written in my kitchen

Super indulgent - definitely! But there we are - someone has to keep up the hedonistic traditions - if only in a fairly mild-ish way; such was our day out last Thursday in the region of Beaujolais. In my head, I always think of ‘Beaujolais’ as a word-picture - one...

From Calais we head south: first stop, Cambrai. A truly northern French town. Pockmarks of shrapnel still scar the walls of those buildings that survived the onslaught of two World Wars. Yet Cambrai has a feeling of solidity and permanence, its name forever enshrined...

First Blog - phew! And so many directions in which to go. I could come over all sort of philosophical or maybe be a bit ‘preachey’? I could try to guess what you, my small audience, might want to read about and write something upon those lines or I could just get on...

It is a good few years since we were last in The Netherlands. Though we love the country and the people, the food was rubbish then and not a lot has changed since. (Perhaps that is a little harsh and I do admit to being fairly partial to street food - mussels, smoked...

All manner of eccentric life passes by as one sits snacking on a sandwich jambon and a glass of wine at the French equivalent of a car boot sale.This is the ubiquitous vide grenier, something found all over the country, otherwise known as a brocante, marché aux...

A short stay in our Burgundy ‘hovel’ by son and partner turned, as ever, into a quick gallop round some of the various growers whose wines we hold in high esteem. They, son and partner, live on the island of Majorca which boasts a lively and innovative wine industry...