Sublime

“To England and the English, as long as they keep their cooking to themselves.” Most of the French people we had met were more or less disdainful of la cuisine Anglaise without knowing very much about it. But Régis was different. He had made a study of the English and their eating habits, and during dinner he told us exactly where we went wrong. It

The Cigale Récamier, a five-minute stroll from the hotel, was one of Sam’s favorite stops in Paris. Hidden away at the end of a cul-de-sac off the Rue de Sèvres, it had all the qualities he liked in a restaurant. It was simple, unpretentious, and highly professional. The waiters had been there forever; they knew their métier to a fault and the wine

In Catania a glass of selz al limone e sale is still considered the ideal thirst quencher for a summer’s day. You can order one at any of the beautiful art nouveau kiosks in the city centre and watch it being made while you wait. I once

Beetroot, apple and

Drive on, past l’Observatoire de Haute Provence, where they say you can breathe the clearest, purest air in France, and head for the foothills of the Montagne de Lure. There, set in a bowl of lavender fields, you will find Lardiers, a village of perhaps a hundred inhabitants. Their houses are bunched around the Mairie and the Café de la Lavande—the