Flavie Flament: “I like learning from others”

Registered on the markets, Flavie in France makes your mouth water. Can you introduce us to this show in a few words?

It’s a show that feels like the people who watch it. It promotes those who are not heard enough, and resists the ambient gloom, by highlighting the beauties of our regions and the know-how of the artisans, artists, or cooks who live there.

What does this show reveal about you?

It highlights what I am deeply: a girl from the provinces who has a permanent need to be in contact with others to learn from them.

Your latest cultural favorite?

I wanted to live, the latest book by Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre, which I am currently finishing. I am touched by its heroine, Milady, a woman who is at once intriguing, powerful, and suffering.

A hidden talent?

I am the queen of the stove. Always instinct, inspired by what I discover in France or in my travels. These days, it’s quite exotic: Thai-style tuna, plantains…

A Proust madeleine?

Do you know petrichor? Under this pretty word hides the smell of earth and grass after the rain. It reminds me of those early mornings when I went to feed the broodmares with my grandfather who had a stud farm near Cherbourg (Manche).

Great moments of joy.

We give you three days, a backpack, and no car. Where are you going?

I am from Normandy, but my heart is in Brittany.

So I would set off on the coastal paths of Aber Wrac’h, at the end of Finistère.

A tree that inspires you?

The ladder tree, a tree work of art by François Méchain. It is located in the magnificent park of the Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire (Loir-et-Cher) where the International Garden Festival is organized. I’ll hug him once a year.

Someone you pray for?

When I enter a church, I light a candle for my two children and for the man I love.

You meet Pope Leo, what question is burning on your lips?

For the moment, this pope is rather discreet. In our world where we make everything we do public, he’s a bit of a contrarian. I would like to talk about it with him, to understand if this bodes well for a new way of being pope.