A House in Languedoc

I realize it's not exactly original to be a disappointed, middle-aged lady longing to go to France. Things are cliché because they are commonplace. But if you start on that slope, having a baby or falling in love or burying a parent are also cliché, experiences most women find to be heartbreakingly, uniquely personal. I'll dispense with the apologia for now with a confession: I actually have a house waiting for me in Languedoc.

Here it is, or at least here is its terrace. My best friend's husband, L., has just purchased it as a lieu de refuge (another thing I get to do is pepper my posts with pretentious bons mots). He's a bit of a refuge specialist and a wonderful wood sculptor. She's a professor with a fantastically 19th century European pedigree: countess-like mere who was the toast of Paris in the 30s; Nazi-resisting German intellectual father; a transcontinental childhood that included stints in a convent school in Rome. More on them anon.

Their house is in a small village outside Bézier, an old Roman city along the Orb River which is just outside Montpelier, about 6 miles from the Mediterranean, and a 1.5 hour drive west of Aix-en-Provence. A quick search just turned up this fascinating fact: Miss France 2006 was née à Bézier -- I will upload her glam shot in a separate post of Fun Things to Know About Bezier.

I can't say that my friends' village sounds like a thrilling spot ... no dimly-lit cafés, fountain-laced gardens, or beauty queens ... apparently just a sports bar down the road and winding streets full of stone houses. But I like the price and plan to earn my keep by helping them tame their terrace (right now, a heap of tangled cinderblocks) and by assuming the role of chef d'hotel. My professor-friend, G., assures me that Bézier is only a 10-minute bicycle ride away and has all sorts of Frenchie delights. They also have several language schools there and a university. I'm thinking of taking a 2-week conversational French course during the mornings at Centre Hobson. In an email, the center's manager Jaqueline assures me "We put a stress on everyday conversation, what w e call the strategies of the conversation : what to say or to do in such or such situation !" If only I had met Jaqueline earlier, my whole life might have been different ...