The smallest things can trigger a memory: a song, a scent, a throwaway remark. Yesterday, for me, it was a single word, a place name: Monneville.
Reading one of Brian / equinoxio21’s excellent short stories I was struck by a reference to that small French village, as I had been to a lesser extent the previous day when he mentioned Gisors. Why? Because very many moons ago, in my teens, I spent about ten days living in Monneville as a pupil on my school’s French Exchange programme. It was my first trip without my parents and only my second trip abroad.
My host student Hélène was the only pupil whose home was in Monneville, where her mother ran the local café (sadly her father had died the previous year). My French teacher had paired me with her because I was one of the better French students in the class and she knew I would find myself more cut off from my fellow English-speaking classmates who stayed with hosts near the school in Chaumont-en-Vexin, or in Gisors, another town in the area.
And so it proved, and I credit my still passable French with that stay in a small village where no one spoke English apart from Hélène (and she was too shy to use it most of the time). I spent many evenings in that café trying to converse with the locals while they plied me with beer (which I was too young to drink legally in England) and taught me their favourite game of dominos! Apart from the couple of times we visited Hélène’s best friend Christiane in Gisors (hosting one of my school friends) I spoke no English for my entire stay.
I can still recall what the village looked like, all these years later, but until yesterday had never heard anything more about it. Seeing Brian’s reference to it brought the memories flooding back. I looked up Monneville on Google Maps and ‘revisited’ it in Street View.
Screenshots of the one-time café and present-day boulangerie, from Street View
The café is no more, having been converted to a private house it seems, but the boulangerie opposite, which Brian knew well, is still there. One of my strongest memories of my time there is looking out from my bedroom window to see the locals, many still in nightwear and slippers, going to buy their breakfast baguettes. That for me epitomised the French lifestyle I had hoped to experience!
I decided to see if I had any old photos from that time. What I unearthed were some 35mm slides, some of the first I must have taken after switching from black and white print film just that year I believe. Unsurprisingly they were in very poor condition, dusty and discoloured. But I’ve had a go at scanning a few and am sharing three of the least bad here. To compensate for the poor state of the images and emphasise the nostalgic nature of this post I’ve edited them with Nik Silver Efex Pro to create a vintage look. I should mention however that although this was back in my teens, I’m not quite so old as these yellowed photos might suggest! I also edited the header image using Nik Color Efex Pro’s vintage filter.
I’m sharing them partly for Brian to see and partly as a small contribution to this week’s Monochrome Madness.
Monneville from across the fields
Me with the family pets outside the café
At an auto show in Gisors, France:
My host Hélène in the front row with her nephew Eric, and some of her classmates in the row behind with in the centre (wearing a necklace) my English school friend Jean and on her left Hélène’s friend Christiane
I visited Monneville in 1970
14 Comments
Dalmatian Insider
What a wonderful experience! I studied in Paris my entire junior year of college, one of the greatest experiences of my life to date.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh, that must have been wonderful! I would love to have had the experience of living a year in Paris 🙂
equinoxio21
This is precious. The landscape, the café. The boulangerie I knew very well indeed… There was a café in our village too, but that, and the one in Monneville have disappeared as many have. Not enough clients to pay the bills. I also suspect the increasing number of regulations and permits made it gradually not worth while.
Love the 1970 looks… Perfect.
One detail on the café’s window: “Fête communale”. Village ‘fête’. All those little villages held a yearly party, with games, dancing at night. “Le bal”. I wonder whether that still goes on. Hopefully.
A final word on the fate of all those villages… Monneville is a small village. (Mine, Tourly, had a population of 100-120). I read an article a few years back where a recently graduated paharmacist wanted to set up a pharmacy in Monneville. There was none. If you want to buy aspirin, you have to drive, possibly to Liancourt or Chaumont-en-vexin. So the guy had all set, he had the loans, the locale, the expertise. The Prefet (local gvt representative said no. Just like that.) So today I understand people in Monneville still have to take the car to buy aspirin.
Thanks a mil, Sarah, for a lovely post.
Brian
Sarah Wilkie
So glad you enjoyed this Brian, and thank you for inspiring me to look out those very old slides 😀 I may have to scan more of them in due course but they’re not in great condition as you can see. As for the villages, it’s a not too dissimilar story here in England – rural pubs closing, post offices, banks etc.
equinoxio21
Sorry about Rural England… Though I’m not surprised. Maybe one day, the Big Wheel will turn around… 🤞🏻
As for condition, I’ve used simple alcohol for my mother’s movies. A soft cloth with Pharamcy alcohol. Don’t press of course, and let dry. Went well. Haven’t tried with slides but I suspect it would work. Taking the dust away. Maybe you can try with a non-critical slide?
Look forward to your trip down Memory Lane…
Bon week-end chère amie.
margaret21
What an experience! Well done for making it such a positive one! We didn’t have any school exchanges – being just that bit older than you, it wasn’t really a ‘thing’ in any of the schools I knew about – but my children did Most went well – in fact one resulted in an email friendship between me and the host child’s mother that lasted several years, and between the two girls too. But one was just awful. The girl did nothing but criticise England, refused to go to school with my daughter, made it obvious she thought our planned outings were boring, and was just generally obnoxious. My daughter – rightly in my opinion – refused to go and stay there with her family. Definitely the exception rather than the rule. Luckily.
Sarah Wilkie
My experience wasn’t 100% perfect, but very worthwhile. As I mentioned, Hélène’s father had died just a year previously and I think that had made a shy girl even more reticent. I remember struggling a little to really get to know her and envying my friends who had more outgoing hosts. My visit to France was the first part of the exchange, the French pupils came to us the following year, and my parents also found her hard-going although she was a bit more open with me that second year. But it was certainly nothing like the experience you had – she wasn’t rude, just withdrawn at times.
Monkey's Tale
What great memories Sarah. I love the picture of you in front of the café. I went on a Rotary exchange to Germany when I was high-school. It firmly established my desire to travel. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie 🙂 I’m a firm believer in school trips abroad if people can afford them – they can really open young people’s eyes to the joys of travel and also open their minds to how others live!
Anne Sandler
What an amazing experience you had Sarah and to have found these pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Anne 😊
Sue
“The smallest things can trigger a memory: a song, a scent, a throwaway remark” – absolutely! I enjoyed reading this post
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
I agree with Sue,
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you both, Sue and Ritva 😊