BooksBarbecue
Back Escape to the French Farmhouse
Chapters (79)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Jo Thomas
  4. DEDICATION
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. FORTY-FOUR
  49. FORTY-FIVE
  50. FORTY-SIX
  51. FORTY-SEVEN
  52. FORTY-EIGHT
  53. FORTY-NINE
  54. FIFTY
  55. FIFTY-ONE
  56. FIFTY-TWO
  57. FIFTY-THREE
  58. FIFTY-FOUR
  59. FIFTY-FIVE
  60. FIFTY-SIX
  61. FIFTY-SEVEN
  62. FIFTY-EIGHT
  63. FIFTY-NINE
  64. SIXTY
  65. SIXTY-ONE
  66. SIXTY-TWO
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. RECIPES
  70. Lavender shortbread
  71. Apricot jam sponge cake
  72. Lavender lamb
  73. READ MORE
  74. Prologue
  75. ONE
  76. TWO
  77. THREE
  78. FOUR
  79. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

A chambre d’hôte, Le Petit Mas de la Lavande? It’s a shame there’s no lavender now, and that I haven’t enough money to get a B-and-B up and running. I’d need to paint and furnish the place, tidy up the shutters and get all the right paperwork. I need to work to earn money straight away, but as I walk home, the idea follows me, and won’t leave me alone. If only I could … Could I? I stare at the house from the drive, imagining how it could be. I have plenty of room, but no furniture. And, sadly, with no income, and the mortgage repayments, I know it can’t happen yet. It may not be a big mortgage, but I have to find that money to stay. Otherwise I’ll have to put the house back on the market. There must be a way to make it happen.

EIGHT

I’m the owner of an old Provençal farmhouse, with no money and no way of earning any. To stop myself slipping back into despair at the reality of my situation I throw myself into baking the tuiles. I put the old recipe book on the clean, empty work surface and open it to the first page. ‘Okay,’ I say to myself. ‘Let’s try this. If I’m going to live here, I need to do everything in French, including reading a recipe.’ I put on the reading glasses that are still relatively new to me, and attempt to interpret the instructions for the recette. I run my finger under the words and every now and again reach for Google Translate on my phone.

I turn on the oven. I’ve hardly used it in the weeks we’ve been here. Bread, tomatoes and cheese seem to have been our staple diet, when we weren’t eating out, Ollie complaining about the prices. We could have eaten in far cheaper places than the brasserie in the middle of town that charged a supplement for its location.

In the box of utensils, for which Fabien charged me next to nothing, I find a chipped old mixing bowl and an electric whisk. I plug it in and switch it on. It works! I start to cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Then I separate the eggs. The yolks are as orange as the brilliant sun and I whisk each one into the butter mixture. I add the egg whites and when they’re incorporated I turn back to the book. I’m pretty sure it’s telling me to fold in the flour. If I do a recipe a day, my French is bound to come on. I add the flour – and now for the lavender.