Downsized…well not exactly.
There is much less land and very few dominating trees.
Taking care of the garden will be a treat.
But we now have 2 seperate dwellings one to live in and one to use as a
gite. Retirement not sure if that is for us.
Well who knows what Covit will bring with it next season,
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Welcome to your new home. May it bring you all you hope for.
Good news Barbara! I hope you both enjoy your new home.
I hope you are happy in your new home!
Well done.
Presumably you will not be doing meals now, or not as many.
I hope you are very happy there.
Thank you…all.
No meals
But I still like the idea of a cooking school…east meets west,but far too difficult to instigate,
We have a big room very suitable for teaching cuisine…just next to a big kitchen,
But the rules for cooking and cookery schools are complex.
Real Indian cooking and true French cuisine…such fun.
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Well I am not sure when I watched this film but I did enjoy it.
I got very close to getting that precious Michelin star once with a M infact the M was half a star and achieved by those who did not meet with Micheline poshness even if the food was great.
As a chef I travelled a long road from humble beginnings and enjoyed having one of the very first vegan restaurants in London. I was tantalised by the fear of foodie journalists who could make or break you…and, indeed a few tried and got close.
I am not certain why I am mesmerised by the life as a chef as it is far from romantic and usually destructive.
The French declare that they do not like Indian cooking but I feel that very few of them have tried true Indian cuisine and have a genuine fear of chillies.
But a vacation based on cooking for fun and with idyllic surroundings is a treat for anyone who enjoys life.
Getting back to the film…I got the impression that it was not a great success.
When we lived near Holland Park our restaurant was near by and we purchased a lease from a butcher who ended up inside…as they say,
We created a restaurant on this site and it was small and very basic and we struggled with the simplicity which we could afford and very undisirable neighbours just above us and across the road and the experiences of drug raids was scary to say the least.
Eventually we had another restaurant move into the street and that was just along side us, For some time these people and their trendy and spacious restaurant was a big threat to us but in time things changed and we eventually bought the larger restaurant in years to come and became friends with the ex owners.
Well they moved to France too and live a couple of hours away from us and our friendship is stronger than ever.
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Congratulations on your successful move! Hope all goes well with the gite, even if the cooking school turns out to be too much bureaucratic hassle!
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A major part of the set was established in a village we used to live in, Carlus, in the Tarn. It was extraordinary to see how it all developed. They took over an old farmhouse, and built a huge facade. It caused considerable chaos. I used to walk regularly and often passed the set. Though I never actually saw any of the actors, I could hear the filming going on behind the frontage of the “restaurant”.
I have seen the film, on an aircraft flight, but it’s not really my type of film.
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It really was am unusual film…if that can describe it. Certainly not what you would expect from Spillburge,but he was contrary.
Did you really watch the film…there was a lot more to it than you may have imagined,
I would like to see it again.
@barbara_deane1
We thoroughly enjoyed the film… and we watch it possibly once a year.
During the winter months the dvd’s come out of their boxes and we take our pick…
It made $89.5 million at the box office from a $22 million investment. Probably not going to set the world alight but not flop either.
It was all right as a film. I didn’t think I had wasted my time watching it, however, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone to a cinema to see it based on the synopsis. My interest in it was because of where much of it was filmed.
A film on a similar thread is The African Doctor concerning a foreigner trying to establish themselves in rural France. It is on Netflix or Amazon Prime Movies.
I love Helen Mirren as an actress. I think she was great in The Queen. The problem I have these days is that’s how I see her - The Hundred Foot journey - The Queen with a French accent, The Woman in Gold - The Queen with a Jewish accent. 
Moving away from the film and back to the subject of the new property,
We are near to the river but not on the river road,
We are very close to Chateau Destinee which , at one time belonged to a friend of mine and it was called Chateau Pitray which was a very fine specimen of a building but needed lots more love and deep pockets filled with thousands to spend…if not a million.
The property was bought a year or so ago by a couple who made their fortune in introducing kanagaroo meat burgers, Not sure if this is true,
Not so sure that I will not be enchanted to become a vegetarian as the thought of killing so many animals takes away the inspiration to eat meat.
Let us see what the future brings to the table from the new kitchen at Destinee.
Maybe I should be offering vegetarian cooking courses if I get the chance.
I always went way beyond brown Rice and vegies and fast forward on the Borage flowers and lime and lovage foam.
Flavours and textures are of paramount importance,
It is a very nice place to spend the evening with one of their sharing platters (but they have now shut for the winter).