‘I love Austria since I was three years old,’ says Françoise Kuijpers (44) from Tiel. “With my parents we always went to Maria Alm, in summer and in winter. I loved it. If we were to leave on Friday, I would start packing the car the Wednesday before.”
“I lived there for years in my twenties. In the winter I gave ski lessons, in the summer I worked in a swimming pool or a souvenir shop. I also met my ex-husband Maarten, the father of my children, in Maria Alm: a Dutch Austria fan, just like me.
“I went back to the Netherlands with Maarten to start a family. I then became a physical education teacher. I enjoyed doing that for years, but then my vocal cords started to bother me. That’s why I had to stop.
“My dream was always to have a boarding house in Austria. Now I have something close to that. Last summer I took over a hotel restaurant in Gorinchem, together with my current boyfriend Sven. There we started a tapas restaurant, Tr3s Tapas Gorinchem.
“Tr3s Tapas is a franchise. That means that I have my own business, but there are also other branches of Tr3s Tapas in the Netherlands. You can eat unlimited tapas for a fixed price. Our tapas are not only Spanish, we call it ‘world tapas’. You can also order a mini steak with pepper sauce, which is more French, or ham with melon, which is more Italian. So everyone likes something from the menu.”
Fortified town
“In the hotel we have many people over sixty who are on a cycling holiday. Because you can cycle beautifully around here. Gorinchem has been chosen by the ANWB as the most beautiful fortified town in the Netherlands. My hotel used to be called Le Bon Apart, with a nod to Napoleon Bonaparte who visited Gorinchem [in 1811].
“When I started with Tr3s, I barely had any catering experience. And I still shouldn’t walk around with a tray full of wine glasses. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have my own restaurant. I think: you just have to do it. And I learn every day.
“Luckily I also have a good manager, Luuk, who has been working in the hospitality industry for six years. He’s 22 and I’m 44. So I have twice as much life experience. In this way we complement each other well.
“As a PE teacher, I have learned how to make sure that, if possible, everyone is having a good time in such a PE class, and I am used to working with young people. That serves me well now. I want my employees to enjoy their work. That is also the most fun for the guests.
“My friend Sven does the financial side of Tr3s, he is good with numbers. And he is regularly in the kitchen. Dishes are very important in a tapas place because we work with so many small plates and need clean plates all the time. If something goes wrong there, everything crashes!
“This summer I went to Maria Alm with Sven and the children for two weeks. During our holiday I entrusted Tr3s to Luuk and my assistant manager Shirley. We did put a brake on the number of guests during that period, so that cost turnover. But it was worth getting away for a while. It’s been pretty tough the past year getting this company up and running, so I really needed that rest.
“It was only during the first week in Maria Alm that I felt how tired I was. That week I left my computer completely off.
“Furthermore, the children have been with their father for another three weeks. He has a cottage in Maria Alm. I divorced him six and a half years ago. Eighteen months later I met Sven through dating site Lexa.nl. My profile said that I love skiing and Austria. Sven is too and, like me, has the Austrian diploma for ski instructor.
“We don’t live together, for various reasons. Sven is 51 and has children who are already adults: 22 and 25. I have even younger children and I am in a tight rhythm. Up early every day, taking kids to school and taxiing from school back to football. That’s a phase he’s already been through.
“In addition: Sven lives in the countryside, I live in a terraced house. When I step out the door in the morning, I hear ‘good morning, buuf!’ I love that, but Sven prefers the peace. When my children are with their father, I am usually with Sven and I also enjoy that calm.”
Stately mountains
“I am busy with my business seven days a week, even if it is only five minutes a day. I work a total of fifty hours a week. Very different from when I taught gym class! Then I worked in blocks of six, seven weeks – from holiday to holiday, and only three days a week anyway. Now I have my own business and I work harder, but that doesn’t matter. I like it, even though I only have two or three weeks of vacation a year.
“In my kitchen there is a large calendar on which I put our whole life: which child goes to football when, or to the dentist, when I want to make a big pot of soup, when my parents come to babysit.
“Some people get tired when they hear how I live. But I love being busy! I have always exercised a lot and am very fit. That helps to keep up the hard work. I always fall asleep immediately at night and wake up rested every morning.
“And well, why do I love Austria so much? I just love the mountains. Maria Alm is a beautiful village. And you can enjoy sports in Austria, so that also suits me, sporty as I am. You see the great, stately mountains. Then everything seems less important, as if life becomes smaller and clearer. You have fewer incentives than in the Netherlands. It gives me peace of mind. My dream is to be able to spend my retirement in good health in Austria.”
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A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper on August 26, 2023.