“Congratulations, I’ve nominated you for a prize…It’s up to you to choose to accept it. I hope you do.”
That is the very condensed version of the email I received which I happened to read whilst desperately trying to silence my alarm I had somehow forgotten to turn off last Sunday morning. My first thought was spam email and just before I hit delete I saw the words: A year in Périgord blog. It could still be spam. After 4.5 years in France I have etched into my psyche the deep distrust the French are born with: say no first, then think about it and then, possibly, say yes. I made coffee. I returned to bed and read the newspaper. I reread the email. I clicked on the link on my ipad. Oh, pause, it really is A year in Periogord that nominated me for this award. Queue the euphoria, small shriek, then squeals as I sat there thinking Liquid Marmalade is an award winner – yipee. Then feeling slightly bemused as at the end of the email it said it was up to me to decide if I chose to accept the award. Who doesn’t accept an award? Possibly lots of people but, this mademoiselle accepts awards and the shinnier the better although I will just settle for a button I can stick on my blog – lots!
The award is a Liebster Award awarded by bloggers to other bloggers. As you have guessed A year in Périgord nominated me and I am thrilled, thank you. The rules, which I have copied from his blog are the following:
- Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog to your post
- Answer 11 questions they have asked you
- Nominate 11 bloggers who have 200 followers or fewer for the award
- Ask 11 questions of those bloggers
- Let your nominees know you nominated them
- Add the Liebster Award logo to your blog
I accept the Liebster award so here are the answers to the questions the award winning Liquid Marmalade (ahem!) must answer:
- What inspired you to blog? I am a writer with a 9 to 5 job and when I first started the blog I wasn’t writing very much. That coupled with the fact I never really ate out as I didn’t have anyone to eat out with inspired me to start the blog that would make me write regularly and tell the truth of what it is really like to dine solo.
- How much time do you spend on your blog? About 8 to 10 hours a week and I want to spend more but I have a 9 to 5 job that takes up about 20 hours of my day so I don’t get as must time as I would like.
- Where do you write your blog posts? It would sound glamorous to say in a café whilst sipping a glass of kir but no it’s in my bijou studio near parc Montsouris in 13th arrondissement.
- Where did you go on your first holiday abroad without your parents? Upstate New York – I worked as camp counsellor.
- Share a mistake you remember making when trying to speak a foreign language. There are so many but one does come to mind when I asked the concierge in my building if he knew how to fix “une pipe” not knowing that is slang for a blow job. He looked stunned until he came upstairs and realised I actually did mean fix the pipe in my studio. I now know that a water pipe is un tuyau.
- What’s your favourite French film of all time, and why? Cyrano de Begerac – the use of language, the soundtrack is extraordinary and the cinematography. I absolutely love it.
- If you could spend an hour with any French person – real or fictional, past or present – who would it be? Yves Saint Laurent
- Do you have a favourite drink you like to relax with at the end of a hard day? I’m a Londoner so it’s always a gin and tonic
- Starter or dessert? Dessert
- If you were going to eat your last-ever meal tonight, what would you have? So hard but it would have to be: ceviche followed by roast chicken and fries with ketchup although I do love really good ribs followed by tarte tatin with salted caramel ice cream together with a couple of glasses of white st joseph, a bottle of chateau margaux, a flute of vintage champagne and then a Mount Gay 25 year old.
- If you were president of France for a day, what would you change? The French aversion to signage! I would put up proper road signs, street signs, information signs etc that actually state clearly where you are and point you in the right direction.
Here are the 11 blogs I nominate for the Liebster award: click, explore and enjoy them:
My questions are:
- Favourite meal in a restaurant and what did you eat?
- What’s your favourite comfort food?
- Have you ever eaten alone?
- If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?
- What is your favourite quote?
- If you could spend the day with any well known person dead or alive, who would it be?
- Which actor or actress would play you in the movie of your life?
- Describe your perfect day?
- What is your favourite film?
- If you could have any super power what would it be and why?
- What inspired you to write your blog?
It’s now up to you to decide if you accept the award or not:
I really enjoyed your blog, especially the bit about fixing the pipe! 🙂 Thanks too for the nomination. I’ve not been blogging much lately, I must get on it! Soooo cool you won!