Saint Malo

In 2019, Lingua Franca took two groups of Chouchous* on a two-week tour around north-western France. One of the absolute points forts* was our visit to St Malo and from these belles images* it's easy to see why.

📸 : ouramericandream.fr

*Teacher’s Pets | *highlights | *beautiful images

Swoon : Belgique

One of the best nights of my life was spent in La Grande Place* in Brussels, drinking bière blanche* with a couple of young Dutch guys who also spoke French (and English and German and enough Spanish and Italian to get by - j'étais jalouse*).

I was about 21 at the time, wide-eyed and on my first trip to Europe. Quels beaux souvenirs*. I remember the sheer scale of the Place blew my little mind and the mix of culture, history, architecture and fashion was absolutely intoxicating. A spell was cast that night and la Belgique* has stayed close to my heart ever since.

I hope this post sends you straight back to your first experiences of travel and just how stimulating and exciting it can be. Oh travel, tu nous manques!*

*The Big Square | *white beer | *Belgium | *What beautiful memories | *We miss you!

Swoon : Québec city

Québec City is the capital of the French-speaking province of Québec, in Canada. The indigenous Algonquin people named it Kébec, meaning where the river narrows, before a French explorer created a European settlement in 1609.

With a population of just over 500 000, it is one of the oldest European cities in the Americas and Vieux Québec (Old Québec) was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. There’s a lot to swoon over in this petite ville magique*. Enjoy.

*magical little city

Swoon : Le Médoc

If plages* and fruits de mer* appeal to you as much vin* and châteaux*, be sure to add Le Médoc to your next itinéraire*.

*beaches | *seafood | *wine | *castles | *itinerary

Swoon : La Neige

Have you simply had enough of cette chaleur*? Refresh your spirit with these belles photos* of snowy French landscapes. Guaranteed you’ll feel un frisson*, whether from the cold or the anticipation of future travel.

*this heat *beautiful photos *a shiver

Name the francophone countries

Name the French-speaking countries in which you'd find the following attractions touristiques*. The first person to contact us with all six correct answers will win a Lingua Franca En Voyage guidebook.

CLUE: 115 islands make up this sublime archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

CLUE: These surreal-looking gazelles are called les gérénuks and could not be plus mignons*.

CLUE: Sticky rice is a staple.

CLUE: The Historic Old Quarter was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

CLUE: Caught between two countries who enjoy a serious love/hate relationship. Starts with ‘G’.

CLUE: This destination is home to a significant Tamul community.

*cuter

Swoon : Corsica

It’s always le bon moment* to be transported by la beauté* of France. Here, we present another spectacular French island, this time Napoleon’s birthplace: Corsica.

Photography : Pinterest

*the right time | *the beauty

Swoon : Île de Ré

It’s always le bon moment* to be transported by la beauté* of France. Here, we present the charming Île de Ré on the Atlantic Coast, just near La Rochelle.

Photography : claires-blog.com on Pinterest

*the right time | *the beauty

Harry’s Bar Paris

In a previous blog post, we gave the recipe for a French 75, a classic French cocktail whose effect on the imbiber was likened to a blow from a 75mm French canon. Savez-vous que* this cocktail was the creation of Le Harry's Bar in Paris? For us in the Anglophone world, the French 75 is likely the least known of the bar's original cocktail creations: the Bloody Mary, the Side Car and the Blue Lagoon all hail from the same adresse*, and the classic Italian Bellini was first served up at Harry's Bar in Venice.

So why is Harry's Bar so special? Well, for a start, the bar started life across the Atlantic in Manhattan, where, with prohibition approaching, the owner decided to dismantle and ship his beloved bar to Paris, piece by piece. Harry's soon became a deuxième chez soi* for American expats and its clubby feel and expert bartenders eventually drew non-French luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, Aly Khan, Rita Hayworth and even the Duke of Windsor. And bien sûr*, when Coco Chanel is counted as a patron, you can be assured the bar has un charme certain*.

Located at 5, rue Daunou in the 2nd arrondissement, Harry’s needed a way to assure a steady stream of thirsty Americans. So in 1924, the bar's legendary Scottish manager, Harry Mac Elhone, placed the following ad in the Herald Tribune: « Just tell the taxi driver: Sank Roo Doe Noo and get ready for the worst! ». Intelligent, non*?

Indeed, a 16 year old James Bond uttered this very phrase in Ian Fleming's 1960 short story "From a View to a Kill", that .... "started one of the memorable evenings of his life, culminating in the loss, almost simultaneous, of his virginity and his notecase".

An interesting side note: since 1924, Harry's has conducted a straw poll amongst its American patrons prior to each presidential election, and have been wrong only on three occasions: 1976, 2004 and 2016. Je me demande* how they'll go in 2020?

*Did you know that | *address | home away from home | *of course | *a certain charm | *Clever, isn't it? | *I wonder

Museums of Paris

Though our travel options may be a bit limitées* at the moment, no-one can stop us from dreaming…or planning.

When Lingua Franca held our first Paris Summer School in 2019, we were absolutely blessed to have poet, translator and amateur historian Gilles Mourier as one of our tutors for the week. Gilles’ knowledge of French culture is virtually boundless, but he also has the knack of breaking down complex information into manageable (and very useful) chunks.

Take, for example, his simple way of distinguishing between three of the most famous musées* of Paris: Le Louvre, Le Musée d’Orsay et Le Centre Pompidou. It is tellement* simple and will be very useful to you in planning your dream itinéraire*.

N’OUBLIEZ PAS*: entry to many Parisian museums is free on the first Sunday of the month. Go here to dream (en français* or in English): https://www.parisinfo.com/decouvrir-paris/guides-thematiques/paris-gratuit/musees-et-monuments-gratuits-a-paris/les-musees-et-monuments-gratuits-a-paris

*limited | *museums | *so | *itinerary | *Don’t forget | *in French

Paysages de France

“La pensée voyage à la vitesse du désir.” - Thought travels at the speed of desire.

Malcolm de Chazal, Mauritian philosopher.

Here, les plus beaux paysages de France* as presented by Geo.

PS Make sure you disable your ad blocker to watch this gorgeous video.

*the most beautiful landscapes of France.

Le Carnaval

If you didn't know better, you could be thinking that life in France for Deborah is just one long fête*. In our last édition* of Le Chouchou News, Deborah explained la galette des rois*, and how this delicious 'kings' cake' is traditionally eaten on Epiphany Day.

This month, she's off to Pau's Carnaval Biarné. Pourquoi*? Glad you asked...

Le Carnaval

Quoi de mieux pour le moral qu’une vraie fête populaire ? Une fête gratuite, ouverte, qui vous aspire ! Carnaval, c’est une bouffée d’air pur dans un monde où l’on suffoque, un monde de plus en plus aseptisé et violent. Carnaval, c’est l’antidote à tous les maux, le plaisir de se laisser porter par une histoire fantastique qui mobilise tout le Béarn : celle du retour d’exil de sa Majesté Sent Pançard et de sa cour!

What better for the spirits than a true party for the people? A party that's free, open to all and lifts you up! Carnaval is a breath of fresh air in a world where we're suffocating, a world ever more sterile and violent. Carnaval is the antidote to all the bad. Let yourself be swept away by a fantastic story that brings together all of Béarn: that of the return from exile of His Majesty Sent Pançard and his court!

*party | *edition | *cake of the kings | *Why?