Lawson's Books

Image via lawsonsbooks.co.uk

I am proud to announce that my brother, Christophe, and his partner, Gemma, have recently set up a publishing company, Lawson's Books. The website is live and their first title, 'Quality of Life', by Brian W. Ferry, launches on 2 November 2011. This beautiful photography book has a first edition limited to 500 copies, so best be quick. Check out more of Brian's work on his popular blog, The Blue Hour.

mon amour

Cheese. It's amazing. The fact it comes in so many varieties, is amazing. Even the way it's made is amazing. I have not eaten meat for a few years and really make up for it with cheese. My appreciation of cheese began at a very young age, with the softer, more simple tastes and textures of Brie and Camembert. By my teenager years, I, of course, thought I'd tried it all. Moving to Burgundy in my twenties, I was however introduced to the hardcore Soumantrain and Epoisse. This was also where I was made my first tartiflette, by the man who is now my husband. I have finally repaid the favour.

Tartiflette 
(for 4 people - or 2 very hungry people)

1 onion 
2 tbsp crème fraîche
100ml milk
1kg potatoes
1 reblochon
black pepper

Preheat the oven at 180°C. Chop the onion and place in the bottom of a large oven proof dish. Peel and slice the potatoes and scatter on top of the onions. Pour the milk over the potatoes and spoon on the crème fraîche. Slice the reblochon in two and plop the halves directly on the top. Finish off with a grinding of black pepper. Bung in the oven for an hour and ta-da. 
Source: author's own

In my opinion, the perfect autumn/winter dish.
Bon appétit!

answers on a postcard

This photograph is of the side of a building in Edinburgh, near our home. I have no idea what it symbolises, but I've always liked it. If you have any idea, please do get in touch.

Note that the tag for this post is labelled 'shoehorning'. I am writing this blog on the proviso that I am able to shoehorn-in a few non-French related items, every now and again.

fff

Roll up, roll up, the Festival du Film Français (FFF) 2011, is about to begin. This is very good news. It's the time of year when we get to go to the cinema and watch really good (and many recent) French films, almost every day, in French. Now in its 19th year, FFF 2011 is a UK-wide French festival running from 9 November - 7 December and takes place in cinemas including Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Ciné Lumière, London, and Glasgow Film Theatre. Edinburgh's independent Filmhouse cinema, has been going for almost 30 years and offers a terrific variety of international films and is in its own words 'celebrating world cinema in all its brilliance and diversity'. It often has at least one French film as part of its monthly offerings, but the FFF happens once a year and is a rare treat for us, with an almost month-long programme of films. On offer this year will be a selection of French language films from France, Québec, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium, and include previews, shorts, animation, and a quartet of Claude Chabrol films showing at the French Institute in Edinburgh.

Allez-y!





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Nice memories

I love Nice. It is an important place for me and for my family. It holds very many happy memories for us. When not roasting hot, it remains clement for most of the year and has a beach that stretches for ever. July 2005, I ran up and down the Promenade des Anglais to train for a Glasgow half marathon, and as it happens, the day of the event itself was unusually warm and almost matched the weather I had been used to in the south of France. The training did not happen on the beach however, as in Nice it is not soft and sandy, but completely covered in galets. A bit too big to be classed as a pebble, a galet is an attractive type of small, smooth stone, that is found in a multitude of shapes and shades. A couple always manage to find their way into a bag or pocket, before we head home. 2005 was also the summer I discovered Livingstones, by Smarin, made in Nice. A wonderfully innovative, family-friendly design company, where all the products are made in France. Open up their website, close your eyes and hear the cicadas. You could almost be there.

Image via smarin.net

all of them, please

Bénédicte Guettier: lots of bright colours, lovely illustrations and great wee stories. Perfectly perfect books for little kids and their little hands. Check out Amazon.fr. This is but a very small selection below; there are loads to chose from!

 

Images via Amazon.fr

une collaboration parfaite

When a film has good music, it really does make all the difference. When that film is watched in a cinema, or theatre, the experience is often enhanced for the better. And when the score is played live, the whole thing can become quite magical. I've seen a few such performances in the last few years, but this was one of the best. We were at Edinburgh's Usher Hall last night, watching the Tindersticks performing Claire Denis Film Scores from 1996 - 2009. As a director, Denis has a photographer's eye for beautiful close-up shots and amazing attention to detail. Her films vary in theme, but there are often sequences running in loops, the result being strangely hypnotic. The music of the Tindersticks lends itself so well to this and it's a partnership that has lasted several years and covered many of her films; their collaboration is quite brilliant.

Nénette et Boni (1996), YouTube

Adeline Adeline



Abici - Kate Spade New York Bicycle
Image via adelineadeline.com

I am happy to admit from the off that I am shoehorning the French thing into this post, but it's worth it. I have just come across the most lovely website, thanks to a reading of Les Inrockuptibles, the other evening. So you see, the source is French. New York's Adeline Adeline is, in their own words, 'A Very Nice Bicycle Shop'. And it really is. It has a clean, healthy, and stylish look and it's all really believable. So much so that I (who tends to cycle biennally) would now like to buy a bike. I'd also like to buy many of the bags featured on their website, as well as a kid's bike and a helmet and a basket. Possibly another few bits and bobs, too. I may well be tackling Edinburgh's steep slopes, sometime soon. And when I'm not out showing off my bike, it'll be propped up in our hall, as a good bit of interior design.

Brooks - Glenbrook holdall

Henrick Vibskov - urne bag

Pashley - saddle bag
Images via adelineadeline.com

if you treat yourself to one thing this week...

... let it be Mikado. French biscuit-making kings, LU, are the brains behind these skinny treats. They are the perfect afternoon coffee accompaniment and always best crunched in pairs. At the end of an exhausting spa-day away at Stobo, this was a truly random purchase, from Sainsbury's in Peebles. A real surprise as I didn't know you could get them in the UK. With packaging almost as good as its contents and looking somewhat like a naff packet of cigarillos, you really can't go wrong.