When JOSEPHINE MANNION's children grew up she decided it was time to find something to do. Five years later she has fallen in love with France
I RECENTLY GAVE up my job as a chartered physiotherapist and lecturer for more sedentary part-time work. I am extremely happy about that, because I have many interests, travel, French and painting among them.
In or around 2004 my children were beginning to be established in their own lives. I realised I had better develop my own interests or end up at home alone, twiddling my thumbs. So with the help of the Alliance Française and Learnfrenchbypodcast.com I started to polish up my very rusty school French. I have spent a month, toute seule, in France every year for the past five years.
In 2004 I headed off to Lyons for four weeks to do a course in French language and culture at the Catholic University of Lyons (www.univ-catholyon.fr).
I found a room with a divorced lady the same age, a couturier who gave sewing classes to make ends meet. We hit it off from the word go and found a nice way of living together at €120 a week.
The university had a full programme of cultural activities – wine tasting, theatre, trips, historical walking tours – so there was never a dull moment. On the first morning I did a written and oral test, so I could be assigned to a class. I felt a great sense of freedom – and I felt bien dans ma peau, or comfortable in my own skin.
Lyons, which is France’s second-largest city, is built at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. The old area of the city is a Unesco World Heritage site. I lived where the rivers meet, right next to the old city, which is steeped in history, with its narrow secret passages, or traboules, used by the Resistance.
This beautiful, vibrant city used to be the silk capital of the world; now it is the culinary capital of France. There were small parks in abundance to sit and read in, and the architecture was superb.
I was spending a month in a wonderful city, studying a language I love with ready-made company and a full agenda. There was neither time nor excuse to be lonely. From now on there would be no stopping me.
The following year I chose Montpellier – the Paris of the south, in that it has all the capital has but on a smaller scale. It boasts of the world’s oldest medical school, dating from the 12th century; Nostradamus studied there. It is a city with a wonderful mix of cultures, where Christians and Muslims live side by side in harmony.
We had French classes in the mornings. By now I was deemed to be at intermediate level. I made friends with a group of young American women, a Turkish man and an Italian writer. We often met in the afternoon in the jardin des plantes, to read to each other in French, or in the evening for dinner – or just a glass of wine, to chat and watch the world go by while soaking up the sun and the atmosphere.
I saw world-famous dance companies perform during Montpellier’s dance festival. Its festival of music was also amazing, with musicians on every corner and in every nook and cranny, from classical guitarists and African drummers to jazz and rock bands, not to mention the classical concerts. Who could ask for more? A whole month of freedom, delighting in everything on offer: food, wine, culture, language and education in its all-encompassing sense.
Then, in 2006, I lost my heart to Aix-en-Provence, where I have returned for the past three years. When I chose Aix my French had improved considerably. I decided to hang out with locals as far as possible, to develop my colloquial French. I found an atelier libre – a free workshop for painters. Basically, I paid €100 for the month and painted alongside French artists, with everything supplied, from brushes to easels. This was a great way of making contact with local people.
Aix is such a pleasant, relaxing place to be. It has a good mix of young and old, as it is a university town and has a lovely mix of ethnic cultures, being so close to Marseilles. The Romans, Greeks, Celtic-Ligurians and Teutons have all left their marks. It was the Romans who embellished Aix with monuments and its 40 fountains. They came for the restorative effects of the water. Its spa, Thermes Sextius, is very popular to this day.
My first year in Aix I shared an apartment in a beautiful building with a lady whose husband had just left her for a younger woman – who, she informed me, was illiterate and wore no underwear. This was all great for my vocabulary, as she couldn’t speak a word of English. I did my best to bring her out of herself, but to no avail. I now know all the vocabulary required for getting a divorce in France, however, and I have a great repertoire of abusive phrases for dealing with an unfaithful husband with an illiterate lover.
When I am in France I try to live la vie quotidienne like a French person. I speak French and read French newspapers and novels. I go to the market in the mornings – and what a pleasure that is, to buy sun-soaked fruit and vegetables. I love having bowls of apricots, cherries, melons, tomatoes and lavender, freshly picked, around the place. I stroll. I sit. I do a language exchange three days a week. I read by a fountain or in a leafy park. I paint. I party. I take a coffee on Cours Mirabeau, in the dappled shade of the planes, to watch the locals – the beautiful young people, the elegant older women, perfectly turned out.
Last year I translated the menu of my favourite restaurant into English. The proprietor rewarded me with free meals and wine until I said “Enough is enough, merci.”
I get up very early some mornings and take a bus trip. There are so many wonderful towns to explore, such as Lourmarin, where Albert Camus is buried, Apt, which has a wonderful market, Roussillon and Saignon, to name but a few.
One can take a day trip to the seaside town of Cassis and walk along the cliffs, explore the calanques – inlets with the clearest water – by boat. I usually take public transport, but I was taken to Cassis by friends; we finished off our glorious day with a meal on the balcony of one of the many seafood restaurants as the sun gently set, lighting up the deep-ochre cliffs. What a treat.
This summer I will stay in an 18th-century bastide, or farmhouse. It is a 20-minute walk to the centre of Aix, but who is complaining at €400 for five weeks? I will rent a bike and walk. My art classes are already arranged, so I plan to have a nice mix of exploring the region, painting, socialising, walking on Mont St Victoire and reading.
Little by little my family are joining me for a weekend here and there, and Irish friends are coming for a week at a time. They know I’m on to a good thing.
** The Alliance Française (01-6761732, www.alliance- francaise.ie) offers a free booklet on summer courses. Local tourism offices can arrange accommodation
Go there
Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus. com) flies to Lyons and Marseilles from Dublin. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to Marseilles-Provence from Dublin.