I’m starting to think about visitors and spring and holidaymakers and travel, everywhere we go there are little signs that the tourist season will soon be well underway and I have this nagging question that I cannot ignore but I cannot answer it alone and so I thought who better to ask than all of you. Continue reading “What is the Fascination with France ?”
Tag: French Lifestyle
Happy Thanksgiving
I remember once receiving a phone call one late November evening from a friend in America. Izzi was a baby, so it must have been 21 years ago; the friend said it was a tradition, and he always phoned a few friends he particularly wanted to remember each Thanksgiving. We chatted for a while and the conversation drifted onto normal things, the weather, this and that, but the memory of what was essentially a special telephone-call has never left me. Continue reading “Happy Thanksgiving”
Our French Lifestyle
Dreams really do come true, at least sometimes with just a little patience, and this is something I have had to wait for for nearly three years. But today, that dream comes true. Continue reading “Our French Lifestyle”
Slow Living French Style
I’m feeling the pressure of life a little at the moment. Many of us, whether we have high powered careers or are stay-at-home mothers, may feel our lives have become overly frenetic, and I know many of us find ourselves chasing our tails in an attempt to keep up. Making sure the wheels carry on turning in this merry-go-round of the 21st Century can be difficult, especially when the urge for instant gratification is all the rage. Continue reading “Slow Living French Style”
You Know You Are On a French Beach When…
September started with a whimper, bringing damp conditions and cool temperatures to our area, a bonus for our parched garden but not appealing to the last of the visitors still enjoying the scenery. It seemed that the conditions had set in for good and we heard mutterings about the arrival of an early cold autumn until one fine morning we woke to bright sunlight and the sound of a garden full of sunbathing birds; our Indian Summer had arrived! Summer itself may be over but we’re not quite ready to give up the sun loungers, bikinis, suncream and sand just yet, so read on because today, for a spot of fun, I am taking a humorous look at French beach etiquette! Continue reading “You Know You Are On a French Beach When…”
French Markets, Autumn and Old Fashioned Cookery
Oh Sun it is so nice to see you once more, and also to welcome your twin, warmth; I am so happy to make your acquaintance again. For I can no longer kid myself that we are in the last few days of summer. There is no hiding behind whichever theory one chooses to believe, for whether we follow the meteorological calendar or the astrological one, either way it is now autumn and the signs of the new season are all around, in the garden, on the streets and at the market.
Continue reading “French Markets, Autumn and Old Fashioned Cookery”
Black Eyed Susan
Days like these, when it isn’t really summer but it’s not quite autumn either; we’re in that in between-season, the nomansland of the calendar. Did summer really go by in the blink of an eye? Is it really over? There are days when I am quite sure it will go on forever, our doors and windows are still open, the sun is still hot on our backs and the leaves have not yet started to fall. But when the wind picks up it has that slight chill; the mornings and evenings have turned a little cooler and the rain, absent for so many weeks, has made its return. Continue reading “Black Eyed Susan”
The First Days of September
Some seventeen years ago, when we were starting out on the journey of schools with our children, meeting mothers and parents at the school gates for the first time and starting a completely new phase in our lives, I remember one mother who I had quite recently met bringing her daughter over to spend an afternoon with Izzi. It was a beautiful summer’s day and the girls played in the garden for hours. When the girl’s mother came to collect her in the evening she gave us a huge bowl of raspberries; they were from her garden and she had just picked them and I remember thinking, how I would love to be able to do that some day. And I still think of that moment quite often – it’s what has inspired me to always grow an excess amount of everything. Continue reading “The First Days of September”
PEACE AND TRANQUILITY
I wanted to make a feast. I had an insane urge to cook and create and make everything homely and perfect. Why? Probably because I’ve been away more than I’ve been home this past month, and apart from the Auvergne there haven’t been breaks or holidays, long or short. It’s just been a long litany of hectic days away, tennis, business, children, and anything else you can think of. I just haven’t been home. So often have I left the house at 6.00am or 7.00am and returned around 9.00pm. Roddy has held the fort quite perfectly, obviously, usually accompanied by at least one or more of our children. But I’ve been on the road with the others; I have driven more kilometres than I dare to count and let’s just say I am a dab hand at filling up with diesel, again and again and again! Continue reading “PEACE AND TRANQUILITY”
Building a Potager
My vision for our garden was always to create somewhere enchanting; somewhere that had a romantic feel, I imagined a place where one could float around while wearing a swirling skirt with a glass of champagne in hand. I didn’t want anywhere that would be taken too seriously, instead I wanted somewhere that would delight the senses, fuel the imagination and be easy to maintain. But above all else there had to be somewhere that provided edible treats. If you have ever eaten a warm sun-ripened tomato straight from the vine, you will know that the taste far outweighs anything bought in the chilled section of the grocery store.
Our French Oasis 