Nowadays, if you have a journey, albeit a simple one, you consider yourself lucky if nothing happens.

You don't like it when a French housewife gets mad at you. If she gets steam behind her, she is an unstoppable creature.

I have a very set routine. I work six days a week, but only half days. I work from 9 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon, without any interruptions, a fair slug.

Why not make a daily pleasure out a daily necessity.

Best advice I've ever received: Finish.

The English kill their meat twice: once when they slaughter it and once when they cook it.

It is at a time like this, when crisis threatens the stomach, that the French display the most sympathetic side of their nature. Tell them stories of physical injury or financial ruin and they will either laugh or commiserate politely. But tell them you are facing gastronomic hardship, and they will move heaven and earth and even restaurant tables to help you.