Episode 10 - bonus

Tale From A Blue Climate

Published on: 21st July, 2025

This bonus episode finds Patsi back in conversation with Hugh Raymond Mitford, descendant squire of the celebrated Mitford dynasty of Northumberland. With personal insight and humour, Hugh casts light on the life of the eldest Mitford sister, Nancy. Famed novelist of works such as 'Love In A Cold Climate', Nancy also exposed one of the strangest Franco-British incidents of the 20th century - decades before the EU project or Brexit. Hugh reveals how his famous ancestor published the bizarre débacle of Îles Minquiers, at the same time reflecting on Nancy Mitford's character, and career. Recorded on the iconic boardwalk of Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where Hugh has lived for decades.

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About the Podcast

Tales From The Blue Coast
Trailer
Patsi Mackenzie, a writer and broadcaster from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, spends much of the year on the French Riviera. Captivated by the city of Nice and the people who - like her – go there once and never want to leave.

In the summer of 2024, Patsi began recording snapshot conversations in English on the Côte d’Azur. Her guests cover a wide range of ages, professions and backgrounds. From musicians and historians, to chefs and teachers. All with one thing in common; a devotion to the Riviera. Their personal stories are revealed in these gently probing podcasts, recorded against the lively backdrop of Nice. The show also travels the coast, taking in contributors who work in some of its other popular towns such as Antibes and Monaco.

Informative, amusing and at times deeply moving, these individual stories are both a love letter to the French Riviera … and an invite to visit it. At least once in a lifetime.

Tales from the Blue Coast launches summer 2025 on all supporting apps.

About your host

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Patricia Mackenzie

Patsi is a writer and broadcaster from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. She has worked in radio and television production since leaving school, and has run the award winning independent production company, Sorbier Productions, since 2005.
She is currently a full-time screenwriter.
Patsi spends much of the year in Nice where these podcasts are recorded. Funny, poignant and revealing personal stories of others who like their host, have made a home in the South of France.