Author Archives: Elaine Elkington

Why greengages—and why wasps? Here’s my first Substack post. Owned by a small French hotel, known as ‘Les Oeillets,’ the orchard of greengages, surrounded by high walls, led down to a small blue door which opened out onto the bank of the river Marne. Greengages are called ‘Reines Claudes’ in French.  I fell under their spell—and […]

In June the heatwave in Britain was intense. For most of July it rained, sometimes heavily – the humidity scrambled my brain. It was as if I struggled each day through hot, suffocating treacle. A Danish friend invited us for a few days in August to Bornholm, an island off Copenhagen where her mother used […]

John had had problems with eyes (a detached retina) and ears over the past year but he was mainly recovered – although age doesn’t let that happen so quickly or easily. When a colleague and friend of his invited us to stay with him in Nyon it couldn’t have come at a better time – […]

Aloft were seven men, putting a new roof on our house at 8am, one of them wearing a fine silk, pale pink turban. I wondered how Charles and Camilla were faring. I expect they were brought a very early morning cup of tea. I had one as well. Made just how I like it, by […]

The picture framers by the river is also a small gallery, selling paintings, sculptures, prints and cards. As I was passing one day my eye was caught by somebody looking at me from within. He was an old bear with a very direct gaze – as if he wanted to tell me something. I stood […]

A pre-Christmas present! One minute I was suffering from rainsoaked doom and gloom. A split second later a sudden ‘ping’ heralded an unexpected invitation to Bordeaux. Ho ho, I thought – let’s go! We are here already, staying at ‘Chez Dupont’ – a restaurant with rooms nearby. It’s sunny and warm and the long weekend […]

Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City By Edward Chisholm This is an unputdownable story of the author’s trials and travails in ‘The City of Light’ – Paris. The only other book I can compare it to is ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ by George Orwell, which was fascinating and utterly grim […]

Having been confined to these shores for so long I realised that although I longed to ‘cross the Channel’ I was also afraid of ‘spreading my wings’. When my daughter said she had Eurostar vouchers and invited me to join her, I was thrilled – but could I do it? I hadn’t had Covid, I […]