On the trail of the authentic French maid ...

 I’ve just spent a few days in France and I came across a couple of French maids. 

One was alive and well and cleaned my hotel room. The other was a dummy in a museum. Neither was wearing the classic French Maid outfit so beloved of TGirls, hen parties and the like. 

Live maid was very slim and wore a sensible top and leggings. It’s what I wear at home for cleaning, too, though I envied her slim frame. 

(That, Sue, is because she does hard physical work all day, and isn't slouched over the computer stuffing her gob with chocolates.) …Sorry, the voice of my Inner Valkyrie interjecting there.

As for dummy maid, well, here she is. 

None of that black minidress stuff. So I don’t know where the modern concept of the French maid came from.

This was in the local museum in Fréjus in Provence, which had a lot of other nineteenth-century female outfits, which I am happy to copy here since I know it sets some readers' hearts a-flutter. Here in Provence a lace cap and lace shawl were essential, though. I like lace myself (see final pic).

Fréjus was very interesting as it used to be a Roman naval base. Despite the huge number of Roman remains scattered everywhere, from harbour walls with a complete lighthouse to monumental gateways, theatre, amphitheatre, aqueduct, and a fort that was so solid it was used again as such in World War II, the town makes very little of it all. There’s scope for a Roman theme park here, especially as it’s where Cleopatra’s fleet was moored after the Romans had captured it. Throw in Astérix, too, if you like!

Roman harbour wall with lighthouse

Aqueduct in a local park

           

Roman tower that's now a block of flats

 

The quays at the new marina are named after the commanders of that war: Cleopatra, Antony, Agrippa … and there are some modern sculptures celebrating the Pelagos Whale Sanctuary, which covers a large section of the Northern Mediterranean. The whales like it here as the water is somewhat cooler than the rest of the Med, which must surely be a consideration if you have to go around with a blubber overcoat. 

For British readers, this is where Agricola, one-time Roman governor of Britain was born.

On a strangely related note, supermarkets in the Med usually have an out-of-the-way rack with “weird” foreign foods like baked beans, soy sauce, maple syrup, tacos and the like, but here at the Intermarché all this stuff, from ramen noodles to pickled gherkins, is labelled “Anglo-Saxon products”.

That made me laugh. Doubtless, Agricola would have approved. Barbarians are all much the same, right? 

Although the nearby Cannes Film Festival has opened with two films on love between women, La Vie d’une femme and Nagi Notes, I didn’t spot any LGBT history in Fréjus, despite having my regular travelling companions, Luggy the LGBT Crab and Lizzy the Lesbian Lobster, to sniff these things out. But here’s Luggy at the Roman arena, ready to take on the gladiators.

There were plenty of hybrid medieval critters painted in the rafters of the cathedral cloister, though. Being neither one thing nor another is a bit similar to being trans sometimes.

And I did have a nice moment when I stopped for a shop owner on the pavement to take photos of two prettily dressed models in the doorway of her boutique. “Merci, madame,” she said to me. Despite my having no fem hair and makeup, something made her recognise my status. No, don’t apologise, I’m happy with “madame”.



The food blog

This being France, I wanted to make it a bit of a gastronomic trip, too, and treat myself to some really good food even if it stretched my budget. 

The local cuisine is both meat and fish based, with plenty of fresh vegetables. The best restaurant was L’Amandier where I had a lovely smoked trout and goat’s cheese starter, slow-braised chicken breast, basil gravy and spring vegetables that was amazing, and a banana sorbet with chocolate tart to finish. I had no idea you could sorbet a banana but evidently you can. I must experiment. Nice local white wine, too, and pleasant, unhurried service. Incidentally, the lady in charge had the most beautiful, multicoloured, pleated, floaty, three-quarter length skirt and I really want one like it. 

Autres Ray’son is another specialist in local recipes. A friendly place where I enjoyed a good fresh salad with ham, some grilled fish (not so keen on the garlic rice, though), and a fabulous ice-cream sundae. Also nice was Brasserie Hermès in the pretty main square where I enjoyed the day’s special of pork terrine with crunchy bread, followed by a good veal escalope with mushrooms, and a perfect chocolate mousse. Efficient, friendly service there, too. And a nice location near the mini cathedral, town hall and fountain:

There are few ethnic restaurants in Italy so I take advantage when I go to France. Le Mahana’s Polynesian fried chicken in sauce with an exotic salad was delicious. Great cocktails there, too. 

Vietnamese cuisine is one of my favourites and Viet d’Azur had some nice nems (like spring rolls), and an excellent noodle dish with pork and mixed veg. As for the shredded iced coconut, that was special. Give me coconut and I’m your friend for life! 

By the way, although I rarely drink beer, the relaxed Old School pub by the harbour has an excellent selection of Belgian beers and I enjoyed my favourite beer there, Kwak ambrée. Here’s an old photo with a Kwak ...and Provence-appropriate lace. Cheers!

Anyway, I’m home now and back to my favourite hobbies of trying new nail varnishes and testing perfumes. More on that another day …

Sue x