Food warning !!!!!!!! Collioure icecream

Collioure may be the jewel in the crown of this lovely region but it sure isn't going to get any stars for service .. it's almost as if they know that they are going to get the custom anyway and they can't be bothered to make any effort. The customer, rather than always being right, is, franchement, a pain in the ass.
Two Irish friends of mine stayed there last week and were appalled by the lack of service and the sheer rudeness of everyone they came in contact with there. Only for the fact that they were completely zenned out, on a minibreak away from their families, it could have spoiled their holiday.
We popped down there one day to see them and went for an icecream with the kids, as you do. Little 3 year old Zoé ordered a vanilla cornet but after tasting it realised she had been given a nougat flavour. Well, she did more than taste it, she stuck her snotty nose into it really and declared it wasn't what she wanted. Fair enough, the sales assistant said she would change it to vanilla. Mr Getrealfrance, never one to miss a feeding opportunity said he would take the mistaken cone instead.
 It would be on the house of course? he winked.
Oh no, if you want the nougat cone, you must pay for it as well.
Ah, non merci, says Mr Getrealfrance
Right so , says our saleslady, and with a huff and a puff and an oh la la la, she lobbed Zoé's snotty icecream back into the container for serving to the next unsuspecting customer....
And Bonne Journée to you too madame!

Le Grain de Folie

Prawns served on a hot stone with a coriander and curry dipping sauce

This lovely restaurant in Perpignan which we tried out this week is situated on the hip and upcoming Avenue du LeClerc in Perpignan where all the hotspots are popping up these days. You have the new and very authentic Irish pub, O'Flahertys , Ben Aqui; the very popular tapas bar which opened up about 2 years ago and is always tightly packed. Also; Le Petit Pastis, another new French brasserie which opened it's doors this year and of course the wonderful and imposing Perpignan theatre just across the road. Thee place to be seen darlings!!!!
So, off we trotted last Thursday night to this highly recommended restaurant and we were not disappointed. The place has been newly decorated, white table cloths, floors and walls, very minimalistic ( they could have done with a good splash of colour on the walls , aspiring artists, take note) . A very adult feel to the place was the opinion of our Irish buddies with linen tablecloths, excellent service , hushed conversation and some serious nom nom nom :)

lobster salad

They do an excellent three course evening menu with lots of choice for 33 euros and another "Folie" menu for 18euros which I plumped for which was really good value.
The highlights of the meal were the starters of prawns on hot stones with a thai curry coconut/coriander dipping sauce ( you just don't get that kind of food in this part of France in general), the lobster salad, and the desserts: my moelleux of chocolate was exactly right, crispy on the outside and once cracked open, oozing hot chocolate sauce ; perfection.

raspberry delight

George was totally blown away by the raspberry patisserie and the cheese plate too was very adventurous with soft cheeses rolled in herbs and peppers. Très très bon!!!

cheese plate with a difference

The total bill , for four , with three bottles of excellent wine came to just under 200euros. Superbe for this level of dining.
Le Grain de Folie which literally means a touch of madness, a touch of genius might be more appropriate , is situated on
71 Ave du LeClerc
Tel : 04 68 51 00 50
Bon Apps!

Mondial du Vent

Action today at La Franqui

With over 300 days of sunshine here in this lovely corner of France , we certainly can't complain about the weather . However, when it rains it truly pours here in the PO and when it's windy we have the trusty tramontane...
The Tramontane is created by the difference of high pressure in the cold air over the Atlantic and the low pressure system over the Med. The high pressure air flows South and is funnelled between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, arriving in the PO to skin us alive and to literally take our breath away.
It's name comes from the fact that it traverses the mountains and some people say that it comes from the Latin for Northern Star "transmontanus" as for the Italians, North was the Alps and the Northern 
star shining above it.
Anyway, this wind which visits us regularly, is the reason that the Mondial du vent is held here since 1997. This international meet of windsurfers and kite surfers is frequented by the best in the world and is hosted by laid back La Franqui just 40 mins North of us here in Perpignan.

Colourful wind chimes for sale

Alannah takes flight

We headed up there this afternoon to soak up the atmosphere and watch the kite surfers fly through the air. It's a really well organised event with parking a half a kilometer away and road trains taking you to the heart of the action - a whole street of wind and adrenaline based activities, many of them free for the children.
A great afternoons entertainment was had by all , the tram was blowing in force and we made it back to our car after a lovely feed of burgers and chips in a local laid back hippy hang out, just in time before the heavens opened and the rains came.
Highly recommend for a day out with the kids next year. See here for more details, in English.

O I do like to be beside the seaside!

There were free activities at Canet plage today for children of all ages : a climbing wall, bouncy twister, lots of giant board games, lego mats, wood sculpturing and lots more.
The kids had a ball and the mommies did too, indulging in coffees and icecreams in one of the nearby cafés after wearing the little darlings out on the beach...
It's on again tomorrow, 12 April in Espace Med from 14h00 to 18h00. A great day out and all for free!
There are lots more activities on in Canet during the Easter holidays for kids. Click here for a detailed list of what's going on.

Dylan scales the climbing wall

Alannah and Lydia 

Bouncy twister on the beach

The gorgeous Canet carousel

Fancy a ride?

Giddy up boy!

Learning to Laugh

The Irish do love to laugh. They love comedy, they enjoy taking the mickey out of themselves, telling jokes and stories, letting the hair down, sharing a giggle and having a jolly good time.
The French are different to us. They do take themselves rather seriously. A café full of French people will not revertebrate with belly laughs and laughter. A group of French people at the restaurant will not be heard splitting their sides laughing and one rarely sees a gang of giggling girlfriends. 
So , it was with some intrepidation that my Irish girlfriends and I headed off to Yoga Rire last night in Perpignan. The event was being hosted by Laeticia , a tall slender yoga model who started off proceedings by telling us about the history of Yoga Rire.
Apparently, Madan Kataria, an Indian dude came up with the concept in 1995 when he met a few buddies in a park in Mumbai to tell jokes. The club gained popularity and when they ran out of jokes for their laughter club, and as some of the jokes were racist or harmful to others, they just met to laugh. Now, throughout India, thousands of Laughter Yoga Clubs meet every morning in public parks.
"The goal of Laughter Yoga is to bring good health, joy and world peace through Laughter. Laughter is universal with no language and cultural barriers. Laughter Yoga Clubs are fast growing into a worldwide community of like-minded people who believe in unconditional Love, Laughter and Fellowship. Every first Sunday of May is celebrated as World Laughter Day. In the year 2000, nearly 10,000 people laughed together in Copenhagen, Denmark to set a Guinness Book Record." (source laughter yoga website)

So we started off hiding our faces and laughing behind our hands, which I thought was very clever and followed that with Yogic Breathing ( ha ha ha ho ho ho) and stomping our feet to the rhythm. There followed one of the most bizarre giddiest hours where we took our imaginary mammoth for a walk, stepped in imaginary dog poo, washed our imaginary cars and laughed our little cotton socks off.

At the end of this ( exhausting) spectacle, we were all told to lie down in a circle, heads together but not touching with our eyes closed and were invited to laugh. For 15 solid minutes, the group of strangers laughed and laughed and laughed until we had tears running down our faces and our cheeks ached. It was contagious!

After our hilarious abdominal work out, we all felt lighter, giddy and totally destressed. The French, who were all new to Yoga Rire thoroughly enjoyed it, as if they now were given permission to laugh and it was allright to let their hair down. Yes, it is ok to laugh!

I'd recommend it to all to go and have a laugh! 
HAHAHA HOHOHO

What a service!

My little girl was feeling quite poorly last weekend and when I took her to the doctor ( waiting for 5 minutes and costing me 12euros), he confirmed that she had a virus and to keep her out of school but that there was nothing they could give her for a viral bug.
4 days later, she was still suffering , with funny symptoms, pains in her tummy and head, so I took her back to the doc who subscribed an anti-biotic and lots of other "stuff"

Prescriptions for a runny nose and sore throat

She bounced back the next day and is fine now. As she had some tummy pains though, the doc also prescribed a scan to check out everything internally - the next day , we went to a laboratoire d'analyses ( no waiting around)  where we had a full x-ray examination of her tummy : liver, pancreas, bladder, stomach etc etc and she got a clean bill of health. We waited for 20 minutes and got a print out and analysis of the tests straight away. Cost : 22euros.
Thankfully there were no issues and my little girl is back to her usual bouncy self, but what a service though!
If you're going to get sick, people, get sick in France.

The Swiss Maternity Elne

(Image taken from Amazon)

Elisabeth Eidenbenz is one of the real heroines of World War II. In 1937 she came to the Pyrenees Orientales and after witnessing first hand the atrocious conditions in the camps in Argeles sur Mer where the Spanish refugees were existing, she decided to take action. With amazing vision , she took over a crumbling chateau on the road from Elne to Montescot that was going to rack and ruin. She cleaned up the chateau and filled it with pregnant female refugees of all different nationalities, mostly Jewish, Spanish and tziganes, who were clinging to a semblance of life in refugee camps or fleeing from occupied territories. 
Nearly 600 women gave birth in this beautiful maternity hospital where they were sheltered from Nazis on the hunt for their blood.
Nicolas Garcia, mayor of Elne, organised the buy out of the Maternity Hospital in 2005, aiming to restore the clinic and opening it to the public. 
Why is it in the news today?

Much to the delight of Elne's mayor, the chateau and the memory of the Maternity has been acknowledged officially in the 'patrimoine national' as an historic monument. What this means is that the building will be protected and also be eligible for grants to make it more accessible for wheelchair access and for public viewing. 

"Elisabeth would be happy", said the mayor as he celebrated the news " She worried alot about what would become of the maternity and rang me often about it"

Now, the future of the Swiss Maternity is safe and the memory of the bravery and sheer goodness of these people will be remembered forever.

Elisabeth received many honours in her later years, including the star of the légion d'honneur (France), the Cross of St Jordi ( Catalonia) and the status of righteous among the Nations by the Gov of Israel in 2002.

In Easter of 2002, 60 of the survivors she helped reunited in a moving ceremony in Elne to honour "La Senorita" as she was fondly called.

A remarkable woman who should always be remembered. She died in May 2011. RIP 

Birthday Cake

5 years ago , he came hurtling feet first into this world, a lovely healthy record breaking breach birth baby , who even had the gyno in tears of relief , not to mention ourselves! My little boy who takes life head on and rarely slows down, a daredevil tree climber, kame kaze bike rider, giggler, champion lego maker and the love of my life, is 5 Big Years Old Today!
So, today was family and cake time before the Big Party tomorrow. The Mammy is in town at the moment and we had all the Catalan cousins around for birthday tea and cake and madness.
Funnily enough, the French aren't really into baking .. cooking yes, but baking, they generally leave to the professionals. I love the IDEA of being a home maker and great baker and God I do try, but seem to have been born without the baking gene. Many an attempt has ended up in the bin and everyone knows NOT TO COME INTO THE KITCHEN if I am trying my hand at anything more adventurous than cup cakes.
Anyway, I've come up with the fool proof birthday cake. For a real home made look, follow these instructions:
You get your ready mixed chocolate fondant in Lidl (€1,98) Add 3 eggs and cream. Mix. Bake.
Then, after the cake has cooled, make your chocolate frosting as follows
3 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa power
Drop of vanilla essence
Mix together. Add drops of milk slowly until you get a frosting finish.
Paste over cake and decorate with smarties and twinkles.
Then stand in front of mirror and practice blushing, being coy and modest 'Oh, it was nothing, darling, whipped it up this morning"
Ta daaaaaaa
Happy Birthday Dylan xxxx

Vin Art at Domaine Treloar

Image is by Margaret Dibdin, one of the artists exhibiting at the weekend

Vin Art at Domaine Treloar will take place for the 5th year running this Easter Sunday and Monday. With art from a number of different artists on display and for sale, there will also be live music with Rosie and Maurice on Sunday and Blaise on Monday.
It's a great family day out, with wine and cheese tastings, activities for the kids ( my two love the clay pottery every year with Nathalie) and a lovely friendly atmosphere in the vineyard. It's also a great way to see behind the scenes of a working vineyard and meet the winemakers, Jon Hesford from England and Rachel Treloar from New Zealand.
Sunday 8 and Monday 9 April from 14h00 to 18h00
Click here for directions to Domaine Treloar

ça m'énerve

Handy vocab to know in France : ça m'énerve ( that annoys me)



Ca m'éneeeeerve
Toutes celles qui portent la frange à la Kate Moss
Ca m'éneeeeerve
Le rouge à lèvres c'est fini maintenant c'est le gloss
Ca m'éneeeeerve
Toutes celles qui boivent le champagne rosé
Ca m'éneeeeerve
Pour oublier qu'en Jimmy Chooo t'as mal aux pieds
Ca m'énerve tous les gens qui font la queue chez Ladurée
Tout ça pour des macarons à la Tourte
Mais bon...Il parait qu'ils sont bons