countryside, friendly hamlets, local medieval bastide villages, professional staff, and world-reknown cuisine. Each night, Orlando and Lau
ra produce simple, French country meals, 
with fresh-grown produce, flowers, and herbs from the garden, for up to 1
4 guests at a time. They make it look really easy in the small, modern custom-designed kitchen, taking endless trouble to make every dish as special and memorable as possible. The food served here is not your traditional fussy French cooking, laden with heavy sauces, calories and frills. It's simple, down-to-ear
th, French country cooking at it's best. Rarely, if ever, does any food come back on the plate. See these, and you will soon know why.
ily-owned, and the son is working today. He's young, and cute, with pretty eyes- we think he has a crush on Laura. In we go, with the ice chest - I think Orlando is kn
own around town for the ice chest he carries 
everywhere, since he is the food shopper extraordinaire. Our meat order ready, we head to the patisserie in-between the two main squares for a poulet sandwich. We sit on the bench across the street watching the sleepy old mining town close up for two hours between 1-3 p.m. Then off to another patisserie for a coffee. I'm off to get my nails filled - Orlando has found me a nail place, and he is off to the gym. Then it's a quick stop at the Poste to mail some postcards (they even gave me a wet sponge so I wouldn't have to lick my stamps!) then next door to Cave Mader, one of the local wine shops we frequent, to meet Mme. Mader and pick up a room key some backpackers walked away with by mistake the other day and left for us. It's back to Le Manoir, for a lazy afternoon at the pool and a nap. I'm in the office during dinner, listening to the classical music and dishes tinkling from the terrace - it's nice having a break. Orlando sweeps in, looks at the CD's (he's got an ambitious dream this week of labeling them all with different colored dots to help us all get organized for the dinner music), he dots five of them, and hurries back out to start plating desserts. Peter comes in with the cheese, grabs a tablecloth and leaves. In comes Laura with a glass of white wine, Orlando in a moment later with a freshly baked poppy seed dinner roll and butter (guess what, the locals here do not ever have butter with their bread!), and Laura is back in to drop off a plate of slow braised shin of Segala veal, baby Courgette flowers, and orzo from dinner tonight. Some quick email, posted a blog entry, chatted with Rhiannon via skype for a bit, then off to bed. A day in the life.
taken the day off, leaving Laura and I alone for the day. I have an easy list today... laundry, reservations, clearing the entré box (that's an inbox to us Americans), 
prepping for a sold out upcoming weekend, typing up notes from a meeting yesterday with a photo journalist bringing guests in early July, writing work instructions for the guest laptop (Gary, you would be so proud!), updating the wine list, paying bills (I can't believe they still come in, even when you are out of the country - although I must admit, the outflow of cash when you are stranded on a beautiful remote property has been extremely minimal!), paying a few U.K. invoices for Orlando, but most importantly, the 2008 year end reconciliation. Which, is why I decided to post a blog entry right now, in order to procrastinate a few moments longer. We've just enjoyed a few quiet days, with just one lovely couple here, the Craigs, who left this morning to head to the coast, which is really unusual for this time of year, so it's been nice to finally have the time to catch up on things that have been put to the wayside. I'm attaching a few fun photos.. one from our Toulouse road-trip, which Laura took of the cows out the window on our drive out of Raynaudes last week, and the other of me eating macaroons in Toulouse, for all those friends emailing me saying the blog is great, but I need to put in more pictures of me. Oh, and did I tell you about the bats? One swooped down above Orlando and I last night at the pool. Good news, they eat the mosquitoes here so you don't need insect repellent. The bad news, no worries, just a heads up Orlando says, that if one happens to fly into a guests' room and they come screaming, just turn out the lights, open the windows and scurry the guests on out! Can't wait for that. Oh, and don't be surprised if they fly into my room... I've had to get Peter several times now to rescue little lizards that like to sit on my window ledge as I can't bear to touch them - they dart everywhere and run frantically from any human (except those that like to perch on my windowsill - I will be so spooked if I find one in my bed one day!). And a grasshopper just skipped over my keyboard just now- inside the office! And for you pilots out there (Matt!), the French Air Force does training missions right over us several times a week, from Toulon on the coast, in what look like mini-Concordes. They leave beautiful white streaks in the sky. I almost fell off the chair last night they did a fly-by so low over us. Maybe it's time to get out the Top Gun soundtrack.... Well, au revoir for now, I've stalled long enough... time to hit the reconciliation. Hope all is great at home with everyone!
d in come the hawks looking for mice, the butterflies, and the green grass snakes. Amazing the Regourds can do 13 acres in just three days or so... they have a contract with Peter & Orlando, whereas the Regourds cut and bale the hay, and in exchange, the Regourds get to keep the hay for their farm. Local farmers here grow linseed, barley, lentils and wheat, as wel
l as peas and corn to feed their livestock. They also produce cow and sheep's milk. A day off at Le Manoir de Raynaudes (pronounced Lay Man wa day Ray node) is extra special, as you get to enjoy the time off in the ambiance of a nice boutique country hotel that others travel to from afar to enjoy. Plus, an added benefit... either Laura or Peter will actually deliver a glass of wine and dinner to wherever I may be! Tonight as I write this sitting in the courtyard in front of Caillol, Laura brings dinner leftovers-roast fillet of veal in a parmesan crust served over spinach, pommes dauphinoise, sundried tomato rolls, and rose ice cream with strawberry, red & golden raspberry and rhubarb compote, and frosted rose petals. We had a heat wave today, with a big storm expected tomorrow evening, and we may all go swimming tonight after the guests are finished dining. And...M. Bonné drove up this evening with two handmade mushroom wooden carvings for Laura and I- so unexpected and thoughtful. It was a great day.
ouse for an overnight stay of sightseeing, shopping and 
fine dining. I had only flown in and out of the airport in Toulouse, so never really had the chance to explore the city, and was pleasantly surprised. It's bustling, but quaint in a mellow way, it's old dating back to the 3rd century, and architecturally prettier than I imagined. It is a city of 600,000+, the third largest city in France, and about an hour and half drive from where we are. Bathed in Mediterranean light, with most buildings made of brick, it can take on a variety of hues depending on the time of day, ranging from scorching red to dusky pink or even violet. Once the capital of all the regions united by the Occitanian dialects, it is now a famous centre of the French aeronautical construction industry, home of Airbus and high-tech firms, and a lively university town. The street signs are all in French, as well as Occitanian. The old facades and buildings we strolled by on the way to the old Capitole building and the Cathédrale of St. Étienne were striking. The city reminds me a bit of the Left Bank in Paris in the fact that it has windy, cobbled narrow streets full of small boutiques, high end shops, local patisseries, and lots of cafes. The mood is more mellow than Paris, there are certainly less people, and the locals are really friendly. Here in France, by law you can only work 35 hours a week, and everyone takes an hour and half - two hours for lunch. Lunch is at two, dinner at eight. So, the cafes are all crowded in the afternoon serving coffees to the locals, and it's a great place to people watch. Laura and I had beautiful salads at Cafe Koss in St. Georges Square, and stopped at a decadent patisserie for macaroons - of course, we had to taste one of each: chocolate, pistachio, salty caramel, vanilla, violet, coffee, passion fruit, raspberry and lemon. We stopped at two more cafes for afternoon coffees and walked the tiny narrow streets of Toulouse "window licking" for hours. It was humid, and sprinkled a bit. I bought a handbag, and a couple of pairs of shoes, while Orlando shopped like a mad man to fill Monique's shopping wish list at L'Occitane, and Peter & Andrew sipped a coffee at a cafe. We stopped for pre-dinner drinks at a local bar, El Abanico, where Orlando whipped out his treat for us - more macaroons! This time, savory macaroons.... (Roquefort, foie gras, truffle and olive oil flavours- Roquefort was my favorite), than we headed to Anges & Démons for dinner. The food was good, but fussy, the service slow (four hours from start to finish with the main course not being served until half past ten!), but the owners were friends of Orlando & Peter's who used to run a restaurant in Carmaux, so we stayed. My menu: Girolle creme with coffee foam, a tarte of sun-dried tomatoes, chorizo, and red mullet (heavenly!), St Jacques scallops with apple reduction, cheese, bread,and creme brulee with pineapple. Laura, Orlando and I headed back to the hotel at 12:30 a.m., while Peter & Andrew hit the bars till the wee hours. This morning, it was back to Raynaudes, after a brief stop for a sandwich in Cordes at the local patisserie in the lower square. It's quiet in Cordes, a local bastide medieval town, but come August, there will be large crowds of tourists here. It's dreary and rainy today, making us all feel lazy. Maybe it had to do with the rich dinner and all the wine. After lunch, it's time to get back and prepare, as we are cooking dinner tonight at 7pm for the local village of Raynaudes, all 12 of them! Once a year Peter & Orlando invite the village to dinner as a thank you for being so welcoming to their guests all year long- so I'm off now to set the tables- it's looking to rain tonight, so we are doing aperitifs in the hangar, and setting the tables inside- au revoir for now...... So I'm back now sitting in the office, having just cleared the after dinner drinks, the village dinner is finished, it's 11:30 p.m., and the evening was a huge success - Roquefort rarebits, fillet of boeuf with au jus, pommes dauphinoise, tomato confit, Xavier cheese course, gâteau (a layered strawberry tart with caramel creme, chocolate and hazelnuts), and coffee and macaroons. Great conversation and laughter all night, it was invigorating to be here, as some of these neighbors have known each other 50 years. And even though the entire evening was spoken in French, I will have fond memories. Highlights of our roadtrip were the cattle crossing the road in front of us as we headed towards Monestiés on our way to Toulouse, exploring the streets and cafes of Toulouse with Laura, the infamously long dinner, andthe architecture of the city. Highlight of the village dinner- the villagers of Raynaudes, the laughter and the great food.
(we call it Aladdin's Cave, as it has everything you can imagine on it) around the Tarn hamlets and makes house calls in the hope you might need something. Out here in the country, he does a nice business. He has everything in his little van; from brooms to flowering plants, to coffee filters, potatoes, onions, sausages and Roquefort cheese. And... if you'd like to rent a bike, he's your man- but be sure to call ahead, as he only has three.
and Gregor (the Scottish gardener who helps out every oth
er week) had worked so hard, it looked to be a wash, but low and behold- we had a huge rain about 2:15, and then the sun came out. With dark clouds looming, the locals starting driving up, and the garden came alive. Freshly cleaned by the rain, it glistened. The greens were bright, the sky dark, the colours at their best, and we ended up serving tea to 60. It was quite a busy afternoon tea-wise, with only two electric kettles I kept filling for Laura out of the garden tap by the magnolia tree... we ended up having 80 visitors. It was a successful day, even though it did end up showering quite hard several times throughout the afternoon. Did I tell you how I 
met Gregor? I accidentally turned the front fountain on him a few weeks back, when he was standing over it dead-heading the irises. For our guests, a special send-off includes turning on the fountain and ringing the front bell, which is what was on my mind at the time. I do always look now when turning on the fountain..... Seriously, who would expect anyone to be standing in a fountain?!
now it thrives with flowers, produce, herbs and citrus. The main goal when developing the garden was to be able to manage it easily with just two people, while providing organic fresh French garden produce for the cuisine cooked each evening here at the Manoir. Reknown for it's impeccable design, it really is a creative and imaginative dream come true for Orlando and Peter. Today, it is comprised of 40% vegetables, 20% fruit, 15% herbs, 15% jar
din d'agrement (pleasure or flower gardens), and 10% cutting gardens. The lemons are grown to make homemade limoncello, preserved lemons, and marmalade. The strawberries and tomatoes (18 vari
eties) have 
just begun their season, as have the fragrant sweet peas. The house cassis, added to the sparkling Gaillac wine each evening for aperitifs, is made of garden grown black, red and white currants. My favorite sorbet thus far has been the black currant leaf sorbet! The quince makes an excellent quince cheese, served each evening, always a favorite. We pick a couple of fresh heads o
f red oak lettuce each day for lunch, and actually, walking the scraps out to the compost pile can even be a nice break, believe it or not, as you have to traipse through the garden to get there. The roses were spectacular when I arrived, fragrant and beautiful in color- gorgeous, with a wide choice of variety. While I knew I had a knack for flower arranging, I never really expected the pleasure that would come with picking your own flowers each day for the house in such a beautiful environment. So... I'm sure there are more garden pictures to come, as the garden changes daily, but here are some to enjoy fr
om my first three weeks here in the Tarn...
