“Stunning, traditional, authentic” – that is how some visitors describe the breads at Le Fournil de S

aint-Robert

- Sar

l Irwan

, a small bakery in a south-western French village.

Locals and travellers alike are reportedly drawn to a bakery whose aroma of wood-fired sourdough hits the cobbled streets and whose products and service have garnered it an average of

4.7 stars over 67 revie

ws on Google.

The man behind it all is 51-year-old Singaporean Ewan Irwan.

Originally from Tampines, he worked in the engineering sector before meeting his then-wife, Sophie, a Frenchwoman

in Singapore

.

In 2003, they moved to France, hoping to build a life together. Engineering jobs proved elusive, but a new calling soon emerged: bread-making.

“Baking here is on another level. Most bakers are so dedicated to their craft,” he told The Straits Times on S

ept 5.

Determined to master the art, Mr Irwan said he enrolled in a one-year diploma course in Lyon and spent two years in professional bakeries, learning the traditions and techniques of French baking.

Yet the hustle and bustle of city life never suited him.

It was during a surfing trip along France’s west coast that he discovered Saint-Robert, a medieval village recognised as one of France’s most beautiful.

It is located in the Correze region of south-west France, about

470km sout

h of Paris.

The pace of life, the centuries-old architecture, and the opportunity to run

an existing

bakery with a wood-fired oven convinced him

this could be home.