It’s going to be 11 years this November since I left France and have lived in Australia, yet every year around that same time I feel a little down… Whilst daylight is diminishing a bit more every day and the mercury is dropping to 4°c down here, the long summer days are reaching their peaks on the French shores…  June, July and August are the best months to enjoy outdoor France.

On June 21st, the date of the northern hemisphere summer solstice, France celebrates, every year since 1982, ‘la fête de la musique’.  June 21st is a music orgy! From the little village lost in the mountains to the fashion capital city we all know about,  June 21st is massive in France. Anyone, young or less, who can play an instrument, is invited in the streets to play and perform. While cafés and restaurants will organize small local groups to play for their customers, the councils will arrange music venues for bigger bands to perform on stage. And in every corner of the city, any square, any path or alley, the sounds of drums, djembes and guitars will fill the air. Meanwhile, the rest of the amateur crowds drink to the tunes on café terraces and dance in the streets. People will party all night, enjoying the ambiance, until the last string of a guitarist disappears in the morning mist. And with that amazing feeling, summer is now officially open!

When July comes, the kids summer holidays get switched on too. Not far is ‘le 14 Juillet’, better known as Bastille day, which is the equivalent to January 26th, Australia day. A national holiday where armies will display marches in the city avenues, commemorative speeches will be spoken, and fireworks will light the night skies. Though no one wishes anyone a ‘joyeux 14 Juillet’, the French will enjoy the festivities of this national day, and go out as usual, to restaurants and cafés, very casually, waiting for the night light shows.

By August, summer has definitely set its marks. Most people are relaxed, employees are on leave, it's the annual companies shut down. The days are nice and warm, and so can be the late evenings. It is by far the best time of year to be in the French countryside, lay in the grass, and do nothing but stare at the sky, waiting to witness shooting stars and hopefully make wishes. France is a multi facial place, which varies from season to season, from region to region, and can naturally be enjoyed all year round. Let yourself be delighted by its possible exuberance but yet so elegant art de vivre in its full simplicity! 
Emilie Ostler, VLLC French Tutor 

French and France go hand in hand but when you want to be cheeky with your loved one just by saying “vous êtes mignon” or when you want to simply comment on your loved one’s smile by saying “J'aime ton sourire” you will soon realise that speaking French allows love to flow. Perhaps it is the very fact that the French speak French; maybe that is the real reason for France and Paris being as romantic as they are. Learn to speak French.