Where is France Profunde? (1 Viewer)

DBK

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I've come across this phrase a few times and a Funster used it recently in a post. I know what it means (I hope) somewhere "profoundly French". But is there a geographic area outside you can't really apply it?
My guess is anywhere which has seen a huge influx of Brits probably doesn't count though it might have done before they arrived. Can you apply it to parts of Paris?
I think it would apply to any French village or town where there are few foreigners and the locals play boules etc. Is this correct?

The blurry photograph below is of a market in Mirande in the Gers Department. We were there an hour or so and only heard one other English voice, so is this France profunde? :)

DSC_0194-1280x720.JPG
 
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It is, I suppose, deep or real France. Local, non touristy places with few visitors. Our version has been lost. We can still find these places in France when we go off the beaten track.
 

magicsurfbus

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Gouffre de Padirac?

padirac-caves-2.jpg


That's pretty deep :)

At a guess it would probably be the places you'd struggle to get a MH into. Our SatNav has revealed quite a few of those on cross country journeys.

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My sat-nav has taken me to places that the French don’t even go too.....:D2

I’ll take a picture next time...(y)
 
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DBK

DBK

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At a guess it would probably be the places you'd struggle to get a MH into. Our SatNav has revealed quite a few of those on cross country journeys.
An interesting point which would suggest the presence of an aire would disqualify a place. :( I hope not as I wanted to use the phrase in my next book! Which is the reason for the question. I'm hoping I can use it where the only other MHs in the aire were all French and the local town was in the middle of nowhere, that is not the Dordogne or anywhere well known . :)
 

Minxy

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Interestingly there isn't a page in Wikipedia.fr that explains this expression. The nearest I can find is:

"France profonde féminin singulier

Province française, par opposition à Paris, au pouvoir et aux élites qui y résident."

Roughly translated as the Provinces which oppose Paris, its power and the elites who live there. I suppose English equivalents might be counties such as Dorset or Herefordshire (other rural counties are available) where many local people despise/ignore the Westminster elite and stick to their traditions and attitudes.
 
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DBK

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Interestingly there isn't a page in Wikipedia.fr that explains this expression. The nearest I can find is:

"France profonde féminin singulier

Province française, par opposition à Paris, au pouvoir et aux élites qui y résident."

Roughly translated as the Provinces which oppose Paris, its power and the elites who live there. I suppose English equivalents might be counties such as Dorset or Herefordshire (other rural counties are available) where many local people despise/ignore the Westminster elite and stick to their traditions and attitudes.
Very well spotted. I can't spell! It should be France profonde. :rofl:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_profonde

So this thread should at least ensure, if I use the phrase, it will be spelt correctly. :)

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Hello all!

@DBK yes ... profonde is the way to spell it!

When we use this expression it really means the real France. Places that haven't changed for decades or nearly. Place you don't fear to take your children to the school. No gun, no pestering, normal and peaceful life with a bit of computering and lots of walking in the woods with Dad, gardening, baking with mum, pottering about, climbing trees, pulling the cat's tail, running after the hens, building huts in the prairie or up in the trees.
Places where the school yard is used at week ends to play football.... It's where you feel a bit out of time and at the same time.... you ....breathe again! This is what France Profonde is
 

spitfire

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Hello all!

@DBK yes ... profonde is the way to spell it!

When we use this expression it really means the real France. Places that haven't changed for decades or nearly. Place you don't fear to take your children to the school. No gun, no pestering, normal and peaceful life with a bit of computering and lots of walking in the woods with Dad, gardening, baking with mum, pottering about, climbing trees, pulling the cat's tail, running after the hens, building huts in the prairie or up in the trees.
Places where the school yard is used at week ends to play football.... It's where you feel a bit out of time and at the same time.... you ....breathe again! This is what France Profonde is
et c'est La Correze non ??
 

magicsurfbus

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Hello all!

@DBK yes ... profonde is the way to spell it!

When we use this expression it really means the real France. Places that haven't changed for decades or nearly. Place you don't fear to take your children to the school. No gun, no pestering, normal and peaceful life with a bit of computering and lots of walking in the woods with Dad, gardening, baking with mum, pottering about, climbing trees, pulling the cat's tail, running after the hens, building huts in the prairie or up in the trees.
Places where the school yard is used at week ends to play football.... It's where you feel a bit out of time and at the same time.... you ....breathe again! This is what France Profonde is

So it's basically the 1950s then?

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magicsurfbus

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I'm hoping I can use it where the only other MHs in the aire were all French and the local town was in the middle of nowhere, that is not the Dordogne or anywhere well known . :)

Given that France is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, if not the top destination, you could have a search on your hands.

That said, last year we were invited to park our MH overnight in a small field owned by a business contact who lives up behind the cliffs at La Roque-Gageac. Very quiet and tucked away up a lane you wouldn't normally drive along. He showed us a walk you could take to the top of the cliff among the trees to watch the busy bit down below. That (and the vertical drop into the valley) seemed pretty profonde to us. Lovely spot - I envy him.

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spitfire

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Very nice and quiet places in Corrèze, Brives is there to do the balance!
Being originally from Scotland plus nord we love it . When the french say it is La France Profonde I say not at all . 20km to Tulle 50 to Brive not so far when we were 200km to Inverness !!
 
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What a beautiful description! Lyrical and so descriptive I can see it in my mind.

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DBK

DBK

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Hello all!

@DBK yes ... profonde is the way to spell it!

When we use this expression it really means the real France. Places that haven't changed for decades or nearly. Place you don't fear to take your children to the school. No gun, no pestering, normal and peaceful life with a bit of computering and lots of walking in the woods with Dad, gardening, baking with mum, pottering about, climbing trees, pulling the cat's tail, running after the hens, building huts in the prairie or up in the trees.
Places where the school yard is used at week ends to play football.... It's where you feel a bit out of time and at the same time.... you ....breathe again! This is what France Profonde is
Many thanks. I know what to look for now. :)
 

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