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Made in France

As a teenager in the 1980s I was lucky enough to go camping in France every year which suited my young cosmopolitan spirit and sense of adventure. Apart from the limited vegetarian options in restaurants (salade de tomates avec pommels frites) I was very much at home in the more liberal European countryside. This was in the days before Tesco had taken over the world and French hypermarkets were more stylish, advanced and well stocked compared to the ones in England. The food was interesting, new and exciting; prickly pears, horse meat burgers and cheese made with champagne stick in my mind. They sold kitchenalia, clothes, electrical goods, stationary which was not common place in the UK.



My mum was quite taken with the Arcopal white glass crockery, especially the Veronica ditsy blue flower design and built up an extensive collection over the years. At the time I found this quite bizarre but now I could happily follow her example and head off to France to collect such delights. Years ago she gave me all the plain white plates from these expeditions but there are rather delightful items that she still uses daily that are quite charming. Enchanted by the thought of vintage Arcopal glass wear, I though I might have a go at drawing my old casserole dish which is always used for rhubarb crumble. I'm not sure either of my children would be impressed if a casserole actually came out of it. I discovered that I am not very good at drawing casserole dishes but I did give it a good try.



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