Books to Read This Winter: cozy mysteries, ooignant historical fiction and inspiring biographies all linked to France.

Immerse yourself in books that capture the essence of France through captivating mysteries, rich historical fiction, and fascinating biographies. Curated by Julia Girard-Gervois, a French expat living in the United States, each title in this list offers a unique glimpse into French history, culture, and the complexities of its people. Some stories will lift your spirits, while others may tug at your heartstrings, making them perfect for those chilly nights curled up with a warm cup of tea or a glass of fine wine.

Mystery & Lifestyle

Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
Travel to the Dordogne region with Bruno, a village police chief whose cozy life is disrupted by crime and mystery. With a devoted fanbase, Walker’s series combines suspense, charming local customs, and the beauty of rural France. This series opener is a must-read and will with no doubt make you want to travel to the French countryside of Dordogne. Read more about Bruno’s world and the bucolic countryside of Dordogne here.

A Noël Killing by M.L. Longworth
Set in the festive streets of Aix-en-Provence during Christmas, A Noël Killing (Book 8 of the Provençal Mystery Series) sees Judge Verlaque and Marine Bonnet unravel a murder case amidst holiday cheer. Evocative descriptions of Provence’s food, wine, architecture and traditions, make this mystery novel a must-read for francophiles.

The Bordeaux Betrayal by Ellen Crosby
The novel is set in Virginia’s wine country, but it ties in with Bordeaux’s rich winemaking heritage, touching on topics like the classification of Bordeaux wines and the influence of Jefferson on American oenophiles. Lucie’s investigation takes readers through local vineyards, small towns, and historical sites, creating a suspenseful atmosphere as she uncovers hidden truths. The Bordeaux Betrayal is a treat for those who are interested in wine culture and the connection between Bordeaux and early American history.

Historical Fiction

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
The first book in Kate Mosse’s Languedoc trilogy intertwines the lives of two brave women separated by 800 years but connected through a mysterious secret in the medieval town of Carcassonne. As they each face challenges tied to the Cathars, a persecuted medieval religious group, the story beautifully captures the South of France, blending historical intrigue with touches of the supernatural.

Read our interview with Kate Mosse.

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
In this WWII-era novel, an architect is reluctantly drawn into the French Resistance, designing hidden rooms to shelter Jews from the Nazis. Belfoure’s novel is a tense, morally complex story that reveals the strength and bravery found in Paris under occupation.

The Eleanor of Aquitaine Series by Elizabeth Chadwick
This series offers a captivating look into the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of medieval France’s most powerful figures. The story is told with vivid detail, exploring Eleanor’s influence in the courts of France and England.

Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
In this lesser-known classic, Mark Twain presents an admiring portrait of Joan of Arc through historical fiction. Twain’s dedication to Joan’s story reveals a side of him as a writer that many may not know. Twain’s unique perspective is a compelling read.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This bestselling novel, soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning, tells the story of two sisters’ resistance to the Nazi occupation in France. Hannah’s emotional storytelling highlights the bravery of ordinary people during extraordinary times.

Biographies, Memoirs & Historical Non-Fiction

Josephine: The Hungry Heart by Jean-Claude Baker and Chris Chase
Apart from her rise in Paris’s Jazz Age and her courageous work as a spy in the French Resistance, Baker’s life was also marked by her dream of building a “Rainbow Tribe,” a family of adopted children from diverse backgrounds. She realized this vision at her beloved Château des Milandes in the Dordogne countryside, creating a haven of inclusivity and love. Yet despite her remarkable achievements, Baker’s later years would be marked by financial and personal hardships, making her story both inspiring and profoundly moving.

The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled Itby Tilar J. Mazzeo
Meet the visionary behind Veuve Clicquot, who transformed her late husband’s vineyard into a thriving champagne empire. Mazzeo’s biography celebrates a pioneering woman in French wine history and brings to life the allure and grit of 19th-century France.

The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire by Francesca Cartier Brickell
This biography traces the story of the Cartier family and their journey to creating one of the world’s most iconic jewelry brands. Through wars and revolutions, the Cartiers have left an enduring legacy in both France and the world of luxury. With behind-the-scenes stories, this book is a fascinating glimpse into the glamour and ingenuity that has shaped Cartier’s lasting legacy

Lust for Life by Irving Stone
This biographical novel about Vincent van Gogh vividly portrays the artist’s passion and struggles in France’s countryside and Parisian art circles. Stone’s work gives readers insight into van Gogh’s inner world and his incredible artistic legacy.

The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw
Kershaw’s well-researched account commemorates the young men from Bedford, Virginia, who were among the first to storm the beaches of Normandy. This moving narrative links a small American town with France’s WWII history, highlighting the bravery and sacrifices made on D-Day.

The Good Life France Series by Janine Marsh
In this memoir series, Janine Marsh, an expat from London, invites readers to experience rural French life through her eyes. Her humorous, heartfelt narratives capture the beauty and quirks of everyday life in the French countryside, making this series a delightful escape.

Julia Girard-Gervois is a tour guide and owner of TripUSAFrance

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Ilse Erlund is a translator who lives in a house on stilts along the west coast of Greenland. Isolated and restless in her world by the sea, she convinces her publisher to pay for a trip to the country she has never visited but whose language she speaks fluently: France. Her mission is to translate the verses of Geoffrey “Po” Labaye, a charismatic poet known as “the last living troubadour of Provence.”

Upon arrival in the medieval hilltop village of Belle Rivière, Ilse falls under the spell of the Provençal way of life, captivated by the air, the sun, the vibrant spring colors, and the dulcet sounds of the dialect. Soon enough, Ilse is captivated by the poet, too, and she and Po develop a daily rhythm and warm camaraderie—which is disrupted by the arrival of the poet’s son, Frey. Though he has a fiancée back in Paris, Frey turns his attentions to Ilse, and suddenly she is forced to learn another language, one her translation skills have not prepared her to decode. Where—and with whom—does her future lie?

With an eye and ear attuned to the sensibilities of French life, Elizabeth Birkelund has created a love story about a woman forced to choose between the security of her quiet northern home and the possibility of the life of her dreams.

Review of A Northern Light in Provence

In  A Northern Light in Provence, author Elizabeth Birkelund effortlessly takes you to two very different worlds as the main character moves between her homeland, Greenland and sunny Provence. Her very readable writing style carries the you along, immersing you in the story and it’s an absolute treat to read as the author knows how to use language to the best advantage – every page is memorable.

This is one of those can’t put it down books. The characters are wonderfully rounded and realistic, you feel you know them, and more importantly you like the ones you should. The emotional roller coaster story is sublime, not over the top or clichéd.

The descriptions of Provence are wonderful, the words bring to life the warmth and colours, in your head you see the wonderful flowers, the table set for two in a vineyard… The descriptions of Greenland are fabulous, having never been there it was easy for me to imagine the chill pure air, the crunch of snow underfoot, the howling wind and the raging sea. Two very different countries, two very different possibilities.

The author is a master writer, her way with words is outstanding. The book holds your attention on every page, it really is that good. In fact, it’s gone on my best-books list. One to read again. And again.

It’s a beautiful, grown up love story and its beautifully written.

Available on Amazon and all good book stores online and in the high street.

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The arts and crafts of France. Meet the skilled craftsmen in Dordogne who are keeping the tradition of handmade pastels alive and make them the same way as when they supplied artists including Degas.

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first high-profile artists to promote the use of pastel in the 16^th Century. The art form flourished in the eighteenth century, again in the late nineteenth century and and has remained popular ever since.

Pastels Girault in Dordogne, founded in 1780, is the oldest handmade pastel manufacturer in the world still active today. The renowned French artist Maurice Quentin de la Tour, who worked primarily in the Rococo style during the 18^th century was an early customer. Edgar Degas used Girault sticks to create a tapestry of colour, as did his friend, American artist Mary Cassatt. Today, the company has a global following which numbers some of the best pastel artists in the world.

Pastels can be applied with a loose powder and in pencil form, but most often, directly with a colour stick, the speciality of Pastels Girault.

The arts and crafts of France – the pastel makers

I met the current owners Karine and Stéphane Loiseau, the 9^th generation of the artisanal firm at their company premises in Montignac-Lascaux. Karine, her husband and their two daughters moved their life from Paris to Montignac to take on the business in 2016 and continue the family tradition. Karine says “my great, great uncle bought the company in 1927 and my uncle moved the company to Dordogne in 1998, close to the Lascaux caves.” You can’t help but think of the fact that it’s here where artists created paintings using a form of pastel in the famous caves some 50,000 years ago.

Stéphane spent four years mastering the craft, learning the traditional skills which have been passed down through the generations. Now he teaches others the methods perfected over almost 250 years.

Pastels Girault manufactures around 150,000 sticks per year. They are all handmade in the workshop using ancestral secrets and original manufacturing methods. This includes the unique recipes for the different colours documented by Karine’s great, great uncle. Everything is a closely guarded secret.

Making pastels the traditional way

The first production stage involves weighing and mixing white clay, water and pigments sourced from the UK, France, and Germany. Some 300 different colours are produced, unique to Pastels Girault. Mixing a single colour at a time, the mixture is pressed into a canvas vessel to remove the excess water. It is then worked by hand to form a specific texture, a key step that takes years of experience. The paste is pressed into a 150-year-old extruder machine, a fascinating piece of kit that churns out long sticks which are cut to size – 63mm x 9mm. The number of the colour and the logo are stamped by hand onto each stick before they are air dried at room temperature for around three weeks.

The end result and quality of the pastels is exceptional, neither too hard nor too soft. The medium is favoured by many artists because it allows a spontaneous approach when it’s drawn on textured paper and dries instantly ensuring there is no change in colour. Girault pastel sticks have a slightly firmer consistency most, with very smooth and dense results when applied to paper, and such is the variation of the pastels tones, you do not need to mix the colours as you do with paint.

Awarded an EPV (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant) label, which recognizes dedication to excellence and the preservation of French artisanal heritage, Pastel Girault hold workshops for artists each year. ‘We consider every pastel stick as a work of art in itself,’ says Karine.

Discover the full range of Pastel Girault products at their online store, www.pastelsgirault.com  or visit their shop in Montignac-Lascaux and, from 1 April each year, see their latest exhibition showcasing artworks signed by seasoned pastellists.

Jeremy Flint is an award-winning professional photographer and writer specialising in travel, landscape and location photography.

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Great news for anyone living in the US who loves all things French: it’s now just one click away! From French-language movies and comedies to documentaries and culture,  if you want to know how to watch French TV shows and films in America – France Channel TV is a new way to access everything you love about France.

Do you ever have that feeling at the end of a trip that you can’t bear to leave? Are you already planning your next French visit even at the departure lounge in the airport? Sometimes, when we go home after a great vacation, we leave our favourite country behind and it feels so far away, but thanks to France Channel TV, you can still immerse yourself in French culture as part of your everyday life. Come back from work and settle in for a classic movie, get the latest news, indulge in a cookery programme or hear the latest celebrity gossip. And as it all comes with English subtitles, you’ll understand everything you watch.

How to Watch French TV Shows and Films in America

If you’re based in the US, you can start a free 7-day trial to see if it suits you. Visit the France Channel website to explore what’s on offer and sign up for your free trial. You can then take out an annual or monthly subscription – at a seriously tempting price – and you can cancel at any time.

Once you have your account, you can stream all the content of France Channel on your computer, using Android TV, Apple TV or by downloading the ROKU application. There’s even a France Channel mobile app, available on both IOS and Android app stores, so you can watch however and wherever it suits you.

If you prefer, you can also buy a subscription directly from Amazon Prime Video Channels, Roku Channels or Xumo or Xfinity platforms. As these are operated independently to www.francechannel.tv, you need to choose which way is more convenient for you.

Movies and TV series

One way to use France Channel is simply as you’d use other movie-streaming services such as Netflix. Whether you have a soft spot for Omar Sy, Jean Dujardin or Vincent Cassel, you want to watch the back catalogue of Catherine Deneuve or Marion Cotillard, or indulge in the classics of French cinema, it’s all one click away. Using France Channel means that watching French movies in the US has never been simpler.

As well as noir thrillers, madcap comedies, timeless romances and modern action movies, you can also take your pick from an extensive library of TV series, including the highly popular soap drama Where It All Begins? the crime series Tomorrow is ours, and French detective dramas like Tandem. Make a regular date to watch each episode or throw caution to the wind and binge an entire series in a single session!

French culture

If you love France, you’re going to love how easy it is to watch a TV series in the palm of your hand or on your laptop. There are feature-length documentaries such as Secrets of History or Becoming Chanel, plus sumptuous art and travel documentaries like Beautiful Getaways and The Louvre Behind the Scenes, not to mention a whole range of inspiration for French cuisine, Parisian style and interior design.

Find out Who will become France’s next great Pastry Chef, indulge in catwalk updates, property programmes showcasing elegant apartments and châteaux, or enjoy the guilty pleasure of celebrity gossip and entertainment news – all in the name of culture, of course!

A learning tool

Another great advantage of France Channel TV is that everything comes with subtitles in English, so you never need to worry that you won’t understand. Listen to the original French, get used to the accents and the rhythms of speech, and check your understanding with the English text as you go.

There’s also a dedicated section of the service called ‘Learn French’, which includes a large selection of shows available with French subtitles. There is every type of movie you could be in the mood for, from goofy comedies to moving dramas, from high-octane action to wistful romance, as well as documentaries on everything from fashion shows to the French Revolution. You can be amused, educated and entertained all while effortlessly learning French – c’est magnifique!

Great for kids, too

If your family includes youngsters, France Channel TV is great for helping kids to learn French. There’s an extensive library of cartoons, kids’ TV programmes and family-friendly movies, so they can choose what they want to watch on the TV, tablet or other device and enjoy the show, without even realising that they’re learning French at the same time.

Snuggle up with your toddler to watch Little Brown Bear and the worldwide travels of Mouk, let older kids enjoy Zorro The Chronicles and Animalia, or gather the whole family for movies such as The War of the Buttons. Not only is this a hassle-free way to learn another language, they’ll also be picking up all the subtleties of the accent and a lot of French cultural insights along the way.

All the latest news

Whether you’re simply interested in, or have business interests in France, you can use this streaming service to keep up with the latest news. Through a partnership with France 24, France Channel includes a live news feed plus themed news programmes for different countries, special guests, debates and sports programming.

What is France Channel?

The company was launched by the Chief Commercial Officer of France Television and former top media executives from Canal+, France Television and Paramount. Since it first launched in the US in September 2021, France Channel has become the number-one international streaming platform dedicated to French Culturetainment. This means that its content is always entertaining but offers the additional dimension of being culturally informative, which is ideal for anyone who loves European vacations and especially all things French.

The service is designed around themed sections. Firstly, there are the Movies and TV Series, Premium Documentaries, and Discover France – which features travel, food and wine, fashion and beauty, history and art, music and dance. Then you have the Learn French section whose shows come with both English and French subtitles, including content for kids and Live International News, in partnership with France 24.

The channel never stands still, continuing to add new content across all categories, including music, sports programming, movies that premiered at Cannes, new TV series and additional content for kids and families.

Affordable streaming

With a low price-point of $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year, France Channel is excellent value for money. This French-language streaming service offers a broad range of content to suit all ages and interests, keeping it accessible and affordable so that everyone who loves France can enjoy it anytime, anywhere in the US.

Launch planning underway for UK and Canada

Having grown a large subscriber base and great feedback in the US, France Channel plans to roll out the service in other territories, starting with Canada and the UK. This means that even if you’re not based in the US, you won’t have to wait long to enjoy the same access to all these services, keeping France in easy reach, wherever you live.

Find out more and start watching at: francechannel.tv

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Preview

In the heart of France, a daring heist unfolds. Two thousand bottles of the world’s most coveted wine vanishes from a prestigious Domaine in Burgundy. The world of fine wine is thrown into chaos.

Enter Catalina Syrah and Nicholas Bonhomme – lovers and espionage agents with a taste for the finer things in life. Their mission? Ensnare the thieves before the wine vanishes into the black market. But a deadly threat looms over them. An unseen enemy, a traitor lurking within the web of international intelligence.

From a chilling assassination attempt at the American Library in Paris, to a heart-stopping shootout amidst the haunting labyrinth of the Paris catacombs, and finally a high-stakes take down at a heavily fortified villa–every step draws them closer to the thief, and deeper into danger.

Can they recover the stolen wine, or will they become the next victims of a deadly game of deception and intrigue?

Review

The book is an easy quick read with likeable characters, and a few twists and turns that keep you turning the pages, plus lots of lush descriptions of Paris and France – the author, who is American, clearly knows France well.

This latest adventure, the third in the series of international best-selling books from Eglinski, features a dollop of romance, a dash of dastardly villainous behaviour and a plot involving a wine heist that moves along at a good pace.

Eglinski’s latest book is a fun, engaging and light read. It’s one to enjoy with a glass of wine, a relaxing read that will appeal to Francophiles and those who love adventure books.

Find the book on Amazon

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The picnic seems as quintessentially British as queuing and discussing the weather. Come rain or shine, hikes in the countryside go hand in hand with picnics – from squashed clingfilm-wrapped sandwiches eaten in the car to gourmet hampers at posh outdoor events. Picnicking features in some of the greatest British literature from Wind in the Willows to Women in Love by D H Lawrence. But, what if I told you that the treasured picnic isn’t actually a British invention and was in fact concocted by the French, says British food writer Ally Mitchell.

The French are notorious trendsetters in the worlds of fashion and food, but it looks like they have a claim on the world of picnicking, too. Believe me, this is one to gnash our teeth about. Little do they know how treasured this outdoor dining activity is to Brits, along with the obligatory pork pies and crumbly scotch eggs – for the uninitiated, this favourite British snack is a boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and either deep fried or baked.

Le Picnic!

The term “picnic” is clearly a direct anglicism of the French “pique-nique” – however, this French word has unknown origins. “Piquer” means “to peck” or “to bite” and “nique” – according to various sources – means “a small amount” or “nothing whatsoever” (and is also a slang swear word). Some historians say that there is evidence that picnics were popular in France as early as the 13^th century when nobles would take food with them on hunts. That said, “pique-nique” was first used in the seventeenth century in a burlesque comedy in which the protagonist, Pique Nique, was an outrageous glutton. “Pique-niques” in France in those days were all the vogue for members of the high society, always held indoors, included entertainment and required guests to contribute dishes, a sort of gourmet French potluck.

Picnics grew in popularity in the eighteenth century and were regarded as a feature of salon life in the homes of the wealthy, a place for intellectual conversations and refinement. However, France was on the precipice of change. We have the French Revolution to thank for modern French society and politics, and also for the picnics we know and love.

The picque-nique becomes the picnic!

Aristocratic picnickers were in line for the guillotine, and many fled to Britain. Trying to maintain their upper-crust ways of life, they introduced pique-niques to their adopted country. This practice was embraced with enthusiasm, in particular by a group of 200 wealthy Francophiles – including, rumour has it, the Prince of Wales – and in 1801 the “Pic Nic Society” was formed. In hired rooms in London, wild gatherings were held where admittance cost a dish and six bottles of wine per person. The Pic Nic was accompanied by general singing, dancing, gambling, risqué behaviour and an amateur play. Deeming it a risk to local West End profits, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, owner of London’s Drury Lane, petitioned for the Pic Nic Society to be shut down as a “threat to morality”.

Within a few decades, picnics emerged unscathed from the elite’s hedonism. And they moved outdoors, a practice shared in the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth (1800) and in Jane Austen’s Emma (1816). During this era of Romanticism, escaping to the country was at the height of fashion. Gone were the picnicking dances and gambling, instead food became the focus.

In France however, there was resistance to accept the new fad of outdoor dining as it was associated with the frivolous fêtes champêtres – garden parties – of the pre-Revolution aristocracy. Lavish outdoor luncheons had been routinely enjoyed by courtiers at Versailles, particularly by Marie Antoinette in her own on-site fully-functioning fake village, Hameau de la Reine, with its working farm and dairy. Eventually though the reluctance was overcome, and the trend caught on in France too.

The picnic goes posh!

Meanwhile, in Britain, picnics had become social occasions of high status. Mrs Beeton, one of the earliest celebrity British cookbook writers, included a chapter on picnic catering for 40 guests in her best-selling “Book of Household Management”. Her recommendations included ribs and shoulders of lamb, roast ducks and fowls, pies, a calf’s head, and six lobsters. Plenty of cakes and biscuits were listed to be served along with tea.

After the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 in the UK, the improved transportation links included “picnic trains” which carried working class passengers to the country. Picnics were no longer exclusive and became a distinct component of city-dwellers’ daytrips.

Another French revitalised invention to aid picnicking was the hamper. The “hanapier”, a goblet case (in days of old travellers took their own dishes and cups with them), was first introduced to Britain by the Norman invader, William the Conqueror. Over centuries, the cases morphed into refreshment baskets for travellers, and by the nineteenth century, Fortnum & Mason of London had the monopoly on ready-packed picnic hampers.

And it may surprise you to know that it was actually this luxury department store that invented the scotch egg as a snack for travellers in 1738. The pique-nique or picnic, is, it could be argued, a testament of what Brits can shape out of French inventions, even if it comes with our worryingly well-preserved scotch egg!

How to make a typical French pique-nique

A baguette fresh from a boulangerie is of course de rigeur!
Charcuterie – cured meats, ham, saucisson, and paté.
Cornichons – the little crunchy gherkins
Pan Bagnat – a southern French speciality. You take a large round loaf (a boule), Cut the top off and scoop out the inside, then fill it with layers of your favourite things – olives, herbs, salad, sliced tomatoes, roasted red pepper, cheese, cold meat, drizzle some olive oil and season the layers, put the lid back on – and it’s ready to eat!
Quiche Lorraine – a cheesy tart you can eat hot or cold.
Cheese – blue, creamy, goats’ milk, dry, crumbly, cows’ milk, brebis (sheep milk), slathered in herbs, edible flowers, truffled… so much choice!
In cooler months – raclette is popular, melted cheese scraped onto a slice of baguette!
Cake – from a patisserie or maybe a lemon tart or tarte tatin – perfect for sharing.

Spread out a red and white check tablecloth, place your picnic food on the cloth, Frenchify it by adding some fresh fruit, a bottle of wine and some glasses, a few sprigs of wildflowers – and there you have it – the perfect French pique-nique!

Ally Mitchell is a blogger and freelance writer, specialising in food and recipes. Ally left the UK to live in Toulouse in 2021 and now writes about her new life in France on her food blog NigellaEatsEverything.

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How many of us have all the good intentions of learning or improving our French in our spare time with CD courses and free apps, but find that the reality is so much harder?

You may have heard of new legislation being introduced that will make it essential for those moving to France to live and work, to speak and understand French. If you’ve already tried going it alone, you’ll have realised how hard it can be to learn a new language without help – it’s not how we naturally learn says Celtina Massardo of SLImmersion.

Learning French naturally

If you listen to a toddler communicating, it’s impressive how quickly they progress, but think about it: there’s usually a parent chatting to them throughout the day, asking questions, repeating and correcting the child’s phrases. That type of one-on-one tuition with a supportive attitude is ideal for learning a language.

As an adult, the equivalent is an immersion course. “With SLImmersion, you’re living with a French-tutor, an expert in teaching the language, and simply having to communicate, but knowing that you’re in an encouraging environment. Forget the dread of large classes where you might be judged or corrected publicly, it’s just you and your tutor, and every single aspect of the teaching is tailored to ensure that it’s relevant to you. Even better, by staying with someone who’s French, you also get to experience their culture, cuisine and way of life” says Celtina.

Moving to or living in France – How to learn French fast

New legislation in France likely to come into effect in 2026 means that anyone applying for a residency card will need to demonstrate a French level over A2 on the international language scale, meaning that you can understand frequent phrases and expressions related to areas of personal and family information, shopping, work and leisure (there are some exceptions to this ruling eg pre-Brexit card holders).

And don’t panic – if you don’t have time to study French before your arrival, you will have time to learn when you arrive.

If you want to learn quickly, an immersion course is ideal. Operating since 2012, SL Immersion offers customised French-language programmes, connecting would-be learners with qualified and vetted tutors across the country. You decide what you need in terms of teaching level, length of stay and the region you’d prefer, and Celtina will advise you on which tutor is the ideal match.

Programmes are very flexible and are tailored to fit the individual: your accommodation will be with your tutor, taking meals together and enjoying activities to discover the region, all while speaking and improving your French.

What makes it different

Celtina Masardo created SL Immersion after teaching in language centres in Lyon and Switzerland. She also worked as a French language test examiner for OFFI, the French Office of Immigration and Integration, one of the accepted forms of demonstrating your French level for the new legislation.

“I wanted to offer a more authentic service, so I started welcoming students to stay with me in my home, offering an immersive experience of living the language as you learn it. My courses in Provence became very popular so I started to make connections with teachers in other regions to see if I could expand what I was offering. It was very important to me that each tutor was highly qualified, with a lot of experience teaching foreigners and that, like me, they were passionate about the French language. Now, many years later, we have a national network of hand-picked, carefully vetted tutors offering homestays that provide that ideal combination of learning, culture, authenticity and interaction with the locals.”

Why not try a new area?

If you’re already living in France, and you’re tempted to book an immersion course, your first reaction might be to choose whichever tutor is closest to your hometown, but this is a fantastic opportunity to explore another part of the country. You can experience life in Paris, Bordeaux or the Côte-d’Azur, get to know Brittany, Normandy, or venture across to the Ardèche or Rhône-Alpes, Provence or Occitanie.

“New destinations are being added regularly,” adds Celtina, “but only when the tutor has passed the quality checks, as it’s incredibly important to us that we offer the best possible service.”

What can I expect

As every homestay is tailored to suit you, your experience will be unique, but from the moment you arrive, you’ll be gently encouraged to communicate with whatever level of French you have. This is a natural learning environment, not an academic setting, so you’ll chat about daily life, current events and what you might be having for dinner that night!

Depending on your host and the location, you can visit the local area, exploring markets, sites of interest and nearby landmarks, all while improving your French vocabulary and accent. This way, learning grammar comes naturally, as it does when we learn from our parents and families.

Nigel stayed with Anne-Laure in Bordeaux for 6 nights and was delighted with his progress: “The improvement in my French has been close to miraculous. When I arrived, I could hardly string a sentence together but now I am a very confident speaker. I highly recommend Anne-Laure and SL Immersion.”

And Tinne, who stayed with Coralyne in the Côte d’Azur, says “I learned a lot whilst enjoying myself during my stay. I not only learned French grammar but learned about the local culture, food and environment, and also met a great family!”

If you’ve ever said to yourself, ‘I wish my French were better, but…’ then perhaps it’s time to take the plunge and book an immersion stay. Your future self will certainly thank you for it!

Take the plunge

Visit the SL Immersion website, where you can browse the profiles of tutors across the country, read reviews, and decide what kind of course would best suit you.

The post How to learn French fast if you’re moving to or living in France appeared first on The Good Life France.

Preview

Paris, 1936. When Dora Maar, a talented French photographer, painter and poet, is introduced to Pablo Picasso, she is mesmerized by his dark and intense stare. Drawn to his volcanic creativity, it isn’t long before she embarks on a passionate relationship with the Spanish artist that sometimes includes sadism and masochism, and ultimately pushes her to the edge.

The Paris Muse is the fictionalized retelling of this disturbing love story, as we follow Dora on her journey of self-discovery and expression. Set in Paris and the French Riviera, where Dora and Pablo spent their holidays with their glamorous artist friends, it provides a fascinating insight into how Picasso was a genius who side-stepped the rules in his human relationships as he did in his art. Much to Dora’s torment, he refused to divorce his wife and conducted affairs with Dora’s friends. The Spanish Civil War made him depressed and violent, an angst that culminated in his acclaimed painting ‘Guernica’, which Dora documented as he painted.

As the encroaching darkness suffocates their relationship – a darkness that escalates once the Second World War begins and the Nazis invade the country – Dora has a nervous breakdown and is hospitalized.

Review

Atmospheric, intense and moving, The Paris Muse is an astonishing read that ensures that this talented, often overlooked woman who gave her life to Picasso is no longer a footnote.

Louisa Treger has always been interested in exploring through her fiction, female artists and writers who have been overlooked in their lifetime. This theme is profound in The Paris Muse. So often women linked romantically to ‘great men’ – men who can be narcissistic and abusive – are seen only in relation to their part in the man’s work. Their ‘muse’ if you will. But these women – and Dora Maar is a perfect example of this – produced great work themselves. Picasso is interesting too in that there are multiple female artists overshadowed by him in their lifetimes, women who he also actively tried to ruin the careers of.

It starts well, Dora Maar was young, beautiful, passionate, creative when she met Picasso and he found her inspiring. But the honeymoon period doesn’t last, and she becomes known as Picasso’s Weeping Woman, her heart broken by his infidelity and controlling, psychologically traumatising behaviour.

The raw torment of her love for Picasso, the realisation that the emotion is not returned, is heart breaking. There’s no sugar coating of Dora’s complex problems with her family, her lover, her friends and especially with herself. The artist was a conflicted, gifted, and complicated woman, Louisa Treger writes as if she were inside Dora’s head, feeling the passion of first love, and the betrayal of the love of her life, the fear of living in occupied Paris in the war, the punch in the gut feeling of treacherous friends and the loss of a child.

The story is dramatic. Dora feels everything with so much passion, she has no brakes on her emotions.  I found myself wanting her to overcome the situation she was in, shake her and tell her to just accept it for what it is – love hurts, you’re a talented woman, don’t give up.

Wonderfully detailed context all the way along places the reader there with her. Paris at war, the south of France with ‘friends’, many of them well-known artists, living a life that made her a part of the toxic lifestyle that Picasso and his cronies lived.

But it’s not all about her love, it’s clear that Dora Maar has enormous talent though she was overshadowed by her lover. And there is pain, most people could not see past Picasso to see the real woman, the talented artist who was his Paris muse.

The book is gripping and pulls you in from start to finish. I read it in two sessions – I couldn’t put it down. And it’s one to read again, the second time slowly, savouring the details.

Deeply researched, this is a beautifully written, finely tuned, unflinching narration that is filled with emotion, weaving past and present together and telling the tale of a remarkable artist and her remarkable, but decimated life.

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing and available in all good bookshops online and in the high street.

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This complete cooking course on charcuterie, written by the world-renowned culinary school’s experienced teaching team of chefs, features everything you need to know to create delicious terrines, pâtés, pies, and other charcuterie dishes. It includes 35 techniques explained in more than 200 step-by-step instructions, to prepare sausages, debone and fillet fish, or decorate a pâté en croûte, and 70 recipes organized by category: pies, tarts, and pâtés en croûte; pâtés and terrines; rillettes and pulled meats and fish; stuffed dishes; and cooked charcuterie.

Replete with 350 illustrations, this comprehensive cookbook explains the history and fundamentals of French charcuterie―an age-old craft―provides key terms and their definitions, and includes detailed diagrams of meat cuts in the US, UK, and France.

Base recipes for pastry, broths, and stuffings as well as condiments such as chutney or pickled vegetables are featured, alongside techniques for cutting and cleaning ingredients and assembling and decorating dishes. From country pâté to eggplant and miso terrine, Scotch eggs to spicy cabbage and herb sausages, salmon and spinach terrine to Beef Wellington, or Serrano ham croquettes to blood sausage empanadas, the easy-to-follow recipes include traditional versions as well as innovative, modern reinterpretations, including plant-based and meatless variations.

There’s an excellent introduction to all the components of pies and pates, terrines and tarts etc from what adding salt does, to the origins of charcuterie in France. There’s also a section on equipment, cutting and preparing ingredients – everything you need to know to prepare the recipes at home. I loved the chapter on decorating pies – guaranteed to up the wow factor when you make them yourself. There are photos accompanying every section.

Recipes are very clearly written, and photos show what every stage should look like from preparing jellied broth to making pork rillettes. And there are really helpful notes.

Some of the recipes take time and are not a quick and easy fix but this is real French cuisine at its best – and nothing as delicious as these recipes should be rushed. Making the recipes is part of the adventure, and with very clear instructions, they are doable – and eating them is the icing on the cake! Some recipes are simpler, like the vegetarian carrot rillettes which I can tell you from personal experience is superb and not hard to prepare.

Published by Flammarion, Charcuterie: Pâtés, Terrines, Savory Pies: Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts is available from all good book shops online and in the high street.

Find example recipes from the book below

Scallop and vegetable hot air balloons with Champagne sauce

Braised ham

Spicy pork burger

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If you were to ask who the most famous, highly paid artist of the 19^th century was in France, the names Ingres, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne and Van Gogh would most likely be cited by most people. And they’d all be wrong. It was a female animal portraitist, Rosa Bonheur who held the no. 1 position. However, she fell into complete oblivion in the 20^th century. Christina Mackenzie explores Rosa Bonheur’s extraordinary story – and how her art is being found by a new audience.

Artist Rosa Bonheur

Rosa Bonheur’s resuscitation as an artist over the past five years is entirely due to Katherine Brault and her family, who have single-handedly put the forgotten painter firmly back in the limelight. They didn’t set out to do so, but Brault, who had not heard of the artist previously, stumbled across Bonheur’s former home, the Château de By, whilst house-hunting in the Seine-et-Marne department. Returning Bonheur to her deserved place amongst the 19^th century’s greatest artists has become her life’s work.

The Château de By sits upstream from Paris atop the banks of the river Seine in the small town of Thomery. Thanks to Brault and her daughters, the château is now not only the Brault family home and the Rosa Bonheur museum, but also a very nice tea-room and guesthouse.

Brault, nominated as one of the 100 Women of Culture 2022, is a native of Fontainebleau, some seven kilometres west of Thomery. In 2014, after working in communications, gastronomy, and coaching visual artists, Brault decided to return to her hometown in the wake of a divorce and establish “a cosy, multi-functional guest-house in a large 18th century house.” No such house was on the market, so an estate agent suggested she encompass the 19^th century and visit the Château de By which had been on the market with all its contents for 10 years.

“It was way too expensive for me: €3.5 million! My budget was €1.5 million,” Brault laughs. But the estate agent told her the sale price was “widely negotiable” and then left her alone to wander around the property for three hours. Despite the dust and cobwebs she fell in love with it. In the artist’s studio, she recalls finding herself “in front of the large portrait of Rosa Bonheur and having the impression she was laughing at me, as if to say ‘Ha! Here you are at last!’”

The studio was almost exactly as it was in 1899 when Bonheur died. The château’s two owners, brothers, only came for a few weekends and holidays to undertake repairs and do a bit of maintenance. The house had cost them their marriages and vast sums of money. They were so delighted that Brault was interested that they reduced the price by €1 million!

Brault struggled for three years seeking subsidies, bank loans and partners for the rest of the money. Eventually she was able to buy everything except the items exhibited in the house. She paid rent for them to the two brothers for three years until an arrangement was reached with the Seine-et-Marne department who bought them for €400,000.

Rosa Bonheur Museum

The museum opened on June 1, 2018.

Brault’s hard work and tenacity resulted in her wining funding from the Loto du Patrimoine, a project managed by French journalist Stéphane Bern. On 20 Sept. 2019, President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte (wearing trousers in honour of Bonheur’s special dispensation necessary in the 19^th century to allow her to wear them in public instead of a dress!), accompanied by Bern, came to the château with a cheque for €500,000. The award enabled Brault to repair parts of the roof, the facade of Bonheur’s studio, various beams, the dovecote on the roof and the winter garden whose structure was designed by none other than Gustave Eiffel!

Meanwhile the attics full of notebooks, sketches, animal skins and spiders are slowly revealing their secrets. Amongst the most significant was a large canvas rolled up in the dust which turned out to be the first version of Bonheur’s most famous work “The Horse Fair”. The very large painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York while a smaller version is held by the National Gallery in London.

Marie-Rosalie Bonheur was born on 16 March 1822, in Bordeaux to Sophie Dublan de Lahet (known as Marquis) and Raymond Bonheur, an artist. The eldest and most talented of four siblings who all became artists (Auguste and Juliette, painters, and Isidore, a sculptor), she was taught by her father. But when she was 10, he joined the Saint-Simoniens movement (a sort of utopian socialism, a movement which influenced Karl Marx), leaving his family penniless. Sophie died of exhaustion in 1833 aged just 36. She was buried in the paupers’ grave in Montmartre cemetery. Her death had a considerable influence on the life of her daughter, whom she affectionately called Rosa.

Bonheur was convinced animals have a soul. She studied animal anatomy by attending cattle fairs and visiting slaughterhouses. But her presence amongst cattle drovers and butchers led to much ribaldry and vulgarity so she asked for a special permit to wear trousers. The French law forbidding women from wearing trousers was only lifted in 2013, even if nobody had abided by it for years! Brault has not found “a single pair of trousers” amongst Bonheur’s things in the Château, but has found countless dresses and skirts.

Chateau de By

Bonheur was able to live very comfortably from her earnings as an artist. She bought the Château de By, which borders Fontainebleau forest, with the proceeds from just one sale: 40,000 francs (€80,000) for “The Horse Fair” which sold again during her lifetime for 208,000 francs the equivalent today of €416,000!

Bonheur turned the Chateau into quite the zoo, keeping a wide range of animals from sheep and eagles to a couple of lions and a parrot. When the animals died, Bonheur had them stuffed and mounted so they stayed with her on the walls from where they still glassily stare down at visitors!

Another of Bonheur’s precious possessions still in the Château is an outfit gifted to her by Buffalo Bill who spent six months in Paris in 1889 with his Wild West show at the World Fair. Bonheur wanted to meet him so he could tell her how to train the two Mustang horses she’d been given by a wealthy American, and to introduce her to his bisons. She spoke no English, so an interpreter was found – Anna Klumpke, a 33-year-old American portraitist who lived in Paris. Following their meeting, the two women kept in touch and in 1898 at the age of 76, Bonheur agreed to let Klumpke paint her portrait. Klumpke temporarily moved to the château to work on the portrait and ended up also writing Bonheur’s memoirs.

Bonheur died May 25, 1899. Klumpke inherited everything and left Bonheur’s studio as it was. Even the cigarette butts are still there!

The Brault family are restoring the Château de By in such a way that were Rosa Bonheur to return she would find her paints, paintbrushes, and apron almost exactly where she left them 124 years ago.

You can book a guided tour of the Museum Rosa Bonheur at: www.chateau-rosa-bonheur.fr

Christina McKenzie is a Franco-British journalist who writes in both English and French. Married to a Frenchman, she settled 30 years ago near Fontainebleau.

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All rights reserved. This article may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translated) or redistributed without written permission.

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