May Day ~ Mayday ~ M’aider: in a pickle
May Day. All is quiet this early morning but the vast aviary outside my kitchen door. In France, this first seasonal holiday, Labor Day, is the promise of Summer to be. Although it still smacks of worker’s right and labor issues, waving red flags or lily of the valley, it is just a very quiet day in the Gascon countryside. Mayday- Mud! The famous Garonne River Fog is late this year; it has rained, rained, rained these last two weeks. So much... Read More
frontdoor foraging in the garden-at-camont
“You could plant a stone at Camont and it would grow!” I think of Vetou saying this 20+ years ago as I first started gardening at Camont. First a swath of English-ish border plants lined the pathway to the canal: poppies, roses, lavender… Next, Jhon Corbin- artist/matelot/friend, created a wine bottle border sculpture- Camont Woman-that filled in over the years with day lilies, delphinium, and more roses… Until she was rousted... Read More
Cook, Shoot & Eat Gascony…in London & Paris!
Si tu ne viens pas à La Gascogne, La Gascogne ira à toi! / “If you don’t come to Gascony, Gascony will come to you!” Paraphrased from one of my all time favorite swashbuckling movies- Le Bossu, it does indeed serve as our cry to arms to bring a bit of Gascon country magic to two city venues- Paris and London for a weekend edition of our favorite Natural Light Natural Food photography workshop. Cook, Shoot & Eat Gascony! Cook:... Read More
Charcutepalooza kids in a candy store…
My local hardware store in Agen, Fance with all the fixing to slice, grind, crock, jar and can through Charcutepalooza. Read More
What’s red & white all over? Butcher Shops in Gascony.
In the tiny Market town of Lavardac, where I go to the Wednesday Market and park down the a little road by the river, I pass this small, tidy as a pin, one-window-wide butcher shop. I call it the Meat Museum. The old scale in window on the ice box, the red and white striped awning, the yellow posters rallying the troops for bingo and angainst the new LGV- Ligne Grande Vitesse, the bottles of very good, very local wine to go with a cote de boeuf; all... Read More
