Olive Oils From The Sunny South Of France - where you can do wine tasting and make your own olive oil

 Estoublon olive oil from the sunny south of France where olive trees grow. The name Estoublon is also a placename in Provence. Estoublon is French for a small stable, and would have been a place where a stagecoach stopped. 

I tried their olive oils at the Goedhuis Waddesdon trade event at the Fishmongers' Hall, London Bridge, in July 2026.

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The olive oil at the front of my picture is softer and sweeter. Picholine. Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

The one at the back was too spicy and made me choke and cough. Flacon Couture. Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I had previously tasted three olive oils at a trade fair, and admitted to the seller that the strongest was not my favourite. He told me that most buyers agreed with me. However, my husband, who likes spicy food and strong curried, likes the strongest olive oils. You might try, perhaps buy and try, two olive oils of different types, and get your family to vote. Alternatively, stock one of each to keep all your family happy.

French - English

d' - of ( abbreviated from de before a vowel)

de - of

huile - oil

olive - olive

English - French

of - de /d' (before a vowel)

oil - huile

olive - olive

Learning about Olive Oil and Wine

Olive Oil Experience

You can book a visit to their premises in Fontvieille, Provence, southern France, choosing to create your own olive oil.

They also run a wine course at their premises in France, WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) level one, which I have done in London. Highly recommended for absolute beginners.

(My husband Trevor, who was a lecturer in statistics, started his WSET at level 2, did 3, then finally 4 which is diploma level and he is now a wine educator.)

The Surroundings - Oil and Water

The place Fontvieille is named after the old source of water, vielle meaning old, font, fountain, foundation, source of water. 

You will be surrounded by olive tree fields. 

Windmills

The area is also called the land of windmills, of which there are still several.

The most famous local person was the author, Alphonse Daudet, 1840-1897, who wrote Letters From My Windmill. 

He wrote,

Voyez-vous, mes enfants, quand le blé est mûr, il faut le couper; quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire.

• You see, my children, when the corn is ripe it must be cut; when the wine is drawn it must be drunk.

Daudet's Windmill in Provence, France. A reproduction of it is in the International Wind and Watermill Museum in Gifhorn, Germany.

A museum about Daudet is in a mansion. 

One of Daudet's stories with a sad start and a happy end was about the windmill owner who pretended the windmill was still working when modern industry ended the business. When the man's secret was discovered, the people took pity on him and brought their grain to be ground, restoring his business and joie de vivre. 

The is also a Roman stone aqueduct which took water to Arles.  

L'Excessive Non-Alcohplic Sparkling

In London at Goedhuis Waddesdon The Collection Tasting 2026, alongside the olive oil I was able to try non alcholic sparkling wines and they were a wonderful surprize. The sparkling rose

Useful Websites

For visits to Estoublon tasting olive oil, or wine, or both

https://www.estoublon.com/en/wine-tourism/

Location of Estoublon in France

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontvieille,_Bouches-du-Rh%c3%b4ne

Explanation of Terms and Quality Listed On Bottles

https://honest-toil.co.uk/blogs/all-about-the-oil/the-honest-guide-to-olive-oil

Tourism

https://thegoodlifefrance.com/what-to-see-in-fontvielle-provence/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Wind-_and_Watermill_Museum

https://www.muehlenmuseum-gifhorn.de/

To Buy the olive oil and sparkling Blanc and Rose

https://www.estoublon.com/en/product/lexcessive-rose-en/

Updated with websites, facts and photos on July 13 2026.

What To See and Do In Holland Village, Singapore

If you want some traditional furniture or knick-knacks. Lim's Arts and Living.

 

When I first went to Singapore I thought that Holland village had been a Dutch area. A friend of ours was the PR lady for the Dutch club. However, apparently this is not so. 

Three Windmills

The windmill is a good reminder of the name of the area. A large one was placed overhead, hardly visible from below, on the roof of the shopping mall. Alas no longer there in 2022 April. A second small one is at the entrance to the Holland village Market and Food Centre. A third is depicted on the mural on the station platform of the yellow Circle line. There was another on the indoor walk towards and from exits B and C.

But the name Holland Village comes from a Mr Holland, an architect and actor.  The windmills appeared later to match, to echo,  the place name. You certainly don't see much now related to Holland. Though you do see a lot of ex-pats mingling with the locals, because the area is full of restaurants.

In the centre is the open sided Holland Village Market and Food Centre. This will have the cheapest food and simple seating.

On the street level of the oldest mall, the Holland Road Shopping Centre, is a supermarket. 

Upstairs are interesting shops. I like the two big shops which are nearby each other, one selling clothes, the other selling household decor, furniture, ornaments. For even more bargains, a small shop opposite the clothes shop has competitive prices. Dresses under 20 dollars. 

Ciabatta in coffee shop.

Furniture shop.

Dress I bought from clothes shop, Lim's, Holland Road Shopping Centre, in Holland village. The cost was about 15 dollars. Just a plain shirt dress with two thin pieces of matching belt to tight it at the back and tighten it. But such a jolly colour. I bought another dress of the same style and price and pattern in a more muted blue.

Angela Lansbury wearing a tropical hibiscus pattern dress, bought in Holland Village, Singapore. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

A second shopping mall has been built the other side of the road by the other MRT exit.

The station has three exits, A is nearest to the ticket office and on the same side as the Raffles mall, open in 2022. At the end of the walkway, far end from the ticket office, exits B and C take you under the road and to the other side of the road .

If planning lunch with friends, have a backup plan of where to go if the lunch time queue (Americans say line-up) is too long. If you are two couples, and one couple arrives early, they can secure a place in the queue. But you don't want to claim a table too early in this situation because you might find that you are expected to choose your food, or are tempted to start, if the food is on a conveyor belt as in Sushi Tei (Sushi Thai).

More information on Sushi Thai is in the previous post. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Village,_Singapore

https://holland-village-singapore.com/holland-road-shopping-centre-directory/

More photos

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Holland_Village,_Singapore

https://landtransportguru.net/holland-village-station/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_rosa-sinensis

Artwork on the underground and In the Streets Around Singapore

This is at Bencoolen, Singapore.

The artwork is called Making Memories.

Holland Village with a windmill.

I like the touches of red which enliven it.

Useful Websites

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/public-transport/mrt-and-lrt-trains/art-and-architecture/art-in-transit/gallery/dtl.html

The Pelican Inn, Froxfield, Wiltshire, and Delightful Ducks

The Pelican inn is easy to find on the old London to Bath main road, now the A4, with parking conveniently both sides. Froxfield, not fox field but Froxfield. I like to think of maidens in frocks photographed against a backdrop field, not noticing the watching fox. The village is between Hungerford (unfortunately well known for the modern times Hungerford massacre), and Marlborough, known to most as the name of school, to some as the name of a brand of cigarettes.

Froxfield's the Pelican is a free house with wifi and its leaflet claims that it attracts walkers. It is also on the little of venues for overnight stays for those indulging in the nearby Michelin starred restaurant The Harrow, which has an interesting wine cellar and holds dinners with talks by visitors from vineyards as far away as Australia, which is what attracted my family to the area.

The Pelican inn takes its name from the Pelican omnibus which used to stop outside the door. We stopped and parked in one of the two car parks on either side.
Walk into the inn and there's reception in the centre between the bar and the open sided restaurant room.
The place is small, fewer than ten dining tables downstairs, probably because there are fewer than ten bedrooms upstairs.
Yes, it's an old inn, with old beams and creaking floors.

I puffed anxiously up the steep staircase, clinging on to the left hand wooden handrail, fearing endless stairs, but there's only one staircase.
We three had booked two bedrooms. Bedroom numbers go up to eight, so three of us occupied a quarter of the rooms. Statistically that makes me a pretty good inspector. I chose the room overlooking the duck pond. Not sure whether the pond links to the stream, but the ducks soon sailed into view of my busy mobile phone camera lens.

In the basic bathrooms I pounded gleefully on the cute complimentary shower get and other liquids - but found no soap.I realised that those clumpsy looking (sic) Victorian taps with the cross tops are the handiest things to turn if you don't know left from right and can't remember whether taps go clockwise or anti-clockwise. I  needed a firm wrench at it because I sealed it tight by turning the wrong way.

The room is small which explains the tiny double beds which leave more room to walk around. Visual appeal provided by cute cushions. British hotels tend to go for bland decor.
 If you like healthy food and fresh milk, you will enjoy the thermos of fresh milk on the tea tray. I've found that only in a two or three hotels in a lifetime of travelling worldwide. So, if you hate sachets of long life so called milk, you will instantly enthuse about the bedroom facilities.

 My family booked two rooms. Mama gets to choose. I wanted the one overlooking the back garden, tree tops seen when you lie on the bed, and duck pond viewed on tiptoe from the window.
Duck pond? Where are the ducks. Just an immobile statue. Ah - as I watched a duck sailed into view and I clicked my mobile phone camera.

Next morning I was glad to learn that the front bedroom overlooking the road did not keep anybody awake at night. Our sound sleeper said if you live in Hendon or Notting Hill, you expect to be woken once a week by drunks, fights, emergency vehicles, and learn to go back to sleep and ignore any noise. That's right.

It's a good thing I was not still lurching drunk at dawn next morning, facing the steep descent down the stairs, with only one fixed solid handrail stuck to the wall, now on my other side. One member of my family is right-handed, another left-handed, so that handrail could not please everybody.
But at the bottom of the stairs I was greeted by a welcome sight facing me, breakfast was ready, already, the table of cereals.

From my dining table I ducked down to look through the fireplace to the bar area beyond. Well-spoken regulars sat near us, but no need to ask them what to do in the area. I'd already read the leaflets telling me that the local attraction was a windmill. No more clutter - no more leaflets!
We saw a signpost to the windmill and followed it but soon got lost in winding roads one car wide. I wished I'd taken the inn's leaflet on the windmill and its postcode. So I've mentally saved the windmill as something  to see on another visit to the nearby Harrow restaurant at Little Bedwyn.

The Pelican inn's bill is a good antidote to the pricey prices of your dinner round the corner for celebrations such as an anniversary at the Harrow. Last time we splurged on the Harrow we stayed overnight at The Bear in Hungerford. The Bear is bigger,  more of an all jumping hotel, but the Pelican offers a nearer and good value alternative.
I never saw the windmill, nor a pelican, only a few ducks.
Quack, quack, quack, I'll go back.

But wait - there's more - about the pelican and the ducks. After enjoying a sniff of the aromatic mandarin and bargamot shampoo bottle, I took a last look at the little 30 ml bottle in the revealing bright light of day.
I noticed the black silhouette of a pelican on the front. Another pelican was raised in relief on the cap.
The title DUCK ISLAND was printed sideways. By dint of a squint, holding the bottle up against a white background, I discovered in small print the website: www.duckisland.co.uk

The bottle gives the toiletries company address as
Duck Island Ltd
51 Queen Anne Street
London W1G 9HS.

More details about

The Pelican inn from
www.pelicanann.co.uk
www.facebook.com/pelicaninnfroxfield
The Pelican Inn, 
Bath Road, 
Froxfield, 
Marlborough, 
Wiltshire 
SN8 3JY. 
Tel: 01488 682479.
Angela Lansbury BA Hons is the author of twenty books on travel, etiquette, public speaking and comic poetry. She is a member of two Toastmasters International speakers' clubs, also on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.