Letter 04 from France

Victor Hugo for kids

Name: Galette comtoise
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 to 8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 250 ml water (or half milk, half water); 125 g butter, plus a little for the tin; 50 g caster sugar; A pinch of salt; 250 g plain flour; 4 eggs; 2 tablespoons orange blossom water (or the zest of 1 orange); 1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon milk, to glaze; A fève or a dried bean (optional)

Victor Hugo for kids: the boy who dreamed big, the book that saved Notre-Dame, 19 years of exile and 4,000 secret drawings.

Old photograph of Victor Hugo with white hair and a white beard, in a dark suit — Victor Hugo in 1876, at the age of 74.

Bonjour!

It's Nathalie! The leaves are falling from the trees and autumn is here… the perfect time to curl up somewhere warm with a good book!

Today, I want to tell you about a man whose books are read all over the world! Perhaps you know Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of Notre-Dame? Or Jean Valjean and little Cosette from Les Misérables? But do you know the man who invented them? So let me introduce you to one of the most famous authors in French literature: Monsieur Victor Hugo!

Read it in French

C'est Nathalie ! Les feuilles tombent des arbres, l'automne est là… c'est le moment parfait pour s'installer bien au chaud avec un bon livre !

Aujourd'hui, je vais te parler d'un homme dont les livres sont lus dans le monde entier ! Tu connais peut-être Quasimodo, le sonneur de cloches de Notre-Dame ? Ou encore Jean Valjean et la petite Cosette des Misérables ? Mais connais-tu l'homme qui les a inventés ? Laisse-moi donc te présenter un des auteurs les plus célèbres de la littérature française : Monsieur Victor Hugo !

Nathalie

In this letter

A young boy full of dreams
Quasimodo and the cathedral
A man who says no
Les Misérables
The secret artist
A hero for a whole country

Did you know?

In real life, Hugo does a bit like Bishop Myriel in Les Misérables: on Guernsey, every week, he invites poor children from the island to have dinner at his house!

French words to learn

Français	English
un écrivain	a writer
un poète	a poet
un roman	a novel
une cathédrale	a cathedral
une cloche	a bell
l'exil	exile
une île	an island
la liberté	freedom
la bonté	kindness
un dessin	a drawing

Free printable: Victor Hugo word search

Find 16 French words about Victor Hugo, from "écrivain" to "dentelle", in this word search from the Discovery Sheets that come with the letter. Print it on A4.

Download the PDF

The full Discovery Sheets come with every letter. Your first letter is free.

Recipe: Galette comtoise

Victor Hugo was born in Besançon, the capital of Franche-Comté, in the east of France. There, families celebrate Epiphany (6 January) with a galette comtoise: a soft, flat cake made from choux pastry and scented with orange blossom. A fève (a tiny charm) is hidden inside, and whoever finds it in their slice is crowned king or queen for the day! But you don't have to wait for January: it is delicious at any time, with a glass of milk or a hot chocolate.

Prep 25 min · Cooking 35 min · Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

250 ml water (or half milk, half water)
125 g butter, plus a little for the tin
50 g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
250 g plain flour
4 eggs
2 tablespoons orange blossom water (or the zest of 1 orange)
1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon milk, to glaze
A fève or a dried bean (optional)

What you need

A saucepan
A wooden spoon
A round tin (about 26 cm)
A pastry brush and a fork

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (180°C fan). Butter the tin.
With an adult: put the water, the butter cut into pieces, the sugar and the salt in the saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted and the mixture just starts to boil.
Take the pan off the heat, tip in all the flour at once and stir hard with the wooden spoon. Put it back on a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, still stirring, until the dough forms a ball that comes away from the sides of the pan.
Take it off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one: the dough should become smooth, shiny and thick.
Stir in the orange blossom water. Now hide the fève in the dough!
Spread the dough in the tin, about 2 cm thick. Brush the top with the egg yolk mixed with the milk, then draw a criss-cross pattern with a fork.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until puffed up and golden. Don't open the oven door during the first 20 minutes, or your galette may sink! Let it cool a little before cutting… and may the best king or queen win!