La vie est Belle

A bike ride along the river Belle, Deux-Sèvres

La Vie est Belle

 

September, how could you, my birth month, have been so disappointing weatherwise this year? I have vivid memories of September 2004, our first full month in France, where temperatures regularly topped 30º, breakfasts, lunches and dinners were eaten outside, and it seemed summers in France would go on forever.

Looking back on twenty years of photos, sunny days, hot bike rides, touristy days out under blue skies, and sultry vistas of our orchard looking crisp and dry at the end of the season are far more common than the low-hung grey skies, vivid greens of soggy water-logged land and the stormy days you have showered on us this year.

Had we been blessed with a summer of endless sunny days a moist September might have come as a welcome relief. As it was, summer had hardly seemed to get going as August drew to a close, and I was eagerly anticipating a September where foggy mornings gave way to hot afternoons, where despite the shortening of the days, evenings were still warm enough to be outdoor events. The disappointment of a September that has been so far from my expectations has been hard to accept.

Terra Aventura parcours, Exireuil, Deux-Sèvres

As October arrives, so does the ominous date of the 14^th, marking exactly one year since the weather turned, becoming wet and unsettled following a gorgeous six-week period of late summer heat. This year, I think I’d be hard pushed to count six decent, hot days in the last six weeks, but I do know we have made the most of them, often following the routes and answering the questions on the Terra Aventura geocaching app. This has seen us clambering over boulders in the river gorge, as we explored les puits d’enfer (hell’s wells) in Exireuil, alongside the military town of Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole in the Deux-Sèvres, as well as discovering hidden gems in Civray and Charroux in the Vienne.

A September sunset ride

The Bromptons continue to be our faithful companions, whether to and from work, enjoying rarely glimpsed sunsets after work, or the glowing autumnal colours of Chef-Boutonne on market day. We also discovered the Belle valley, less than thirty kilometres from home, where lavoirs, lost lanes and fairy bridges hidden in the trees reminded us that la vie est belle, life is beautiful (whatever the weather).

Sunshine in Charmé, Charente

I have yet to cycle my traditional 100km in a day birthday bike ride, something I have been doing since September 2015, although we did manage a fabulous 93km on the 20^th September. Our route took us through the Charente vineyards ripe with fruit, past Romanesque churches, lavoirs and fields of sunflowers with drooping seed heads, awaiting harvest. In Mansle, on the banks of the Charente River, we enjoyed a coup de soleil from a local patisserie. This new to us delight had a base of an apricot clafoutis with a lightly whipped topping of crème patisserie and Chantilly cream and was a real burst of sunshine in our mouths. Sadly, with storm clouds and thunder rolling in around us, we didn’t risk adding on the required seven kilometres to hit the 100. Ten days later and it seems the stormy showers and high winds, although interspersed with sunny spells, are still with us. I’ve had enough. Like the lizards I watch soaking up the heat on the steps of the château, I need to recharge my solar panels before winter arrives.

I can only hope that October gives us some respite from the cold and damp before winter truly sets in. 

  

The good, the bad and the ugly of life in rural France

Sunflowers and sunny skies

As we approach our twentieth anniversary of arriving in France, we have experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of rural French life - and all in one week. 

Note - to keep things on a happy note, all the photos in this blog are from our days out enjoying the sunshine.

The Cognac vineyards

The good

Since my last post about the year without a summer, we were treated to almost four continuous days of sunshine and heat, which miraculously coincided with days off work for both of us. It would have been the ideal time to head away, but that wasn’t possible with Mini the dog’s age-related issues – which are to be expected now she is 16 ½. Not ones to waste our days lounging around, we set off on the bikes every afternoon, exploring some hidden gems in the Charente vineyards, and Marais-Poitevin marshes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on our skin. This felt so good after bike rides in the rain, cycling into head winds, or summer commutes cool enough to cause goosepimples and runny noses. There is something quite special about real summer cycling where you learn to appreciate the subtle temperature changes as you ride into the shade of the trees, or follow a cooling river, enjoying the caressing breeze as you move through the air.

 

We drank in the endless vistas of smiling sunflowers, saw young deer sheltering in the vineyards, dusty combine harvesters working the wheat fields, and stopped to admire old lavoirs or wash houses. We fuelled our 235kms of pedalling with patisserie stops where croissants, éclairs (coffee and Grand Marnier) and tartelettes (apple and lemon) were appreciated on shady benches. Summer in rural France is good.

 

Grand Marnier éclair

The bad

Despite getting much less usage than the bikes, the time had come to replace all four tyres on our car. Adrian got a few online quotes before booking an appointment at Feu Vert in Niort, paying up front as requested. We live about an hour’s drive from Niort and as we approached the garage, in plenty of time for our appointment, the phone rang. The line wasn’t good, but I understood enough to realise that the tyres hadn’t been delivered, so they were calling to cancel the appointment to fit them. This was frustrating. They had taken our money four days ago and we’d now committed to a two-hour round trip, to coincide with our days off, and had nothing to show for it. Had we lived closer, we might have been able to save ourselves the wasted journey, but this is one of the downsides to living in rural France. Thankfully, it wasn’t all bad as cancelling the order was straightforward and the full refund arrived within the 48 hours promised. Adrian is now back online, searching and checking availability of four low-profile, all-season tyres.

 

Romanesque church, Charente

The ugly

Heading out and about from the village this last week, the vehicles we have seen more of even than the combine harvesters, have been Gendarme vans, normally a pretty unusual sight around here. There were convoys of them in Niort, heavily manned check points appeared on the way in and out of Chef-Boutonne and the only car that we saw on the quiet backroads heading to the château on Sunday morning, was a Gendarme. The reason for this activity is the controversial construction of mega-bassines or huge water reservoirs, that has put our local area on the global map.

 

The idea behind the reservoirs is that farmers who irrigate their crops build a reservoir, fill it from the rivers over winter, so they won’t run out of water during the drier summer months. Sounds simple, but this causes a massive imbalance for the local ecosystem and water table levels, that affects us all, purely for the benefit of a few farmers who choose to grow water-thirsty (mainly maize) crops. Add to this the huge financial costs to their construction, that are massively funded by the state, along with the responsibility we all have to conserve water, and this has become a highly controversial topic. Greta Thunberg was among the activists visiting the pop-up water village in Melle over the weekend, and she shared the following about the reservoirs on social media:

 

“Construction of mega-basins have accelerated in recent years partly as a result of the climate crisis and more intense and frequent droughts. But this is no way a solution…This only digs us deeper into an already deeply flawed policy-system that benefits big agro-industrial interests representing a small minority of farmers, while ruining the environment and destabilising the climate”.

Cycling the Sèvre Niortais in the Marais Poitevin

 

I am not a fan of the bassines, but when thousands of protestors from all over the world arrive in our quiet corner of France, accompanied by thousands more Gendarmes, riot police and helicopters, the situation quickly got ugly. Whilst many protestors were genuine, there were others who had weapons confiscated, and I can’t help but think of the negative environmental impact of all these extra vehicles on the roads.

 

So as not to finish on an ugly note, something else happened last week that highlights why we are happy with our rural French village life. At the same moment we were about to fill the boot of the car with lots of garden waste to take to the tip eight kilometres away, the village gardener’s truck pulled up outside and Monsieur began to unload the commune’s lawnmower. When he saw what we were doing, he took one side of our loaded groundsheet and with Adrian’s help emptied it into the truck, saving us an afternoon’s work. That is why he will always find a cup of coffee by our front gate when he turns up to mow the patch outside our house in the mornings.

 

Tartlettes au citron et aux pommes

I’m working this week, so I hope summer returns and encourages lots of visitors to enjoy all that the Château de Javarzay has to offer. 

My declutter challenge this Lent

A family meal out at N@APH79

Manic March

February left us with a shiver as the March winds arrived early. The last few mornings of the month were 0ºc with an icy easterly wind giving a real feel of -10ºc. It was the sort of weather that encouraged comfort eating and we don’t need much encouraging to stray from the healthy track. While chunky vegetable soups and lentil with sweet potato bakes ticked the box for healthy and comforting, we also indulged in one of our favourite cheesy mountain dishes, tartiflette. Even served with a side salad this oven baked potato and melted reblochon cheese dish can’t really be classed as healthy. When Ed and Pearl visit, a meal at the village restaurant is a must, the raclette cheese featuring on the pizzas and in the burgers.

Bugnes for Mardi Gras

 

As February drew to a close, Lent arrived, and here in France, it brought with it more tasty temptations. I know, traditionally, Lent is a time to do without, but it seems no one has told our local boulangerie that. In our area of France, Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is celebrated with bugnes, a light doughnut-type delicacy. The weekend before Lent, we treated ourselves to a bugne each when they were tantalisingly left on display at the till at the boulangerie. A week later when we cycled in for coffee and croissants at the market, despite Lent having started, the tempting bugnes were still there and so we treated ourselves once more. Would you believe it, but yesterday, for the third Saturday in a row, the same thing happened? In our defence, the March wind has made cycling quite hard work, and we’ve also taken on another challenge this Lent that has certainly been hard work, both physically and mentally.

My Lent declutter challenge, day 4

 

40 mins a day, for 40 days

Lent is a time to give something up and I have struck gold on an idea to tackle the clutter in a mega Spring clean this Lent. The plan is simple, spend 40 minutes a day, for the 40 days of Lent, and fill one bag of something every day, to be sold, recycled, or donated. By focussing on one cupboard, or set of drawers, or cluttered corner at a time, and setting a time limit, I won’t get too overwhelmed by the task in hand, something I know I’ve had a problem with in the past. I can’t be the only one who has emptied an entire wardrobe onto the bed and then run out of time and energy deciding what stays and what goes, resulting in more piles on the floor than there were before I started, and a job that never seems to get finished.

My Lent declutter challenge, day 8

 

We are now on day twelve and so far, so good. I’ve sorted through and reorganised all my clothes, shoes, cycling gear and handbags, plus the large wicker storage baskets on top of the wardrobes. I am ashamed to admit that these contained more scarves, gloves and shoes than I even remember owning. As each day’s bag has been filled, the contents have been sorted, and I’ve cycled 27km just going back and forth to the recycling point at the end of the village, occasionally adding in a loop around the allotments.

 

I’m not sure who has been more traumatised by this unusual behaviour, Adrian or the dog. While he has embraced my madness and matched it, clearing a carload of old and obsolete electronics from the dumping ground we once called a dining room, he’s also rolled his eyes more than once at some of my mad ideas. Poor Mini, however is finding it all quite upsetting. Gone is the calm of inactivity she has grown accustomed to, and while she watches suspiciously as we sort through piles and shelves, the minute we start loading the car, or moving bags and boxes out, she is at our heals. “Are you going somewhere? You won’t move house and leave me, will you?”. Poor Mini.

 

Finding a treasure of memories from 2010

Some of our finds have included love letters from over 25yrs ago, an empty pink champagne bottle that neither of us can remember the occasion for which we drank the contents, and a folder full of holiday receipts, maps and the itinerary from our 2010 road trip for Adrian's 40th birthday. 

French Entrée Magazine article Mar/Apr 2012

I also found lots of magazine articles going back over ten years where the blog and our life in France were featured (including one about the 2010 road trip). Adrian managed to fill an entire bag with socks he never wears. 

A curious find in our curiosity's cabinet

Then there was the dead lizard in our curiosity’s cabinet, and while no one can claim that isn’t a curious thing to have, I’m not sure it’s something we need to hang on to.

 

Whilst I would love a place for everything and everything tidied away in its place, this exercise has made me realise that the things I put away in cupboards, storage boxes, drawers etc, I don’t use. I’ve always been a fan of the “Less is More” mantra and now I know that the less things I own, the better I function. 

 

As week three of Lent begins, it’s time to tackle the bookshelves, then the towels and bedding in the laundry room. Wish me luck and if you don’t hear from me, send help, I’m probably trapped under a heap of duvets, lost in a book. 

I’d love to know what is the weirdest thing you have found when having a clearout?

Easter and new Covid-19 restrictions in France

St Amant de Boixe Abbey

Happy Easter

It’s Easter weekend and the village church bells have fallen silent, as French tradition tells us they’ve sprouted wings and flown to Rome for a Papal blessing. They will return joyous and jubilant to ring in Easter morning, bringing with them chocolate winged bells and Easter eggs.

 

I am not so jubilant as our wings have been clipped once more with the latest Covid-19 restrictions on movements that will come into force this evening. So long as we keep to a ten-kilometre radius from home (and within our dept) we can move freely for any reason, without a time limit, and won’t need an attestation for leaving home, although we must carry proof of address with us. 

 

Travelling further afield it gets a bit more restrictive and our friend the attestation is back, but more on that later. One year into life with Covid-19 and I’ll admit, I have reached the point where I am craving normality, so even if the restrictions are less severe this time, I’m feeling them. Only a few weeks ago, Adrian and I bravely made a (fully cancellable) booking for a five-night break for our wedding anniversary later this month. It was an apartment, an easy drive from home, offering us a safe, self-catered, socially distanced place to stay, in an area we haven’t visited before. We hoped we could spend our days cycling along the Dordogne gorges, cross into the Cantal for a circuit around the Massif de Sancy and enjoy the backroads and local delicacies from the patisseries of the Correze. Following President Macron’s address on Thursday evening, we have cancelled our reservation, although we are hoping we can re-book for May. 

The stained-glass window in the abbey

 

The last few days, the weather has been warmer, so we’ve taken the opportunity to get out and about on our bikes, ensuring we made the most of being able to be more than ten kilometres from home. On Thursday we cycled a fifty-three-kilometre loop around the Charente, stopping, as pilgrims have done for centuries, at the Abbey at St-Amant-de-Boixe, the bikes looking small and insignificant against its huge façade. The door was ajar, and the cool interior offered a welcome change from the heat outside, especially as the magnificent blue glow from the stained-glass window drew me in. 

 

Cornuelles, a local delicacy

We treated ourselves to cornuelles, a local biscuit delicacy only made between Palm Sunday and Easter, that was traditionally sold at the entrance to church with a sprig of box tucked into the hole in the middle. It was an almost perfect afternoon adventure on the bikes, cycling through Cognac vineyards and wide, open fields offering vast vistas. The only thing missing being a bar or café for liquid refreshments, but sadly these have been closed since the end of October.

 

Flapjack at the lavoir

On Friday we went north from Melle, in the Deux-Sèvres, for a thirty-seven-kilometre ride through narrow lanes surrounded by fields of flowering colza (rape), its zingy yellow a cheery sight after a dark winter. The land here is hillier than our usual routes from home, so an old lavoir (wash house) provided a great refreshment stop for a homemade flapjack and as the boulangerie in Melle was open on our return, we also enjoyed our favourite treat of flan, a little compensation for our cancelled holiday and impending restrictions on movement.

 

We had plans for today too, but when we awoke to a cold north-easterly wind that was bending the trees outside the bedroom window, we opted for indoor chores, some gardening and getting the washing dried outside instead. It feels a little cruel that the weather is against us on our penultimate day of freedom for the month of April.

EDIT - blog updated Sunday 4th April with new attestation

The Attestation

The attestation can be found online (download here) 

Here are the valid reasons to leave home:

1 – travel to and from work, for essential work meetings, deliveries, to and from a place of study

2 – health appointments including vaccinations

3 – family emergencies or to assist those who are vulnerable

4 – admin or court summons

 

5 – moving to a new house

6 – essential shopping, collecting parcels, visiting libraries or religious places within your department (if you live close to a dept border, you may travel to within 30km of a neighbouring dept).

7 – outdoor physical activity, within a ten-kilometre radius of your home (but officially only staying within your dept). Attestation not required but can be used if you don’t have a valid proof of address.

8 – walking your pets during curfew, within a one-kilometre radius of home.

Attestation for movement

 

Lockdown diaries day forty-four, Advent day twelve, French pizza

Advent day 12 IPA and Bordeaux sauvignon blanc

Day forty-four, Saturday 12^th December 2020

 

Advent day twelve

We are halfway through advent (already) and Adrian is happy with the IPA he pulled out from his calendar this morning as it’s his favourite from the eight varieties included. I have a Bordeaux white, which should go nicely with my pizza tonight.

Toad in the hole, cooked by Ed

 

Last night I relinquished control of my kitchen and let Ed cook his signature dish, toad in the hole. For those of you who aren’t British, this is an oven cooked dish of sausages in batter and I have no idea where the name originates from, but no toads were harmed in the making of our dinner last night. It was delicious and the perfect comfort food choice for a cold, damp day. Traditionally it is served with an onion gravy, but Ed being my son, added mushrooms, peppers and courgettes to his gravy mix as he felt it would otherwise be lacking in vegetables. That’s my boy. Despite its origins, ours was a good local dish as the sausages came from Noah’s Ark Farm (about ten kilometres away), the eggs for the batter came from Bois Cambert (about three kilometres away) and the shallots were from this week’s Espoir Nature veggie pannier.

 

The boulangerie treats from today's bike ride

Greedy little piggies

We have been a bit indulgent today, munching our way through five different types of cake. During the first lockdown I slipped easily into the routine of always having a cake in the kitchen. At this time of year, as well as the topless carrot cake that has become our regular favourite (no sickly cream cheese topping here), there are mincepies too, plus the brownies I made yesterday. It was a real treat to have one of each after our healthy soup at lunchtime. 

As the weather was sunny today, although there was quite a strong wind too, we couldn’t resist a bike ride this afternoon and found ourselves outside the boulangerie in Brioux-sur-Boutonne. Our mid ride rest today included a piece of flan and a chocolate chip brioche roll, that we shared on a sunny bench. It was just what I needed having cycled into the wind for eighteen kilometres. I now have less than fifty kilometres to cycle to reach my goal of five thousand for this year.

 

Tarte flambée - Flammenkuche

France Trivia advent calendar, day twelve, French ‘pizzas’

I know the pizza originates from Italy, but did you know there are two French regional dishes that give the pizza a run for its money? 

 

The first is from the Alsace region in the north east, and one of Ed’s favourites, the tarte flambée or flammenkuche. This thin pizza dough base is layered with crème fraiche, lardons (bacon pieces) and onions before being cooked in a hot oven (or wood fired pizza oven, if possible). 

 

The second is the pissaladière, from Nice in the south. Here the pizza dough base is covered with a generous layer of caramelised onions before criss-crossing anchovy fillets over the top and dotting on black olives.

 

They are both a delicious alternative to a more traditional tomato base pizza, but for a country that boasts over a thousand different types of cheeses, I do think it’s a bit odd that neither French ‘pizza’ contains any cheese. 

Lockdown diaries, day thirty, bells, beer and bike rides

At the patisserie in Brioux-sur-Boutonne

Day thirty, Saturday 28^th November 2020

 

Almost there Adrian

Between the bells

We were gently woken from our dreams by the eight o’clock morning angelus, and another day of clear skies revealed itself outside the shutters. By the time the village bells were ringing out the midday angelus I had the washing hung out, a batch of yoghurt in the maker, the soup ready for a late lunch, a cake cooling, the pork bones roasted and on their way to becoming a bone broth stock and we’d hung the wallpaper on the chimney breast and round into the nook where the shelf unit sits, leaving just a few over the door pieces, and the last bit of wall with three full drops to do. Fuelled by an extra, and somewhat late, morning coffee, these final bits were all finished before lunch. That’s how to rock your Saturday morning.

 

Our celebratory flan and beer

A beer and bike ride to Brioux-sur-Boutonne

Following on from yesterday’s post about celebrating payday, someone on Facebook asked how we’d be celebrating our increased freedom that came in today, where we can now roam within a twenty-kilometre radius from home and be out for three whole hours. Well, the answer was simple, a bike ride to Brioux-sur-Boutonne, which comfortably sits right at the edge of our twenty-kilometre zone. It’s also home to an award-winning patisserie, who were open and had our favourite flan, just waiting to be boxed up for us. A bench in the sunshine, the two beers Adrian had packed, and our patisseries were the perfect way to toast the end of the current decorating project and our first day of almost-freedom. The ride home with the setting sun and the moon only a day away from full, was beautiful, if a little chilly on my ears. Our route took us up to the ridge that looks down onto Chef Boutonne and where we had 360º views of orange, pink and lilac skies.

 

By the time the angelus rang out at six o’clock this evening we were back from our thirty-eight-kilometre bike ride, the washing was in, the bread maker was happily preparing the dough for the pizzas this evening and the sounds of Ed’s guitar were filtering through the house. There was even enough time to finish off today’s diary and reassemble the shelf unit upstairs before our aperos. I’ll have more days like today please.

Book review of Simone LaFray and the Chocolatiers' Ball by S.P. O'Farrell

Simone LaFray and the Chocolatiers' Ball
by S.P. O'Farrell

Simone LaFray and the Chocolatiers’ Ball

This book, set in a patisserie in Paris, is aimed at 10 to 11-year old’s, but that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying it, in fact, with a main character who is a little bit different, plenty of mystery and lots of chocolate; I would have loved to have read this as a child.

Simone LaFray is not your average 12-year-old girl. She prefers to blend into the crowd, to see everything, but not to be seen; for Simone is an undercover agent and a pretty good one at that. Following in her mother’s footsteps (she is a top international spy) and with the backing and assistance of the ministry, there are always plenty of mysteries for Simone to solve, as well as looking after her little sister Mia and helping her Father in his patisserie. Who is the Red Fox and why is he back in Paris? Who stole the ancient recipe books from her Father’s patisserie? What has suddenly made her Father lose his culinary perfection?

Things come to a head at the Chocolatiers’ Ball, a prestigious event that this year will be showcasing her Father’s work, but with sabotage and theft hanging over them, what must Simone do to save the day?

I loved Simone’s character and enjoyed her daily life in Paris, from strolls in the park to helping out in the patisserie, to working undercover in the art galleries. Her attention to detail, the way her eyes expertly sweep a room and mentally take everything in; calculating how many people, who is acting suspiciously and who is genuine, was matched only by the attention to detail in the author’s descriptions. There is a lot that makes Simone unusual and different, including her love of routine and precision, but these were the things I enjoyed most about her. As a children’s novel, her quirky perfection will I’m sure strike a chord with those kids who maybe don’t feel they fit in with the norm.

This first book sets the scene perfectly and left me wanting more from the extraordinary life of Simone LaFray.

Simone LaFray and the Chocolatiers’ Ball by S.P. O’Farrell will be published by Brandylane Publishers on Monday 13th May, available in hardback, paperback and ebook versions. Links to Amazon can be found below. I was kindly sent a review copy by the author.

Easter treats at the village boulangerie

Cornuelles

Happy Easter and although here in France we only get a three-day weekend (unlike the four days given in the UK) there is still a sniff of holiday (and chocolate) in the air. Unfortunately for our boulangers it is a very busy weekend and by eight o’clock this morning Bernadette had been up and working for hours, was exhausted and she still had loads still to do. It didn’t stop her chatting away to me for a bit, not much does, but I did feel sorry for her, as they don’t get much time together as a family.

Last year as part of my patisserie challenge, I explained all about the tradition of the triangle shaped biscuit, La Cornuelle, that is eaten at the end of Lent (see here). This morning it was a lovely surprise to see puff pastry versions of the Cornuelle at the boulangerie, available filled with either whipped Chantilly cream and strawberries or vanilla crème patissière. It was a tough decision, but the strawberries and cream won.

Easter bells

My next decision was what Easter chocolate to buy Ed. We prefer quality to quantity, so he only gets one Easter gift, but it is a boulangerie handmade, dark chocolate gift. The choice this morning was bells, chickens or eggs. In France it is traditional for church bells to stop ringing on Maundy Thursday and remain silent until Easter Sunday, when they will ring in celebration of the Resurrection. Somewhere along the line a sweet tale of the bells flying off to Rome and returning with the Easter chocolate for the good children, became tradition. It is therefore common to see chocolate bells with wings in boulangeries and patisseries at Easter. 

Ed's Easter Egg

This year I chose Ed the egg that was beautifully presented in a box complete with a raffia straw nest and two tiny chocolate chickens. When he cracked it open it was generously filled with dark chocolate fish, a nod to another French tradition at this time of year, poisson d’avril or April fish. Celebrated on 1^st April it is considered great fun to stick colourful paper fish on the back of your friends, a bit like an April Fools Day joke.

Cream filled Cornuelle

After lunch we carefully cut our cornuelle in two, although Adrian accused me of choosing the bigger half, and tried to eat it without making a mess. The thin and crispy flaky pastry shattered with every mouthful, while the cream did it’s best to ooze out the sides and escape. It was messy and delicious, not too sweet, creamy but not too rich, with flavour-packed fresh strawberries and as light as air. I’ll be looking out for another one, as I think it may be one of my favourites, but I’ll have to wait until next year. Never mind, as I like to say, less is more and I know I will enjoy it more for only eating it once a year.

There are many different food traditions in the world for Easter, including eating fish instead of meat on Good Friday and the simnel cake with it’s eleven balls of marzipan on the top, one for each of the Apostles except Judas. I baked a tasty fish pie for dinner on Good Friday and if I’d had more time I would have tried a batch of Hot Cross Buns, as I do miss them here in France. I’m also doing lots of cooking with eggs as true to form and thanks to Mother Nature, the goose, the ducks and the chickens are all laying aplenty. A roast lamb meal is often served in UK today, but we have a leg of goat, tucked up in the slow cooker as I write, that will have fallen off the bone by dinnertime and already smells delicious. What are your favourite Easter food traditions?

Fish pie (with egg) waiting for mashed potato topping

This post has been linked to Paulita's Dreaming of France blog link. Click here to read more.