15.13 - Beyond the Obvious: Château Gardens in January & Authentic Toulouse Discoveries
In this FREE le Bulletin we'll immerse ourselves in winter's gentle awakening in a French château garden and finding Toulouse's true character off-center.
It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today! Bienvenue !
In this newsletter, you’ll: - Meet a new MyFrenchLife Magazine contributor and learn about how her life changed on a whim. She and her family now live in France and are still undertaking a massive renovation project. - Head to Toulouse Wine Bars, Patisseries, Markets, and More - AND there are Two French Film Reviews to enjoy.
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Thank you to all the talented Contributors to MyFrenchLife magazine. I love that your articles take us from one end of France to another and constantly remind us of the rich culture of this wonderful and diverse country. Merci. Judy.
Introducing New MyFrenchLife Magazine Contributor Rebecca Jones
Rebecca introduced herself as follows:
In 2017, almost on a whim, my husband and I sold everything we owned and left England to throw in our lot with a crumbling petit château in France. Now I spend my days hosting, cooking, gardening, and renovating and then writing all about it on my substack: Between.
As a Contributor to MyFrenchLife Magazine Rebecca will be taking us through her gardening year, a gardening journal if you will, an opportunity to appreciate nature and the little things in life, so take notes, I will be!
You can read more about Rebecca’s life here, including when she and her husband Tim appeared on the Escape to the Chateau TV program (series 2), following their renovation efforts.
And here is more about how it all happened:
The trigger for the life-change was Rebecca watching a re-rerun of the first series of Escape to the Château on TV. “I started searching online” explains Rebecca “and realised we could swap our four-bed Victorian Lincolnshire townhouse with its postage-stamp garden for a 14-bedroom château with 15 acres of park and woodland.”
She’d always explored online properties for sale as a hobby, and she sent a link to Tim of a château that looked perfect. She didn’t think he’d take it seriously, but unbeknownst to her, he asked an estate agent for more information. In the Easter holidays in 2017 they went to have a look and it was literally love at first sight.
Love at first viewing
“It looked a lot more tired and run down than it had in the estate agent’s pictures” Rebecca admits. “And the rooms just kept coming, one after the other leaving us feeling very overwhelmed. But it had such great bones, beautiful windows, original shutters and panelling, tiled floors and a garden full of stunning trees. There was so much potential that we couldn’t walk away.”
They didn’t even bother looking at another château, and by September they’d sold everything and moved…” said Rebecca.
“The garden is quiet in January, not still, but quiet. There’s a sense of impatient waiting, a drumming of fingers, an expectant sigh as we all wait for the light to return.“
Nothing happens quickly, things inch their way forward; the slow push upwards of the daffodils, a sliver more poking through the soil each week, the careful and tentative raising of the snowdrop flowers, which shyly open, peering out at us from their delicately dipped heads, the hellebores, and anemones beginning to shoot, but really biding their time until February...” writes Rebecca Jones in her notebook on nature and the garden - January 2025.
“After 10 glorious days in Bordeaux, we took the train to Toulouse in early December 2023.
Our immediate impression was that the city lacked the charm of Bordeaux and was geared very much toward its large student population. We learned that there is even a friendly rivalry between Bordeaux and Toulouse—and when we mentioned that we had just come from Bordeaux, the typical response was, “oh, they are stuck up there.” We didn’t find that to be the case at all but there you have it.
Located in the heart of the South-West, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Toulouse, also known as the “La Ville Rose” or the Pink City is the fourth largest in France. And frankly, it was too big for us. Even though it was December, the cafes and bars were teaming with young people huddled under heat lamps, smoking, drinking, and laughing.
There was a packed Christmas market in the Place du Capitole, which we tried to avoid as much as possible because Jason and I don’t like crowds and noise. In fact, even though people will tell you to go there, we much preferred exploring the smaller adjacent neighborhoods and going away from the “hyper centre…” writes Sacha Cohen.
Seeing French films on the big screen is such a treat! While SBS is a truly wonderful treasure trove, these films are best viewed not only in cinemas, but even better during a film festival with like-minded people. We laugh together, we gasp together - it’s great listening to what people have to say when the film’s over.
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’ newsletter” Judy MacMahon
Chers amis (dear friends)
As I read about Rebecca's January garden with its "slow push upwards of the daffodils," I found myself nodding in recognition.
N'est-ce pas merveilleux (Isn't it wonderful) how the French countryside teaches us to appreciate these subtle transitions? I've experienced similar joy venturing beyond crowded spots like Toulouse's Place du Capitole into what Sacha calls the "smaller adjacent neighborhoods." These quieter corners often reveal France's true character.
Have you discovered your own off-the-beaten-path treasures in France? Je suis curieuse de savoir (I'm curious to know)! Avec affection (With affection),
Judy
I hope to see you here again next week Judy MacMahon Fondatrice MyFrenchLife.org You can email me at any time: judy@myfrenchlife.org. I’d love to hear from you.
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ah Toulouse - the city where I discovered France as a student in the 1970s-1980s. After a challenging 1st year in "prépa véto" adjusting to life in a different country from my home in Greece, I ended up really enjoying my life there and stayed in Toulouse for 10 years. it's still one of my very favorite cities. 😊❤️ (and yes SO much better than Bordeaux! but of course I'm biased 😉)
Rebecca will be a wonderful contributor and she has such an amazing story!
Sacha, it was fun to read your first impressions of Toulouse. My husband did his studies there and knows it like the back of his hand. It has been our go-to big city for so long that I never feel really overwhelmed there, but I can see how one could.
ah Toulouse - the city where I discovered France as a student in the 1970s-1980s. After a challenging 1st year in "prépa véto" adjusting to life in a different country from my home in Greece, I ended up really enjoying my life there and stayed in Toulouse for 10 years. it's still one of my very favorite cities. 😊❤️ (and yes SO much better than Bordeaux! but of course I'm biased 😉)
Rebecca will be a wonderful contributor and she has such an amazing story!
Sacha, it was fun to read your first impressions of Toulouse. My husband did his studies there and knows it like the back of his hand. It has been our go-to big city for so long that I never feel really overwhelmed there, but I can see how one could.