Summer 2019

When we creaked open Bellevue’s walnut door – officially launching French Lessons’ 2019 summer season – the house alarm worked.  So did the internet, the air-conditioning, and the lights.  What possibly could go wrong with this year’s homecoming to the sunny Côte d’Azur?

When French Lessons returned to France this summer, we didn’t know what to expect.  Could the gilets jaunes – the famous demonstrators-turned-vandals – block our taxi on the way to Bellevue?  Had the rebellion ripped the heart from our beloved Antibes?  The answer depends on who you ask.

France is known for its fêtes, which pay homage to everything from jazz to the simple chestnut, but one festival is simply out of this world.  Join French Lessons at the biennial Nuit Coupoles Ouverts, the Night of Open Domes, when the Riviera’s research telescopes welcome public eyes.

. . . or shall we call this post “Fugue to the Figue”?  When we planted Bellevue’s figuier 13 years ago, we’d unwittingly reconnected our home with its past.  This year’s stupendous crop of figs yields its traditional, French delights – and new heartbreak.

It’s called Geoffrey’s of London, but the British commissary of the Côte d’Azur, based here in Antibes, is more than a place to stock up on impossible-to-find essentials and favourite foods.  Is the shop also a reflection of our true selves?

As Antibes marks its 75^thanniversary of Libération from occupying forces during World War II, French Lessons shares details we have gleaned over the years from websites, books, and the local archives.  We bring you into the streets on this pivotal day:  August 24, 1944.

As French Lessons wishes readers au revoir until Summer 2020, we share a few stories from this past season that didn’t make our feed.  Gossip, blackout, and glut: Did the springtime omen of nesting doves on Bellevue’s rooftop bring the sort of luck we needed?