The hosts
Kate and Claudine, your hosts
Kate
My name is Kate and I’m originally from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. After graduating and working in London for a while, I came to France to teach English as a Foreign Language, getting a Masters in TEFL along the way, and thirty years plus 3 kids later, I’m still here! I work at English Apart, which is based in a lovely townhouse in Brest in Brittany. Our concept is simple and yet brilliantly effective: English language training entirely in immersion which provides a comfortable, stress-free learning environment plus encouraging, enthusiastic teachers who create engaging communication activities that really get people talking. When Claudine joined the English Apart team in 2021, we decided to join forces to explore the idea of extending the concept to include accommodation. Once we saw this lovely house in its gorgeous lakeside setting in Huelgoat, home to many British ex-pats, we knew it was the perfect place to combine English immersion stays with a high quality bed and breakfast – and so The Place to B and B was born!
Claudine
Born and bred in Brittany and more specifically in North Finistère, I was lucky enough to have grown up on a farm amid a large family. After graduating from an agricultural school, I took the opportunity to go and see the world, to broaden my experience of other cultures and meet new people. So I spent 3 years in North America (1 year in Quebec and 2 in the USA), then a year in New Zealand, followed by New Caledonia (6 years) and Paris (6 years), plus 3 years in Ireland before coming back to Brittany in 2009. Professionally I have turned my hand to all sorts of skills: from teaching on courses in farming, to coordinating training and setting up European projects, to selling flowers and crafting wood – and along the way meeting people, sharing a moment of friendship and new experiences before moving on. I met Kate last August at her language school in Brest and the timing was perfect: I was looking for work that involved tourism, coordinating, training, meeting different people and speaking plenty of English as well as being in a place I could decorate myself and create a peaceful, relaxing place full of positive feeling – co-running The Place to B and B ticks all these boxes so it must have been fate that brought me here!
