A French Journey avec Nathalie in the Pays-Basque. A life changing experience!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles episode 32
Guest: Nathalie Foos
Other Loulabelles links:
Loulabelles FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelles FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelles FrancoFiles Facebook
Nathalie Foos has encouraged my love of France for the last decade or so at her French immersion school “A French Journey”.
Nathalie was born in Marseille in the south of France, and spent some of her childhood in Saumur in the Loire Valley as well.
I loved chatting with Nathalie about her memories of France, about taking her own children back there to live for a time and also reminiscing about our own travels together there.
Nathalie spoke about the villages she adores, what a perfect day would look like for her in France and her favourite memories. Her description of the stages of a French lunch is lovely, enabling me to picture it so clearly I felt I was there momentarily.
Nathalie runs a French language school which is more like a family really! Many francophiles who have met at A French Journey have travelled through France together. When home in Melbourne we have French movie nights, special nights with French speakers and products to highlight like French wines or foods.
During Covid we changed our lessons to be online which enabled Nathalie to share some wonderful insights into French places in a different way, which just made my heart sing. My darling Dad and I started to do lessons online together with Nathalie too during COVID. It was a terrific way to keep connected to Papa during the tough lockdown. I recall a lesson recently with mon père et Nathalie, where we talked about Mont St Michel which is Papa’s favourite place and then he and I did an LFF podcast about it too in episode 29!
Recette
Nathalie’s fave is something I have never had before but am now desperate to try!
Profiteroles au Chocolat – choux pastry profiteroles filled with ice cream and hot chocolate sauce on top!
Musique
Trois Cafés Gourmands – A Nos Souvenirs
That is one of ma belle amie Nathalie’s faves as it reminds her of her childhood and happy times in little French villages. The film clip is wonderfully sweet and depicts this memory of Nathalie’s beautifully.
This band is originally from central france but they have a very Mediterranean sound. Sometimes I forget that france is so close to all these other amazing cultures too. In one of their other songs Ainsi Va La Vie, Spanish and even Greek influences shine through. If you’re missing travel in rural france, I highly recommend the film clip for that song as it shows the band members packing up and leaving the city for the simple and beautiful rural French life, with amazing scenery, gorgeous village life, old buildings and rivers with their stunning ponts ancienne.
