O Tours de Londres offer French language tours of London. Guest blogger Hugo took an afternoon tour of London and and gives us his thoughts (in French, of course!) below:

“Visitez Londres est une expérience fascinante. En effet, la ville a été le témoin de 21 siècles d’Histoire… Cependant, il est parfois difficile pour de nombreuses personnes non anglophones de réellement comprendre et découvrir la capitale anglaise. Heureusement, Ô Tours de Londres propose un circuit au bord de la Tamise adapté à tous les francophones.

“Pendant près de 2h30, vous marcherez de la Tour de Londres jusqu’à la Cathédrale St Paul en passant notamment par le Tower Bridge. Sur le trajet se succèdent d’incontournables monuments comme la Cathédrale Southwark miraculeusement conservée, le Shakespeare Globe Theatre ou encore les ruines du Palais de Winchester… Vous découvrirez aussi l’incroyable histoire du London Bridge, l’unique pont de Londres pendant près de 18 siècles…

“Au total, cette balade guidée comporte 13 arrêts qui vous permettront de découvrir des lieux mythiques de l’Histoire de Londres.

“Les guides compétents, dynamiques et disponibles vous dévoileront, de façon simple et claire, récits et anecdotes. Ils partageront avec vous les secrets des rues Londoniennes et de la Tamise et vous emmèneront sur les pas de Guillaume le Conquérant, Henri VIII, William Shakespeare ou encore Charles Dickens.

“C’est après ce fantastique voyage dans le temps, que vous serez à même de comprendre l’évolution de Londres, de sa mentalité et de ses habitants.

“Accessible à tous, cette balade est proposée à un prix très abordable : 15 £ par personne (17,5 €) (Gratuit pour les enfants de moins de 8 ans). Alors oubliez la barrière de la langue et allez découvrir Londres et son Histoire dans la bonne humeur grâce à Ô Tours de Londres !”

Pour plus d’informations et pour les réservations, n’hésitez pas à consulter le site de Ô Tours de Londres : www.o-toursdelondres.fr

Hugo was a guest of O Tours de Londres.

More London tours

For anyone who grew up wanting to be a ballet dancer, there is a stunning exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts that will bring those childhood dreams alive: Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement.

The extensive collection features more than 85 paintings and sculptures of dancers, many of whom were ballet dancers based at the Paris Opéra during the late 1800s.  Edgar Degas was known as the Painter of Dancers and he was fascinated by the study of movement, especially that of dancers bodies.

His works show ballet dancers rehearsing in the studio, performing on stage and preparing off stage. Degas interprets them in such an intimate way that you feel you are also in the room. 

Some of my favourite pieces include Dancers in Blue and Three Dancers, as well as Degas’ famous bronze sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The latter is based on a series of 20 drawings of a live model from different angles – a technique known as photosculpture.

Degas also experimented with photography, which was a fairly new medium at the time, and three of his only known photographs are displayed at the exhibition.

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement at the Royal Academy of Arts until the 11 Dec 2011. Book tickets

In the first of our blogs about The World in London, we’ve asked Coralie, author of the fantastic Tea Time in Wonderland to tell us where to find the taste of France in London. Here’s a post to make your mouth water!

You know the French. They can discuss food for hours (to dip or not to dip a croissant in your cafe, that is the question). One of our favourite addictions is cheese. Cow, goats, ewe, soft or hard: we have an impressive collection of 400, each jealously defended by its region.

In France, the Sunday ritual is to walk to the market, visit the local cheesemonger, admire the cheese selection presented on a straw mat and choose the perfect one for the family lunch. Baguette, cheese and wine is one of our favourite meals – we are easy to please!

In London, we struggle with Cheddar and Stilton. We long for a wider range of textures. So we rush to La Cave a Fromage, in the heart of South Kensington. You will always find a French fellow admiring the display longingly from the outside, eyes twinkling with desire, hand already on the doorhandle…

Step in! I love the smell and wish I could bottle it – an instant reminder of holidays in sunny parts of France, of picnics on the lawn, it makes your mouth water in no time… So many varieties, colours, shapes, assortment of flavours! This is just like home. The staff is friendly and very patient: let them guide you with simple questions about your preferences in textures, strength of taste, aromas, letting you taste a selection… Freshness, excellence and tradition are the keywords here.

You get addicted from the first visit: there is always a new one to try, a flavour to discover, maybe lemony, peppery, or melting on your tongue. Most of us do not even leave the shop: it has a handful of tables on the side, also sells wine and bread and we just sit there in true heaven. Tasting events are regularly held in the evening, perfect for aperitif time! www.la-cave.co.uk

Read more from Coralie at Tea Time in Wonderland, or feel free to check out the French event she takes part in every month, as she explains:

l’apero-blog: the French-speaking bloggers (or those loving those blogs) meet in a pub and practise their French, exchange tips, visions of England, best addresses, and recipes (of course!). It is very merry indeed. Three hours are never enough, we are always asked to leave the pub as it is closing. And still, we linger on the pavement for another half an hour…

Do you have any more ideas about France in London? Let us know in the comments below!