Autobiographical

The Complexe Scolaire de Valbonne or Valbonne School Complex (now the College and Lycee of the Centre International de Valbonne) looked massive to me, consisting of two state schools offering both the French curriculum and an international section, with some foreign students. Most importantly, unlike other English teaching assistants placed in the region and other parts of France, I was provided with free accommodation on the site with a sizeable dorm room. I was also entitled to eat lunch and dinner as a teacher at a discount for 13 francs a go, equivalent to just over one pound (including a small bottle of wine at lunch and dinner seven days a week). It goes without saying that the pay of 4,000 francs a month (equivalent to 400 pounds sterling) more than covered expenses.

I should also say a word about the location. Antibes and a beautiful beach were only five kilometres away. However, fool that I was, I treated the prospect like the French in the south: no rush to go, as the sea and sun weren’t going anywhere. In fact, I rarely visited the café at the end of the road, unless I was providing private English lessons.

I was also fortunate that other lodgers included a number of French students in their first year from the CERAM Business School, with CERAM standing for Centre for Education and Research Applied to Management. I became good friends with Jean-Pierre Giraud from Marseille with a strong accent who was to move to Nice, and a top class auditor now, and in particular Bruno Aboukalil, well-known today as the President and Founder of Mercuris Conseil, which creates and/or manages corporate websites for small and medium enterprises. He lives as always in Paris, his favourite city. 

In 2009 the CERAM was reborn as SKEMA Business School after a merger with the École Supérieure de Commerce de Lille. Today the science and technology park Sophia Antipolis is home to more than 2,500 companies, from Air France to Cisco, Orange, ST Ericsson, Nvidia and Toyota ED2, and a hub for a number of academic and research institutions, including EURECOM and the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics. I apologise for the details, but I acquired a good knowledge of the area and remain fascinated by the place to this day, primarily due to the report I wrote in French for QMC on Sophia Antipolis based on research and face-to-face interviews with a number of high-ranking officials and executives. I even won a prize, a book token! 

Under the terms of my one-year contract, I was expected to teach English 12 hours a week to different classes, with the ages of pupils ranging from seven to 19. It was a challenge to manage some of the classes where the students were on occasion only a couple of years younger than me. The teachers were lovely. One beautiful young couple, a brunette resembling Isabelle Adjani and her husband who could have passed for a young Alain Delon,  invited me to their place on a couple of occasions. Great conversation, music, fine wine and dining. What a life for a 21-22 year old!  

A number of pupils boarded at the school, primarily foreign, but also better-off French kids, mainly girls who were very attractive. However, I managed to reject their advances and was glad I did, as I subsequently learned that previous English assistant teachers had been sacked and faced police enquiries. 

Looking back, I don’t think I ever did a full stint, as lessons would be cancelled or a film would be screened instead of actual learning. I still recall watching for the first time there a superb film from 1963 directed by Joseph Losey with the screenplay penned by Harold Pinter -The Servant, starring superb actors, including Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, Sarah Miles and Wendy Craig. It is a superb portrayal of the master-servant relationships in different areas of society, including religion. The story focuses on the ability of the working-class servant to gradually dominate his rich master.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend a viewing.

Naturally I never complained about the reduction in the workload. And then there were the few days in February when it snowed and school was cancelled as any minus temperature posed a risk to the children’s health.  Or I would have a valid excuse for doing less hours: on occasion I would be asked to take a trip to Nice to provide a voice-over for oral exams or speak about the experience of being an assistant, or talk on other programmes.

Outside of the curricula. I was also asked to replace a DJ on Sundays for a couple of weeks on a local radio channel, which gave me a chance to play 10CC, The Jam, George Michael, Queen, David Bowie, Talk Talk, Elvis Costello, the Specials, the Cure and many other bands. 

I was also asked to participation in the creation and acting in a play, naturally organised by a philosophy teacher who had a thing for drama, where I was the only male – no complaints – and which was staged twice and sold out. I did have a video recording once, but that disappeared at some point unfortunately. 

Evening discussions with the French business students, naturally accompanied by cheese and wine, were also entertaining. I enjoyed in particular the opportunity to discuss with Frank, a native of Cavaillon, the intellectual merits of the Rambo movies. I have to admit that I didn’t share his admiration of the films. I should have recommended that he contact Hollywood with his concepts.

The holidays were also packed and I didn’t return In Christmas 1985 I got to spend with Robin and my parents in Saint Quentin before seeing in the New Year in Paris and returning to the south after a short stay with Bruno. Meanwhile I enjoyed Easter holidays in Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin where Robin was studying and Minnesota where her parents lived. 

And then I had an unforgettable summer. But that is another story.