A few years ago, when telling a friend of my forthcoming move to Muswell Hill (an area in North London) he said, pityingly, ‘It’s a bit suburban there…’ Geographically speaking he was right: Muswell Hill is a London suburb – it’s more than 5 miles from Central London, in Zone 3 of the London travel network and the landline phone numbers begin with 0208 (rather than 0207, the mark of inner London). But his pitying tone conveyed the fact that the word ‘suburban’ is often used pejoratively to describe a particular lifestyle and mindset: conservative, small-minded and safe, in contrast to both the excitement of city life and the freedom and beauty of country living. Continue reading “Suburban life”
Tag: potatoes
Eating with a French family
As I noted in a previous post – on Virginia Woolf’s To the lighthouse – French food is very close to my heart (and stomach!). But whilst I have spent many enjoyable an hour in cafes, bistros and restaurants, some of my most vivid and long-lasting impressions of French food were nurtured in the home. Continue reading “Eating with a French family”