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Masterchef finalist, Jim Fisher, took his cutting-edge skills and enviable cheffing experience (such as cheffing for Rick Stein) to the rural Dordogne, where, with the help of his wife, Lucy, he has established a thriving cookery holiday business amongst their beautiful stone farm buildings at Bombel. Jim and Lucy invited me to join them and their guests for a week, so that I could find out exactly how the holidays work.
To many English people, the perfect Lot and Quercy home is an old stone farmhouse with a nice view and a Pigeonnier. When Michael and Eileen Fawcett came to the Lot eight years ago, they found a wonderful house – but no Pigeonnier! Unperturbed by this, they proceeded to build one of their own – and not for keeping pigeons. Eileen takes up the story...
Today vintage car enthusiastes Bryn and Lynda Adams are happily ensconced in France - however, their love affair with the country began with a road-side argument with a gesticulating Frenchman...
Kevin Lowe & Sandra Milne left their home in Leicester in 2001 and set off in search of adventure and a new life in France, with only a vague idea of where they were going or what they were going to do when they got there...
After moving to France in August last year with her parents and eleven year old brother, Georgina has had to work hard to make new friends and get to grips with a new language. She tells her story...
Are you one of those adventurous types who would dearly love to move to sunny, warm southern France, but just can’t quite squeeze enough together to buy the dream stone farmhouse? Renovation could be the perfect answer...
"Salt Meadow Lamb"
Mike and Sue Spring came to live in France in 1994 when they bought a small vineyard (Domaine du Garinet) in the village of Le Boulvé of some 200 inhabitants in the département of the Lot. This is their story...
Have you ever fancied living in a castle? Do you sometimes wonder just what it must be like to own your own glorious, gracious pile?
When David Low and Lindsay Nixon bought a semi-derelict barn in the Lot during the summer of 2003, they had visions of sunny days spent gradually renovating their dream home. Eighteen months on and despite several setbacks they are now hard at work turning the dream into reality.
Lindsay Nixon relates her experiences of creating a beautiful and productive garden amongst the stones and weeds of the Causses du Quercy. In the first of two articles she describes the slow transformation of a wilderness into finely tilled soil ready for planting.
In the second of two articles, Lindsay Nixon takes up the tale of her garden with the selection of flowers and vegetables that will be able to grow in the unpromising soil and harsh climate of the Causses du Quercy.
This region has a well-deserved reputation for producing fabulous quality fruit and has a huge annual production of plums, melons, table grapes and garlic in addition to several varieties of wine ...
This is a classic winter dish in southwestern France. Try to buy your goose from a farm or a boucherie that advertises local birds. In the run up to Christmas you will find one easily in the markets...
Everyone’s heard of Salade Niçoise, it’s eaten at a million tables all over the world every summer. However if you come a little inland you’ll find another regional speciality just waiting to be discovered...
Fruit growing is a speciality of the département which is renowned for its plums (the famous pruneaux d’Agen), strawberries, succulent melons and the pomme d’amour, Marmande tomatoes. Good quality wines are produced in the Duras and Buzet regions, and...
The Lot region in the South of France hides a wealth of treasures just waiting to be discovered. The relaxed and pleasant lifestyle works like a charm on visitors, and has induced many to settle here. Part of the attraction...
The Lot region hides a wealth of treasures just waiting to be discovered. The relaxed and pleasant lifestyle works like a charm on visitors, and has induced many to settle here. Part of the attraction...
In this region of the South of France the splendid goose has been King for a thousand years. Although perennially popular, goose is expensive and revered and so generally used only for feasts and special occasions...
When Val Patchett found herself in hospital she discovered that French meals are definitely not what they're cracked up to be - not for vegetarians anyway
Jayne and I had been planning an exit strategy for a while! To escape the rat race, we planned to buy a boat and sail the world in very slow time...
"Dol-de-Bretagne"
"Breton food & drink"
A whirlwind romance found Bob Thompson and Jude Aldinger starting a new life together, leaving Cambridge for the Dordogne
People around the world have celebrated this feast day with carnivals, parties, food and drink, since Roman times. Images of partying and street festivals are what we associate with the words ‘Mardi Gras’. France and Britain are a little more reserved in their revelling, but the French do enjoy a day of feasting...
Lauren Booth, journalist and broadcaster, came over for lunch yesterday. She wanted to show her daughters the chickens, and to get Perry and my feelings on our life in France, for her twice-monthly column in the Mail on Sunday.
Lauren is a dynamic and plucky writer, who recently...
Nicolas Delmas was very welcoming and friendly. The 26 year old set up the successful bakery, ‘Le Pain de Peyrignac’, with his girlfriend, Sabrina Manière, 24, one year ago.
I went to see Nicolas, and find out how they manage to supply the huge demand for their extra special bread.
We got up early on Sunday, to attend a local ‘randonnée de la truffe’ (truffle ramble). Each winter we become very interested in the mysterious truffle, and where it likes to grow. Desperate to find them in our garden, or spot them on walks, we thought that we might learn something from this ramble.
We started to look for houses in Brittany when our kids were quite small but never really had the time or finances to follow this up. In February 2001, after ...
Regular FrenchEntrée contributor, Karen Gottlieb observes the differences between American and French eating habits. On Le Gastrozone we have seen several mentions of the time that the French spend on preparing and leisurely eating their food. Karen gives us her experiences of this fantastic reason to spend time in sociable France...
“You Americans eat lunch standing up; debout!”
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‘La Chocolaterie’ is a sight to behold, and is the creation of Eric and his wife, Marie. Its incredible window displays draw the customer’s attention into the shop, where they can watch Eric at work, and choose from the vast selection of exquisitely presented chocolates and enticing truffles, which are...
A look at the life of an oyster and a visit to an oyster farmer at Gujan-Mestras, on the Arcachon Basin, to find out, among other things, how the oyster parks prepared for the huge French Christmas rush...
We have had two national food festivals in our area, in the last couple of weeks!
The first was the internationally renowned ‘Salon International du Livre Gourmand’, in Périgueux, which is based around books on food and drink. Then, from November 26th - 28th , was the turn of the 10th anniversary ‘Gastronomades’ in Angoulême.
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Free Nursery places in the Limousin as in much of France are over subscribed. As a result priority is given to children who are 3 years of age or over. ...
How to use the mysterious vegetables that you see in French markets.
Differences between French and British supermarket stock; how it is treated differently, and where it comes from.
The past few months have been some of the most hectic and stressful in our lives, but also some of the most rewarding. We had always had an ambition of ...
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Find out what's free in the French countryside right now. Forage for fruit, berries, vegetables, mushrooms, leaves, herbs, flowers and even water creatures...