Cooking on the Bay Cooking School

05/09/2026

All the food on board has been delicious. This was our special dinner in L’Amour, the fine dining 30 seat restaurant at the front of the ship overlooking the river. My favourite was the foie gras crème brûlée which was perfect. The Chef Georgi is a gorgeous smiley, happy and portly man and he kindly gave me his recipe for the foie gras crème brûlée, so it will be possible for me to include it in my classes and at home! The other courses were equally delicious, and as you can see, they were nice small servings. Special wines are offered here too; you can order whatever you wish from the bar as well. All the food has been very excellent, so tasty and flavoursome with plenty of variety for every breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every morning, slipped under my door, I receive the 4 page menu for the day, as does everyone with food allergies and special preferences. At every meal there is an extensive a la carte menu, as well as a pasta station at lunchtime, and a huge buffet for breakfast and lunch, including superb hors d’oeuvres and amuse bouche to tantalize you even further! Almost every breakfast I have ordered gravlax, a variety of cheese, charcuterie and the occasional eggs Benedict and Florentine! Champagne is also available at breakfast, and this time unlike my last cruise on the Rhine, I have not had one! I can hardly believe that myself! The dining room staff remember everyone’s food references and preferred drinks. Tonight I am on my own in Brittany in my pretty little gite without a restaurant in site…so I may have to resort to a supermarket salad and cheese!

04/09/2026

Amazingly, it’s our last day in Bordeaux… these are some of the beautiful things we have done and some highlights of the trip… there will be more to come… starting with the Citadel Blaye, renovated by architect Vauban in the 19 century…. And he left some of the original mediaeval citadel in place with its underground tunnels. A fascinating achievement…. Then there is an Eiffel bridge in Bordeaux; there are quite a few Eiffel bridges built around France; and our visit to Sauternes included a drive past Château d’Yquem, unfortunately there was no welcome visit there! Instead we went to another Grand Cru Classe Chateau de Malle, which is a magnificent mediaeval Chateau recently renovated by the current owners a young couple from Paris. I had to buy two bottles of that to take home.

04/09/2026

04/09/2026

The last day on board at the last minute I decided to go to the Scenic Culinaire Cooking Class on a banana Tarte Tatin. I didn’t think I’d be especially interested # but as it turned out the bananas were nicely caramelised in the caramel syrup and the tarte was delicious. The shift used to slightly different method to me, but when I make the banana. Tarte Tatin, I will give it a go his way…. And perhaps we’ll start making this in my next pastry Masterclass on Sunday October 4. Yesterday I had a cancellation for this class and so there is one place left…. As I am travelling around France, please email me to book. [email protected] or you can also book on the website…. To do this on the website follow this link and book under French bistro desserts. https://www.cookingonthebay.com.au/french-bistro-desserts-cooking-classes/

02/09/2026

Each day here on this river cruise in Bordeaux is jampacked full of activities.
Travelling on my own, I thought I might have some down-time, and I could make my own down-time of course, but there are so many interesting things to do and I may not come back here for some time! The Scenic guide leads us wherever we dock, and we follow her flag😂😂. I love the information she gives us on the history and the local area; these guides all live in the environs of Bordeaux and are a fountain of knowledge...and believe me you get used to following the flag🥲😂🍇🍷. Back on board, after lunch, the captain takes off and we head to our next destination. On two occasions, during the cruising, I have popped into the wheelhouse to chat with the captain, Jocelyn and his second in charge Gary. From the wheelhouse, being higher up on the top level, the view of the water as we barge along is really lovely. Today we are on the huge Gironde estuary, where both the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers meet and flow out into the sea.
During this afternoon, I joined the scenic Culinaire Cooking Class where the chef cooked his Coq au Vin, made with red wine of course! 🍇🍷.

31/08/2026

Being in the heart of Bordeaux, it is all about the one… so our next wine visit was to Chateau Malescasse…. This is in the Medoc region on the left bank! and so in a different area to Saint-Emilion which is on the right back. They left Bank wines of the Medoc are dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and they are grown in gravely soils and so they are famous for their remarkable ageing, potential and deep complexity.. so along with Cabernet Sauvignon there is also Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot…
This morning we also had a ‘bus’tour of the region and the beautiful Chateaux… a fleeting glimpse! But it’s a taste of what Bordeaux is like. Back on board for lunch after which I had a quick visit to the local market…. Just before the next Culinaire making the Croque Madame… I decided to join all of these to see how the chef here cooked these. I was pleased to have an entre of escargots cooked in that fabulous herb garlic butter. The food is varied and very good at every breakfast lunch and dinner…Quiet meditation in the salt room before dinner to@unwind! and when I think I simply can’t eat or drink any more I do! Amazing!!

29/08/2026

While I was staying in Bordeaux at the intercontinental hotel, it is also the home of Gordon Ramsay’s two Michelin star restaurant Le Pressoir a Homard … which is a very precious Christoffel silver lobster press… apparently they’re only three or five in the world… I am not sure if Gordon Ramsay commissioned this himself but I am presuming he did. Anyway, it’s a very precious piece of equipment that they use every day in the restaurant. In Paris at the Tour d’Argent they have their famous duck press which would be very similar I presume except with ducks or goose on the side instead of lobster… unfortunately the restaurant was closed and they really didn’t want to allow me access but after some persuasion the manager of the hotel HOTEL came down and gave me a tour… the restaurant was not set up but he very happily brought out his beautiful lobster press and proudly demonstrated how it works. definitely a tour highlight for me so far.. when we make our crab stock in my stock sauces and soups Masterclass we press the crab shells in a metal funnel and using a wooden spoon to break up the shell to extract the crab jus…. There is no Christoffel lobster or crab press at Cooking on the Bay!

28/08/2026

Today was a busy day tour tours in the morning and barging all afternoon until 6.30pm to Pauillac. Starting with a tour of Chateau Fleur Cardinale at Saint-Ètienne-de-Lisse-Thibaud, a satellite village 5 minutes by bus from Saint-Èmilion, with a tasting of 2 of their wines at 10am. One was to drink any day now and the 2014, tasted wonderful now plus could be cellared for 10++ years. The beautiful vineyard looked fabulous with vines everywhere as far as you can see, with the grapes bursting with juice. The grapes at Chateau Fleur Cardinale are about to picked, next Thursday in fact and they expect a great vintage this year!

28/08/2026

Saint-Émilion is the main reasons I came to Bordeaux! And as you can see, it is a very beautiful and famous the medieval city, just 40 minutes by car from Bordeaux; it took us some hours by barge even although our ‘space ship’ travels at a good pace! In 1999, Saint-Émilion was awarded the status of a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and described as “an outstanding example of a historic wine-growing landscape that has survived intact “ and continues its activity today. This was the first time in the world, a wine-growing area was elevated World Heritage status.
Saint-Émilionis on the right, or the north east side of the Dordogne river, in the Libournais area northeast of Bordeaux city.
The vineyards owe their unique character to the limestone, clay and sand of the soil. It is these cool, water-retaining clay soils that make Saint-Émilion ideal for growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Saint-Émilion sits on underground tunnels and catacombs. The limestone was quarried out, removed and sold for the construction of numerous buildings in Bordeaux and overseas. This quarrying created the network of 200 km of underground ‘galleries’, tunnels, catacombs and even a partly underground church. They also make wonderful ‘natural’ cellars for the region’s wines. And of course we took a tour of these catacombs and tunnels, visited the partially underground church, but unfortunately photography is forbidden by the resent owners! So it simply must stay in the memory….

28/08/2026

6/76 Duporth Avenue, Maroochydore on the Maroochydore River is now for sale! For anyone interested in buying a small one-bedroom apartment on the Sunshine Coast at Maroochydore, you may like to take a look at this one I am selling with ray White. It has been a terrific apartment, and I am sorry to see it go, but that is the way life goes! It is at 6/76 Duporth Avenue, Maroochydore on the Maroochydore River, with balcony views over the river. To the left you will see the sunrise and to the right you see the sunset, opposite is bushland and in front of you between the apartment block of 8, and the river there is a nice grass area, plus there is a little private jetty. There is designated undercover parking, which is important during those Sunshine Coast hail storms! If interested contact my agent Reuben Park at Ray White and he will help you with all the details. +61 413 371 696.

Property data for 6/76 Duporth Avenue, Maroochydore, QLD 4558. View sold price history for this house & median property prices for Maroochydore, QLD 4558.