6 reasons to visit the France Show

I went along to the France Show, an annual exhibition all about French culture, food, property and language, this weekend.

Here are six reasons why it’s a fantastic day out, and why if you’ve been been before, you must visit next year!

1. Food and wine

Definitely one of the most important reasons, for me!

For foodies, there was duck confit, oysters, crêpes and galettes, macarons, jams, cheese…. and I could go on.

And if you love French wine, there was A LOT of it, with a focus on wines from Bordeaux.

2. Property advice

For anyone looking to buy a house in France, the France Show is a great place to get help and tips. There were lots of different stalls set up by companies specialising in property in France, and there were talks organised throughout the day on topics like how Brexit will affect buying houses in France.

3. Languages

Visitors to the show could challenge Arnaud from Arnaud’s Language Kitchen to a competition with his tricky tongue-twisters. Try this one out for size: ‘Les chaussures de l’archiduchesse sont-elles sèches? Archi-sèches!’ (Are the archduchess’s shoes dry? Completely dry!’)

There were also presentations from Le Poiron Bonjour, a company run by Françoise Duffell which offers residential courses in France for anyone who’d like to improve their French.

4. Live music

Singer Élise Lefay and her band Lilly Zazou entertained everyone during the weekend with their covers of classic French songs. They perform regularly in London, and can be contacted here for more information.

There were also accordion players around the food tents who gave a lovely, relaxing vibe to the weekend with their reinterpretation of songs including La Mer and Les Feuilles Mortes.

If you’re interested in finding out more about French music, why not check my article on covers of classic French songs here or my post here about current French-language musicians?

5. Cooking demonstrations

Ever wanted to learn how to cook with oysters or how to bake a perfect chocolate moelleux (amazingly chocolatey and gooey French chocolate cake?)

Chefs Frédéric Duval, Christine Vidal and Hervé Bourdon were on hand to show everyone the secrets to mastering these classic French recipes.

Which French recipes are your favourites?

6. Cancan dancers

Last but not least, there were the France Show Dancers, a brilliant group of cancan dancers who gave several performance a day over the course of the weekend. Complete with swishy skirts, headdresses that matched the colours of the French flag and impressive high kicks!