A little late this week, but here is this Wednesday’s Bloggers Round-up, with an all Australian cast. Jill from Gigi’s French Window takes us to the beautiful town of Annecy in the foothills of the French Alps; Phoebe from Lou Messugo, who lives in Provence, tells us all about tapenade; while Andrea from Rear View Mirror, brings us some stunning photos of Lake Como in Italy. Enjoy!

Annecy adventures / Les aventures d’Annecy

by Jill from Gigi’s French Window, French ponderings from an Australian who must have been French in another life

A few years back, I spent 3 seasons in Annecy, France…yep, that’s right,
3 seasons, but it only took 3 days to do it….:).

It’s a gorgeous, ancient city, near the Swiss Alps, that I just fell for.

We stayed in Hotel Au Faisan Dore… which was a pleasant surprise when it came to  space, after all the prior shoe boxes.  Oohhh  sooo warm, as well, which turned out to be a lifesaver! Read more

Tapenade – a Provençal classic

by Phoebe from Lou Messugo, a traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia

Walk around any market in Provence or the Côte d’Azur and you will see stalls heaped with glistening olive pastes and tapenades, usually next to an enormous array of different olives and other pickles.

Tapenade is a typically southern dish made with olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil, chopped finely or blended together into a paste.  Its name comes from the Provençal word for capers, “tapenas“. Read more

The Shores of Lake Como

by Andrea from Rear View Mirror and Destination Europe, a fellow Australian who, after 6 years of living in France, has given up herParis apartment to live a nomadic life slowing travelling around Europe, experiencing each destination like a local

I should know better than to book a popular tourist destination for mid-summer. I find it hard to get a feel for a place when there are crowds and few locals around and I usually end up being disappointed. Bellagio, Varenna and Como in Italy are massively popular destinations in July and August. Of course they are popular with tourists for a reason, I get that. They are beautiful cities surrounded by imposing mountains on the shores of Lake Como. Personally I’d much rather visit in the off-season but on this occasion I was meeting friends from Australia which made all the difference. Read more