Travel and Food

[Rob C]

I have been thinking lately that it might have been very nice to have been into travel documentaries instead of advertising stills photography.

This thought has been coming around quite a lot; in fact, I think that I have discovered the one person whose visible lifestyle I actually envy: Rick Stein, the chef.

He gets to many of the places that I either like from experience, or would like to have experienced. His French trips are legion, and the blend of food and the locations whets my appetites every time I watch his shows. To be fair, I have no wish to experience his eastern trips or the food - happy to have managed to be there and leave sane and healthy. But his European trips I find a delight. I watch him cook, and almost everything that attracts me gets scratched off the list of possibles: it seems worth the effort when cooking for a production team, but for one person? Nope; it would take me a day's work to make a meal for one. Instead, I do what I can to rip off some ideas and adapt them to my low-grade abilities. One thing that I discovered from his Spanish trip to sardine and anchovy land in the north was this: fry some dry bread and put the contents of a tin of sardines (I also tried it with baby calamares) onto the fried slices and have that with whatever else you normally like. Works well with saved boiled potatoes that you heat up in a pan with more olive oil - I use the same large pan for both functions . A spoonful of mayonnaise on the side of the plate, something like a tomato, a glass of wine, and on the right terrace, a delight!

I note that as his series have rolled past over the years, the production values have risen noticeably. He deserves his open Porsche and "hideaway" in deepest Provence!

Rob

[KLaban]

My favourite chef and food/travel series.

What could be better a combination other than to travel and eat, other than of course to travel, eat and make images without the constraints of a TV production.

;-)

[Rob C]

My favourite chef and food/travel series.

What could be better a combination other than to travel and eat, other than of course to travel, eat and make images without the constraints of a TV production.

;-)

I guess it depends on the personality: in order to buckle down and seriously make images, I have usually needed a definite objective: the assignment. And even that has its complications: I remember my muse saying to me once as we drove for uninspired miles through the Scottish countryside looking for the right spot to make a shot "Rob, you always leave eveything to the last possible moment before you make your mind up, don't you?" My wife would have agreed.

In fact, indulging myself in the imposed luxury of dolce far niente these weeks, I have been thinking that should I ever manage to sell up here, I may ship the entire camera stuff ahead of me and just do the trip back north through France without a camera at all and just enjoy like any tourist might.

Photography, far from opening eyes, might of itself blind them to the greater experience.

;-)

[KLaban]

Tourists look, travellers and image makers see.

;-)

[Rob C]

Tourists look, travellers and image makers see.

;-)

I think that's a step out of synch: it's because we always looked and saw that we became photographers in the first place. You can't lose that because it comes with the placenta and personal DNA. If everybody knew this, think of the money they could save and the gurus lose!

Placentas; not things which float across my mind every day, and a pleasant thought as I push away my empty lunch plate and wonder how long I can drag out my single, permitted glass of red before leaving the roasting terrace for the cold kitchen to make my coffee, which I invariably have with two cream crackers (Jacob's) and single chocolate digestive (Eroski's own brand) that comes in lieu of a traditional pud.

I might really be a creature of habit. I had better have a look.

:-)

[KLaban]

One can look without seeing but can't see without looking.

We must be bored!

;-)

[Rob C]

One can look without seeing but can't see without looking.

We must be bored!

;-)

Bored, and listening to Radio Caroline and a 1967 Hit Parade whilst trying to put off the inevitable further cleaning of the second part of the bloody shutters! Have to do it because ain't nobody else gonna do it for me.

During my coffee period I've been looking yet again at French maps wondering which way to go north if I can do it again for a last trip. Even that seems far too complicated a battle between the familiar and possible lure of a new route which might just result in disappointment. Must gird the loins and face the shutters.

Rob

[KLaban]

Bored, and listening to Radio Caroline and a 1967 Hit Parade whilst trying to put off the inevitable further cleaning of the second part of the bloody shutters! Have to do it because ain't nobody else gonna do it for me.

During my coffee period I've been looking yet again at French maps wondering which way to go north if I can do it again for a last trip. Even that seems far too complicated a battle between the familiar and possible lure of a new route which might just result in disappointment. Must gird the loins and face the shutters.

Rob

Weather far too dull here to contemplate getting the camera out.

Rob, hopefully your trip will materialise, but what are you going to be doing with your left hand drive car once back in Scotland?

[Rob C]

Weather far too dull here to contemplate getting the camera out.after driving barious ones back over to

Rob, hopefully your trip will materialise, but what are you going to be doing with your left hand drive car once back in Scotland?

Use it. I realised after driving several different cars back over on our trips - usually around six weeks per trip split up between the two sets of parents - that it was not really a problem. I had imagined that city driving would be the challenge, but the reverse turned out to be the case: narrow Perthshire roads with timber trucks roaring towards me were the ones that encouraged wet pants. Without doubt, city parking lots are a bugger: it's easier to get out and man the ticket machines that way. Of course, with a sensible passenger, it's not a problem, but an empty seat is a pain. A big smile at the car behind one in the queue should help...

What I don't know is how easy or otherwise it would be to transfer insurance on a permanent basis. That old green card thing was dropped when Britain was in the EEC, as was the need for an International Driving Permit. Would I require both again for the trip? I would also require a separate health/travel insurance whilst driving through France, as the European one I am granted after Britain departs the club will only apply in the country of residence - Spain, in my case.

The thing about keeping the car is that the mileage is so low: around 32,000 klicks - not miles. I'd get very little trying to sell it: diesel, the best thing since sliced bread when I bought it, but no more with it being phased out. Maybe Britain wouldn't let me import mine, even though I have had it about ten years or so. I'd have to check that out. My son has an MX5, his second one at least - maybe he'd sell me his and buy another? It would certainly make the transfer easier, going there carless, but then I worry that trying to start a new policy at my age may prove far more difficult than transferring an existing one that's clean. Some say life starts after retirement: crap! It all just gets more complicated with more forms to fill and more hurdles to jump.