I said in a previous post that Kurt Elling could sing the phonebook. Here he goes one better:
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Author Archives: Robert Ryan
LOCATION FOR NEW BOOK
The sequel to DEAD MAN’S LAND won’t be out until January 2014, but this is a short article about Elveden/Thetford Forest in Suffolk, where much of the action takes place. It might seem a long way from the trenches of Flanders, but there is a definite connection.
What links the Koh-i-noor diamond, Ireland’s black gold, the first armoured tanks, onions, and one of the most extensive and well-used forest parks in England? The answer is the Elveden Hall Estate – currently owned by Lord Iveagh of the Guinness family – which is made up of 10,000 acres of farmland as well as 12,500 acres of heathland and woods (plus a well-hidden Center Parcs) which sits right next to Thetford Forest Park recreational area, where you can walk, ride or even Segway the trails (or zip wire through the canopy). Whether you like the great outdoors, locally grown produce with minimum food miles under its belt or fascinating local history, it’s a great spot for a weekend.
WHERE WILL I BE SLEEPING? The Elveden Inn (01842-890876, elvedeninn.com), which is owned by the estate, was once a dark, poky country pub, but has recently been sympathetically expanded, adding a conservatory and a large outside terrace. It has just four rooms (with two more planned), which follow a familiar boutique-ish vernacular– oversized leather bedheads, dark wooden furniture, crisp white bed linen, and clean simple lines. Nothing innovative, but streets ahead of the fusty décor that most pubs and hotels in the area offer. The staff is young, friendly and efficient, children and dogs are welcome and, for obvious reasons, it pours an excellent pint of Guinness.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER? Superior pub grub, from home-made pasty with seasonal farm vegetables from the estate (£11.95), local venison with rabbit rosti and cabbage (£13.95), Haddock in Guinness (of course) batter (£11.95), plus good filling ploughman’s at lunchtime (£10.50). Although vegetarians might struggle a little (only two choices on the mains), under-tens are very well catered for, with a main course (pasta, Suffolk ham and egg, mini-burger etc, with chips or jacket potato and baked beans or veg or salad), a fruit drink and ice cream for £6.95. There’s a Beer & Bands Festival 14-16th June, with guest ales and ciders and live music.
WHAT ELSE TO DO: Get out into the forest. For riders, Forest Park Riding and Livery Centre (01842-815517) at Santon Downham in nearby Brandon offers hacks along lovely bridle paths, taking in the pine trees, but also stands of sycamore, chestnut and oak, as well as crossing heather-rich heathland, from £20 per hour. At High Lodge Forest Centre (01842 815434, forestry.gov.uk/highlodge, parking charges £1.90 per hour to £10 for five hours plus) there are activity trails for kids (giant swinging tyres, ropeways etc.), orienteering trails, you can hire mountain bikes (£7.50 first hour, £3.50 subsequent hours, includes helmets; kids £6/£2.50), over-10s can take out an all-terrain Segway (£25 per hour), or swing or zip-wire through the canopy, all with Go Ape (goape.co.uk, 10-17 years olds £20, 18 and over £30 for 2-3 hours in the tree tops; there is a new junior course for 6-12s, £15).
History buffs might want to explore why nearby Thetford and the Eleveden church are pilgrimage sites for Sikhs – in 1860 the British wrested control of the Punjab from the young Maharajah Duleep Singh, who was just eleven. As part of the war booty, he had to hand over the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond (now part of the crown jewels and valued at £80m). He was also exiled from India and given Elveden Hall, which he converted into an astonishing Maharaja’s palace. It became one of the great shooting estates of the country, frequented by royalty and nobility. Now empty, it is currently being (slowly) restored by Lord Iveagh, whose family bought the estate after Singh’s death (and allowed the land to be used for secret testing of the first tanks in 1916). You can glimpse the house from the churchyard of St Andrew and St Patrick Church on the A11, which is where Duleep Singh is buried (along with his wife and his son Albert). A walking trail and driving route around Thetford (see explorethetford.co.uk) takes in the Ancient House Museum (a 15th century merchant’s dwelling), a dramatic statue of the Maharajah on peaceful Butten island, as well as sites further afield associated with the man.
Even if you can’t see Singh’s country seat, you can buy the estate’s produce (especially its onions, pickled and otherwise, of which it produces a great deal, and locally reared and wild meats) from the excellent farm shop, which come with a decent if pricey café attached. It also puts on events in the nearby walled gardens – a mini-crufts Dog Day on Saturday July 14 and outdoor theatre on August 17th & 18th and, on September 7th, the return of the Big Onion food festival (where there’s more to eat than onions – cookery demos, food stalls/stands and live music). There is also free spectating of cycling events through the estate, a sort of Tour de Thetford (Saturday Jun 8 & 29th). See elveden.com for all details. Rooms at Elveden Inn (01842-890876, elvedeninn.com) cost from £105 B&B.
LOOKS LIKE IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING THEN…
I must get that ‘L’ taken to lower case though…
TWO WHEELS, TWO HOTELS
Two more cycling hotels which only didn’t appear in the Sunday Times Travel today (26/05) due to space.
KIRCHBERG, TIROL, AUSTRIA
The Kitzbüheler Alps-Brixental region (covering the resorts of Kirchberg, Westendorf, St Johann, Kirchdorf, Kitzbühel, Hopfgarten) has more than 800km of mountain bikes routes graded according to the level of difficulty from green to black. The Bike Academy (bikeacademy.at) in Kirchberg is where Kurt Exenberger (former Austrian national MTB coach) and his team offer workshops, tours, technique training and more. The 4* Gourmethotel Sportalm (00 43 5357 2778 , hotel-sportalm.at or through the Bike Academy, bike academy.at) in Kirchberg which has full bike storage/washing/repair/guiding/advice facilities, has seven nights from £463 per person, half-board-plus (eg extra snacks, drinks), including three guided tours, a technique training session with Kurt Exenberger and his guides and video supported analysis. Bike rental from £19.50 per day through the academy. There is also a three-night beginner package with two guided tours from £217pp. The hotel has sauna/steam/Jacuzzi and solarium plus plenty of fresh mountain air (the hotel offers guided hikes) even for non-MTB-ers. Fly to Innsbruck with Easyjet (easyjet.com); car hire from Holiday Autos (0871-472 5229, holidayautos.co.uk) from £165pw.
KERRY, IRELAND
The Park Kenmare Hotel (00 353 64 664 1200, parkkenmare.com) is well known for its extensive spa and its golfing breaks, but it also takes cycling seriously, with no fewer than 18 graded routes out of the door, from 5km-180km, from meandering coast roads to hair-raising descents. It also offers secure lock-up, bike cleaning, emergency back-up, breakfast and gym warm-up/walks. Prices are from £174pp B&B for a cycling break plus the possibility of a ‘cycling buddy’ (£123 for the day), high-energy cyclists’ lunches (£10) and a comprehensive muscle-saving massage (£118). Non-cyclists have a large range of activities to choose from, including the spa, golf, riding, walking, kayaking to spot the local seals and other watersports. The hotel has its own hybrid bikes for guests or it can advise on local cycle hire.
SHERLOCK HOLMES – THE MAN OF MANY FACES (AND PLACES)
I am speaking about Dead Man’s Land and Dr Watson at the conference below (click for the poster) on the Friday morning but there is masses for the Holmes fan. I shall be attending Tyler Shores’ talk on ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Copyright Mystery’ for sure.
Sherlock_Holmes_Past_and_Present_digiop_poster
KURT ELLING, BENJAMIN BRITTEN AND GERALDO’S NAVY
An extract from the programme notes for That Obscure Hurt, a new piece by Guy Barker:
“Guy Barker and Robert Ryan first came to Snape Maltings in 2008 for a performance of dZf, their reimagining of the story of The Magic Flute. As a result of that performance, the Aldeburgh Music Festival asked whether Guy would be interested in creating something similar to celebrate Benjamin Britten’s centenary. Guy accepted and then asked Ryan if he could again help. ‘I am a long term admirer of Benjamin Britten’s music,’ says Guy, ‘and I knew from the very beginning this had to be a very different approach from the one we used for dZf.’
In the end they went back to the title of the concert series ‘Inspired By Britten’ and decided to look at where Britten had turned to for inspiration of his own work and Ryan began to consider the two operas based on Henry James ghost stories – The Turn of the Screw and Owen Wingrave and discovered another of the tales, The Jolly Corner, which had all the elements they required to make a start. Although Britten never tackled a third James story, they felt as if they were tapping into the same source. However, the jazz element of the music had to grow organically from the setting of the story (Barker was insistent that none of Britten’s music be touched or referenced).
So, the story was relocated from an apartment block in New York to a jazz club in Soho. There is a prologue, about the dance bands who worked on the transatlantic liners, crossing to New York, which gave them a thematic link to Britten’s own crossing to America. The Cunard dance bands (“Geraldo’s Navy”) are legendary in the jazz world – musicians such as Ronnie Scott, John Dankworth and Stan Tracey would sign on with the sole intention of rushing ashore in NYC to hear the new music being played in the clubs of 52nd St and the Village by modern jazz giants such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell.
When originally conceived by Ryan, there was to be no spoken narration or songs in the piece. As things developed, Barker began hearing songs and while experimenting with an idea for the prologue set in NYC, all he could hear in his head was Kurt Elling’s voice. And so Kurt was approached to play Harry Prince, singer at The Pagoda nightclub, and agreed and the piece took another turn. It subsequently became apparent that a different form of narrative was required in addition to Kurt.
With dZf they had an American actor but the writers wanted to go a different way this time by using with an English actress. Barker had seen Janie Dee perform the works of Pinter and Ayckbourn and knew she had the voice they needed. The final piece features these two great performers plus the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra – a total of 77 individuals on stage.”
So just to reiterate – we have managed to get the great Kurt Elling, who recently sold out Ronnie Scott’s for eight consecutive shows, to come to the concert hall at Snape Maltings deep in rural Suffolk and sing my “lyrics” and the equally wonderful Janie Dee to do the narration. As I said to Guy: ‘You always said Kurt could sing the phonebook and make it entertaining.. we’re about to find out if that’s true.’
* That Obscure Hurt premieres as part of Aldeburgh Festival at Snape Maltings on Wednesday June 12th. Further details: 01728-68710, http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/events/guy-barker-obscure-hurt. It will also be broadcast live on Radio 3.
THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES v TROLL BOY
I first met the vivacious Carla Valentine at a crime event at the British Library. The ever-lovely Laura Wilson (A Capital Crime, Stratton’s War) aside, she was by far the brightest thing on a stage of mostly dressed-down middle-aged men (me, Mark Billingham, Barry Forshaw) and also managed to captivate the audience with statements such as: ‘I’ve always been interested in death’.
This utterance was in response to a question from Barry, asking how she had come to advise on TV shows such as Silent Witness and films like Resident Evil.
Fascinating though that is, her day job is equally intriguing. She is the Technical Assistant Curator at St Bartholomew’s Pathology Museum. Her domain is a stunningly dramatic Victorian room, an open space with three galleries or mezzanine levels, topped off with a vaulted glass roof. On the shelves that line this hall are endless jars of specimens, dating back to the 18th century, of everything from a ravaged scrotum (a cancer known as chimney sweep’s disease) to various foreign bodies pulled out of people (you’ll have to find out where the artillery shell was found and what it was doing there for yourself). The museum’s original purpose was as a teaching aid for training doctors in the various pathologies of the human body; Carla’s role is to conserve and re-catalogue the collection, which had been sorely neglected over the years.
Her crowded office was believed to be where Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote and as any Sherlock Holes fan knows, St Bart’s is where Watson and Holmes first meet (in the disused Path building next door to the museum) in A Study in Scarlet. When I visited, Dr Lucy Worsley, she of the cardigans and hairclips and troublesome Rs (which she winningly talks about on her blog – http://www.lucyworsley.com/blog/) was filming a BBC documentary in the main room, so Carla took me up to her work space, which some might think a Little Workshop of Horrors, full of glass and plastic jars housing organs in various stages of repair and conservation.
Personally, I loved it –I used to be a biologist back when DNA was still an exciting new discovery – but there was one item that fascinated me more even than that Sherlock Holmes link. In one cylindrical jar stood a homunculus, just shy of a foot high, which appeared to be Not Of This Earth. In fact, it looked like the sort of model WETA Studios might make for an orc-like being in Lord of the Rings – imagine the Creature from the Black Lagoon shrunk to a seventh of its size. Carla has no idea who ‘he’ is or where he came from or how he was created, as the label has long gone (and yes, it has crossed my mind that it was a hoax to humiliate gullible people like me). He has a nickname, “Troll Boy”, and, although I would love to show you a picture, the Human Tissue Authority (yes, really) might take a dim view if it is a humanoid less than 100 years old.
Sadly, Troll Boy isn’t on display in the main gallery, but even if he was, the museum isn’t open to the public. However, Carla curates a variety of events, including taxidermy courses, lectures on surgery, pathology and medicine and ‘skull art’ workshops a la Damien Hirst – see http://www.facebook.com/bartspathologymuseum. She is also running a blog with more information on the collection, its past, present and future: http://potts-pots.blogspot.co.uk/. So if you want to see the soaring inside of the building and those endlessly fascinating specimens, book in to one of the events – there is one featuring Dr Watson (and me) coming up in November, details follow – but plenty before that, too.
A SIDE ORDER OF CHOWZTERS
Sadly we didn’t have room to fit in all the good fast food recommendations from Chowzters’ (www.chowzter.com) bloggers in the Sunday Times article on April 21. So here is what you were missing:
NEW YORK
Blogger: Yvo sin
Blog: http://feistyfoodie.com/
White Bear
135-02 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 961-2322
White Bear may be a hole in the wall, but #6 – wontons with spicy chili oil (12 for $4.50/£2.95) – makes overlooking the tiny space totally worth it. The wontons are quickly steamed, topped with pickled mustard greens and a slick of chili oil (fiery red, but not particularly spicy), and then handed to you on a Styrofoam plate (if it’s to stay) or in a Styrofoam container. Ambiance and decor isn’t the focus here, and that’s all obvious once you take your first bite.
HONG KONG – Juliana Loh
http://www.julianaloh.com/
Aberdeen Fish Market Canteen
102 Shek Pai Wan Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
This place is open at the crack of dawn, and as it’s eponymous name suggests, the owner Ar Lo gets the freshest daily catch from the market next door and this local dive doubles as a canteen for those working at the fish market. There is no formal lunch menu here, tell the owner your budget and what you’d like to eat and he puts together a menu for you. Some signature dishes to order here include the salt and pepper calamari, garlic and vermicelli with scallops, scampi with fried garlic, stir fried clams with black beans and chili sauce, deep fried abalone and a range of catch of the day fish to choose from. If you’d like a little variety away from seafood, there are side dishes like stir fried vegetables and fabulously well done French toast – Hong Kong style with caramelized condensed milk drizzled generously over. Beer needless to say goes well with your seafood orders, a Chinese beer like Tsing Dao goes pretty well with it. A meal for two would set you back about 700HKD aprox = 90USD / 60 pounds.
BERLIN -Suzan Taher
http://foodieinberlin.com/
Curry 36Mehringdamm 36, 10961 Berlin, (www.curry36.de)
Don’t be put off by the perennial queue it moves fast and in no time you will be feasting on this Berlin institution on a cardboard plate.
Steckerlfisch & Co
At markets around Berlin, (www.steckerlfisch.com)
Charcoal grilled fish served on paper with blobs of seaweed and dill mayonnaise.
Hamburger Heaven
Graefestrasse 93, 10967
(www.hamburgerheaven.de)
Standing out among the many independent hamburger shops for serving hand cut fries, fresh mayonnaise and house made ketchup. Pick from regular, free range or organic patties.
BUENOS AIRES – Alexandra Lazar
http://www.eatingthaifood.com/
Parrilla, Rodriguez Peña 682, Recoleta
Recommended dish: Peña Empanada de carne frita
A down to earth neighbourhood parrilla (steakhouse) that specializes in grilled meats, Parrilla Peña also offers a complimentary fried beef empanada at the beginning of each meal. It’s one of those perfect crispy, doughy, fried, flavourful bites where you wish you could go home with a dozen more, but then realize you have a massive steak dinner coming out next (order the bife de lomo, or tenderloin).
ISTANBUL – Tuba Satana
http://www.tubasatana.com
Karadeniz Pide Doner Salonu
Mumcu Bakkal Sok No: 6, Beşiktaş.
In the middle of Beşiktaş Food market, lies one of the best döner places in the city. Order a portion on top of pide, and enjoy the heavenly taste of the succulent meat, great with pickles, onions and ayran. Hurry, it sells out very quickly and it’s only open for lunch. Around £5.40, with ayran yoghurt drink.
ROME -Tavole Romane
http://www.tavoleromane.it/foodtours/en/
Cesare al Casaletto,
Via del Casaletto 45. Price: average 30€ plus wine. After a full day of walking and some time to relax take the 8 tram reaching the end of the line to have dinner at Cesare al Casaletto. It’s a perfect trattoria to enjoy an authentic local experience, with a menu including dishes that change according to season and Roman calendar days. Choose your sauce and preferred pasta shape (mezze maniche with carbonara is recommended). Don’t miss also fritti misti, deep fried starters. It also has an excellent wine selection.
Gelateria del Teatro
Via di San Simone 70 (another shop in Lungotevere dei Vallati 25-27).
If you are still hungry after dinner I recommend a visit to the historical center of the city and an evening stroll near Pantheon and Navona square followed by a refreshing natural gelato at Gelateria del Teatro. Liquorice and sage & raspberry are two of their fantastic non-traditional flavours. A cone is a shade over £2.
RIO DE JANEIRO – Tom Le Mesurier
Nova Capela
Avenida Mem de Sá, 96 Lapa
00 55 (21) 2252-6228
Nova Capela is renowned for selling the best Bolinhos de Bacalhau in Rio. Inside the crisp golden shell you’ll find a luscious mix of delicious salt-cod, potato and herbs. For an authentic taste of Rio, add a few drops of fiery chili oil and wash it down with an ice cold draft beer. Price (per bolinho): R$3.50 £1.20).
Tacacá do Norte
Rua Barão do Flamengo, 35 Flamengo
00 55 (21) 2205-7545
Tacacá is an amazing Amazonian soup, brought to Rio by Amazonians who moved the city looking for work. The soup features huge, juicy shrimps in a base of jambú, a tangy leaf with strong anaesthetic properties. This delicious combination is served in a traditional drinking gourd and will leave your lips numb and your tongue tingling. Price: R$13 (£4.30)
Cervantes
Rua Barata Ribeiro, 7 Copacabana
Tel: +55 (21) 2275-6147
The sandwiches of Cervantes are legendary among late night revellers in Copacabana. Inside the lightly toasted milk bread you’ll find layer after layer of juicy filet mignon, topped with a massive slab of melted cheese and Cervantes’ signature addition, a slice of gently grilled pineapple. Sounds strange but this combination really works, as evidenced by the queues leading out the door after midnight. Price: R$23 (£7.70).
* The Chowzter/Coca Cola Fast Feasts Awards, hosted by Alexander Armstrong, take place at East London’s Village Underground on April 28 and tickets cost £25 including drinks plus the chance to buy food from some of London’s best food trucks (Pizza Pilgrims, Big Apple Hotdog, Spit and Roast). See chowzter.com/awards for tickets. Winners will be announced on the website.
AN (OLD) CHAT WITH IAIN BANKS
This piece is of an age now, not long after Iain had ripped up his passport in an anti-Blair protest, but I still remember it as one of my favourite interviews with another author, even though we never really got onto books (at least not on the record: it was for ‘My Hols’ in the Sunday Times) and remembering it made the news about his illness all the more sad and depressing.
“There was no great moment of epiphany, no blinding light when I decided it was time to go ‘green’. It was more like a straw that broke the camel’s back. Perhaps it was thirty years of reading New Scientist, which has been going on about global warming for all that time, but one day one of the cars needed an MOT and I thought: why don’t I just get rid of them?
In some ways I felt like I’d got the fast cars out of my system and the same is possibly true of travelling. I have a fair number of miles under my belt. I do love driving, especially on holiday. One of the best trips I ever had was Highway One from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I hired a car and it was a terrible thing. It would change gear at the slightest incline and start labouring like I was asking it to go up a cliff. But I ended up really enjoying the journey, because the views were so wonderful and driving next to the ocean just can’t be beat. And if you are driving fast and concentrating, you miss all that, you daren’t take your eyes off the road. I have even found that in Scotland, having a slower car means I take in a lot more of my surroundings. And the scenery is the thing here, of course.
Another wonderful driving experience, again in the USA, was when I did a drive-away. That’s when you drive someone else’s car from one side of the States to another, because they have moved and want to take it with them. I had an uncle, a mate of my dad’s rather than a blood relative, in Washington DC and I flew there, then picked up a car to be delivered to Los Angeles. You had to do six hundred miles a day, which is no small amount, but it was a wonderful feeling, Highway 40 all the way, the ultimate open road. You hit Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, all these great places, although you didn’t have much time to do much other than get out and stretch your legs. I did make a small detour for the Grand Canyon, though, but still got it there on time and with less than maximum permitted miles.
I enjoy travelling alone. Perhaps because I am an only child, I am happy with my own company. The first couple of times I went abroad was either side of my time at Stirling University, when I hitched in Europe. I’d read somewhere a single man travels faster – although, of course, a single women travels even further – and so I went by myself. Like all those kind of trips, it is probably better in recollection than it was at the time, but I enjoyed it and I didn’t have any scrapes or misadventures. I am naturally suspicious, so I didn’t take sweets from any strangers or anything like that.
I have never really enjoyed very hot countries. I don’t like the heat. Anything over sixty is a heatwave as far as I am concerned. For me the tropics begin somewhere around Nottingham. It’s genetic, I’m sure: my dad is very pale skinned and when he was younger he had red hair, so he’s not big on sun either. Friends have pushed me to holidays on the Greek Islands and Gran Canaria and the Algarve. I even did a Nile cruise Egypt, but I spent most of the time lying in the shade panting like a dog.
So for the past few years my holidays have been on Barra, jewel of the Outer Hebrides, and they probably would have been, passport or no. It’s perfect for me – quiet, no great social scene, good walking and wonderful beaches where you can just stare out over the Atlantic. At night you go to sleep with the sound of those waves in your ears.
[In response to a question about not flying and selling his collection of fast cars for a hybrid:] I don’t have any kids but plenty of my friends do, and I’d like to be able to look them in the eye and say: yes, my generation did do this, we did screw up the planet, but at least some of us have made a start, no matter how small, on trying to do something about it.”
Another Fine Room You’ve Got Me Into
It was over dinner at Manoirs de Tourgéville that I discovered a yawning chasm in my wife’s cineaste credentials. ‘What do you mean you have never seen it? A Man and A Woman? Un Homme et Une Femme.’ I make an inadvisable stab at singing the theme: ‘Da-ba-da-ba-dab-ee-dab-.’ Stop that. Never seen it.
Normally such an admission would result in a shrug and a resolution to get the movie through Netflix or Love Film or some such. But I marched to the desk of the hotel and asked if they could arrange a showing and so, later that evening over digestifs, in a 50-seat basement cinema we had to ourselves, we watched Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant fall ever so tentatively in love.
It has to be said this wasn’t pure luck. The Manoirs de Tourgéville does not have a library of every classic French film ever made. It is just that the hotel is based around the former home of the writer/director of that movie, Claude Lelouch and, in fact, some of it was filmed up the road in Deauville, the sometimes cloyingly chi-chi town on the Normandy coast that nevertheless comes with a great beach and a more workaday sibling, Trouville, just over the bridge.
The Manoirs de Tourgéville is not in town but a ten-minute drive into the hinterland. It gives it the feeling of a private bolthole, a welcome breather from the promenading of the seaside, and a perfect quick does of Normandy countryside and cuisine, less than an hour from London City airport (Cityjet is now flying to Deauville year-round). The main building, built in the seventies in the style of a grand Norman manor-farmhouse, is arranged around a grassy courtyard. It contains 57 rooms a mixture of doubles, duplex and triplexes. The latter, which be warned come with lots of stairs, also have full working fireplaces for when the autumn chill bites. Rooms here are named after glamorous film stars – Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Harlow – although my wife and I were given Laurel & Hardy. We tried not to read too much into that.
The remainder of the rooms are in annexes. The modern extension is often the curse of a hotel converted from existing buildings, but here they have created a series of four outbuilding that look as if an alien race has built hollow-centered flying saucers that were entirely influenced by the Norman vernacular – imagine Close Encounters of the Half-Timbered Kind. These slate-roofed UFOs each contain eight rooms, four on the lower, which have terraces in the ‘hole’ in the doughnut, and four on the upper level. Slightly bizarre maybe, but these pods work – so much so that Claude Lelouch has mimicked the style for his own new home nearby.
The hotel’s restaurant, 1899, which forms a satellite to Lelouch’s old place, is in a similar, circular design. It’s a high, grand room, full of rich fabrics and elaborate chandeliers, which, for Deauville, is surprisingly good value, with a set menu of two courses for £26 or three for £35. True, the more inventive dishes are on the a la carte, but then so are the big prices.
The hotel also has an indoor swimming pool, sauna, small gym, free bicycles for exploring the countryside and two under-used tennis courts. And, of course, that cinema. But don’t worry, if you’ve both seen Un Homme et Une Femme – you can always bring your own DVDs to project.
DETAILS: Cityjet (0871 66 33 777, cityjet.com) flies twice weekly to tiny Deauville airport from London City. A car is useful. Holiday Autos (0871-472 5229, holidayautos.co.uk) has a pick-up point near the hotel, from £69 for three days. Rooms at the Manoir de Tourgeville (00 33 2 31 14 48 68, lesmanoirstourgeville.com) start at £123, room-only.
robtryan 