If it’s Friday, it must be France …

This week I wrote a post  about chocolate in France for my friend Janine Marsh’s wonderful website The Good Life France.

Click right here to see the post. Chocolate + France … two of my favourite topics. It was fun to write, as you can imagine. If you do go in and read it, please click on some of the links at the bottom of the article. It all helps!

If you follow me regularly, you’re probably already a subscriber to Janine’s amazing newsletter and ezine. There’s a link to the virtual magazine in the column here on my blog. ====================>

Or just click right here to see back issues of the magazine, too.

While I was doing research for that post, I spent some time revisiting the wonderful film Chocolat. Remember that?  I loved it so much, I own a copy. So we watched it again this week.

You also might want to read the novel by Joanne Harris and check out her other work including, Peaches for Monsieur le Curé.

This photo is one of my “shoot through the open window of the car as my husband zooms by shots” … otherwise I would be asking him to stop every two minutes … and he really is great about pulling over. But sometimes it is simply not possible. French roads often have no shoulders or there’s someone right on our tail. In spite of that it’s surprising how often the photo turns out!

So, back to the movie. If, for some bizarre reason, you haven’t seen Chocolat, get on over to Netflix immediately. It’s a great story … and of course, there is Johnny Depp … but the setting ,,, ah oui … the setting … that’s what’s really delicious!

It was filmed in the medieval village of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain in Burgundy and on the Rue De l’Ancienne Poste in the charming commune of Beynac-et-Cazenac, in the heart of Périgord Noir. These photos of mine are from that latter general area.

Beynac is found on the banks of the Dordogne River with a well-preserved 12thC castle, clinging to a steep cliff, once besieged by Richard the Lion Heart. Just ten kilometres from Sarlat, this village is distinctive with “lauze” stone slab-roofed houses and well worth a visit.

Are you a chocophile? Dark, milk, white? All of them? What’s your pleasure? Be sure to have a supply nearby while you watch the movie.  Bon weekend!