From Past to Present - the literary tradition continues in Tours

In addition to studying representative authors of the Romantic period, and the Renaissance who lived in and around Tours, our group had the opportunity to meet with a contemporary author, François Bon, who came to the university to discuss his own literary heritage and how he has been influenced by the giants of letters who came before him. A hometown boy from Tours, he was certainly following in some big footsteps. He has travelled widely and was very excited that there was a Canadian in the group as he just returned from a month in Montréal, Toronto and Winnipeg where he had discovered some French Canadian authors he did not know. I was very glad to have pulled out the "Canadian nationality card" here! He wrote me a very nice inscription on the cover of one of his novels which I am eager to read. I was reminded once again and how the education system in Europe is superior to ours in North America in certain ways. Based on the classic system (le système latin), it is virtually impossible to pass le bac (exam after high school) without knowing the major literary and historical periods in France and be able to cite key authors and works. Much of the work done in le lycée français is accomplished at the university level in North America sometimes years after high school.