Cassoulet & Other Matters

Abstract

The letters of Nicolas Gray to his mother, Patience (Honey from a Weed), were written, or so at least this sequence, when Nicolas and his partner Maggie Armstrong were the owner-navigators of the barge Jolly on the inland waterways of France and its neighbours. They went on to carry manifold cargoes throughout Europe. They had, motored the barge, at some risk to life and limb, from Bristol to Bordeaux. At this point, their first Christmas on French waters, they found themselves on the Canal du Midi. Patience Gray and her partner, the sculptor Norman Mommens, meanwhile, were ensconced at Spigolizzi in Apulia. We are very grateful to Nicolas and Maggie for permission to print this exchange, and for clarifying some of the allusions.