A night at the Liboson

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:37:55 GMT

Maria I don"t think they are very much Internet-oriented but you could always ring them up.

Maria Teresa Maturana

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:36:47 GMT

I am happy to see this article about Paul and Nicole. I have not been to Le Liboson for many years, but I went there many times in the past and I miss them both greatly.
If they happen to see this comment, please email me. I would ike to come to Le Liboson again. I live in the US now.
Maria

fx

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:02:38 GMT

Thanks Henry, how was the stay at the Liboson? WWere you made feel at home? For the panoramas yyou need a special "panoramic" head, a tripod, some know how and a few softwares. Glad you like my portraits, I thought the extreme chiaroscuro lighting was doing justice to the man with his Renaissance looks.

Henry WAGNER

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:16:08 GMT

Liboson
I just come back from three days spent there.
By Google I found your site.
What can do men with FXcuisine.com? I wonder...your article about Liboson is simply great.
The panoramas fantastic...how do you do that?
The portraits of Paul best I have never seen. Better than his one!!! Witch are also great in 3D.
What a site yours and LIBOSON. To see absolutely...A hit...both
Tank"s and kind regards
Henry

fx

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:36:35 GMT

Thanks Melit, there are almost 250 articles now and I keep coming with more. Glad you like them!

Melit

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:05:29 GMT

     I"m a new reader(3 hrs new)and I"m getting hooked to your site.AWESOME!!!
     I started reading the old articles about cheese....I"m
enjoying it.It"s seems like I"m in Switzerland at the moment.
     Thanks again...

fx

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:38:42 GMT

Thanks Ingrid, glad you like my site!

Ingrid

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:16:28 GMT

I found your web site this morning and love it. Paul and Nicole are fascinating--what a Renaissance couple! You are also very interesting and talented. This will become one of my favorites sites. Thank you!

fx

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:12:24 GMT

Liudmila, bolshoe spasibo vam chto vi pisali mayu statiou, kcajheleniu u menya zdec net ruskaya klaviatura. C chistliva!

Liudmila Krasnova

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:25:51 GMT

Большое спасибо за эту статью. Уже давно искала информацию об этом загадочном месте, а прошлым летом, спускаясь в Ко из Роше-де-Нэ пешком, мы встретили, как нам показалось дровосека, как раз в районе Либосона, сейчас поняла, что это был Поль дю Марш. Я сама из Москвы, 24 декабря мы впятером приезжаем на зимнюю конференцию в Ко - и уже решили, что в свободное время посетим Либосон. Странно, что у них нет сайта и электронного адреса, раньше все это было.
Сайт замечательный, обязательно расскажу о нем в России.
С благодарностью, Людмила Краснова

fx

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:36:12 GMT

Barbara, indeed they still have the same dessert and pension rooms. I am not entirely surprised about the tuna thing, apparently both have absolutely no interest in food!

barbara

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:25:19 GMT

I read through the whole article to see if Paul also gave you icecream as dessert! We had a Viennetta log and I did not sleep the whole night afterwards with that solid mass of frozen fondue in my stomach!
Do they still have their pension rooms? We haven"t been up there for a long time.
Loved your article (and I had the same comment about the bedouin"d pepper). They also had a white cat (one of those flat-faced ones) that sat on the table next to the fondue and ate tuna paste directly from the tube.

fx

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:09:33 GMT

Amanda, you came here by chance, but you won"t be returning by chance - that makes me very happy! I think in the future I"ll do videos, and hope they"ll give an even stronger impression of those memorable food experiences. Thanks for your visit!

AmandaJo

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:43:10 GMT

This is my first time posting but I have perused your blog for little more than a month with tremendous pleasure. It is such a wonderful site streaked with atmosphere and profusion of details for us food aficionados and the photos are so vivid. But I just had to comment on this particular article. From the very beginning, where you pause to look at the chalet in the dimming light it hardly took any imagination to feel the invigorating icy clear evening air on my face all the way to the interior where you could practically hear the strains of the organ in the photos and the scent of burning firewood wafting in the air. I feel like your photos are a portal where one can just gaze and fall head first into reality. I most wholeheartedly agree with you that its just not the meal that impresses the palate of the mouth but the experience of sharing sustenance in such ambience that makes it indelible!!!! Although on one hand it surely doesn"t hurt to indulge with the art of cuisine indigenous to each"s own. I found this blog by attempting to search for a recipe not too long ago but for the life of me cannot remember what the recipe was for however after the first article i was instantly hooked and have been reading your older articles and eagerly looking to the new ones. They are so enriching and very educating as well. I hope I speak for many that you will never run out of things to post about!! I hope people in europe realize how lucky they are to live amid such diversity within only a few hours drive or train ride. I am from Washington, USA. If it wasn"t so difficult to be away from family and friends as well as the opportunities I would move to Europe in a heartbeat!!! I hope those small pockets of homegrown artisans continue to cling onto the old traditions for more generations to come so we can continue to truly appreciate the culinary arts. Anyways you are a rock star in the eyes of your readers! Continue to rock on!

sincerely

AmandaJo

don siranni

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 15:48:07 GMT

FX,you commented to "anna" that not sure if others share your...-well,I sure as hell do! I have so many requests for possible future travel adventures with your touch.

fx

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 15:21:53 GMT

Jensenly, beware, Envy is a cruel mistress that will soon run your life until you gouge your own eyes out by fear they show you something somebody has that looks appealing. Just slap that bitch in the face and focus on how to get fun for yourself. Now Paul just worked his ass off in this house for 50 years, and now they have paying guests who stay over, come for fondue or for a little concert. I don"t think they do anything really extravagant financially, and when they visit the desert, they stay with the Nomads. That is really the Way of the Shoestring - all the way!

jensenly

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 16:17:07 GMT

OK - so if Paul is truly penniless, how do they live? Is Nicole an heiress? Or do their dinner/B&B revenues adequately support them and their trips to the desert? I always find it fascinating (as well as being bit envious) that people can live like that.

fx

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:00:08 GMT

I think you have to dare eat alone if you can"t find guests worthy of the expense of a fine Roman dinner. In French we would call this feeding the pigs with jams - a waste!

Randall

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 14:54:40 GMT

fx - re publishing: there are all kinds of online travel sites and/or cooking sites that might accept submissions. Your material is such a unique combination of location and food - hard to believe an editor somewhere wouldn"t snatch it up. Bonne Chance!

Lord Best

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:26:14 GMT

What an intriguing experience. The house is superb, as you say, authentic without being original. Many people have trouble with this concept. It is quite possible to build an authentic house in a traditional style, wether it be medieval, earlier, or later, it is not a fake simply because it was not made in that styles heydey. So long as it is made with authenticity and quality it will be authentic, if not original.
I had a similar debate with someone about cooking ancient Roman recipes actually, he flat out refused to accept them as Roman even though I took the recipes direct from primary sources and made them with the same ingredients.

fx

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 03:11:47 GMT

James, glad they work for you too now. I fixed all the links on the second page as well. Have fun!

fx

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 03:11:27 GMT

Randall, thanks a lot for your kind words. Indeed du Marchie marches at the beat of his own drum, but his life was probably quite hard and so many people would have the self-discipline needed create such a fantasy world all alone. About publishing, what form do you think would be best?

Randall

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 19:01:11 GMT

fx - Truly a memorable experience! From the moment you describe the chalet coming into view, it just gets better and better: a pipe organ, tunnels, a huge fireplace and a workshop to make Santa Claus envious! Something unique and unexpected around every corner, the entire place seems sprung from a fairy tale. I can only imagine living such a life as du Marchie does - marching to the beat of your own drum and letting your creative energies run wild. Thank you so much for such a fascinating and inspiring article. You really should publish, you know!

James

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 14:19:49 GMT

Thank you for taking all the trouble to set up other version of 360. I can view them!! You rock!

fx

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 10:36:20 GMT

Thanks Anna, I am glad you appreciate my articles, sometimes I wonder if perhaps not many people share my fondness for memorable meals as a complete experience and not only the food!

anna

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 10:28:26 GMT

Amazing. Your culinary adventures at bar-done the most interesting that I read on the net. Sorry to gush, but WOW.

fx

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:32:25 GMT

James, thanks for getting back to me on this problem with the Flash Panoramas. I have changed the code for all panoramas on the first page of the article, could I trouble you with trying again now? Let me know how they work - or don"t work. Thanks!

James

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 07:33:07 GMT

I am using Vista with Window Internet Explorer 7. Thanks

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 14:05:14 GMT

Xavier, you are an engineer, you should definitely call du Marchie up and arrange an appointment to view his 3D pictures. I think he charges 20 francs or something for an afternoon session, and if you tell him how you are impressed by his creations (I am!) he might give you a tour!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 14:03:25 GMT

Evan, thanks for the typo, indeed intimacy. I think French interior designer Andr�e Putman was right when she said that really great dining rooms must be intimate. I have seen too many grand dining rooms where the dinner ambiance never takes off. This guy is really smart, he had a large room but he made it intimate with this lamp hanging right above the table. The whole room is plunged in darkness, with only the large fire and byzantine artwork lit. Guests need to lean forward to show their face, it"s really magical. This kitchen/dinner table is the most awesome I"ve dined in!

About the tahdigh you need fewer sibs or a larger pot.

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:57:12 GMT

Candace, indeed quite a character but the real soul of the party was the house itself!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:55:44 GMT

Thanks Bob and glad you read my site regularly!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:54:37 GMT

Thanks Rosa and I hope you get to visit this place!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:54:17 GMT

Thanks for asking, yes I am the photographer, editor, writer and sometimes even the subject! For the chiaroscuro portraits I used one off-camera flash in barebulb held by a friend towards the subject"s face. I have many pictures of him with this lighting, the impression you get differs very much from one picture to the next depending on his expressions. Religious, wacky, concentrated or dignified. All the other pictures were shot in available lights. Flash didn"t work as this man has a very extensive and clever lighting system. It"s made on a shoestring with minuscule church bulbs but it highlights the interesting parts of each room, so I would have needed more flashes than I had to do just the same. Fortunately my camera - that was your questions - is a Nikon D300 which had extraordinary low light performance. Glad you liked it!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:45:16 GMT

James, thanks for letting me know about this issue with Flash, may I ask what operating system and browser version you are using? I will try to change so that it works for you too, these are some of my finest panoramas so far.

James

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 11:09:16 GMT

Thanks for sharing. I enjoy it very much. I have flash installed and is working with other sites but not your 360. Very disappointed but enjoy your professional photos very much, great lighting and detailed!!

W.C.

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:39:10 GMT

re: A night at the Liboson

Francois: Interesting article, indeed. Your articles are enhanced significantly by the excellent accompanying photographs. Many of them are shot in low-lighting conditions, which is difficult. I especially like the tones and colors of some of the shots in this piece. Are you the photographer for your articles? What camera was used?

All the best,
W.C.

Rosa

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:31:07 GMT

Wow, how great! Such a marvelous place! Amazing!

Cheers,

Rosa

bob piro

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:56:09 GMT

Your pieces are all exceptional and very intersting

candace

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:13:09 GMT

Francois, enjoyable read as always. What a character Monsieur Du Marchie is! Almost as crusty as the bread you enjoyed with your fondue.

Evan

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:01:40 GMT

This is just too cool. There are some things you simply can"t find in the US and this appears to be one of them. I can"t believe he didn"t know about the crust, though! All fondue aficionados know that"s by far the best part--much like how in Iran siblings fight over the tahdigh from the bottom of the rice pot.

Just a quick note--I"m pretty sure when you wrote "enormous intimity" you meant "intimacy."
Keep on posting amazing entries like this one!

Xavier Alexandre

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:47:30 GMT

I often walk in the neighborhood of Caux to enjoy the view but I would never have suspected such an extravagant place. Thanks for sharing !

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:10:47 GMT

Amir glad to hear you like my site!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:10:30 GMT

Glad you liked it!

fx

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:10:19 GMT

Cris, indeed this was incredible especially for a Hammer movie fan. Now I must insist that Mr du Marchie is not sinister in any respect like many characters portrayed by Vincent Price, and I know a man who is an exact lookalike of Vincent Price. Neither is he as haughty as Christopher Lee, although clearly he doesn"t choke on modesty either.

Cris

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:03:53 GMT

This the dream of my life! To be in a castle like the Hammer"s films and to be in supper with a sort of Vincent Price cooking a fondue!!! Just like Dr.Phibes, incredibly bizarre this post.

wasansh

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 07:54:27 GMT

Beautiful!
I want to meet you someday

Amir Arie

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 07:20:52 GMT

This is look amazing!!! Thank you for the share, I really love your website :)