Welcome
to ‘France et Moi’ where this week as part of the France Book Tours virtual
tour for her new release Merle, I am talking to author Angela Wren about what
France means to her. You can enter a giveaway and read my review of Merle here.
Firstly,
I think France is a special place and it is famed for many things including its
cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus, dare I say it strikes and dog
poo littered streets. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?
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| Angela Wren |
Angela: I
guess it has to be the etiquette. You walk into the boulangerie to get the
daily baguette and everyone says good morning. Does that happen in the UK? In
tiny villages in the wilds of Wales or Scotland maybe, but mostly I think not
anymore. In large cities, maybe the situation is a little different. But then,
I was in Dijon not long ago and met two very friendly French ladies who not
only helped me find a specific street that I wanted but also chatted to me
about nearby places to see and a couple of other things not to be missed that
were not on the route I’d been given by the tourist office! Those two ladies could
not have been more helpful. And then there is that very gallic shrug followed
by that ‘everything can be managed’ look when a small problem is encountered. There
is something so uniquely French, and fascinating, about the etiquette and, even
after all my time in France, I'm certain I still don't understand it all!
2)
You have now set two novels in the Cévennes in France, where did your love of
this relatively unknown area come from?
Angela: Robert
Louis Stevenson is definitely to blame for that! I first read his book ‘Travels
with a Donkey’ as a teenager at school and at the end of the summer term that
year I went on a school trip to Italy but we travelled by train from the port
of Calais to Venice. I was mesmerized by the landscape of France. Later, when I
was in my twenties I met some friends in the Cévennes and, having re-read
Stevenson’s book, I spent some time there visiting all the locations detailed
in ‘Travels’. The scenery is breath-taking, the villages small and sparse and
there’s a quiet wildness there that I’ve never found anywhere else. The weather
can change in a moment and the sun can be relentless. The history is
fascinating and, in the village where I like to stay, it is so silent that,
between the cattle being driven to and from the high pastures, you really can
hear the grass grow!
3)
How does France inspire your writing?
Angela: Just
by being what it is. The very first scene in Messandrierre was inspired by a
change in the weather in September 2007. The previous day had been sunny but a
persistent cold wind had lowered the temperature. The next morning, I awoke to
a light flurry of snow and ground, trees and houses wearing a white mantle. Later
in the story, Jacques gets caught out in a terrific thunder storm. The
description of the storm, the colours in the lightening, the formation of the
clouds – all of that I witnessed for myself one year when I was there. As for
the little exchanges between the villagers, most of those have come from
something I’ve overheard at the market or in the baker’s or butcher’s shop and
I’ve taken that comment or remark and asked myself ‘what if?’ and built it into
a scene.
4)
What is your fondest memory of time spent in France?
Angela: That’s
a tough question, there are so many things that have stayed with me. If I have
to choose only one then I suppose it would be the first time I visited Orange. I
remember travelling down the RN7, the car moving through the shadows cast by
the plane trees. It was a blisteringly hot day and as I approached the town,
the roman triumphal arch kind of just appeared ahead of the vehicle in the
middle of the road. I was stunned by it and also astounded that such a
magnificent and precious antiquity was surrounded by cars and exhaust fumes all
day, every day. A little further on and I discovered the roman theatre. As an
actor, I just could not resist the opportunity to stand on that ancient stage
for just a few moments and wonder whose roman feet had also stood in exactly
the same spot. Awesome!
5)
Every region in France has its own culinary specialty, do you have a favourite
regional dish?
Angela: Hmm,
that depends on where I am. I don’t
spend all my time in one place whilst I’m there. I love Porc Normande and I’ve
perfected my own recipe for use at home. I am also very partial to a Tarte
Normande too. Clafouti is a must when I'm in the Limousin. Those beautiful black
cherries are to die for! And that's either by themselves or in a clafouti. I
can't resist those cherries when I find them in the supermarket or on a market
stall. Flan aux Marrons is something I will always pick up when I’m in and
around the Cévennes. And if I really want to spoil myself I will buy some
Marrons Glacés. When in Burgundy, if Mousson du Canard is available I will
always buy some of that and when in Alsace, it’s jambon forêt noir. But the one
dish that I have always wondered about is Rôti de Veau. I first came across
this in the Vendée. It’s a rolled piece of veal roasted with garlic, mushrooms
and white wine and once cooked, cream and more wine are added to the meat
juices to create a sauce. It’s taken me quite a while to perfect the dish and
to get it to taste exactly how it did the first time I ordered it from the menu
in a small village restaurant in Notre Dame de Riez. Sadly, although the
restaurant is still there, the original chef is not I genuinely don’t know if that is a regional dish or not,
but it is absolutely delicious! Then there's the pâtisserie - I'm not sure if I
should admit this, but my map of France is covered with notes about what to buy
from each shop. So it's Mille Feuille in the pâtisserie by the chateau in Prémery,
Tarte au Citron in St Pourçain and... I think I'd better stop there. I'm in
danger of giving away all my secrets about France!
6)
Imagine you are sitting outside a French café at 10.00am on a sunny morning
watching the world go by, what do you order from the waiter?
Angela: That’s
easy. A large black coffee and a croissant.
7)
France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but which French cheese
are you? A hard and mature Tome, a soft, fresh and lively goat cheese, the
creamy and rich Camembert or maybe the salty and serious Roquefort?
Angela: Hmm
– what an interesting question. I love cheese and some of my most favourite are
Gruyère, Camembert or Brie. A Vacherin Mont d'Or is good but I prefer it when
it’s young - it has the capacity to be seriously odorous as it matures! I
suppose I would have to say that I’m a Morbier. A cow’s milk cheese, it is
traditionally made from a layer of evening curd, covered with ash and then
supplemented the next day with the curd from the first milking. That kind of
fits with my love of history and tradition and my need to be sensible in the
use of resources available. When mature, the cheese is a mellow creamy-yellow
colour with a dark line through the centre which provides a bit of grittiness
to the taste. That kind of fits with me too. I can be quite steely when I need
to be.
8)
France has some beautiful cities and there are a few that constantly battle to
be my favourite, what is your favourite French city and why?
Angela: Yet
another almost impossible question to answer! I suppose everyone is tempted to
say Paris, as am I. It is a magnificent place. Le Puy-en-Velay has its own
charm and an interesting history and must come a close second, I think. And
then there’s Mende, not to mention Rheims, Dijon, Nantes, Chartres, the
stunning wine villages of Alsace, Burgundy and many, many other places.But if
you are forcing me to choose again, then it has to be Villefranche du Rouergue.
An old bastide surrounded by a more modern town, with a fascinating history, a
fabulous market every Thursday with the most amazing stall selling herbs,
spices and oils. I swear you can smell that stall from the other side of town!
9)
If money and commitments were no object where in France would you like to own a
property and what sort of place would it be?
Angela: My
place would have to be a large mountain chalet that was half-way up an Alp with
views across the countryside. I’d like a patio all the way around the property
with chairs and tables and a barbecue area. Oh and can I have a red Ferrari in
the garage too please?
10)
Do you have any plans to visit France again soon?
Angela: Yes.
I’m always planning some trip or other to France as I like to spend as much
time as possible over there.
Finally,
I know I want to read more about your main character Jacques Forêt, but do you
have any plans to write more of his adventures?
Angela: Yes.
I’m already working on book 3 which has the title Montbel. This is an old case and Jacques is
asked to investigate by one of the relatives of the man who died. The
investigation takes Jacques into an underworld of lies, deceit and stolen
identities. As yet the story is at an early draft. I expect there will be
another two or three drafts at least before I’m completely happy with it. Hopefully
it will be out towards the end of 2018. There is a fourth book, which doesn’t
have a title as yet, but does have an outline of a crime, a victim and a
perpetrator, but that’s about it. I’m hoping that this book will be out at the
end 2019 or the beginning of 2020. I don’t know if there will be a fifth book
or not. Originally, I only ever envisaged 4 stories for Jacques. Maybe when I
begin to write book 4 I will see more stories, I don’t know.
Thank
you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you.
You can follow Angela on Facebook and Twitter and visit her website and blog.
Angela Wren
I'm an actor and director at a small theatre
a few miles from where I live in Yorkshire in the UK.
I did work as a project and business change manager, very pressured and very demanding, but I managed to escape and now I write books.
I've always loved stories and story telling
so it seemed a natural progression, to me, to try my hand at writing.
My first published story was in an anthology,
which was put together by the magazine Ireland's Own and published in 2011.
I particularly enjoy the challenge of plotting and planning different genres of work.
My short stories vary between contemporary romance, memoir, mystery and historical.
I also write comic flash-fiction
and have drafted two one-act plays that have been recorded for local radio.
My full-length stories are set in France where I like to spend as much time as possible each year.
