
Imagine a small boutique hotel within the walls of an old home, an internal courtyard with huge flagging stones, exquisitely decorated bedrooms, a cobbled lane outside and the edifice of the Pope’s Palace a mere twenty metres away … La Mirande in Avignon has to be one of my favourite hotels on our trip through southern France …

Wonderful news about Ronni Kahn’s award as Local Hero of the Year in The Australian of the Year Awards for 2010! What a worthy recipient - read about the award and learn more about Ronni from my interview with her last year …

How many books do you usually take away with you when you travel? What sort of books do you like as travelling companions? We all know how important these questions are as we prepare for a much anticipated break and a few delicious moments of reading somewhere, somehow …
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Cucumbers. Not necessarily the most exciting vegetable are they? They seem to be faithful companions in many salads and I know I can’t have a Pimms without a long thin wedge bobbing around in the glass. But try the recipe for Cucumber Salad - gurkensalat, as it’s called in the Barossa Valley - I think you’ll find it so crunchy and refreshing it’ll become a summer favourite …

We all know who Jamie Oliver is but what is TED? Well, both Jamie and TED are communicators, and very good ones at that. The TED Prize is significant because Jamie will be given yet another platform on which to spread his mission about food …

Isn’t this just the most wonderful photograph? The colours zing around you and not only that, there’s a watermelon on the stool which fits in perfectly with the delicious Watermelon Sorbet that follows …