Indeed, my Year 10 French students recently went on a journey of their own, thanks to a visit from Anissa Attia, founder of Madame Voyage with her friend, Coco.
My students embarked on a journey to la Vallée de la Loire, a hidden gem of France in chateau country that is not often visited by Australian tourists. And this is a shame because it is just a 2-hour drive south of Paris.
France has historically been divided by the Loire River, bordered by magnificent châteaux such as Amboise, Chenonceau, Chambord, Villandry and hundreds more.
In the 16th century, due to relative peace and stability in France, the old medieval towers were replaced by luxurious castles, lavish country escapes to show the power of the King and to be used as places for hunting.
While there is a huge number of castles in the Loire Valley, about 100 are open to the public.
My students researched the importance of the impact of Italy and the Renaissance (Rebirth) when Francois Ier (Francis the 1st) returned from Italy and asked Leonard de Vinci to settle in Clos-Lucé to be his personal painter and architect. From then on, taste, architecture and painting was influenced by Italian culture.
They have also discovered that French has been legally named the official language with le décret de Villers-Cotterêts in 1539, a royal ordonnance which imposed French as the official language of the kingdom that was to be used in France in all legal acts.
Anissa likes particularly la Vallée de la Loire for its picturesque old-fashioned villages, its wines and vineyards, its food and history, but mostly, it's castles.
There is one that she cherishes particularly, le château de Bauregard. Classified as an historical monument since 1840, it was the former hunting lodge of François Ier.
Anita has stood in awe in front of the famous Galerie des Illustres, a unique collection of 327 portraits which covers more than three centuries of history and politics in France and Europe. This stands in a 40-hectare landscaped park.
To the question ‘Quelle est votre ville préférée de la Vallée de la Loire?’, Anissa named Tours and Blois. While they are two very different cities, they both have something charming about them, she suggested.
The Chateau de Blois is located in the centre of the city and features a renowned spiral staircase within the Francis I wing, a notable example of Italian Renaissance influence.
It also possesses a collection of more than 35,000 works. At nightfall, ‘un spectacle son et lumière’ immerses the public in a sound and light show imparting new life to the history of the château.
Love, dramas and secrets of the court twirl across the four facades of the court of honour. These 360° video mapping projections embrace the grandiose architecture of the site.
Tours is a smaller city than Blois and less touristy but with a lot of charm and well known for its famous restaurants.
But my students were also interested in Anissa‘s entrepreneur spirit and wanted to know more about her experience in Australia.
“I‘ve always had this entrepreneurial spirit and I knew that one day, I would go for it.
"I also knew it would be connected to France, so two years ago, I launched my own business. And that’s how Madame Voyage was born," she told them.
My students also wanted to understand why Anissa’s travel agency is so different from the others: "Madame Voyage is a boutique travel company, offering curated small-group experiences," she explained.
"Whether you're looking for an immersive French language stay, a culinary journey, or even a creative pottery escape, we design unique experiences across some of France’s most beautiful regions: the Loire Valley, Toulouse, the Côte d’Azur, Lyon, Dijon, the French Alps, and more. We offer two types of experiences: self-guided tours or carefully planned with our local expertise. We call this 'retraites' (retreats)".
"What sets Madame Voyage apart from other agencies is that we work with personalities from all over the world, chefs, artists and teachers, recognised for their expertise, often through television, social media or their remarkable careers."
"Mais quells sont vos projets pour le futur?" asked one of my students.
"L’Italie, la Grèce, l’Espagne," said Anissa, as she would like to extend her catalogue choice to Europe.
And then came the unmissable question: préférez-vous la France ou l’Australie?
"I love France for the architecture, the language, the history but I love the lifestyle in Australia."
One student asked if Anissa has though of doing the reverse, which is organising tours in Australia for French tourists and where she would take them.
"I’d like to introduce them to Australian nature. The advantage here is the vastness of the country and the few people, unlike the endless queues you sometimes find in Europe. I would take them to discover Uluru, the national parks...I also love Tasmania, which I think the French would really like!"
