VERY seductive, rural France. Or perhaps I should say, très seduisante. Six years ago, after two decades farming in Britain, my wife and I had the chance to spend some months in France profonde, learning about lavender and wine. We have never really left, and are now residents of La Roche, a small village in the south-west.
La Roche is exactly how you picture a French village: sleepy, shuttered, a cat picking its way from the salle des fêtes to the cemetery, the tolling of bells from a Romanesque church, named for an obscure saint. Long and uninterrupted views of woods and vineyards. On the end of a barn wall, a faded Dubonnet advert.
The past is still accessible in deep France.The baker does his rounds in a battered Citroën Berlingo van, 100 warm baguettes in the back; Monsieur Lapix's cobbled farmyard has ducks and geese picking over the manure heap.
In the morning mist, my neighbour, Madame Roban, cycles past with a bucket of treats for her cows dangling from the handlebars.. As do many in the village, she has a potager, which to describe simply as a kitchen garden loses something in translation; the potager is also a pretty, flower-enhanced place. Function and style simultaneously, which is very French if you think about it. She makes her own wine, too. To use a modern phrase, many of our neighbours practise a high degree of self-sufficiency. In our small village, dawn is announced by four cockerels. Then quacking ducks and honking geese.
Denne historien er fra March 27, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 27, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
