In the autumn of 1973 Sile and I decided we were going to burn our boats and head for France. (In fact this turned out to be merely a tipping of toes in French water, anticipating the actual move by some thirty something years but that is another story.)
To this end I wrote to all of the cookery writers I knew and asked for advice, it is to their eternal credit that they all replied. The best advice however came from Theodora Fitzgibbon. She put us in touch with Madame Graves who was then proprietor of a very smart hotel in Glengarrif, Ballylickey House. Mme Graves’ establishment was a member of an organisation called Relais de Campagne a very chic consortium of French Country House Hotels.
Madame Graves (a niece-in-law of the poet Robert Graves) also graciously replied and put us in touch with the main office of that organisation in Paris who advised us to write to two Chateaux Hotels who were, they thought looking for staff.
At this time in our lives Sile was working as a Primary school teacher, I as a chef in Snaffles on permanent split duties so the one time we could talk was during the afternoon, and that usually in a pub in Dublin.
On this particular day we agreed to meet in Mooney’s bar on Abbey Street and there, with notepaper, a dictionary and the names of the hotels we tried to compose a letter to these people of such high quality as they might offer us a job.
We were struggling when a very polite girl, who had been sitting at a nearby table, came up and talked to us.
“I am from France” she said “and my friend and I are listening to you struggle with this letter, would you like to help”
Then this charming girl gave us a crash course in the necessary formulae necessary to write a letter for a job application in France. The one particular part I remember was the sign off. We had written something like “Cordialment” before signing our names.
Under Mademoiselle’s tutelage we wrote (and I joke not):
“Je vous prie de voir , cher Madame, a l’assurances de mes salutations distinguees “ Which is just about as obsequious as it appears.
However, impressed no doubt by our correct attitudes both establishments offered us work and , about six weeks after we headed off, on the boat to the Chateau de Teildras in Anjou in France.
That we didn’t last long there is neither here nor there what I am sure is true is that we would never have got there in the first place without the Jeune Fille in the Abbey Mooney.
Belated thanks Mademoiselle.