France Interview (Week 2)

Q:  Hi Pierre.  Thanks so much for agreeing to do this France interview.  I’m sure our readers will be fascinated to learn about your home country France.  First of all, can you tell me what city or town you grew up in, and a bit about your life growing up there?

A:  I grew up in Hendaye, which is a village on the border of Spain, situated in French Basque country.  My village has a spectacular beach on the Atlantic Ocean.  My life was very peaceful.  I rode my bicycle everywhere, played soccer everyday, and since it was a small village, everyone knew everyone.  (The featured photo is a port in Hendaye)

Pierre with family in France (Pierre is in the light blue in the center)

Q:  What is your favorite food in your home country?

A:  For breakfast, I really like croissants and pain aux chocolats (chocolate pastry).  For dinner, pate (a paste of puréed meat) and salchichon (a cured, hard sausage that is a little bit like traditional hard salami) are very good.  Of course, duck with mushrooms is my favorite dish.  It is the thigh of the duck pan fried with salted mushrooms.

Pain Aux Chocolat Photo courtesy of: Luc Viatour (www.Lucnix.be) on Wikimedia Commons

Q:  Could you describe your country’s flag?  Tell me a bit about the colors and design and why they were chosen?

A:  It is blue, white and red.  The flag was raised during the French Revolution on July 14, 1789 when the people came out to the streets to overthrow the monarchy.

The French Flag

Q:  What language is/are spoken in France?  Can you tell us the words for “Hello, how are you?” in that language?

A:  French.  Bonjour, comment allez-vous?  Listen to this youtube video to listen to the word Bonjour and this video to listen to the phrase comment allez-vous.

Q:  What are some popular places to visit in France?  And where do you recommend our readers visit if they were to win a dream vacation to France?

A:  The most popular place is Paris.  It is probably the most beautiful city in the world.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris Photo courtesy of: Benh LIEU SONG Wikimedia Commons

But France has a lot of places to visit:  Les Chateaux de la Loire, the Côte d’Azur (The French Riviera), Normandy and The Basque Country.

The Lighthouse of Nice on The French Riviera
Photo courtesy of: Myrabella on Wikimedia Commons

Thanks so much Pierre for sharing all of this wonderful information with us about France.  I wish I could hop on a plane right now and see all of these sights in person!  I wouldn’t mind taste testing some pain aux chocolat either.

While I was researching, I discovered that Trader Joe’s, a grocery store in the  U.S. , sells pain aux chocolat in their freezer section.  They are made by Chef Jean-Yves Charon from Galaxy Bakery.  Apparently, in 2011 TJ fans voted this as one of the top 10 products in the store.  You better believe, I’ll be visiting Trader Joe’s very soon!  I may even have to eat one of these while watching the women’s French Open final.  (Have I ever mentioned that I’m a big tennis fan?)