Dear Friends of French Affaires
Elizabeth had a massive collection of French books of all genre, including cookbooks, language related textbooks, novels, classical literature and more. I gave a large portion of these to the University of South Carolina in Beaufort, which still has a French offering for undergraduates.
The local classical school, Holy Trinity, affiliated with St Helena’s Beaufort, is doing a remarkable job of educating students in the manner of these fine institutions in the US. I donated another block of her books to their library. Students who had done as much as 6 years of Latin and more were given the opportunity in their Senior year, to choose a language. They chose French!
As a graduation prize, French Affaires was asked to put together a trip to France. I chose Beaune, and the month of May, as it has so many fine excursions. Also, we now have a language immersion offering in Beaune, under the leadership of Virginie Rouxel. As well as contact with a French Affaires favorite, Adeline Borra’s cooking school Terroirs by Adeline. I have now been to Beaune on many occasions with French Affaires, and Elizabeth and I loved it as a close by “date weekend” when we lived in Courances. Safe, walkable, bustling, wine trade, good restaurants, close to Dijon, the famous Moutarderie of Fallot, with lovely day trips in the rolling Burgundy countryside.
And Virginie put together some fun adventures with her students learning English in Beaune, and our American students learning French. What a nice way to celebrate graduation 2024 and put recently honed language skills to work.
Those of you who have travelled with French Affaires to this area know its riches. Fontenay Abbey, a UNESCO heritage site, is one of the first Cistercian Abbeys, founded by Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century. When he died, there were over half of the 333 Cistercian abbeys in Europe traced back to him and his labors. On this trip we visited Fontenay and added a stop to the abbey that gives its name to the order, in Citeaux. We went to mass on Sunday and had a tour after lunch. You’ll need to come to appreciate first-hand this experience.
The Chateau at Chateauneuf-en-Auxois has undergone a beautiful renovation, and we enjoyed our time there perched high above the countryside. The trip included a cooking school day, following the market morning, a visit to the famous Fallot mustard factory (the original ‘Dijon’ type mustard is in Beaune), a trip to Dijon to be guided by Maud Hacker, lots of good fun and good food. It was one of the most pleasurable trips I have led. I was amazed at the cooperative spirit, curiosity, patience, intelligence, and just good company of these graduates and their parents and friends. Our rental house was superb. Everyone took a turn with the various chores and responsibilities. I’m ready to go again!
No trip to France is complete without some days in Paris, so we went by hired transport from Beaune up the A6. I left the group to enjoy the riches of Paris, including a tour provided by “Paris and Beyond” and our friends Ferit and Josephine. I will be loading fun photos at French_ Affaires Instagram.
Upcoming trips include
- Two-week language immersion and “live like a local” in Aix-en-Provence
- Cote d’Azur: Eze, Nice, Cannes, Antibes
- Paris Fashion Trip with Maud Hacker
In days to come I will post the Newsletter describing events in 2025. I have run French Affaires for three years now and will have completed fifteen-trips and five research excursions.
I will be presenting “Chateaux, Country, Culture” as an offering in the new year, based at the Chateau of Courances and taking advantage of the many sites in the area. So many French Affaires alumni and friends visited us at the Presbytere in Courances. I think a reunion and revisit is overdue!
Stay tuned.
Bel été,
Cordialement, Chris