Life’s simple pleasures

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best. Like spending your days sitting in the garden with a good book or lying on the beach with that same good book. The only reason to disturb this peace and tranquility (apart from the odd childrens squabble) is to have to think about what to eat for lunch and supper and whether to  eat out or in.

That is what my two week spell in the Dordogne did for me. A complete and utter break from the barrage of fast pace living, being available any hour of the day, constant email, twitter and facebook checking as well as blog posting and being a mother.

As soon as I drove off the Eurotunnel, I was pretty much guaranteed to be free of all access to the internet and what a joy it turned out to be. It’s funny, because this time last year I did exactly the same holiday with the same friends, but I was a total computer-phobe. So, I did not have the sense of escape from 24/7 communication that I have now.

I only really started using computers after getting an Ipad for Christmas. That, in combination with my Android phone, was the beginning of a world full of instant knowledge at my fingertips. Instant addiction. And you worry about the kids & their gadgets? Let me tell you, adults can become just as hooked just as quickly!

I then started to blog in April, a mid life  turning point for me . I was 40 in April, and felt it was time to ring the changes and a chefs life  was losing it’s allure. Blogging  has helped me to keep up the cooking and taught me how to use a decent camera too (a work in progress!)

Back to the Dordogne, and life’s simple pleasures.  What I absolutely loved was just shopping on a daily basis for food and cooking it simply because the ingredients were outstanding. Markets with oysters, mussels, fresh snails, tomatoes of every shape and colour, lettuces that looked like bunches of flowers and sweet smelling, perfectly ripe fruits.

All of this was enhanced by a mornings trip to the boulangerie for pastries and breads for the day. Add a few (or alot) bottles of the local wines from Bergerac and the Loire and some sharp, salty blue cheese with meltingly soft pears and the world of the internet seemed as far away as our nightly star gazing. Just what more could you ask of a holiday,  the company of very good friends of course to share it with!