Tag Archives: mauritius

Bidding opens in the Constance Festival Charity Auction

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Bid in the Constance Festival charity auction for your chance to enjoy an exclusive dinner for two at a European Michelin star restaurant, and help raise money for a ground-breaking school in Mauritius.

Chez Bruce, London UK

from Chez Bruce, London UK

All money raised through the auction will go to Etoile de Mer, located in the village of Roches Noires, Mauritius. Set up by educational visionary Christine Baudot, the school teaches teenagers vocational and life skills to help them discover opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

Over the next five days – until Friday 22 March – you can bid to dine at any of the following three restaurants in the UK, France and Switzerland.

 

1. Chez Bruce, Chef Bruce Poole (London, UK)

The offer: Dinner for 2 with wines matched by sommelier, and a behind the scenes tour of the kitchen to meet Chef Bruce Poole.

At Chez Bruce, you can enjoy top-notch modern food loosely influenced by classical and regional French/Mediterranean cuisine. Home-made charcuterie, slow cooked braises, offal, warm and cold salads, classical desserts and bread-making are specialities, as is the restaurant’s famous cheese board.

 

2. Restaurant Serge Vieira, Chef Serge and Marie-Aude Vieira (Chaudes-Aigues, South Central France)

Dining room at Restaurant Serge Vieira

Dining room at Restaurant Serge Vieira

The offer: Tasting menu for 2 plus drink

At Restaurant Serge Vieira, you can enjoy fabulous light and simple cooking, using only the finest ingredients, seasonal and locally sourced where possible.

Describing his cooking as ‘emotion culinaire’ Chef Serge runs his restaurant with his wife Marie-Aude, and the menu is the expression of their culinary creativity, reflecting their passionate respect for the food and the environment.

 

3. Beau Rivage, Chef Dominique Gauthier (Geneva, Switzerland)

The offer: Dinner for 2 at Le Chat-Botté

At Beau-Rivage’s Le Chat-Botté you can enjoy contemporary and inventive French cuisine by award winning Chef Dominique Gauthier.

At Beau Rivage

At Beau Rivage

Wine connoisseurs can indulge in some exceptional wines from the cellars of Beau Rivage, renowned as being one of the best stocked cellars in Switzerland.

Make a bid

Click on the link to place a bid in the Constance Festival charity auction.

 

Culinary Festival Bernard Loiseau 2013

We’re running this year’s online charity auction to mark the 2013 Culinary Festival Bernard Loiseau. Every day on the blog we’ll be publishing highlights from the festival. Visit the website for the Culinary Festival Bernard Loiseau 2013.

Bid to dine at Michelin star restaurants in our online charity auction

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In celebration of the Culinary Festival Bernard Loiseau, we are holding an online charity auction, offering exclusive dinners for two at a selection of Michelin-star restaurants across Europe.

Inside Chez Bruce, London

Inside Chez Bruce, London

All proceeds from the charity auction will go to a ground breaking school for disadvantaged teenagers in Mauritius – Etoile de Mer.

The online auction will start on 18 March and run for five days to mark the Culinary Festival.

Each lucky bidder will win an exclusive dinner for two at one of a selection of Michelin-star restaurants, including London’s Chez Bruce.

How to take part

Join us on Facebook, Twitter or here on the blog to find out more about how to take part in the auction when it launches on 18 March 2013.

The charity - Etoile de Mer

At Constance, we have supported the Mauritian school for teenagers, Etoile de Mer, for some years. Now, with your support, we can help the school expand so the founder, Christine Baudot, can take in more children. Currently demand is far in excess of the number of places available.

The school welcomes children from 12 years old who come from deprived families living in the neighbourhood, and who have struggled in their primary education.

The school’s proven non-academic approach is enabling pupils to thrive as they build self-confidence and personality, teaching them non-vocational skills, as well as how to read and write.

Find out more

Visit us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest Constance news, competitions and offers, including the launch of this online charity auction.

Find out more about the 2013 Culinary Festival Bernard Loiseau.

 

Recipe: Pineapple and watermelon sandwich with cinnamon French toast

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Liven up breakfast time with this easy and tasty recipe from Constance Le Prince Maurice in the Indian Ocean.
Pineapple and watermelon sandwich with cinnamon French toast

Pineapple and watermelon sandwich with cinnamon French toast

Serves 4
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
2 medium sized pineapples
1kg watermelon
12 basil leaves

For the cinnamon French toast:
4 slices white bread
2 eggs
40g sugar
1 pinch cinnamon powder
25cl whole milk
80g butter

For the citrus jus
1 orange
1 grapefruit
20g sugar

1. Peel the pineapple and watermelon. Cut each fruit lengthwise into 8 5mm thick slices. Lay these on top of each other in the following order:

  • 1 slice of pineapple
  • 1 basil leaf
  • 1 slice of watermelon

Repeat this twice until you have a 3 tiers in your sandwich. Make 4 other fruit sandwiches in the same way. Trim each one into a neat square and then cut each square into 2 triangles so you have 8 triangular sandwiches. Secure each triangle by using a small wooden skewer into it.

2. Make the citrus jus: halve each citrus fruit, squeeze them and mix their juice with the sugar. Boil down by half, and set aside.

3. Make the cinnamon French toast: break the eggs into a bowl, whisk in the sugar, cinnamon and milk.

4. On a low heat, melt a little butter in a large frying pan. Dip the bread slices into the egg batter, lay them into the pan and fry them gently until lightly golden.

5. On each plate, put 1 slice of French toast and 2 triangular sandwiches. Sprinkle with citrus jus and serve while the French toast is warm.

Let us know how you get on, and send us your comments and pictures of your own fruit sandwich and cinnamon toast. You can get in contact with us via Twitter, Facebook or the comments section below.

You can also purchase the Constance Prince Maurice recipe book that contains this recipe and 50 more from our online store.

Customer reviews: thank you for a fantastic holiday

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Constance Belle Mare Plage, pool and bar

Constance Belle Mare Plage, pool and bar

We recently received a thank you note from two of our guests, Tiffany and Willie, who stayed at Constance Belle Mare Plage last year. They had such a great time, we wanted to share their note with you:

“We just wanted to thank you and all of your staff for a fantastic holiday, we really enjoyed every minute!

And thank you so much again for the upgrade during our stay to the Le Prince Maurice which was just idyllic!!

I know that you said to us at the time that it was a good way to see some more of what Constance Hotels has to offer and this was a fantastic opportunity.

Aerial view of Constance Moofushi Resort, Maldives

Constance Moofushi Resort, Maldives

As a result of this we have just booked our honeymoon at the Constance Moofushi for May 2012 straight after our wedding and really cannot wait!

So again a huge thank you and we haven’t hesitated to recommend Constance Hotels to anyone and everyone!”

5 places to pause with a book at Constance Le Prince Maurice, Mauritius

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Aerial view of beach and infinity pool at Constance Le Prince Maurice, Mauritius

Beach and infinity pool at Constance Le Prince Maurice

Guests at Constance Le Prince Maurice enjoy 60 hectares of beautiful tropical gardens bordering the still waters of the lagoon.

The resort is brimming with quiet spaces decked out with enormous sofas, chaise longues and sun loungers.

Grab a book and head to these 5 spots at Constance Le Prince Maurice, where you can indulge your literary senses, and enjoy the peace and stillness.

 

The beach

Here you’ll find fine white sand, calm turquoise waters, palm trees, super-comfortable sun loungers and first class service from the ‘sand butlers’. The beach is just a stone’s throw from the junior suites and villas. The beach gets the sun all day, and you can even watch the sun set out to the West from the comfort of your sun lounger.

 Looking East over the bay

Tucked away behind the junior suites, you’ll find this tranquil spot overlooking the easterly side of the resort. Hidden away from the restaurants and bars, the only sound here is of the sea and a gentle breeze.

The Pool Bar

The infinity pool is breathtakingly beautiful, warm and comes complete with a bar that you can swim up to. Take a seat at the water’s edge, ring the bell for service and soak up the views across the pool. The pool bar is warmed by the afternoon sun, making it perfect for languid moments when all you want to do is pause and enjoy.

Laguna Bar

Laguna Bar

The Library

If you’re hankering after a more traditional space where you can put your feet up and get stuck into your literary tome, head to the library. It’s air-conditioned and furnished with comfy arm chairs and shelves of books, newspapers and DVDs to borrow.

Laguna Bar

Flanking the infinity pool is the Laguna Bar. Fans whirr above huge chairs and sofas furnished in purples and reds, and the polished wooden floor feels super-luxurious. There are no walls or windows along the side of the bar so you can enjoy uninterrupted views across the pool and out to sea. If there’s a downpour of summer rain, head here – enjoy the chill out music and sound of water from the pool, order drinks and snacks from the bar, and get reading.

Can you recommend a good read? We’d love to know what books you’d suggest taking to read in these places.

You can get in contact with us via Twitter, Facebook or the comments section below.

Constance Hotels Experience sponsors Team Indian Ocean 3100

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3100 rowing team

James Kayall, Ollie and Ed Wells, Tom Kelly row across Indian Ocean

A four-man crew set out on the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2011 from Geraldton, Western Australia on 22 April, aiming to cross the Indian Ocean to Mauritius in record time.

At Constance, we’ve been eagerly awaiting their arrival on 6 or 7 July.

The rowers should complete their record attempt at Grand Bay Yacht Club, situated in a beautiful bay in the north of Mauritius and which has a long tradition of welcoming foreign sailors visiting the island.

The crew consists of James Kayll, Ollie and Ed Wells, and Tom Kelly, and is aiming to raise £100,000 from the public for four charities:

  • Mark Evison Foundation
  • Light Dragoons Charitable Trust (The Colonel’s Fund)
  • Compassion UK
  • Access Sport.

The scale of the challenge is enormous – only 11 boats have ever successfully
completed the crossing. They are also rowing without the usual aid of a support vessel.

The race is organised by Woodvale Challenge Ltd from the UK.

We’ll update you with the story of their crossing once they’ve arrived in Mauritius.