"Finding My Inner Zen" August 2011 Les Passeroses Angouleme South West France

After much research I was desperate to go abroad on a yoga retreat. Having practiced for 2 years now, yoga has truly become something I cannot live without. My choice of destination was South West France, easy to get to by air or train. I went alone which was a brave move if I do say so myself. Julie – the wonderful yoga teacher who organised the retreat – gave me the contact details of Kathryn, who was also travelling by herself.

We planned to meet at St Pancras which was heaving due to the summer holidays. After checking in with security and going thorough passport control, I met Kathryn and was relieved to see that she looked very was friendly and most importantly "normal"! I was a little nervous about going alone. I had feared before meeting her, that I had signed up for joining a cult, or naturist resort only due to my wild imagination of course!

After saying hello she said to me "gosh you're travelling light" when she saw I was only carrying my handbag. A look of sheer panic crossed my expression and I had realised I had not picked up my case after it went through the security check, and had now probably been seized and locked away as a fear it was a security risk. As I ran back through passport control and the swarm of people I luckily found my grey wheelie waiting there for me, exactly where I had left it on the end of the scanner!!!!

Drama over, we caught the Eurostar to Lille and changed onto the TGV to Angouleme. Another 2 lovely girls from London, Orpy and Saira were also travelling with us which was a nice surprise. I immediately relaxed as we chatted and dipped into our books - my choice for the trip was " A thousand splendid suns" if you have not read this -I highly recommend it.

We arrived in the evening and were picked up from the station by the owners of Les Passeroses. Alex and Adrian, who are chefs by trade- but decided to swap a life in Manchester for a taste of the French countryside. After arriving at the house and immediately I knew I would enjoy my stay. There was a calming smell of perfumed fresh lavender, and warming incense as we walked through the front door. The house had been beautifully renovated with a charming quirky design including a huge farmhouse kitchen table, curved outdoor swimming pool, fantastic yoga studio and Moroccan inspired chill out room filled with books and magazines. All of this was enhanced with dreamy views of the surrounding sunflower fields, and several quaint boutique bedrooms overlooking mature gardens.

I cannot rave enough about my time spent at Les Passeroses. What more could you ask for then beautiful surroundings, French sunshine, wine if you wanted, a fantastic group of people, inspiring yoga practice and teacher, relaxing massage treatments, and fantastic food.

As a group we got on brilliantly. We had Naomi, Saira, Kavita, Orpy, Maureen, Margaret, Kathryn, Cathy, Paul and our teacher Julie. It was refreshing to come on holiday and have conversations with different groups of people from all backgrounds and walks of life. We were all on the same wavelength and found joy from yoga.

The food is all vegetarian as helps digestion whilst practicing yoga. I was a little apprehensive, as my boyfriend has turned me into a carnivore due to his love of meat with every meal. I am pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised as to how a vegetarian meal can be created from scratch, with adventurous flavours and be so appealing to the eye.

For breakfast there was a selection of homemade breads, homemade yoghurts, beautiful fresh fruit salad, muesli, granola, jams, honey and the widest variety of herbal teas you could ever ask for. I must have gone though at least 8 cups a day!

Every day there was a different theme for the menu and we experienced French, Italian, Moroccan and Greek. They went that extra mile with attention to detail - such as the table setting and general ambiance. I must add that they also had music playing according to the food theme- for example on the Greek night- they have a bit of George Michael playing softly in the background! We all appreciated a little bit of cheesiness :)

For lunch and dinner we ate outside on the decked terrace which was delicately lit with candles and glowing lanterns above us. If anyone has seen the film Mama Mia-it reminded me of the outdoor area of the house featured in the film where they celebrated the wedding meal.

Some of the delicious food we ate is mentioned below. If you were not hungry before reading this, you will be in a minute.

Spiced Moroccan salads
Delicate filo parcels filled with chickpeas and celeriac
Moroccan stew served with quinoa
Courgette ribbons delicately infused with lemon juice, zest, shaved Parmesan and thyme.
Polenta pizza base with creamy garlic mushrooms
Sliced chicory dressed with orange zest and parsley
Creamy risotto with French green beans
Tomato Mozzarella salad with homemade basil oil

Traditional Greek salad
Homemade humous and warm pitta
Spinach and feta wrapped file pastry served with grated carrot salad dressed with orange juice and white wine vinegar.
Rice stuffed baked peppers served with sauteed potatoes and tzatziki
Sweet sticky stewed fruits with rose water, pistachio nuts and toasted almonds.
 

Feeling extremely "Zen " after my heavenly, relaxing few days away, I came back to London (via Paris), and my first holiday "alone" definitely superseded my expectations.
  http://www.passeroses.com/

  www.yogalighthouse.co.uk/