French Vie - Midi-Pyrénées

French Vie is the blog of Amanda Lawrence who lives and works in the Quercy region of France, surrounded by the vineyards of Cahors.

Amanda is the Regional Editor of the popular information site www.frenchentree-lotandquercy.com and the author of White Stone Black Wine – Life Among the Ancient Vineyards of the Quercy Blanc.

She is also a contributor to The French Paper – quality English language newspaper in France.

If I said that this blog was mainly about gardening, cooking, eating and drinking, all wit a bit of local history thrown in, I would probably be doing Amanda a big disservice but… bugger me, that’s pretty much what it’s about.

And what’s wrong with that?

A good example  would be an article like this one… A Delightful Lunch in Moissac or A New Year – A New French Life.

I hope Amanda won’t mind me quoting the last paragraph of that last post – as it really does sum up this blog….

“Our dusty old car burst out of a black tangle of trees and onto an open hilltop spread with the ancient vineyard of our nearest neighbours. The white stone of the retaining wall glinted in the slanting sunlight and the neatly pruned stumps threw long shadows from the low January sun. Perhaps I would stop at the chateau for a couple of litres of rich, dark wine to complement the duck and enable me to offer one more toast to the New Year.
Sante!
© Amanda Lawrence 2009 “

If you want to learn more about the tastes and flavours, history and culture of the fabulous Quercy,  you might want to read Amanda’s book (see below) or visit her website (as opposed to her blog) at… www.amandalawrence.fr

White Stone, Black Wine The Quercy Blanc – named for its white stone – is a wild and sparsely populated area of rural France, squeezed between the great wine trading port of Bordeaux and the fizzing city of the south, Toulouse. It’s home to the goose and the grape, sumptuous foiegras, the mysterious black truffle and world famous Agen prunes. There are miles of walnut groves and, most important of all, acres of vines. The author introduces us to some colourful local characters, freezes from the kneecaps down whilst braving the famous winter truffle market in Lalbenque, throws herself with Gallic gusto into numerous fetes and uncovers traces of the luminaries who once called this place home. From Champollion, who translated the Rosetta stone, to the illustrious Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry Plantagenet brought the area to the English crown.

More information

So, Amanda is a proper writer and she has a fascinating blog.  If  you’re feeling hungry, thirsty or just in the mood for some well written local history, take a look for yourself….  French Vie.

All the best

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