Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson After a week of chilly, dreary days, heavy granite skies, the wind whipping in circles around the courtyard, flicking leaves across the stones and spattering rain against the windows, battering down onto the cement of the terrace, the sun has arrived ...
It is with our passions as it is with fire and water; they are good servants, but bad masters. - Roger L'Estrange, Aesop's Fables, 1692 I recently had a discussion with a young man whose family produces truffles, who spoke to me passionately about his métier, his work, and his passion for the black diamond of Chinon. ...
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. - Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg Spring has finally arrived in Chinon. Wild winds, grey skies, spattering rain are interspersed with flashes of bright sunlight filtering through hazy skies and lighting up the courtyard, brushing against the windows and warming the breakfast room. ...
Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly. - M.F.K. Fisher Celebrating any religious holiday in a mixed-religion home is often a delicate matter depending on how devout and observant each partner is or the decisions made on which religion the children shall be raised in. Notwithstanding ...
I don't try to follow a trend. I have my own little path. - Sarah Brightman I am anti-trend. Yes, I have worked in the arts in New York. And fashion in Milan. And food in Paris. How much trendier, how much under the influence can one get than art, fashion and food? Yet I recoil from trends, ...
My father planted a lone lemon tree in the backyard. This was about the time that he went on his homegrown produce kick and had planted a small vegetable patch at the side of the house, which eventually would boast big fat red tomatoes and long, slim chili peppers. He worked long and hard on ...
A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine. - Anne Bronte Sometimes one must just force summer’s hand a little bit. Mme. Lainel showed up in reception Tuesday evening, later than was her habit of dropping in, making her way carefully across the courtyard, clutching her cane in one hand, crunching ...
It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees. - George Eliot The magnolia tree is covered in blossoms the color of plum jam. Sprays of bright yellow daffodils astonish the eye, bursting forth from the wintry brown dirt of the garden, daffodils gathered in clumps where they ...
I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. - Charles de Gaulle The Hôtel Diderot is on the edge of old Chinon, tucked away at the end of a quiet street behind an elegant, tarnished white ironwork gate. Serenity in a tranquil town. Days in ...
Life is either a great adventure or nothing. – Helen Keller Some children are born for adventure, have it in their blood, jump into new undertakings with both feet, laughing out loud. Clem was such a child, courageous and curious. Happily dipping into a ditch, river or lake, plunging into a darkened depth with both hands, ...
I'm Jamie; welcome to the new Life's a Feast!
I run a hotel in Chinon, France, and write about life, culture, modern day living and food.
My passion is to create vibrant and unique experiences.
