Suèvres - Val du LoireIn this section you will find: Why?Melanie, Sheri and I were looking for an alternative to Helen and Ian Gale's lovely place "Les Sapins" in the Auvergne, which we had thoroughly enjoyed in May 2001, but was more holiday than study. I remembered Danielle Drinkwater mentioning Immersion France when I was on the OU's French course LXR122 (a residential week at Caen University) and while Sheri and Mel are both doing 'A' and 'AS' levels in French, I am doing a diploma with the Open University so the attraction of tutors at summer school who were also OU tutors was very enticing! Where?Nick and Jane McAdoo's house in Suèvres in the Val du Loire is the base from which Immersion France operates, and the venue for the working lunches - provided by the excellent Madame Garnier and eaten every day under the pergola in the McAdoo's very pretty garden. The size of the business is limited to the number of families who can accommodate the students so there's no danger of the classes, or the lunch table becoming too crowded, as the village is very small! How?We travelled by Eurostar to Paris and then crossed town to the Gare d'Austerlitz. At Mer we were met by Jane and Penny, one of the tutors, who drove us the short distance to Suèvres. We purchased our tickets 60 days in advance and paid about £97 from London's Waterloo to Mer and back, plus the cost of the cab across Paris which came to €18 each time.
AccommodationI was very fortunate to be staying at the Bertin's farm, and I was in my element with all the animals - four dogs, a ferret, goats, horses, rabbits, geese, chickens (although I wasn't too fond of the two cocks who had no idea of the time). Norma (my fellow-lodger) had warned me not to go in the sheds where Madame raised chickens and rabbits for the p*t, but I did sneak a look inside the rabbit shed and it wasn't too bad, not even for this animal activist! Madame and Monsieur Bertin made us very welcome and we had separate accommodation with our own bathroom and loo. We were left on our own for breakfast but had some marvellous dinners with our hosts, which was very good for our languages skills because the temptation to speak English was quite overwhelming at times! Madame Bertin is a very good cook and she coped brilliantly well with my pescatarian diet, and the house was absolutely spotless. A lovely place to stay. Sheri had to spend her first night in the hotel as her hostess was unfortunately taken very ill but a new lodging was found her with Giselle, my M. Bertin's sister, who lived just up the road (most places in Suèvres are "just up the road"!). Melanie had a double room with en suite bathroom at the Garniers who have a huge family with lots of coming and going. Madame Garnier is a superb cook and a lot of fun and also very good at quietly correctly mistakes so that they don't seem to stop the flow.
The PainOh yes. The lessons. We commenced promptly (or not so promptly, depending upon the amount of hospitality imbibed the previous night) at 09h00 until 12h30 with a coffee break, usually taken at the little bar in the square. We were divided between the two rooms of the former parish school, where each of the tutors would preside over the day's classes. The divisions were not particularly rigid - we were offered a choice of things to do, and we could swop rooms between sessions. There were several Language Masters listening/recording machines and lots of pronunciation tapes to choose from - and we were encouraged to make use of the class rooms "after-hours" and to do home-work (which was not too onerous - especially if done while sitting in the tranquility of the McAdoo's garden). If you had an oral coming up, then Jane would organise a practise session, or emphasis would be placed on a particular area in which the tutors felt we needed help (well - that's most areas really, in my case!). Sandra was very good at getting us into the rat-tat-tat-tat way of speaking that the French have, and sorting out our ups and downs in the intonation department, while Jane was excellent on the cultural side of French life and history, and in building our confidence. I think Françoise had a difficult job because we only had her in the evenings, by which time we were pretty tired and finding it hard to concentrate. Everyone spoke beautifully clearly which was wonderful - but we also had the chance to hear French as it is spoken by the French, and to talk to the people of the village. Being such a small place everyone knew who we were, and they all seemed happy to talk to us, or to get talked at! The PleasureA visit to the Château du Chambord was enjoyed by everyone who went - I stayed and did my homework the garden, but I did go to Blois which was lovely. It's a beautiful city and I'd love to go back and explore it more thoroughly. Some people (who shall remain nameless, such as Mel and Sheri) went with Nick to a vineyard, and although a visit to Mer to the swimming pool was proposed we didn't go in the end. The highlight of the week was the "14 juillet" village fête which was held on our first night (we went a day early especially to take part), followed by a street party in Rue St Martin. Françoise made us sing (she refused to listen to my warnings!) and good fun was had by all.
It was lovely to meet my fellow enthusiasts for the French language - the delightful Roger and Mary; Mike who is doing L120 and improved so much during the week; Helen who is now at Summer School for L221 (good luck Helen), Norma who loves Suèvres so much it was her fourth visit; the indomitable Sheila who spoke with such fluency; and Karen who forced me to speak French on the train back to Paris (thank you Karen - it was really good practice); and it was great fun being on holiday with Mel and Sheri again. Moonlit walks to find glow-worms; hand-stands in the middle of fields; parades and presentations; pony trap rides round the fields in the middle of dinner; the hospitality of the villagers; and the pleasure of being in one of the prettiest parts of France made this a very enjoyable holiday - oh yes, with the distinct advantage of really improving our French. Will I go again? Most definitely.
|
