Category: Living in France
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French cooking: Tartiflette
I’ve eaten an eye-watering amount of processed meat recently. They say a diet of processed meat is bad for you, but when push comes to shove, I bet whoever ‘they’ are would submit to that meat coma with the rest of us! I emerged from this pork-induced fog after eating four-days’ worth of rillettes, saucisson, […]
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The 7 things I’ve learnt in France
Last October, I moved to France. In the grand scheme of things, it was incredibly low-key. It was a mere skip over the English Channel (the sea which I have since learnt – but it somehow didn’t make it onto this list – is not called le canal d’anglais, but La Manche which just reads […]
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Fig and thyme jam
October seems to be the perfect month for me to make jam. Last year I filled some mini jars with bramble jam – mini purely because of the blackberry curse that haunts me – and although that is literally when the tradition started, I would like to it continue. This year it’s time to celebrate […]
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Pastries in Paris
It sounds rather dreamy, doesn’t it? Paris and pastries! The picture-perfect image: sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower with a couple of eclairs. I’m going to have to abruptly halt this fantasy to say there were no visits to the Eiffel Tower this time *sob*. We did mooch around the eerily quiet city on […]
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French Road Trip: Ardèche to Paris
A month ago, Gaylord and I filled the car, lowered the flat’s squeaky shutters, and drove off on our holiday, leaving the Bonsai plant to fend for itself (it didn’t and Gaylord is now in mourning). The plan was to take a long drive to Paris, with stops along the way in Ardèche then again […]
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French cooking: cherry clafoutis
And so, finally, six months later, I’m back in France! It’s almost unbelievable to think the last time I saw my boyfriend was on a dark, wet morning in December as he dropped me off at the airport, our last kiss between two face masks. At long last – Christmas, a birthday, and, oh yeah, […]
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French cooking: the crêpe
As I predicted, moving abroad has its hurdles. I write this still awaiting my SIM card and with no bank account, not for the lack of trying. Administration in France is not easy at the best of times but add a pandemic and doors start gently closing with a perfunctory, ‘Désolé!’ Unlike French bureaucracy, that […]
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French Grocery Shopping
Moving to another country is accompanied by its customary culture shocks. Making sure you drive on the right-hand side of the road for one, and looking left then right when crossing said road. It’s surprisingly easy to forget. I’ve been introduced the famous Tabac carotte which dates back to the 19th century, Flunch which is […]
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Lockdown 2.0: France – Coriander and shallot sauce
Amidst the tumult of the last few months; the pandemics and politics, the masks, the job losses, and the general upheaval, I’ve quietly moved to France. It really was quiet – it was just me and a suitcase or two – and after a tight hug with my mum at Heathrow, I donned my mask […]
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How to be French: A guide to eating
Bonjour mes cheries, bienvenue! Mon français est mauvaise. Désolée. I will continue in English, it’s better for us all. An excursion to France these days is no longer as relaxed and romantic as one might imagine. Social-distancing and masks tend to take the amour out of the air. That said, Gaylord and I reunited (with […]