I finally started reading a book set in France, which I expected to do a couple of weeks ago but then I got distracted by other books.
The only issue is the book I am reading is The Vineyards of Champagne and after reading a few chapters I have already had a look to see where the Champagne reason is to see if it was doable to visit there during our week in France. It's not at all, but I guess that just means that I need to start planning our next trip to France!
Over the years that I haven't really been blogging about books, or even reading books I had stopped receiving any review books which I am totally okay with. Much better to send them to someone who will actually review them, but every now and again I receive one out of the blue which is a nice treat. This week I received Fiona Lowe's latest book, Just an Ordinary Family, which sounds really good.
Don't fall of your chair but, despite what I said earlier, I actually wrote a book review this week. Actually I wrote review for all three books in a trilogy, so I guess technically it was thee reviews!
Great British Bake Off is back! Thank goodness! A food show about food where the people act like decent human beings. We are now watching the tenth series. I think I have been watching the show since series two (I even posted about series three six years ago) but I have seen all ten series, and I am always happy to watch whichever season is on whenever it is on. But it's not only Great British Bake Off that I am addicted to. We also watch The Great Australian Bake Off with Matt Moran and Australian cooking legend Maggie Beer and last year we watched The Great Kiwi Bake Off too.
Last week I mentioned that My Kitchen Rules was back but the jury was out as to whether we would keep watching or not. My comment about Bake Off being a food show about food is probably in direct comparison to MKR where the food is the secondary part of the show these days. The main part of the shows seems to be manufactured drama between the contestants, between the judges, manufactured dating drama etc. I guess what I am saying is that it will be a bit of surprise if we make it through the whole series! Bring on Masterchef I say.
Speaking of food related viewing, I rewatched The Hundred Foot Journey this week. What a lovely movie it is. I first posted about this movie several years ago and it definitely hasn't lost its charm!
Life
I've had a toothache all week which has been then causing headaches. I went to the dentist and he was surprised that I still have my bottom wisdom teeth. About 25 years ago I had an episode with my wisdom teeth and the dentist said that I may need to have them out but that was two weeks before I was leaving to move to the UK so I didn't end up doing anything about it. The next time they played up was seven years later and it was two weeks before I was moving from Adelaide to Melbourne so I didn't do anything then either. I am not planning to move so no idea why they are playing up now.
We went to the ordination of a friend who is becoming a deacon/minister of the Anglican church. It was a much more formal church service than I have been to for a long time. One of the interesting things was that they made a couple of small changes due to the Coronavirus crisis. The first was that they said during the part where you turn around and greet the people around you that you should only say hello rather than shake hands with everyone and they made some changes to communion.
We finally finished booking all of our accommodation for our trip. I love planning a trip, the things you are going to be doing, the sites, the anticipation of going on holiday! I do not, however, enjoy the finding accommodation part of planning, and this time I found the Paris particularly hard. Because there are going to be three of us for that part of the trip, we needed to ensure that there was privacy, and then there's which part of Paris to stay in, how to stay within the arbitrary budget my husband has in mind (which I possibly would have been a bit more generous with). I can't even actually remember which arrondisement we are going to be staying in! Let's just say I'm glad that this part of the planning is done now! Back to the fun stuff now. And yes, I know, it's a nice problem to have!
Posts from the last week
Top Ten Tuesday - Books from my TBR that I hope will be 5 star reads
Statues and Silos - interesting sights from home and abroad
Weekend Cooking - Lots of baked goods.
I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date
Can you imagine being in France for champagne season? Wow. What fun. No matter, I'm sure you'll still have an amazing time when you go. Can't wait to hear what you think of this book!
ReplyDeleteWe are heading to apple cider country so I am sure that will be fun too.
DeleteHope you have an excellent trip!
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to watch the Great British Bake-Off after hearing many good recommendations.
It's so much fun and so enticing Sarah!
DeleteI love the variations on The Great British Bake Off, I’ve also watched the Irish and Canadian versions. I can’t stand the manufactured drama of shows like MKR
ReplyDeleteWishing you a great reading week, and I hope you can get your teeth taken care of
I have heard some things about Canadian Bakeoff but haven't watched it. I think I will look for the Irish version.
DeleteI haven't gotten to the Bake Off yet, but will be getting to it soon. Good luck on your teeth and have fun planning your trip!
ReplyDeleteI think you will enjoy it Beth!
DeleteHope you have a wonderful trip! And that the wisdom teeth either calm down promptly or are bot too much trouble. Toothaches can be the worst.
ReplyDeleteWe watch Bake Off too. I haven't seen the Aussie version (or the Kiwi for that matter) yet though. I agree, not a big fan of the manufactured drama shows.
Have a great week!!!
Seems to have settled down for the most part now Greg.
DeleteSounds like a wonderful trip ahead!! I would like to go somewhere that does not have snow. I am tired of it. haha
ReplyDeleteWe don't have snow Kailana!
DeleteI am eyeing The Vineyards of Champagne. Enjoy your week and your trip.
ReplyDeleteHere are my Weekly Updates
Thanks for stopping by Laurel-Rain
DeleteI've only seen a couple of episodes of The Great British Bakeoff. I'll have to look for more. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThey're a lot of fun Kathy!
DeleteI hope you do get to Champagne region at some point - it's a beautiful part of the country. The tours of the champagne houses are great fun too - I never realised how many thousands of miles of cellars there are under the city of Eperney!
ReplyDeleteI hope to one day. The cellars beneath the region sound fascinating!
DeleteI've never been to France. My weekly update
ReplyDeleteI've been before but I am super excited about going again!
DeleteI love trip planning--although finding the right place to stay can be difficult, I agree. I hope you have a wonderful time! Enjoy your reading in the meantime. :-) Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteNow the hard stuff is done I can get back to the fun stuff.
DeleteI just finished THE VINEYARDS OF CHAMPAGNE. I didn't love it as much as I wanted to, but it was an okay read for me.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a fun trip planned! I've never been to Europe, but my siblings and I are planning a trip to England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, etc. next year for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. My mom has always wanted to do a family history trip there, so we're making her dreams come true :)
I enjoyed Vineyards but wanted more of the historical series!
DeleteWonderful!After all many thanks for this post.
ReplyDelete