This week has been a bit of a foodie week here at The Good Life France! I think I was probably influenced by all the cheese and cake photos we’ve been sharing on Facebook – so you’ll find there’s a distinctly gastronomic groove on the website right now!
I’ve become a bit obsessed with taking photos in food shops lately – it is something I’ve always done since coming to France but it’s getting worse now that I know so many of you like to see my epicurean photos. It has got so that when I go into my local boulangerie – if I don’t take photos they actually ask me why not!
I always ask if it is okay to take a photo and I am usually given permission to snap the goods but not the people. Recently, at a boulangerie near Calais, the very extrovert baker was taking fresh-baked bread out of the big wood oven at the back of the shop. The smell was wonderful, there was a long queue of customers waiting for the hot bread, sniffing deeply and savouring the aroma. I asked if I could take a photo, the baker came rushing out and dragged me round the back and started posing in front of the oven, holding his bread paddle this way and that like a crazy canoeist. I couldn’t use any of the images because he was posing so much they looked weird! But, he did say I could come and help him one day. So, soon I will be getting up before I go to bed and driving to a bakery to make and bake bread and cakes – and I can’t wait to tell you about it!
In the meantime I hope you enjoy all the fabulous features we have for you this week and please like and share anything you enjoy – we really appreciate it.
With best wishes and wishing you all a bon weekend
Janine
Top Foodie Features this week:
Madeleine cakes: Did you know these classic little sponge cakes have a royal history – it is said they were invented by a Queen (perhaps)! If that’s not enough to get your juices going, here is a wonderful recipe from great French Chef Daniel Galmiche for Pistachio madeleines with chocolate sorbet…
We reviewed Daniel Galmiche’s book French Revolutionary Cooking – we love how he has taken classic French recipes, given them a little twist for the 21st Century and created dishes anyone can try at home without too much fuss…
Goats cheese quiche and smoked duck and lentils from Daniel Galmiche – simple to make but oh so impressive…
We love this story from Susie Woodhams about the Brotherhood of Asparagus and the ceremony that sees the first spear of the season picked by a Queen! Only in France…
Five Fabulous French aperitifs: That great French tradition of an aperitif, or apero, before dinner is one of our favourites – we’re not alone, James Bond loved it too and his own favourite French aperitif!
McDonalds in France: I look at why the French are so-McDo-pro in the week when protests have been held against the closure of a McDonalds branch in the north of France.
Don’t miss these great features:
Behind the scenes at Roland Garros in tennis mad France: Linda Matthieu visits the locker room and other backstage places just hours before the French Open started and discovered some strange superstitions of the stars and a raft of fascinating tennis facts…
Take one gorgeous 17th Century stock exchange and turn it into a second hand book market = brilliant and beautiful! Lille’s second hand book market story and in pictures…
The tooth fairy in France is a mouse – no, it’s not a typo, there is no tooth fairy in France! Margo Lestz tells the tale of the French tooth mouse
Tips to help you find your lost dog in France: We had a request to help a lady find her dog which ran off at a petrol station in France. Should you ever have the misfortune to lose your beloved pet in France here are some great websites to help you…
Things to do in June in France: Can you believe it is June already! Here are some of our favourite events this month…
Next week’s newsletter will come from the Loire Valley where I’ll be doing a chateaux, gateaux, cheese and wine tour!
