----PREFACE
  1. Bequia, Grenadines recently
  2. Bequia, Grenadines late-1780s
  3. London mid 1970s
  4. Mendoza Argentina March 31st 1921
  5. Paris, France recently
  6. Bequia late 1780s
  7. Montgomery Alabama December 1st 1955
  8. Jouandesbat, Gascony mid-1990s
  9. Los Angeles March 5th 1983
  10. Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, late 2001
  11. Paris and Cannes, France October 1982
  12. Montgomery Alabama December 1st 1955
    then later the same evening in the
    botanical gardens, St. Vincent
  13. Notting Hill Gate, London mid-1970’s
  14. Cannes, France October 1982
  15. Los Angeles recently
  16. Los Angeles March 1983
  17. Domaine des Colombières,
    Menton France October 1982
  18. Oxford, England May 1st 1973
  19. Southern California recently
  20. Jouandesbat, France recently
  21. Domaine des Colombières,
    Menton France October 1982
  22. Bequia mid 1780’s
  23. Domaine des Colombières,
    Menton France October 1982
  24. Ile du Grande Ribaud, France
    August 1978
  25. Dubai, UAE recently
  26. Bendor, France August 1978
  27. Tijuana Mexico March 1983
  28. Bequia, Grenadines December 1987
  29. Bequia early 1790's
  30. Paris, France recently
  31. Loire Valley, France and London
    September 1978
  32. Cannes, France recently
  33. Stirling Range, Western Australia 1960's
    then Cannes, France October 1982
  34. Dubai, UAE recently
  35. Spring Pottery, Bequia, February 2002
  36. Jouandesbat, France recently

Mentions légales
- Legal stuff







TWENTY - Passing on and help from beyond


Lucie put down the phone, the news from the hospital was not so good. Philippe had been taken into the operating theatre and they were waiting for news. But it was already too late, Jean-Marc knew this because Philippe was there sitting next to him.

They went into the kitchen, Jean-Marc poured coffee, tears flowed down his cheeks in a mixture of grief and joy.


Phil's "cabin"
 “You have to finish painting the cabin” said Philippe looking out to the hunting cabin they had built at the top of the meadow several months earlier.

“Yeh okay, we’ll have a cabin warming party in your honour when the fine weather returns, well smoke some shisha” replied Jean-Marc

“I’ll be there”, Philippe continued “....Denis too”

“You know Denis?”

“Of course, he’s here with me now. You know its very pleasant here, all you can see is love, and that’s all that counts. I know you’ll look after my girls and Denis and I will look after you......’as always’ Denis says”

“Why don’t you come back with us for a while?” Jean-Marc begged.

“There is a leg of venison for you in the very bottom of the freezer in my house and I have left something for you in the cabin too. I’m going to see some other friends like you who opened my eyes and made some sense out of my life, and I want to see the desert again, but I’ll never be far away...”

And he was gone.

Strolling out to the cabin, Jean-Marc regretted that he had not put on his coat, there was a bitter wind blowing. The cabin had been Philippe’s pride and joy, a converted haulage container with caravan windows which they had installed in the woods for their hunting weekends. When the woods were sold and hunting was forbidden, Philippe didn’t want to let the new owners keep the cabin, they had dismantled it and moved it to Jean-Marc's field on a Saturday evening the previous year. They had painted it, well at least several undercoats, and a local carpenter had built a deck and a roof. It was a peaceful place to sit in the summer with a wonderful view down to the woods and peace and quiet.

Jean-Marc prised open the door, the wind was blowing harder than ever. A strangely familiar leather jacket was hanging on a peg and on the shelf there was a small book, "La Cuisine Algérienne...”