Bountiful France

Living in a beautiful, friendly village of southwest France has taught me much about love and generosity. On a regular basis, my lovely neighbors bring me fruits and vegetables grown in their potages and leave them on my doorstep.

Stopping for a glass of rose at the bar across the street, a farmer walked in and handed me a kilo of Shitake mushrooms he grew in a cave. He wanted me to have them and even told me how to prepare them. Simply slice and saute in olive oil with a bit of garlic and top with chopped parsley. They were delicious.

Another day, I received eggplant, zuccini, tomatoes and green beans.

Share the pictures with me.

A Bientot!!!!!

Brocantes

As I have started this new business of an online French Brocante ( flea market) called French Vintage, I thought I would share some of my purchases with you.

Along with my partner, we should have our web site going in about a month. I will let you know when you can see it all.

In the meantime, hope you like these things.

A la prochaine.........

Quatorze Julliet

Bastille Day in France is like the fourth of July in the United States. It is a happy celebration always accompanied with fireworks.

This year we went to Brantome, a village about 20 minutes away and watched the spectacular display. First we had dinner at the pizza restaurant in a cave, always fabulous, and then we stood overlooking the river and waited for the fireworks to begin.

A lovely evening.

A Bientot!!!!!

Dinner party in La Tour Blanche

Last week I had a dinner party for some of my friends to meet my new business partner who came to France to go to the Brocantes and Vide Greniers with me. My home here in France is located in an area rich with frequent flea markets and we are having a wonderful time shopping together.

We intend to focus on things for the home including beautiful old linen sheets, kitchen towels, enamelware, silver, dishes and much more. We have some wonderful garden items as well, all old and all lovely.

The pictures show the dining table with a gorgeous floral arrangement in one of our enamel coffee pots, done by Laura.

I have converted a covered area in my garden into a dining pavillion with chinese lanterns for lighting and a lovely teak bench full of large floral and check pillows.

Wish you could all dine with me.

Bon Appetit!!!!

Room with a view

Home Grown Cherries

Veggies from my neighbors garden

Geraniums on my balcony

Rooftops seen from my bedroom

I live in the most beautiful and friendly village of Southwest France, the Perigord region also known as the Dordogne.

From my bedroom window I see these beautiful rooftops and also the lovely geraniums I placed on my terrace. I added the small candle chandelier and light it at night. It's lovely to look at from the french doors in my bedroom but if we are eating in the outdoor dining room, you can also see it's magical light.

This is harvest time of amazing fresh vegetables here in my neighborhood. Since I don't grow my own, my lovely neighbors make regular deliveries of cherries and veggies. The cherry trees are having a bumper season and the branches are bent from the heavy load. I wish I made cherry confiture but there is no need as my neighbors send that over too. What a lucky girl I am.

A bientot!!!!

Time Out New York

I have been in New York for ten days and am getting ready to go to France tomorrow.

Some of the highlights of my trip were the Alexander McQueen Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was breathtaking and so fanciful.

I ate in so many restaurants it's hard to choose a favorite but I must say ABC Kitchen ranked up there. The food, the ambiance, just everything about it was wonderful. The mismatched cutlery and dishes plus the wrinkled, washed towels used for napkins were great. It reminded me of the things I hope to pick up at the brocantes in the Dordogne and bring back to the States.

I leave tomorrow so my next post will come from my home in the Dordogne.

Until then......

A walk in New York

I haven't posted anything to my blog in awhile as I have been traveling. I'm in New York City and today I took some pictures of beautiful Park Avenue which is filled with pink tulips, real and faux. It's amazing to see all the work that has gone into this.