Quotes from Carol Drinkwater

There are several ways to 'do' the Lavender Route. You can hook up with a tour, travelling from the old Roman city of Orange or Montelimar and wind up six or seven days later in Grasse, the renowned perfume capital of the world.

In my childhood dreams, I pictured Italy as paradise. I longed to be the next Sophia Loren, living in a village with winding cobbled streets where washing hung from windows and everybody gesticulated and shouted amicably. Ah, but life surprises.

Originally developed in Germany in the 18th Century, ice wine is made from grapes that have been left on the vines until deep winter when the fruits, frozen by ice, contain more concentrated sugar. Only then are they are harvested, sometimes at night.

By the beginning of the 20th Century, Cannes and the coastal strip that winds its rocky way to Monaco was the winter resort for the rich, the Royals and a few well-heeled writers and artists, such as the impressionist painter Auguste Renoir.

Pink was my mother's favourite colour. Since her passing four years ago, I have envisaged an almond grove with thick clusters of pink, in celebration of her life and as a gentle reminder, during the darkest winter days, that kinder seasons lie ahead.

The Whitsundays are a sailor's paradise and because they sit at the southern limit of one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef, they are also a diver's dream.

I always have a notebook - I have kept diaries since I was eight years old. My preferred choice is a Moleskine because they have a pocket at the back where I can keep airline tickets and my passport.

I am very hard-working, I try not to give up, and I am disciplined about the hours I work.

You won't find a publisher until you have written the book and you won't find the time till you sit down, stay down, and write it. No one else is going to do it and that is a fact.

I know this sounds a bit mad, but I always take a tiny green cut-out leprechaun - about the size of a fingernail - with me. My mother gave it to me because we're Irish. She's adamant that it brings good luck.

Once you pass by the high crests of the snow-capped Pyrenees and move to the wild shores of the very lowest tip of southwest France bordering Spain, you are in Basque country.

Christmas in the Caribbean, after a tiring flight, may sweep you out of the cold but it's not a real Christmas, is it?

All olives ripen green, then change to rose, shades of purple, and black. According to region, this process takes about four months and, once the fruits are ripe, they can be picked at any stage.

From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles were fought along the banks of the River Somme in the region of Picardy, France. These included the 1916 Battle of the Somme, intended to drive the Germans out of France.

At the age of 10 I wrote and starred in a play that I took around to local old people's homes.

Warsaw's historic heart was deliberately almost entirely destroyed towards the end of the Second World War by the German occupying troops. After the war, it was painstakingly rebuilt and that reconstruction is perceived as expressing the nation's determination to survive, to conserve its history and its culture.

During the Second World War, the Cote d'Azur as a holiday destination closed down, but once the Allies had liberated the coast in 1944, the Riviera's infrastructure grew rapidly.

The widespread use of pesticides in the French countryside, and its worrying effects on nature and the environment, had troubled me for years.

Biarritz is one of the most popular holiday destinations in France and it tops the list for coastal resorts along the French Atlantic.

If someone called and the role was good and there was dignity and integrity in the piece, I'd be up for it, of course I would. It's so hard for older women in acting so when you hear of an older woman having a renaissance in their career, I really applaud it.

Olive oil is the cornerstone of Mediterranean cuisine. This tree is the thread from which the tapestry of the Med has been woven.

Algerians cannot offer what they do not have themselves. Many homes have running water for just an hour a day. In the cities and towns there are hotels, even resorts, and in the southern Sahara, where the rock art is second to none, organised tours are available.

Provence has become a moveable feast. To the south is the glittering Mediterranean; to the north are the Alps, while to the west and east the margins are fuzzy and seem to expand further with each passing year.

I use my American Express card whenever possible because I earn Air France points, which have taken me to America in business class. I like top quality so I will pay well for an item if I think it is finely made, but I'm not extravagant.