Lock-Down Diaries

It's tough for our French Living family at the moment, with so much uncertainty surrounding the restaurant industry. Every one of our team is locking down in the UK. No one has gone back to France, so we are very much in touch with each other, boosting morale and sharing ideas from how to social distance in a restaurant, to favourite films, books and music....

I thought I'd share a recent check-in with some of the French Living crew and let you know what they are up to, now they can no longer cook and look after you!

They are all pretty desperate to get back to doing what they love, probably realising how much they miss it...

Audrius, however, has quickly found others to take care of, with his young twins needing daily home-schooling and care ( 6 hours minimum a day!), three meals a day to be cooked and exercising twice a day. His incredible energy and work ethic means he doesn't stop there....oh no...Audrius is also taking this time to practice the guitar (learning to play in open G tuning). Maybe we should set him the task of learning a French tune that he can play for us all when we return?!

We all seem to be re-discovering the joy of reading with all this time on our hands. Annabelle has lost herself in the works of Simone de Beauvoir, while Stephane is wondering why it has taken him so long to read the tombs of Marcel Proust.

Gabi is relishing the time he can spend on skype with his Mum, chatting for hours on end while he cooks, eats, shares stories and recipes. He's also taking this opportunity to organise his personal collection of recipes, sorting through the mountain of loose sheets with scribbled gems, and collating them together into a semblance of order for future use. A mammouth task so he tells us.

Jeremy and Stan are our enthusiastic DIYers! They have been itching to help Stephane sand and polish our wooden floors in the restaurant. Social distancing DIY - pretty easy with two floors - some on ground floor, others in the basement. I think you are all going to be wowed by our new floor!!

You are also going to love our updated French Living photo album, long overdue, but now lovingly compiled and designed by Stephane

From immaculate, freshly washed and pressed tablecloths to new French tunes on our playlist, we are thinking about you all constantly, and preparing for that wonderful day when we can look after you all again.