Perspectives: a celebration of France — from a dedicated Francophile

Perspectives is a dedicated Francophile’s perspective on all things French from an expat Aussie living in France. Ray Johnstone has been a Contributor to MyFrenchLife.org for such a long time—here we celebrate Ray’s commitment, and thank him for sharing his perspective of France with us all.

The MyFrenchLife Community says “Thank you! ”

Merci mille fois Ray !

Here we present Ray’s perspective which is certainly beyond the clichés, where he views the fascinating and often never-before-heard-of angles helping the reader gain a deeper understanding of the … REAL France.

‘Perspectives‘ shares refreshing and sometimes shocking views of places, people, history, culture, gastronomy, and much, much more —you’ll never be underwhelmed. Here you have access to 84 articles to date, since July 2016!

Let’s enjoy this substantial body of work and we celebrate France but also dedication and generosity! Almost 5 years of writing and sharing!! This is but a taste… but there is a link at the base of this article to take you all the way back to 2016 if you’re ready to BINGE.
Amusez-vous !

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Secrets of the Vercors — Escapades

A stunningly attractive regional park just to the west of Grenoble. A vast, high plateau of deep ravines, craggy cliffs, and dark forests. Many of the villages are perched on rocky outcrops with amazing views.

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Arts + Culture
When Paris went bananas—Part 2

Josephine Baker – Back in France, everything changed when World War II broke out in 1939.

When Paris went bananas—Part 1

Josephine Baker at only 19 sailed to Paris on a new venture and opened in ‘La Revue Nègre’ at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

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Reportage + Société – A Tale of 3 Pandemics

Looking for the light at the end of the tunnel…

a tale of 3 Pandemics

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Reportage + Société – A Brexit Roundup

Even in Shakespeare’s day, the English Channel was considered a moat,
protecting England

“Against the envy of less happier lands”.

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Reportage + Société
– Escoffier and Melba:
Chef of Kings meets Queen of Divas

15 years & 16,000+km apart, two stars were born.

Chef of Kings and Queen of Divas.

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Vie Française
– Charles de Gaulle:
Part 3 – le Chant du Cygne

Paris in May 1968 exploded!

Then, almost a revolution/ civil war…

11 million French workers went on strike.

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Vie Française
– Charles de Gaulle:
Part 2 – The Post War Maze

Restoring France

to what he saw as its former glory

became an obsession.

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Vie Française
– Charles de Gaulle:
Part 1 – Fractious allies

When Churchill and de Gaulle

agreed they were like starry-eyed lovers.

When they were not, it was daggers drawn.

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Reportage + Société
– Tour de France:
Bums bare but masks on

Tour de France, Cap d’Adge and nudists impacted by COVID-19

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Looking for more Perspectives?

From here you can Binge further on another 74 of ‘Ray’s Perspective’ articles

And here you can read my interview with Ray — An interview with Ray Johnstone ‘From Australia to Gascony: living in Paradise.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the time, skill, support, and patience from Lynne in this endeavour!

I would like to make sure that you are aware that Ray and Lynne offer numerous and diverse experiences from Gascony.  
– Art holidays for groups & families are catered for in their 
800-year-old house La Petite Galerie in Gascony.
– And Ray and Lynne take up to 6 walkers on the ‘best bits’ of the Pilgrims Route to Compostela.
– Ray also sells portraits and accepts portrait commissions online — you can see his paintings here


Once again – Thank you Ray and Lynne – from us all!

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