#37 - French art de vivre

What exactly is French art de vivre? In this petite podcast episode, we explain all, where it comes from, what it is and how to practice art de vivre, a fundamental part of the French psyche and a way to elevate the ordinary things of everyday life to the extraordinary.

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• 0:00 Intro
• 1:18 French Art de Vivre
• 8:52 Where to find us

Transcript

Podcast 37: French Art de Vivre
 

Janine: Bonjour and welcome to today’s episode of The Good Life France – the petite podcast – a bite-sized episode in which we explore a single topic! I’m your host Janine Marsh, I’m a British writer living in France, and I travel year-round exploring French destinations, history, culture, art and gastronomy and I love to share my discoveries with you alongside my podcast partner Olivier Jauffrit.

Oli: Bonjour tout le monde, yes indeed, welcome to this new petite podcast. Normally our podcasts are a little longer, but we had so many messages asking us to make more podcasts, we decided to create a petite podcast series alongside the usual episodes! So, let’s get going and dive into our first petite podcast topic! Janine tell us about the theme for today’s episode…

Janine: Today we’re going to talk about art de vivre. It’s something that French people take for granted every day. It’s something that people who visit France really love. But what actually is art de vivre, and where does it come from?! 

Oli: That’s a great topic! Let’s dive into the heart of French culture to explore 'art de vivre,' a philosophy that transforms everyday life into an art form. Join us as we uncover the essence of 'art de vivre,' its roots, its manifestations, and how everyone can practice art de vivre…

So – what is art de vivre? Literally it means – the art of living. 

Janine: But really it means the art of the good life, the art of living well. It’s a uniquely French approach to life It’s about savouring the moment, living life with passion and elegance.

Oli: Art de vivre, or the art of living, is a fundamental part of the French psyche. For us it embodies a lifestyle that prioritizes pleasure, beauty, and sophistication in everyday activities. It covers everything about daily life from leisurely meals that celebrate gastronomic excellence to the careful selection of fashion and décor.  'Art de vivre' is about embracing joy, cultivating taste, and living harmoniously. It's a philosophy that has been woven into the fabric of French history, influencing how the French eat, dress, socialize, and even think.

Janine: Now that could sound a bit complicated, so let’s break it down. Writer Francoise Hertel described art de vivre as ‘The art of living life to the full is not so much about complicating the simple things as it is about simplifying the unsimplified.’ Oli can you say that in French please because Francois Heretl was a French-Canadian write and it sounds so good in French! 

Oli: ‘L'art de vivre pleinement ne consiste pas tant à compliquer les choses simples qu'à simplifier celles qui ne le sont pas.’

Janine: Thanks Oli, your French is so good! What art de vivre really means when we break it down is a life that is joyful, spent surrounded by things that give us comfort and pleasure. But art de vivre is more than that; it is about striving to find happiness in the small moments. It’s about appreciating and finding pleasure in the ordinary parts of everyday life, always discovering something to smile about. 

Oli: But why do we do it you might ask! Well, the whole idea of 'art de vivre' goes. Back to the time of the French Renaissance, the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It was a time when France was a crucible of artistic, intellectual, and culinary innovation. Leonardo da Vinci lived in the Loire Valley, King Francois Ier of France who was known as the Renaissance King, encouraged an appreciation for beauty and pleasure in all forms.

Janine: Today when we say art de vivre, we mean the art of appreciating beautiful things. It’s taking the time to admire a place, the efforts that someone has gone to in order to create a delicious dish, a good wine. It’s something that encompasses small pleasures and big celebrations. For instance, it’s time with family or going to a cultural event. It’s sitting at a table on the pavement outside a café with nothing to do except sip black coffee from a pure white cup and watch the world go about its business. It’s taking time to appreciate a beautifully laid table, a perfectly folded linen napkin, or three perfect wedges of cheese on a plate. It’s nibbling the end of a baguette on the way home from the boulangerie or sharing a bottle of wine with friends. 

Oli: Art de vivre is about visiting an art gallery to admire the work of an artist, or reading a book at home that moves you. It is about enjoying a beautifully arranged vase of flowers, the details of well-crafted clothes, the label of a wine bottle or a stolen kiss… It’s taking the time to appreciate a platter of cheese, made more beautiful by the addition of seasonal flowers. 

Janine: Art de vivre is in the details of small things like Petit Lu biscuits, which are miniature works of art when you look closer. At first glance, these popular cookies look just like any other square cookie, albeit with an ornamental jagged edge. But if you have nothing better to do, you may count the jagged bits around the edges which number 52 and represent the number of weeks of the year. The four corners represent the seasons. The words L.U. PETIT-BEURRE NANTES are cut into the biscuits, and around them are 24 pinhole perforations – the 24 hours of the day. The design hides a message: you can eat these biscuits any time of the day, all year round! 

Oli: It’s embracing life to its fullest every day, noticing the small things and finding them a big pleasure. We almost take it for granted in France, it’s something we grow up with, being taught to appreciate how much effort has gone into something to change it from ordinary to extraordinary, and we teach our children to do the same. The perfect example is gastronomy. The French meal, which is recognized by UNESCO as a cultural treasure, is about emphasising local ingredients, meticulous preparation, and sharing. You could think that it’s fairly mundane to prepare an evening meal for the family, especially if you buy something convenient from the supermarket, perhaps sat in front of the Television to eat it. And yes of course we all do that from time to time in France too – but not all the time and we love to prepare good food from before buying the ingredients to eating it. 

Janine: It’s so true, my French neighbours love to talk about what they’re going to cook and where they will buy the ingredients. And meals with friends can go on for many hours, it’s about sharing and showing appreciation of the ingredients and those you share with. 
 

To practice art de vivre, you embrace simple moments and elevate them to a moment of pleasure. You might take the time to sit at a table on the pavement of a café with nothing to do except sip a strong, dark espresso from a pure white cup as you watch the world go about its business. You might stroll through the forest on an afternoon, feeling joy at a beam of sunlight cascading through the leafy canopy. 

Oli: Absolutely, everything these days seems to be about speed and efficiency, but when you share a meal with friends you need to slow down and savour the journey.

Janine: Practicing art de vivre means paying attention to the small things, embracing the simple things, and transforming everyday rituals into memorable moments to savour and appreciate. In essence it means slowing down and relishing the moment.

We hope you enjoyed this petite podcast! Tune in next week for a longer podcast as we discover more about the culture, history, gastronomy, cheese and cakes art, famous people – Louis XIV is coming up, and Napoleon – plus destinations, museums, monuments and much, much more. 

Oli – Everything you want to know about France and more!

And a big thank you to all for sharing us, we’re very grateful.  You’ve been listening to me Olivier Jauffrit and Janine Marsh. You can find me at parischanson.fr where I play classic French sounds.

Janine: And you can find me at www.thegoodlifefrance.com where you can sign up for the podcast to magically hear from us each week, and you can sign up for The Good Life France Magazine which is totally free, find loads of information about France on the website, sign up for the weekly newsletter and find The Good Life France on social media. As Oli said, it really is everything you want to know about France and more! 

Meanwhile it’s au revoir from me.

Oli: And goodbye from me. 

Janine: Speak to you soon!