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City & Village Tours: 0208 692 1133
During his five years as President of France Nicolas
Sarkozy was invited to London by Her Majesty The
Queen for an official State Visit. He gave a speech in the
House of Commons suggesting that things were so good
between our two countries that the Entente Cordial ought
to be upgraded to an Entente Amicale. Then he was taken
to Buckingham Palace for a tour of the Royal Gallery and
two massive paintings of the French defeats at Trafalgar
and Waterloo. Later that day on the way to Windsor
Castle for a State Banquet President and Mrs Sarkozy
were escorted by the Household Cavalry, wearing their
ceremonial breastplates copied from those stripped from
the bodies of French cavalrymen cut down on the
battlefield at Waterloo. And if that’s not quite enough
he lead horse in the parade was called ….. Agincourt!
When we think of the French how often is it with a wry
smile and a strangely deep seated notion of rivalry that
might be anywhere on a scale of purely frivolous to quite
deep seated? Ah the French we say. But why? Try it now.
Look up from the screen and away to a window or wall,
blink a few times and say out loud
The French
. Then
listen quietly to your thoughts - what zips across your
mind? I expect that if we collected up all these thoughts
and collated them they’d fit neatly under relatively few
headings: food, clothes, places, holidays, wars, lovers?
And I am betting that beret, cheese, wine and Waterloo
would be on there somewhere.
2015 is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo
and for that matter the 600th anniversary of Agincourt
although it is the former that it getting the most attention.
We thought this was a good opportunity to put forward a
day out that we’ve been thinking about for quite some
time now. A day that takes a light hearted but insightful
look into the thousand year story of living next door to
and with the French. The tour is led by our British born but
French speaking Blue Badge Guides who, when they are
not looking after City & Village groups are showing French
visitors the delights of the capital. So the day isn't all about
how we see the French - it’s also quite good fun to hear
about how the French view us. The culture shock for the
French is their surprise in finding that they quite like us
actually and it’s he small details that stand out for them.
They are always impressed by how clean our streets our
and how our cars are so free of dents!
All Our Waterloos
begins at 10.30am by the Tower of
London built by the men who first called Londoners
Cockneys - and it wasn't a compliment. It meant knock
kneed, weak and effeminate. After time to buy morning
refreshments the day begins with the arrival of the Normans
who were in reality Vikings who were themselves sworn
enemies of the French - William the Conqueror was
eventually killed fighting the French. During an eye
opening and entertaining morning we tour London by coach
to tell the story of the French presence in London and how
each nation has influenced the other. London has long been
a place of refuge for French people from Huguenots fleeing
religious persecution and the aristocracy fleeing Madame
Guillotine to the Free French of WW11.
French Londoners have held high rank including the first
Governor of the Bank of England and over three million
Brits have French ancestry. We look at the similarities
and differences in our languages, the influence on place
names, and our customs, traditions and etiquettes. And
this tour really isn't all about history because today the
French make up the single largest migrant presence in
London - so many in fact that London is by population
the 6th largest French City (Paris is the first and Nice is
the fifth). Many live near to the swish French language
All Our Waterloos
With the
Je Ne Sais Quoi tour
at the new Europe Galleries at The V&A
