• Pages

  • Special Places to Stay
  • - South Africa
  • - France
  • Special Places to Eat
  • - South Africa
  • - France

• Property Rentals

  • France
  • South Africa
  • - Knysna

• Recent Articles

  • Simply (Snowy) Provence
  • A Week in Provence Winter ‘12 [5]
  • Madame’s Magic Moments
  • The ‘Paris’ has gone up a Notch
  • Madame’s Magic Moments
  • Madame’s Magic Moments
  • La Neige! Snow in the Luberon
  • Footsteps - Essential Luberon Valley Guide
  • Madame’s Magic Moments
  • Madame’s Magic Moments

• Archives

  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008

• Search

   

  

Down the D900 national road from Menerbes lies the old Roman town of Apt. To-day, it boasts a great Saturday market, an atmospheric old town and some great little restaurants, some dear friends but certainly is not a tourist hub.

Industrial areas encircle the town of 12,000 people and, unfortunately as a consequence of the European economy, unemployment is high. It was into one of these industrial zones that we went in search of the headquarters of the lighting company, Blachere. It’s situated just off the little road to the hill top village of Saint Saturnin-des-Apt and you can;t miss it - a huge green building covered in bright stars and twinkly things.

Blachere is a world leader in festive, Christmas and ornamental lighting. amazing to believe that this factory is not in Chine, but in Apt! Think Times Square, the Ginza, thousands and thousands of large Christmas displays are all crafted and manufactured in the Apt workshops.

We popped in. The wedding needs lights! The store is a wonderland and we picked out a few gems for approval.

A few weeks ago, Mark and Arnem came to stay for the weekend. Last week, the telephone rang and our friendly DHL man was in the parking area - ‘une colis pour vous’. Two cookery books tumbled out of the amazon packaging - Otto Lenghi’s The Cookbook and another Otto Lenghi Plenty.

It takes a lot to get Madame away from the latest Ken Follett or her Provençal books, but these have succeeded. This weekend saw two delicious creations -and they were vegetarian!

We have been busily painting the Doll Museum and, as happens, either you run out of paint at the moment critique, or the suggestion is floated that the final coat should maybe be a different colour to that originally selected! Of to our local paint shop Arc-en-Ciel in Coustellet and what do we find outside? An example of local creativity! Quite different you must admit!

Au bientot : Lovonne and Simon xx

So-named in honour of the great street food in the French capital, the Paris has long been a firm favourite amongst our family and friends - especially the boys. A superb lunch or supper dish, it is a baguette, with mustard, ham, viennas and melted cheese all grilled together and served piping hot with the obligatory tomato sauce (or if your name is Will, then you add Tabasco).

Over the weekend, Madame decided to lift the bar and created the Bastide -

Here we go:

Baguette sliced and smothered  in Maille 1747 mustard

Lay over sliced ham, folded to add quantity (this is more important than presentation)

Thinly sliced red onion (I’m told that the red one is very important for taste) placed on top

Sliced knackis (the French derivative of a good old-fashioned vienna sausage) on topSprinkle over grated Compte or Gruyere cheese

Use up the remainder of the onion on top

Grill in the oven till crisp (don’t burn - a catastrophe!)

Serve hot with lashing of Heinz tomato sauce, and if you’re feeling healthy, raw sliced tomato

Tuesday 31st January 2012. Back came the snow and the rest of the week sees temperatures sliding down as far as -12 degrees C. They say it’s a front from Siberia. We live in Provence and do not like Siberia.

However,it’s very beautiful. Let’s hope that it melts quickly and that there is now collateral damage. At least the olive trees have had their branches shaken to prevent cracking and breaking.

Although Maison Olive is still full for another three weeks before it too closes for a month and the new terrace building episode commences, we have been luxuriating in the free time afforded during this time of the year when you can get things done.

Like fetching fire wood. Erica was here for a month. That means, plenty of fires! At this time of the year, the search is for small, dry pieces of wood. We managed to find some and not being able to wait for a delivery, we did the work ourselves!

January and February are really peaceful times when many restaurants and shops take their annual leave but the construction folk move into full swing with he deadline of the season approaching.

It’s also a time to enjoy our surrounds and look at what’s new in Menerbes….. I nearly forgot!! Madame has been given a new MacBook Pro by Erica, she has her iPad courtesy of William and my Orange fidelity points stumped up for a new iPhone 4GS. Tech support, is here and present.

Au bientot: Lovonne and Simon xx

Next Page →

• Blog Roll

  • 2 Oceans Vibe - what the kids are reading!
  • Crikey - what they don’t publish in Oz
  • Dan Retief - The one rugby journalist you can rely on to talk sense - Dan knows the game!
  • Getaway Guru - Great travel site with many hints and tips
  • Noseweek - news you’re not supposed to know
  • Popyacollar - A leading edge look at fashions and trends
  • Provence Villa Rental - the ultimate property rental in France
  • Thought Leadership Strategy - Craig Badings - Craig is one of Australia’s leading PR practitioners. His views on Thought Leadership and Strategy are always worth reading
  • Wrestling Possums - The doyen of PR, Chris Savage, gives this site his unique brand of incisiveness. A must read if you’re interested in communications.

• Other Links