Christine's books whisked me away to another time, but still to my favourite place...France xx
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles episode 41
Guest: Christine Betts
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This was such a beautifully honest and raw chat that it took me some time to come back to edit and then share it with everyone. I felt an instant warm connection to Christine Betts.
I have loved following Christine on social media for some time. Her posts connect me to Paris in a variety of ways. She is an author who has written a number of books set in Paris and has a particular style of writing that I find fascinating, the meshing of historical fact and fiction sometimes with a bit of time travel mixed in.
Christine mentioned that her stories always have an old building/chateau/maison in the centre of the narrative. I have always felt that historical buildings have “talked” to me. I thought I was alone with this! Every time I’m in France I imagine who has been there before me and feel a lovely connection to the past.
I was amazed that Christine started to write when she was only 10, penning her first book at that time. She mentioned in one post I read that she wrote about a friend who had passed to ease the grief, so the loss wouldn’t be so complete. As a reader I was quite affected by this one comment bringing me to tears. What a wonderful gift to help readers to find a new perspective with grief…
In this episode Christine chats about the period of time she could travel to if she could move through a portal like her characters did. She also talks about who from that time she would invite to dinner… it would be the women. Christine and I agree they would be so much more fascinating than the men!
Livres
Find all Christine’s books and details on her website here.
Musique
Nouvelle Vague, La Pluie et Le Beau Temps – a collaboration and chanson en Français avec Estrella Damm recorded earlier this year in Spain.
Nouvelle Vague are a French band mostly performing amazing covers of songs from bands of the iconic New Wave style music in English. They have covered The Ramones, The Cure, Blur, Duran Duran and the list goes on. The covers also feature their moody bossa nova flavour and are fabulous, but the song in this episode is a chanson au Français which I love.
Christine also recommends spotify playlists:
Recette
Christine reminded me of a practice that many people started in the COVID lockdowns of 2020. Bread making!
There are many varieties of French breads to choose from especially if including all those from the regional areas. They are all a wonderful accompaniment to any dish from a summer salad to a hearty winter soup.
Find a number of recipes here.
