' ( thinking it was the English that was blocking them)
Class : Shrugs, pffs, more eyebrow knitting ...
So what started as a lesson in teaching small talk English became a lesson in 'How to make small talk'. It's going to be a long hour!

Now, the french are great conversationalists, don't get me wrong and they love a good debate about anything .. but as for the chit chat at the school gate, the pleasant pass the time inane stuff ' how were your holidays / weather / traffic etc ' forget it. For an Irish person living in France, this can leave you squirming in certain social situations. Going on a school outing with the kids for example, with a handful of other parents who don't know each other, they are happy not to speak to each other and ride the bus in silence rather than turn to their fellow parent and have a nice oul chat. At first, I thought it was just me, they don't want to talk to the weird Irish one, but then I noticed they weren't talking to each other either, when they have so much in common ; kids the same age, same teachers, similiar age group, common neighbourhood etc etc. There are rich pickings there for hours of chit chat.

What is it about the French that they can't do small talk? I think, deep down( really really deep down) that the french are a little insecure. They've been through an educational system that heartily endorses the 'children should be seen and not heard rule' ( and look beautifully turned out as well). They dress conservatively ( black is always the new black in France), they toe the line, never speak out ( unless en masse as in strikes etc) and very rarely do anything spontaneous in their lives ( I'm generalising of course). Their lives are regimented, you eat at a certain hour, bathe avery day, dress a certain way and so launching into a chatty conversation with a stranger is a scary concept for them..
Or maybe, just maybe, they just couldn't be arsed!

A bottle of wine to remember

You just never know what is going to happen when you go for a "dégustation" chez Maison Guilhot and the last wine/food pairing night was no different. We tasted a delightful range from Bourgogne to Roussillon and Lucien Salani, Propriétaire Récoltant aux Balmettes, regaled us with stories and anecdotes of his life making wine. We were treated to gastronomical delights from the fabulous Bruno Léger and Georges juggled all the balls in the air with wit and contagious enthusiasm, as usual.
The surprise of the night , knocked us all for 6 and we all insisted that Georges keep it for himself but nothing would stop him sharing his bottle of 1924 Bouchard père et fils. An 87 year old bottle of wine was shared among us. It's hard to explain what drinking wine this old felt like - without wanting to sound pompous, it was a truly momentous moment. It really did feel like drinking a bit of history.
The smell of the wine was so powerful, like walking into an old french bar heavy with cigarette smoke with mouldy carpets and curtains. It tasted good, not rancid at all, almost like a strong Banyuls or tawny port. We were all transported back to 1924, imagining the hands that harvested the grapes and made the wine in a France recovering from the first world war and hopeful for the future and all the things that have happened since while this bottle has been languishing in someone's cellar.
A bottle of wine to remember on one's deathbed .. Merci encore Georges!

Beef bourguignon without the Burgundy

Meant to post this for Paddys Day, but here you go ...
Beef Bourguignon is a fabulous french stew which is a fool proof recipe and a perfect dinner party dish when you've got a gang to feed.
However, if you replace the burgundy with guinness, for a real Irish twist, the result is a lush creamy stew that goes down really well with mashed spuds and a glass of red.
Here's my fav recipe :

Prep time: 15 min - Cook time: 3 hours


2 big onions, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced in rounds
Olive oil
1 packet of lardons( bacon bits)
I kilo of stewing beef, cut small
1 can guinness
Mixed dried herbs
2 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 kilo mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper

In a large heavy pot cook the onions and carrots in the oil on medium heat until soft, about 8 minutes.
Add the bacon and continue cooking and stirring for 8 minutes.
Add the meat and cook, turning several times, until browned on all sides. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper. Add the herbs, the garlic and the guinness. Cover, turn down the heat, and let simmer for at least two hours.
Meanwhile cook the mushrooms in oil until soft and add to the stew after about two hours.
Simmer until meat tender.
Serve with mashed spuds sprinkled with fresh parsley.

Et voilà! Bonne Appetit!

Dublin - Perpignan direct flights

Hurray hurray! The new flights with Aer Lingus commenced today, from Dublin to Perpignan direct - the first time we have had direct flights from Ireland into Perpignan.
Let's hope that they are a success and continue for a long time - at a quick glance today, there are some bargains to be had - one can fly out aller retour for less than 85euros all inclusive in May. Perfect timing for my 40th birthday bash!!!
Aer Lingus is the posh older sister of Ryanair and I'm looking forward to trying out their swish A320s. It's very good news for Perpignan.

Humble in Victory, Gracious in Defeat

If I had a euro for every French person who has asked me to please beat the English next weekend and rob them of their Grand Chelem victory, I'd be a rich woman. Bruised and Humiliated after being beaten by the Italians and the English, you could not really say that the French are gracious in defeat....

Marc Lièvremont, France's rugby coach, who should really be looking at getting his marching orders after being beaten by the hungry Italians, has this to say about HIS team

They are lacking in courage. They are good guys but cursed with what is obviously cowardice," said Lievremont.

"They betrayed us, they have betrayed me and they have betrayed the French national team shirt."
"In terms of the tactics deployed, it defied belief. I did not recognise anything in their performance that we had worked on.
"Do you really think that I told them to play as they did against Italy? I was ashamed. I do not have the impression we asked them to walk on the moon. I do not ask for complicated things.
"This match was an hallucination. I do not want to absolve myself of blame but they invented things on the pitch."

Of course, this was the French coach who kindly did Johnstons pre match job for him ahead of the French English rugby clash last weekend with this 'inciteful" message for the English team:

"We don't like them and it's better to say that than be hypocritical. We respect them - well in my case at least I respect them. But you couldn't say we have the slightest thing in common with them. We appreciate our Italian cousins with whom we share the same quality of life. We appreciate the Celts and their conviviality and then among all these nations we have one huge thing in common. We all don't like the English! It is also what gives you strength against the English, more than just because of rugby. This insular country, who always drape themselves in the national flag, their hymns, their chants, their traditions."

Contrast this with the Italians reaction to their win against France and the obvious mutual respect the players and their South African coach have for each other
After the Italians historic win on Saturday, The Italian captain, the number eight Sergio Parrisse, rushed to his coach’s side – “He’s the only coach who believed in us,” he said, “I want to dedicate this victory to him”
Italian coach, Pallet, from South Africa, with a very impressive rugby history had this to say
 “This is my biggest win ever as a coach. I am more proud of this success than of all those with Stade France and with South Africa." Aw, twould bring a tear to your eye...

Anyway, according to my French neighbours here in Rugby Mad Catalan Country, it's up to us, les Irlandais, to beat the English next weekend... gulp!
C'Mon Ireland!