Frank is a thoughtful man who rarely smiles. He also happens to be the owner and chef of Le Symphony, a favourite café of mine. His menu is limited but his omelettes are a dream, and when I am in Brittany it is with him that we - Bernard and I - have lunch most…
A minimalist wedding
The whole wedding scene has gone too far. This year, couples and/or their parents will be spending an average of £16,000 for the pleasure. Hiring out castles, buying matching dresses and suits for those close to the bride and bridegroom, and for lots of couples paying the cost of wedding/bridal consultants/planners who jostle on the…
When words failed me
It has been a terrible few weeks and I am writing this blog in the saddest of circumstances. At the end of February my wife and I were completely thrown by the death of our eldest son. It has all been very painful, but one way that has helped us deal with our grief has…
Spring’s hope eternal
Some see me as an angry man, and I concur. In my defence the anger is usually focussed on only one or two themes at a time and at the moment the issue riling me is the sloppy way we define the seasons, how we are letting skewed reasoning dominate common sense. As I see…
Legend of the District Line
As I get older I get more picky, and this extends to where I sit when travelling. For some time I have had favourite seats in cars and planes. The list now includes places in the underground, more specifically, in trains on the District Line. Here, making sure I find one of my favourites is…
Territorial waters
Builders and developers seem to get away with murder and in practice it is best to stop any errors or oversights in their tracks. Certainly, relying on the council or the courts to reverse excesses once they have been 'set in stone' rarely works. Keeping an eye on the builders requires vigilance, and in the…
A gift horse in the mouth
In the UK we have silver sixpences buried in Christmas puddings. In France it is tiny porcelain statuettes, called fèves, hidden in galettes des rois - 'king cakes'. Both coins and fèves have magical properties, bestowing special powers on whoever finds them. But for the sixpence, nowadays more likely to be a twenty pence piece,…
Cupboard love
Joe Collier works through his difficult relationship with a piece of furniture Yesterday a tug-of-love in the Collier family was finally, or probably finally, resolved. The central character in the saga is a dour, antique two-piece wooden cupboard with glass-fronted top that we brought in 1980. It cost £3.50 and was spotted by my wife…
The house that Joe watched
Maybe it’s a man thing, but I love peering into building sites. Somehow, watching as a crater is dug, foundations are laid and then a building grows is absorbing. But observation is often difficult as construction companies often build screens to obscure the view. And, although peeping between corrugated iron sheets or through the knotholes…
Wake up call
When it comes to providing entertainment, last weekend will take some beating. First it was to the theatre to see Racine's Berenice, then to the cinema for Amour. Both were captivating, the play intellectually and the film emotionally, and one can’t ask for more than that. Added to all this was a most unusual experience…
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