Its snowing in Les Bassacs, a bit slushy, but little by little . . .
Friday, December 7, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Menerbes
I am reading Elizabeth David: A Mediterranean Passion by Lisa Chaney and in the book there is an account of Elizabeth David's winter spent in Menerbes with a picture of the house she rented with some friends.
The house is Le Castellet which those of you who have been painting in Menerbes will instantly recognise as the distinctive house at the extreme western point of the village.
On a particularly cold and windy day like today, I was amused to read about her struggles to cope in a draughty house in the middle of a Provencal winter. She says "the weather has been a disgrace, the place as cold and wet as Charity". They battle to keep warm around a log fire that they have to keep stocked with prodigious amounts of wood whilst being driven mad by the “relentless screaming” of the Mistral. Well its not as bad as all that here, but I know the kind of winter she is writing of.
I have a vintage (tattered and torn) treasured copy of her book French Country Cooking, with beautiful illustrations by John Minton, from which I often cook. She was reading the proofs of the book whilst staying in Menerbes.
The house is Le Castellet which those of you who have been painting in Menerbes will instantly recognise as the distinctive house at the extreme western point of the village.
On a particularly cold and windy day like today, I was amused to read about her struggles to cope in a draughty house in the middle of a Provencal winter. She says "the weather has been a disgrace, the place as cold and wet as Charity". They battle to keep warm around a log fire that they have to keep stocked with prodigious amounts of wood whilst being driven mad by the “relentless screaming” of the Mistral. Well its not as bad as all that here, but I know the kind of winter she is writing of.
I have a vintage (tattered and torn) treasured copy of her book French Country Cooking, with beautiful illustrations by John Minton, from which I often cook. She was reading the proofs of the book whilst staying in Menerbes.
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