War and Peace in a French field

I'm a member of the photography club of Droue sur Drouette, a small group of mostly men (a scattering of women at best) who are mostly retired. I joined because I've always been interested in mastering my camera in the manual mode. I also joined for some social contact which is not very frequent for me. At our fortnightly meetings I get to stretch my French competence as I try to understand photographic terms in French, all unknown to me, so it's good for my vocabulary-building.

On this occasion we went 'out into the field', literally, looking for insects. My camera is OK as Nikon reflex digital cameras go but this is one area where a much more expensive lens would have given me more impressive results. Never mind, I like getting out into nature and capturing anything interesting that I find. Some members wanted to find wild orchids. We did find some. Other members wanted to find butterflies but frankly, there weren't many. Spring has been cold and slow. Here's what I found:processionary caterpillars, 'unison' cater[illars, orchids, escargots and some bugs in various vacant plots.

Behind the Bleury cemetery I came across some bizarre caterpillars. The first set provoked stern warnings from my French colleagues not to touch them, too dangerous. Really? Those weblike cocoons were dangerous? Very, certainly fatal for curious dogs. At best they'd end up getting their tongue cut off to save their life. Dangerous for humans too. You can see them in the photos, hanging out in their hammock-like nests. At any moment a gust of wind might have split open the hammocks so I didn't linger.

For more info go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_processionary

Further on I found a different type of caterpillar but no-one knew what they were. I found my reaction to these ones very strong. I felt menaced, spooked even. They moved with a pulsing movement which was like some random heart-beat. I don't know how they knew when to be still and when to jerk. I found them unnerving. Check out these synchronised crawlers in the video I took.

Elsewhere things were more peaceful; snails, moss, butterflies. Nothing exciting but at least they weren't scarey.  The most peaceful of all were the orchids and other plants. War and peace can be found almost side by side in a French field.














 

Chantilly Estate: worth a second visit but skip the cream

Crème Chantilly, also known as whipped cream with vanilla flavouring, is tied to the town and grand estate of the Chateau de Chantilly in Picardie, somewhat north of Paris and a two-hour bus drive from Chartres. You can't see this estate in half a day and if you're with a group you'll need a full day to deal with the inevitable waiting around for a group rendez-vous. This was my second visit but this time in Spring.

We started with the ecuries or Grand Stables. (see the photo at left). Our group arrived much too early and had to wait outside. The doors don't open before 10am. Once inside there's a lot of crowding and hanging about for tickets as the passageways are cramped. Not ideal but then you walk along and look at the horses in their stalls. There are 30 horses housed there. They are involved in dressage displays and spectacular themed shows. There is also the horse museum so if you're into horses this is the place for you; history of breeding, use of horses for agriculture, transport and entertainment through the ages. There is quite a collection of carousel horses on display. 

And everywhere the smell of hay, horses and manure. Fortunately not too much of the latter. After a toilet stop we made our way past the carriage courtyard with two giant bronze horses' heads to the dessage display area, handily comprising covered seating on two sides. It's an interesting experience watching the riders explain, at such an historic site, how horses are trained.

We then walked a short distance to the chateau. It's had a bit of a tough time in the past with demolitions and destruction at the time of the Revolution but a lot was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. The Chateau is also famous for its Condé Collection of Artworks. Over the centuries it has been added to and rebuilt by various noble families such as the Montmorencys, the Bourbon-Condes, the Orleans. It is currently owned and developed as an important monument by the Institut de France. For a quick rundown on the history of Chantilly which is so closely involved in the great events and personnages of France visit http://www.domainedechantilly.com/en/accueil/history/domain-centuries/  The artworks include paintings by Van Dyk and Raphael. You can see here a painting of the Great Condé - not a handsome man but he was cousin to Louis XIV and developped his Chantilly estate to an almost Versaillesque degree. 

Key features of the chateau are the painting gallery with its rotunda, the library which contains thousands of rare books, the music room with its harp, the gallery with paintings of battles, the monkey room where the ceiling is covered in delightful painted antics of monkeys and other animals, the grand staircase with its exquisite metal detail, the gardens and parterres by famed landscape genius Le Notre. 

Another display that caught my eye was that devoted to fine china dinnersets and vases as well as cutlery and golden candlestickholders. All in perfect condition. The chateau makes the perfect complement to the stables. Quality throughout.

 

JC wanted to try the creme chantilly while he was there and so he did, but the service was extremely slow. It was also suffering from a very heavy hand with the vanilla essence. My whipped cream which is a little more interesting is better in taste but not in consistency. The cream used at Chantilly seemed to be of a better whipping quality than that available in supermarkets here which is greatly inferior to cream sold in NZ. That cream doesn't stand up for long and starts melting distressingly as soon as you stop whipping.                                                                                       To read about my previous visit in 2011 go here http://francesbigadventure.blogspot.fr/2011/02/its-really-cramping-my-opportuhnities.html

I wanted to explore the gardens, the hamlet but there was no time before we had to catch the bus back. As we left we were passed by a wedding party arriving for photos. What a fabulous place to create memoiries of that nature. But then France just oozes magnificence in its cultural heritage.

Travelling theatre - lost in the past

We all know about travelling circuses, with or without animals, but I hadn't really thought about travelling theatre, other than what used to occur during Shakespeare's time. Travelling (kitset) theatres were popular in the nineteenth century and the last didn't close in France until the late 1960s. Before TV, internet, even radio, it would have been quite an event to have the travelling theatre arrive in your town or village and set up their outdoor structure within 24 hours, complete with stage, wings, seating, ticketing. Here you can see a model of one of the last ones to close in France.


The repertoires were classic and huge. Actors had to learn a hundred plays. Sets had to be very portable. Seating for the audience had to be staggered in height. It was a very physical life and every member of the troupe pitched in. Age was no excuse.

I visited a museum about this travelling lifestyle which is located at Artenay, in the Loiret. It's small but contains many puppets, marionettes, costumes and parts of sets. There's also a little shop where I bought two finger puppets as a memento.

One of the last things I viewed was an example of a typical actor's trailer. Here you can see the exterior and interior setup. The inside has as many facilities and luxuries as you could squeeze in. Cooking can't have been easy as most of the space was taken up with the bedroom and storage. I can't imagine myself spending my life in such confinement but I suppose it's what you get used to.


Ours was a guided visit and definitely the best way to learn. The museum caters particularly for children with regular workshop activities and shows. You can explore their website at  http://musee-theatre-forain.fr/index.htm

 

Chateau de Chamerolles - Perfume Museum

On a cold and gloomy Saturday we piled into a bus and travelled south to the Chateau de Chamerolles. These days it's a perfume museum but it has had a chequered history.

It was built at the dawn of the Renaissance period by Lancelot I du Lac (yes, Lancelot of the Lake) who served under Francois I king of France (while Henry VIII was king of England). It stayed in the du Lac family until the end of the 17th century. The family were Protestants but managed to hide the fact when necessary and also their protestant artifacts. By 1987 the city of Paris ceded the chateau to the Loiret département. After five years of intense renovation the chateau opened to the public in 1992.

The guided tour is interesting for its information on the daily lives of notables during the 16th - 19th centuries. I hadn't realised that at one time it was normal for everyone to bath every day until it was outlawed by the church and the medical fraternity.

During the 16th century wooden baths were used and rooms were perfumed with aromatic plants hanging from the beams. Sheets were often put in the barrels to protect the skin from wooden splinters and/or shirts were worn for the same reason.

In the 17th century there developed a strong taste for perfumes with an almost overpowering scent. We sniffed civet, undiluted. No one wanted to keep their paper samples; it was so strong and unpleasant but in those days strong scents were needed to mask the bad odours emitted by dubious hygiene. Braziers burnt rosemary or juniper berries to clear the foul air.

Doctors had judged that washing was dangerous as it opened the pores so that illness could enter the body. Both Catholic and Protestant preachers denounced the pleasures of the bath so the 'dry' bath, consisting of rubbing parts of the body likely to be visible (very little of that in those days) with squares of linen soaked inperfume mixtures, was used. This of course only applied to the wealthy.
 

The bath returned in the 18th century and perfume  gained a more social role. Subtlety was introduced. A copper bath was used and the bath was covered in a sheet to protect the skin from the hot metal and to filter the bath water, which was often used by many people, even as a social activity rather than private. These baths were often modular and one could read and write and eat while having a bath, which might take more than two hours. It was a sign of prestige and luxury.

The perfume area was less interesting for me having already visited the Fragonard Museum in Grasse, twice. The Chamerolles perfume museum has a display of bottles and items that were routinely perfumed in former centuries, such as book covers, gloves and bags. The industrial or artisanal processes were not mentioned or explained. The display concentrates more on the design and marketing of perfume though you can see a perfume organ from the 19th century with its old bottles arranged in rows or 'notes'.

One item that was intriguing was the perfume  fountain (see left) often to be found in well-to-do stores in Paris which dispensed drops of perfume (probably eau de toilette) for shoppers to sample. Certainly the beginning of modern marketing with more elegance than we see today.

The display includes many cabinets of posh perfume bottles as well as a reconstruction of two shop windows of the time (from the Lancel shop on the Avenue de l'Opera). The atomiser was created in the 19th century (1859) for medical uses, then used in horticulture and agriculture, before being adapted by perfumers around 1870.

The 20th century section features Coty and a large collection of design drawings of bottles and labels. It's not that well lit so I had trouble reading anything. We were warned we might get attacked by fleas (very disconcerting) as the pest destructors couldn't always erradicate every one from the old timbers, but we weren't bothered at all and no one suffered any 'attack'.

There's a renaissance garden which must be splendid in summer. Unfortunately the weather was too cold to spend time outside wandering about. If you would like more information in English visit their website. They are well set up for tourists with ample parking, toilets and a well organised shop .
Castle of Chamerolles
45170 Chilleurs-aux-Bois, France

http://www.chateauchamerolles.fr/en

How to become French - Part 2. Naturalisation interview

On a fresh but sunny Thursday JC drove me the two hours to Tours for a date with destiny (one way or the other).

I had an interview, at the prefecture, for naturalisation to become a citizen of France (and Europe).
I'd been preparing for this for weeks and was feeling very stressed. Days and nights had been spent swotting the Livret du Citroyen contents. JC had tested me on possible questions but I couldn't seem to make the dates and foreign names stick in my head. I knew much more than what was in the book but it wasn't me in charge of the questions and, in fact, any random question could be asked.

I'd trawled the internet forums for what I might expect. Some said it was pretty easy and the interview lasted only 10 minutes (really?). Others were served balls from left field by being asked to write letters in French or list a lot of ex-colonies, sporting heros, singers etc. In this case you can never really be prepared.

Still, I could prove my love and participation in France and things French. I took along a copy of my book, Follow my Heart: Risking it all for a life in France. I also brought along a book on French history, in French and with a message from a friend saying it was a present in recognition of my love of France. The rest of my very heavy bag was full of books I've created over 5 years showing French culture, history, my family ties to France, and 4 books relating to my relationship with JC. The latter were never used in the interview. And I knew how I felt about things. I also switched on my Toastmasters training and Communications training because this so-important interview was in French and my competence was being yet again assessed, in a live situation rather than a 'test'.

I didn't sleep well the night before. My nerves were at such a pitch that when I arrived at Tours and got out of the car I discovered I was wearing two different pairs of boots. One for each foot. Quelle horreur! No wonder I was walking with a funny gait. One boot had a heel higher than the other. At least the boots were on the correct feet and were both black. Mortified, there was nothing I could do about it.

Official documents I had to bring included:

1. The latest list from the trésorie of my tax payments (the previous one with my demand for naturalisation was now no longer current)
2. My current carte de Sejour
3. My interview confirmation
4. My work contract
5. The last three payslips from my job.

The lady was pleasant and meticulous. There was to be no informal 10 minute chat with me. She took the entire hour covering many different areas of my life and activities. Some questions were unexpected, such as what period of history did I consider most important and why did it interest me? I plumped for the Renaissance and a little earlier. This being Tours, the chateaux of the Loire were mostly built during the Renaissance. She asked me to name them and talk about them. Sure I know heaps but under pressure, in French, one wonders just what one can say in a short time to convince someone I know stuff. Luckily I keep myself up to date on many things, such as the fact that much of Azay-le-Rideau is under scaffolding right now due to important renovations and that the hunting dogs of Cheverny are a special feature of a visit there.... And in fact there's a nice chateau near me called the Chateau de Maintenon (owned by Louis XIV's second wife) which I have visited many times.

She asked me what level of French I had arrived with. I told her I'd studied it in High School such  a long time ago so although I understood the grammar I was very weak in anything oral, but one must make an effort to improve because the language and the culture are entwined. You cannot have one without the other.

She spent some time looking at my two passports, the current one and especially the cancelled one. In France you don't get to keep your old passport. I brought the cancelled one along because it has my visa in it and also the sticker from the immigration department.
Of course, the predictable question of why I wanted to become French arrived. It's not that easy to explain the intangible but I did my best and showed her how I tried to live my dream. I also explained that I was currently very limited by what sort of work I was allowed do on my visa. I'd like more options to use more of my talents. I'd made a commitment to France - I'd like France to make one to me. She asked if I had already decided to ask for naturalisation when I arrived in France. I replied no. To begin it was simply to realise my dream and have an adventure but that quite soon it became essential for me ; mind, body, soul to become French, officially, because in my heart and soul I already felt French, well, look at my name and my ancesters. My middle name Suzette is totally French.

Explain the rights and responsibilities of a French citizen. I barely got started on that.
Discuss the concept of égalité. I thought that might be a good moment to mention that NZ was the first country to give women the right to vote. She asked me how I'd feel about having a female president. I said I wouldn't comment on Marine le Pen but females in such roles seemed completely normal to me. Life in NZ is democratic.

I had an active associative life? I explained I was a member and the translator for the Association d'Epernon Patrimone et Alentours. Being a member of community associations or groups is key in an interview such as this. I had also attended several meetings of the Business Women's Network at Chartres, including the recent visit by the international president.

I must have a lot of friends? Not a lot but the ones I have are all my age, except for the lady who had signed the present to me. I explained my job is very solitary and I wished I had more colleague contact.

And then one of the critical interview questions... How many times had I been back to NZ?
Never! She seemed taken-a-back. Never? Not ever, I said. I've brought my daughter here to see France a couple of times but she has her own life in Auckland and is getting married, and my mother has dementia so any conversation with her is difficult.

I didn't mention a planned trip had been cancelled. I didn't mention I had no money for regular trips, and anyway I don't miss NZ as much as I appreciate it; just some people and the ease of language.

It seemed to her, she said, that it was a bit pointless asking me much about history or culture. I was asked very little that was in the book. I was all ready to tell her how many communes, how many départements, quote endless authors, poets, musicians, scientists - I wasn't asked. When she'd say there was no point asking me a certain thing  (because it seemed I was pretty boned-up on that) I just gave the 'gallic shrug' and gave her some info anyway. I did explain laicité to her and that I was not religious.

The conversation felt very stilted because there was a time limit and I had no idea how many questions she would ask. I could have said more on each subject but I didn't want to sabotage myself by making a mistake. She made notes in thick red ink in the margins of her document. Unlike some accounts on the online forums, she gave me no indication at all if I would be successful. She simply stated that this stage of the process, having an interview, was now complete. My dossier would be sent to the prefecture at Chartres. I would be called up for a visit by the Gendarmerie at Chartres where I would be interviewed again. Then the dossier would be sent to Nantes and there would be a long wait; I probably wouldn't hear anything this year. I would know sometime in 2017.

It wasn't the last I heard from her. During the interview I had asked her why Marianne? Why was she, a female, the symbol of the French Republique? Was it because république and liberté are feminine nouns? She didn't know and rummaged through some papers. Then she asked me for my email address, which surprised me greatly. I said not to worry, I could probably find it on the internet, but she insisted. Three hours after the interview I found a message from her in my inbox. I was right, she said, and had copy/pasted a text confirming it. JC felt this was a postive sign that she thought I was worth making a personal effort for. Maybe he's right but the final decision isn't hers. Another stage completed. I await contact from the gendarmes.

For all of those of you interested or actually awaiting such an interview I hope this account helps. Expect to be nervous but hang in there, speak from the heart and you'll know you've done your best. And, read the Livret as a precaution.