I’m off to France tomorrow for ten days, so if you need to get in touch, er… don’t. (Unless it’s urgent, in which case my mobile telephone will be switched on.)

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A good food holiday, specifically.

Highlights included Bob’s Cognac-infused fig and hazelnut crumble, with fruit and nuts both plucked from the branch that day, Donny’s superb courgette and wild mushroom risotto, which induced a coma in its creator, Janet’s cheese gratin, which included the remains of a vast (€39!) block of gruyere, and a collaborative apple and pear tart, with apples picked from the orchard by my own hand.

Thanks to Donny, Janet, Jess, Len, Niamh and Yesten for being there, and of course to Mr. Bob for being such a fine host!

I have an holiday photoset on Flickr, needless to say, though with only a smattering of telephone camera snaps uploaded so far, and a search for the LPM0905 tag should, in the coming days, reveal photographs by all of us. I’m particularly looking forward to Leon’s shots of the Roman amphitheatre at Saintes, taken with his fancy little paper pinhole.

Oh, and something appears to have gone awry with email in my absence - if you sent me anything in the last fortnight and I haven’t yet replied, do get in touch.

The laptop will remain at home, but I’ll be taking my mobile telephone with me, so if you really need to get in touch, ring it.

For a remote taste of my holidays, please gaze upon this pair of giant donkeys, who I will be visiting:

In celebration of the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, we went to watch some blokes do stunts in Opel Kadets:

(Was that a sigh of relief I just heard from the back? For shame!)

Hopefully, I’ll completely resist the temptation to dial up, and you won’t hear a peep out of me.

But, since I’ll be equipped with laptop and camera and surrounded by beautiful countryside, architectural marvels, sublime food and the like, chances are some pretty pictures of all that stuff might sneak into the Photos section of the site.

See you when I get back!

Père Lachaise photographs by Hannah