A village full of recipes...

You don't have to go far in my little village before you are offered a recipe of one kind or another. Whether it's in the boucherie while you are buying a cut of meat, or at the weekly market buying artichokes, or while you are having a chat with one of the local hunters you pass on the street, chances are somewhere along the line you will be given a recipe for something.

Like the weather in England, food is the subject that more often than not figures in almost every conversation I have with the locals. People talk about what they've eaten or what they are planning to eat as a matter of course. Who needs an online meal planner when a simple walk through the village will produce enough inspiration for a month of dinners?

I've just returned from my after dinner walk with the dogs. As I walked through the village with the sun setting on yet another sweltering day, I noticed the figs ripening in the trees and the towers of runner beans bursting in the alotment gardens. A few apricots remain in trees that haven't been harvested yet, and the smell of barbeques wafted on the air like Autumn chimney smoke.

But little did I know that further ahead there was a bikinin-clad, garden-watering grandmother lying in wait to give me inspiration for tomorrow night's dinner....

As I passed the grandparent's house of one of the little ladies' friends, I noticed Martine watering her borders wearing her lime green and black spotted bikin. She gave me a wave and made me promise not to tell her husband, Francois, that she was seen watering half-naked. We got to talking about swimsuits and bikinis, and how hard it is to stay slim, which of course naturally steered the conversation to food.

I mentioned that we'd just finished off our dinner with camembert with sage leaves cooked on the barbeque and eaten with a whole baguette, which of course prompted her to give me one of her recipes: half a baguette with tomato and camembert, topped with pruneaux, and grilled gently on the barbeque.

We both patted our stomachs, made little miam miam noises, and waved goodbye. Guess what we will be having for starters tomorrow night.....