Provencal Armchair Travel: Mary Stewart’s Madam, Will You Talk?
I love Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels: their sense of adventure and intriguing storylines, their strong-willed heroines, and most of all, their transporting settings. Her first, published in 1955, was Madam, Will You Talk?. Book Review The narrative takes place around 1950, in a hot, dusty Provence where Roman ruins …
I love Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels: their sense of adventure and intriguing storylines, their strong-willed heroines, and most of all, their transporting settings. Her first, published in 1955, was Madam, Will You Talk?. Book Review The narrative takes place around 1950, in a hot, dusty Provence where Roman ruins …
Who was Artist Nicolas de Staël and his Connection to Le Castellet in Ménerbes
One trail always leads to another…and so my discovery that the cookery writer Elizabeth David lived for some months in a large house in Ménerbes far more associated with another famous name from the 1950s inevitably made me want out find out more about the artist Nicolas de Staël. Who …
One trail always leads to another…and so my discovery that the cookery writer Elizabeth David lived for some months in a large house in Ménerbes far more associated with another famous name from the 1950s inevitably made me want out find out more about the artist Nicolas de Staël. Who …
Discovering Author Elizabeth David French Country Cooking at Ménerbes
Of all the British women writers of the mid-20th century, perhaps it is cookery author Elizabeth David who brought most colour and sensuousness to the page – and to the table. When she wrote about aubergines, courgettes, garlic and aromatic herbs, these were exotic rarities in the grey of Britain’s …
Of all the British women writers of the mid-20th century, perhaps it is cookery author Elizabeth David who brought most colour and sensuousness to the page – and to the table. When she wrote about aubergines, courgettes, garlic and aromatic herbs, these were exotic rarities in the grey of Britain’s …
French Resistance WWII Secret Landings in the Vaucluse
Tales of the French Resistance during World War II have an enduring appeal. The wooded paths and mountain plateaux in the Vaucluse made ideal terrain for the secret fight to liberate France, and clandestine airdrops of arms and agents by the British RAF are the stuff of legend around the …
Tales of the French Resistance during World War II have an enduring appeal. The wooded paths and mountain plateaux in the Vaucluse made ideal terrain for the secret fight to liberate France, and clandestine airdrops of arms and agents by the British RAF are the stuff of legend around the …
Provencal Lavender – off the beaten track
When the lavender is harvested in Provence at the end of July, a heavenly scent is carried on warm evening breezes. Alerted by the first wafts of perfumed air, from our terrace we can sometimes see the smoke rising from the other side of a small ridge. The distillation has …
When the lavender is harvested in Provence at the end of July, a heavenly scent is carried on warm evening breezes. Alerted by the first wafts of perfumed air, from our terrace we can sometimes see the smoke rising from the other side of a small ridge. The distillation has …
A Hamlet in the Luberon
Almost ten years ago, we bought a run-down house in the Luberon. Actually, it was rather more than a house: it’s un hameau, a hamlet of several buildings overlooking the long sweep of the Luberon hills and the valley. ‘It has a very special atmosphere,’ said the agent who took …
Almost ten years ago, we bought a run-down house in the Luberon. Actually, it was rather more than a house: it’s un hameau, a hamlet of several buildings overlooking the long sweep of the Luberon hills and the valley. ‘It has a very special atmosphere,’ said the agent who took …