Unethical to eat chocolates!

Thank goodness for the beautiful flower markets in the Dordogne! One of the joys of living in France and in the Dordogne in particular, is that here every flower is grown with love in the land which we love, picked with love and enjoyed by all! On a Saturday morning I can walk across the village square to the Lalinde fresh produce market-- to the corner under the 'halles' where a lovely local woman brings the pickings of her garden from that morning. Bunches of something of everything. For next to nothing I can buy bunches and bunches of flowers of every colour, every perfume and fill the chateau with fresh flowers for the week!

But then I read a blog entry by James Forsyth on Coffeehouse -- and I can but shake my head in wonder!!

Hollywood, friend of cheap dates everywhere

Leonardo di-Caprio and Blood Diamond gave men an excuse not to buy their wives and girlfriends diamonds on the grounds that they were ethically tainted. Now Julia Roberts is going to star in a movie that will do the same for flowers, reports New York Magazine.

The film, based on the Vanity Fair essay ‘A Flowering Evil’, will tell the tale of the conservationist Joan Root who struggled to save Lake Naivasha in Kenya from the flower farm industry before being murdered earlier this year.

All Hollywood needs to do now is to make a good thriller about the evils of the chocolate industry and tight-wads the world over will be able to say, "I'm not cheap, I'm ethical."

Hear! Hear!


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Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your event

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Summer planting in the Dordogne

I mentioned that I greet the sun from the terrace every morning. Ever since I learned my first yoga years ago in a gorgeous retreat in the County Mayo, Ireland, I have tried to keep up the morning ritual of greeting the sun. The Chateau's terrace must be the most perfect spot from where to greet the sun in the mornings -- and of course, bid it farewell with a glass of beautiful red wine at sunset!

At the Flower market in Lalinde on 1 May, I bought fresh plants for the pots on the terrace -- nothing elaborate this year -- only Verbena hortensis and geraniums, but bright pinks and purples and reds which will complement the shutters and stone walls and should stand up well to the expected heat this summer. Around the pool I have also succumbed to the riot of colour the Impatience gives and these should look lovely with the lavender and the mass of dahlias I have growing there already. Nowhere near the prize winning garden of Josette, but not a bad place from where all the guests who are renting the chateau this summer can enjoy the Dordogne river and the Chateau terrace!


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Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your event

Relocation Orientation in France

1 May: The Chelsea Flower Show comes to Lalinde!

I have always associated the First of May with Labour Day, the Day of the Workers, red flags with hammers and sickles, soldiers goose marching through the Red Square in the Kremlin, fist brandishing and banner waving demonstrations in the Place de la Bastille, calls to arms and passionate orators.


And then I moved to Lalinde, a gorgeous little village on the banks of the Dordogne River in the Southwest of France........

We do it differently here. On the First of May we have a flower market in the square opposite the mayor's office. The only red you will see is not the hammer and sickle flag, but the bright red of the geraniums and the verbenas. The only marching you will see is the row upon row of basil and rosemary and mint and oregano. The workers will be there – but preparing delicious plates with salad and charcuterie for the sellers and the buyers, and the only passionate oration you will hear is the discussion on whether Pierre's new yellow Impatience is as spectacular as Jean-Luc's new purple rose.

Oh! I do love living in the country!













Click on Link:

Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your event

Relocation Orientation in France