the essential
Arriving in the Gers 40 years ago, Nigel Prentki published a work of memories between a family album and a discovery guide to the department: “Life differently” savored in the Condomois.
His writing work could have remained within the family. Because it is above all not to lose these memories shared with his wife and children that Nigel Prentki took up his pen to recount the anecdotes which punctuated the life of his clan in the Gers, first during the holidays, then full-time for twenty years.
“It was about putting these memories on paper for the children, since our arrival in the Gers,” confirms Nigel.
An arrival which was also the result of chance. “My wife is Luzéene and we were looking for a destination in the South-West, first thinking of the Dordogne. Having found nothing there, we left our details with real estate agents in Gers and one of them found what we were looking for at the gates of Condom.”
The couple dreamed of this holiday home, as they often moved during Nigel's teaching career, for a long time in Great Britain, but also in Paris and Warsaw. As a result, this Gers house becomes the family home open during the holidays and then an anchor point for children who have grown up.
It is during these stays that everyone is introduced to life in Gers style with its exchanges with the neighborhood, the festivals of the small neighboring towns, the habits and customs that are sometimes exotic for Anglo-Saxons, and the discovery of the passion for ducks!
“I alternated anecdotes and somewhat romanticized memories, with evocations of Gers history and geography, highlights that punctuate the life of the department, and even typical expressions, which also makes the book a guide for the use of those who discover the Gers, the English in particular”.
Because if rugby was one of the axes of integration for Nigel, he recognizes that it was not so simple, but that the sweetness of life in the department trumps everything! “This is also why I wanted to distribute my work, to pay tribute to this region which has given us a lot, and to promote the Gers! »
“Life differently”, a guide full of humor which can be enjoyed in two versions, in French and in English.
