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Amboise is a delightful market town perched alongside the river Loire. Leonardo da Vinci spent the last 4 years of his life living at the Clos de Lucé.

A super easy recipe for you that is really tasty and perfect for a mid-week supper. Light and low in calories, it’s healthy but there is heaps of flavour.

I wanted to make Nigel a special cake for his 50th birthday this week but with 10 people to feed this weekend I decided to have one made by Cake Passion.

Inspired by a Rich Stein recipe Nigel cooked this for dinner last night but cut a few corners to make it more simple. It’s spicy and delicious.

3 weeks after moving in, we’re finally beginning to make some progress. The cardboard boxes are unpacked and the salon and tasting room are decorated.

Beautifully crafted artisanal wines made with practically zero intervention in the vineyard or winery. And what’s more, now we are practically neighbours!

And the 2018 vintage in the Loire? What can I say? You’re going to find some amazingly ripe and full bodied wines at amazing prices from this vintage.

Pruning is in full swing here in the Loire with teams visible in the vineyards as you drive along. Much of France has had snow this past week.

The van arrived with all our furniture this last Monday so it’s been all systems go this week unpacking boxes. It’s been like a lucky dip, rediscovering our things.

Our furniture (that has been in storage since October) arrives on Monday. We can’t wait to get everything into place and start making it into a home after 4 months in our (lovely but temporary) home.

We’re big fans of Arnaud Lambert’s wines. Last night we enjoyed a bottle of his top red,  Clos de l’Etoile 2010 which is a Cabernet Franc from the Saumur appellation. 

In our village, we return to the calm just like we had in Cumeray although we have street lights and mains drains. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be excited about that!