John’s birthday lunch at the Cristal Room, Baccarat Museum. Michael has talked about taking me the Baccarat Cristal Room restaurant for a long time; usually our visits to Paris are too short. Now, we have time as we are staying for 3 nights in The Arsenal, the barge mooring, right in the centre of Paris, [...]
Armchair travel back to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence – the birthplace of Nostradamus! My friend and colleague in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Karen Stride, established her Gourmet Escapades in Saint-Rémy, last year, and is living ‘My French life’ as described by Vicki Archer in her book of that name! January is my reading time and I treasure every moment. [...]
La Madeleine, with 2 star Michelin chef, Patrick Gauthier, was the special highlight dinner during my 2007 stay at La Varenne residential cooking school in Burgundy. Coming back to Sens this time on the barge was a wonderful opportunity for us to book La Madeleine and for me to meet up with Chef [...]
After my wonderful few days in Paris, I eventually met up with Michael who arrived from Australia late last Friday night. Instead of going into Paris for the night, we chose to stay at an airport hotel, ready for our early departure Saturday morning. We drove for the 3 hours to Bar-le-Duc, where our friend [...]
One of the special buildings in Marrakesh is the El Bahia Palace; it was built for Ahmed Ibn Moussa between 1894 and 1900 in the Alawi style that was popular at the time. Craftsmen were brought from Fez to work on this monumental task which took approximately fifteen years to complete. It is said that [...]
Mint tea is an integral part of Moroccan life and the Moroccans drink it all day - at the beginning of the meals and as a welcome to guests. It is often served with little pastries, cakes and biscuit treats. In the Berber villages they tend to use just one mint, we often used a [...]
Travelling in France is one of my wonderful joys in life. I love the beautiful countryside, the delightful and interesting people, the history of the places we visit, plus of course French food and wine. On each visit I look forward to a few special dinners or lunches at some wonderful restaurants and brasseries, both [...]
Going into the Sahara Desert was an amazing experience. The scenery is very beautiful, extremely colourful, bright oranges, browns, greys and the occasional greens in the oases; quite spell-binding and full of contrasts...a memorable journey with an expert guide and host in Edwina who has spent years discovering these hidden gems. Thank you Edwina - [...]
We are here at last with Edwina and the House of Fusion, Marrakesh. What are we doing so far? Driving along through the Tizn Test Pass passing earth built hillside villages along the route. A picnic in a little gorge in the Atlas mountains along side a river bubbling quietly over stones... Visiting [...]
January is always a precious time for me. The cooking school is in recess and I spend the month at Kureelpa, Sunshine Coast, where On the Ridge Cooking School was created. It this idyllic place with wonderful valley views and further out to the Coral Sea, surrounded by peace and tranquillity, warmth and blue skies. [...]
