Fidelma Cook passed away last month. We are running a selection of her columns as a tribute. This one is from April 2009. We hope you enjoy it. As I’ve said many a time, our pleasures are simple here.

The only time you truly see a country is when you leave it and look back from a distance, not just of miles, but years. But thanks to the miracle of the internet you can return in real time without ...

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FABIEN greets me by name as we walk on to the terrace of the Auberge de Bardigues, a 10-minute drive from my house. September is nearly over but it is still 26 degrees here and the awnings keep the ...

Way down below me the Mediterranean barely seemed to ripple in its deep, perfect azure blue. The only marks on its surface were rich men’s toys: elegant yachts leaning from the breeze; huge motorboats ...

All around us in my favourite restaurant the buzz was of the French enjoying Sunday lunch en famille. As always it was a shock to glance surreptitiously about and see very small children eating what ...

THERE are days here – sometimes even several in a row – where I pass from room to room in my old farmhouse and get a quiet pleasure from each one. Certain factors have to be in place to do so. First I ...

I should have come to the end of my chemotherapy session and be now back in Valence awaiting the side-effects and hoping they’re as mild as possible. Already though I’m trembling – my fear default – ...

THERE is restlessness about in my little corner of France – a swirling awareness of life changing for more than a few. On the grapevine I hear of houses for sale, of houses closed up or rented out as ...

This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The ...