What photo takes you right back to France?

Us with wine, cheese and meat at the Salon Vins et Terroirs (wine fair) in Toulouse. Heaven! (Photo credit: Thomas :o)

Summarise France in three words.

• Friendly – We’ll fondly remember our time in France for the amazing hospitality of our friends, but also for the general kindness of everyone we met.
• Food – Maxime’s father Serge summarised this nicely.. he said the French think food is very important and will often start a few days before to prepare a special meal for family or friends which would last 4, 6 or even 8 hours. We enjoyed some lovely home cooked food with great wine and delicious conversation about travels, politics, and families. Merci!
• Wine – It seems, to us at least, that every French household has a cave of wine stashed away somewhere! They will often buy young wines and keep them for up to 10 or 15 years, until they’re deemed to be at their best.

You really know you’re in France when…

.. there’s at least one person in the street carrying a baguette. Yes, it’s a cliché, but deservedly so – the country runs on beautiful, crispy, fresh bread!

What one item should you definitely pack when going to France?

Your childhood French. We were only in France for a couple of weeks but were surprised how much of the French we learnt at school started coming back to us. I’m not saying we were fluent by any stretch and we couldn’t compete with the English skills and vocabulary of our friends, but by the end we could hold a basic conversation without embarrassing ourselves.