Getting To Know You Tag

Lovely Ruth From Life the universe and all that's in it and fabulous Christina from Fashions Most Wanted have both tagged me, with the; 'Getting to know you tag'.

This is the perfect antidote as I am in recovery after a rather nasty bout of food poisoning, to add insult to injury it was one of my favourite restaurants that got me, I know it was them, as on the way back from the Alps, on Friday we stopped off at the now offending restaurant for lunch, where I consumed two starters, Gazpacho followed by Ravioli stuffed with Ricotta on a bed of lettuce, judging by my symptoms and internet research the lettuce appears to be the culprit,  who would have thought that a few humble lettuce leafs could make you feel so awful.

I will spare you the details, but scenes from 'The Exorcist' spring to mind, at one point I felt so awful, I just wanted my Mother!  Thankfully MG was wonderful, whilst I was moaning, prostrate on the bed, he was on hand (at a safe distance) with chamomile tea and Vichy mints. 

Anyway back to the matter in hand...

Ruth and Christina have both used pictures of Joanna Lumley for this post, I have plumped for Joan Collins.

1. What is your favourite time of day and why?...

My favourite time of day is dawn, I love the birth of a new day, especially when you are in unfamiliar surroundings, like the first day of a holiday, when you arrived in the dark,  I love watching a new landscape emerge, with nobody else about, I usually end up going back to bed though, by nature I am a night owl.

 

  Dawn Breaks Over Cadaques, North East Spain, Taken from our hotel balcony.

2. Salt or Sugar?...

I am definitely a savoury person, although at certain times of the month all I want is chocolate.

3. Sea or mountains...

The Sea, I love the sea, which is ironic as we live at the foothills of the Pyrenees.

4.  What Country would you like to visit and why?...

Italy, I want to do a grand tour, by sports car visiting everywhere, because it's such a beautiful country with beautiful architecture and so much culture, I also want to visit India, because the culture is so different, I want to see the vibrancy, the chaos and the beauty.

 Holi Festival, India

Palace, Rajput

5.  Favourite Song?...

God, this is a difficult one...so many...I think it would have to be Barcarolle from 'The Tales of Hoffman' by Offenbach. Sung beautifully below.

6.  Do you cook? What is your favourite dish to make?...

I love to cook, I love entertaining, and having loads of delicious plates of food on the table, with lots of good wine and good company, I am especially partial to long lazy lunches that go on well into the night and sometimes beyond!  Boeuf Bourguignon is probably my favourite dish.  I also love to make soup in the winter months with warm crusty bread, especially chicken soup unfortunately my chicken soup will never be as good as my Grandmothers!

7.  What is the one thing you want to do before you die?...

This is difficult, I have done so much in my life and still have a lot of things I want to do, I cannot think of one thing, I guess the ultimate is just to be totally content and have no regrets.

8.  Favourite flower?...

Another difficult one, I adore flowers, I love wild flowers, fields of red poppies and woods with carpets of bluebells, cut flower wise I love Roses and all types of Lilly and in winter I love to fill the house with Anemones.

9.  What 3 words would your friends outside the Blogging World use to describe you?...

Crumbs, I have not seen some of my good friends for so long, I have no idea,  probably be eccentric, excessive and absent!

10.  What five people dead or alive would you invite round for dinner and why?...
Ooh I like good talkers and interesting conversations, so I would love to invite, David Niven, David Attenborough, The Dalai Lama, Joan Collins, Dirk Bogarde, Colette, Christina Lindsay and Ruth Johnson, whoops that's eight, told you I was excessive!

11. Who wrote the last book you read and what was the title?...
The last book I read was written by Kathryn Stockett and it was called 'The Help'.  It was brilliant, I could not put it down.


12.  If a movie was made about your life what would the title be?...
I am such a gypsy by nature it would probably be something like; 'Driftwood'  And I think either Rachel Weisz or Helena Bonham-Carter, would be perfect for the roll!

Rachel Weisz

Helena Bonham-Carter

13.  What is your favourite hobby?...

Blogging and reading.

14.  Are you a coffee or a tea drinker?...  

Tea, I find it really thirst quenching in the morning, I need about four cups to get me going and another one in the afternoon,  I do drink coffee but not very often.

15.  If you had to choose wine or Champagne and why?...

Can't choose, I live in France, with a wine expert, Sometimes white wine, sometimes red wine, sometimes dessert wine, it depends what you are eating, Champagne is for a lift, so whenever really....


16.  How do you order in a restaurant - Look at the dessert then order the main and don't worry about having room for dessert?...
It depends how hungry I am, and whats on the menu, usually I love starters, so I always have one, then a main, most of the time I skip dessert and just have cheese.

Oop's I have just realised  I have just done the entire tag incorrectly! (Well I am still recovering from food poisoning!)  Sorry Ruth, Christina, I will have to save the questions I should have answered for a future post, and think up some new intriguing one's to ask all of you.  Also something very weird is going on with my text and spacing, I have done something wrong but have no idea what!