A little bit of Christmas to start this week’s Blogger Round-Up with a recipe for French Christmas Log from French Moments, followed by Paris Weekender‘s favourite haunts in the Marais. To finish off, fellow Aussie Chrissie from Riviera Grapevine takes us on a visit to Limone in Piemonte in Italy. Enjoy!
French Christmas Log – Bûche de Noël
by French Moments, a Sydney-based organisation with an international focus which promotes the French language and culture to English-speakers worldwide. Their French team is all about the language, culture and experience
A Christmas log is the traditional dessert for the French Christmas meal on the 24th of December. It is a rolled sponge / Genoese sponge in the shape of a log, most often with chocolate ganache inside or chestnut cream and icing on the outside to make it look like a log ready for the fire. In Provence there is an entire ritual revolving around a wooden log in the chimney that is carried three times around the table by the youngest and the oldest members of the family, sprayed with wine and meant to burn for several nights. It is believed the Christmas log is originated from this custom. Read more
The Best of the Marais (So Far)
by Abby from Paris Weekender, an American living in Paris who offers suggestions for Paris weekends, either staying put or getting out of town
It’s been a little over a year since I moved from Saint Germain to the Marais. Here is a sampling of my “favorites” so far. I admit they are a bit 4th arrondissement-centric, as that’s where I live! Read more
Warming up for Winter in Limone
by Chrissie from Riviera Grapevine, a Sydney girl living in Nice with an insatiable thirst for the wines of the Var, Alpes Maritimes and Liguria. She happily sells, drinks and blogs about wine.
Time to let you in on a little secret. If you’re a fan of the wonderful Italian region Piemonte, as I am, you don’t have to head all the way to Alba for your fix of Barolo, Moscato d’Asti and my personal favourite, Arneis (not to mention the food, THE FOOD!!). The closest corner of Piemonte is a mere hour and a half away from Nice, and has a cute-as-pie village centre with some great value restaurants. What’s more turns into a veritable winter wonderland come snow season.
Yep, I’m talking about Limone. More often referred to Limone, Piemonte, to avoid confusion with Limone, Lake Garda. Read more
This week’s Blogger Round-Up starts in a museum and ends in a cemetary. Daisy de Plume, whom you may remember from the THATLou treasure hunt I participated in recently, tells us all about the Orangerie Museum; Bread is Pain, in her usual humouristic musings, recounts the difficult ascension of the potato in France; while fellow Aussie Susan from Days on the Claise reports on a new French appellation, the lapin gris de Touraine. Enjoy!
Musée de l’Orangerie
by native New Yorker Daisy de Plume, who has lived in Paris for nearly a decade and created THATLou to share her passion for art and her unique approach toward making the museum experience fun and accessible to all
Now that’s a great photo, no? Lilian Lau is a jack of many trades: from an École normale supérieure post-doc science researcher to a wonderful travel writer (links to a sampling are below). After first meeting her at last January’s THATd’Or created in conjunction with theAFMO, Lilian generously put me in touch with Camille Breton, of Science Académie, for whom I built the Arts + Sciences hunt. Since then we’ve been having lovely lingering lunches between her globetrotting flights. Here she picks up on the Museum Musings(which I had initially intended to be a “monthly” museum musing, but alas time has required that first M to be dropped!). Without further ado: Read more
Plus ça change plus c’est la même chose
by Bread is Pain, a 30-something American living in the Rhone-Alps, getting her master’s degree, learning French and slowly eating and drinking herself through the country
“What tha…why is there a potato on that tombstone,” I turn, looking at MB questioningly. We are on a tour of Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
“Quoi,” he asks, looking towards the grave, apparently he doesn’t know why either.
“Ah,” our tour guide walks over and joins us, bringing the rest of the group. “This is the grave of Parmentier, the man who introduced potatoes into French cuisine.” Read more
Le Lapin Gris de Touraine
by Susan from Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history and running Loire Valley Time Travel.
History: This type of grey rabbit used to be well known to the inhabitants of Indre et Loire and by the early 1900s it had begun to be called le lapin gris de Touraine. They were raised for meat and fur, but although still common on farms in the area in the 1950s, by the end of the 20th century they had almost disappeared. It has just received official recognition as a breed, after a group of enthusiasts worked on saving the rabbit from extinction. Read more
I am a sporadic cook at best these days. When my children were at home, I used to cook a lot more but most of the time, I serve up the same old dishes that are easy and quick to make and that Jean Michel and I both like. However, now that we have started to go to the Saturday market in Blois where they are a lot of market gardeners I find myself with ingredients that I don’t usually buy.
I usually make my own pastry but recently I bought some fresh pie crust pastry to make a leek or a spinach quiche and promptly forgot all about it. Today, I had a look at the use-by date and saw it was my last chance before I’d have to throw it away. I obviously had no spinach or leeks left so I rooted around the cupboard and came up with some onions. I had some boletus mushrooms in the freezer from our last forage plus some chives so I figured I could combine them all.
Quiche is traditionally made with fresh cream but I usually make it with fromage blanc which I always have in the fridge because I eat it for breakfast every day. If I buy cream it goes off before I remember to use it.
Do you have a favourite quiche recipe?
Ingredients
1 pie crust
2 very large onions
Wild or cultivated mushrooms
2 pots (about 1 cup) of fromage blanc
2 pots (about 1 cup) of milk
4 eggs
fresh (or frozen) chives
Slice the onions thinly and cook in olive oil until brown and soft. Beat the fromage blanc or fresh cream, milk and eggs together. Season and add the chives.
Cook the pie crust for 5 minutes at 225°C in the oven. I use a convection oven so you will need to add a few minutes if you’re using a regular one.
Line the bottom of crust with an even layer of onions. Place the cooked, sliced mushrooms on top then pour over the egg mixture.
Cook for about half an hour at 200°C. It’s cooked when it puffs up and is slightly brown.
Well, it’s going wonderfully! I’ve lost the 5 kilos I put back on after my initial diet three years ago when I lost 20 kilos, despite the fact that I am now eating a lot of foods I had thought I’d have to give up forever.
I actually look forward to our fast days, when I have 500 calories and Jean Michel has 600, and which we plan according to what’s going on that week but which are usually 3 or 4 days apart. Mondays and Thursdays or Fridays are typical choices, but the beauty of the 5:2 fast is that there are no fixed days. We continue to always eat the same thing on those days, as it suits us that way.
The amazing thing is that I am not hungry on fast days. I even forget it’s a fast day until lunch and dinner come around (we don’t have breakfast).
The day after a fast day, though, we’re usually pretty hungry. I’ve found that having a good breakfast is the most effective solution to feeling ravenous mid-morning. I’d really rather not get into the habit of snacking again.
After my initial diet, I had eliminated foods such as fresh ravioli, quiche and French fries. We had reduced our wine intake to about once or twice a week which was rather sad because we are both wine buffs. If we went out to dinner, I tried to be reasonable and only order low-calorie foods. I felt guilty if I indulged AND I STILL PUT THOSE FIVE KILOS BACK ON.
Biscuits made at the Chambord biscuit factory – I prefer the traditional “solognots”
Now I can order French fries, foie gras and fish with beurre nantais and enjoy them without compunction! If we do have a heavy lunch or dinner, we just skip the next meal. I can have those very moorish Chambord biscuits with afternoon tea and a glass of wine with my meal if I feel like it.
We do, however, continue to have well-balanced meals for health purposes. If we have ravioli, I serve it with a tossed salad, for example, followed by fresh fruit. We still more or less respect the “plate-divided-into-four” principle though I’m more likely to spread it out over two meals, with more protein at one and less carbs and vice versa.
Jean Michel was convinced that he would not be able to continue fasting when doing a lot of physical work such as heavy gardening and renovation. I didn’t insist even though I couldn’t see the problem. When we were cycling 50 to 60 kilometers a day along the Danube last summer, we had as much energy on fast days as we did on feast days. But he said it was not the same.
However, as it turns out, he has no trouble fasting when we’re in Blois, despite a much more active life style. He just has make sure he drinks a lot of water to prevent hydration.
The 5:2 fast diet doesn’t suit everyone of course. We have French friends who prefer to reduce the period of nutrition to 8 hours, skipping breakfast, having lunch around 1 pm and dinner before 9 pm, thus leaving a period of 16 hours between the last and first meal each day. Their reference is Le Fasting by JB Rives.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s experience.
You might be interested in my other posts on dieting:
This Wednesday, we’re staying in Paris. Australian blogger Jo Karnaghan from Frugal First Class Travel, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting up with during a recent trip to Paris,shares her latest find – three new shopping streets in Paris; well-known foodie Wendy Lyn from The Paris Kitchen, which I have just discovered, gives us ten excellent tips for reserving a restaurant in Paris, while published author Tom Reeves from Paris Insights takes us on a chocolate tasting. Enjoy!
THREE GREAT NEW SHOPPING STREETS IN PARIS
by Jo Karnaghan from Frugal First Class Travel, an Australian who loves to travel – especially in Europe – and who has gradually learned how to have a First Class trip on an economy budget, without missing out on anything!
When visiting Paris recently, I was keen to get out and discover some new places and experiences – all about making familiar Paris seem brand new. Part of that was exploring some new and different shopping experiences. I found three great shopping streets I’d never visited before that I’d love to share with you. Whether you are a serious shopper or just love a bit oflecher la vitrine (window shopping), I hope you find my finds as interesting as I did. Read more
Top 10 Restaurant Reservation Tips for Paris
by American “insider” Wendy Lyn from The Paris Kitchen™ , one of the ten top food guides in the world, who gives savvy, globe-trotting foodies local introductions and an off-the-beaten-path experience of Paris’ food scene.
Calling for restaurant reservations can feel intimidating with the language barrier and time difference, but it doesn’t have to be.
While it is do-able to walk into a cute little corner bistro without reservations, if you are headed this way on a mission to eat through your list of Paris’ top spots, reservations are essential – even for a casual dining.
Thank you to all the Facebook fans, restaurant staff & clients who helped me create this top 10 list for making reservations in France.
One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “Why is it so hard to get a reservation? I don’t want anything fussy or expensive.” Read more
An Evening of Chocolate Tasting with Les Amants du Chocolat de la Couronne Parisienne
by Tom Reeves from Paris Insights, whose love of French language and culture inspired him to create Discover Paris!, a travel planning service that caters to Americans interested in cultural travel to Paris and to write Paris Insights – An Anthology
One of the advantages of blogging about chocolate tastings is that one meets people who invite you to…more chocolate tastings!
So what’s on the agenda this Wednesday? Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris takes us to the Maison du Chou where she has discovered the lightest choux à la crème, while French Moments delights us with ten stunning photos of autumn in France. Meanwhile Carolyn from Holidays to Europe brings us some very useful tips for driving in Europe. Enjoy!
Something Sweet for Monday – La Maison du Chou
by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, an American by birth, Swiss by marriage, resident of Paris with a Navigo Pass for the metro that she feels compelled to use
Whether it’s an unexpected glimpse of the Eiffel Tower as you round a corner or a chance encounter with a beloved friend in a bistro on the Île Saint-Louis, the best things in life are often unplanned and completely spontaneous. In Paris, I know exactly where to go for the most delicate macarons and the richest hot chocolate. What I didn’t know, at least not until yesterday afternoon, was where to find the lightest choux à la crème. If you would like to serendipitously discover these delightful cream puffs freshly filled with a mousse-like mixture of sugar and fromage blanc, stroll down Rue Bonaparte past the famous Deux Magots Café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood of Paris. In your best flâneur style, casually turn right on Rue de l’Abbaye and left when you see the quaint Place de Fürstenberg. Read more
Top 10 Most Beautiful Photos of Autumn
by French Moments, a Sydney-based organisation with an international focus which promotes the French language and culture to English-speakers worldwide. Their French team is all about the language, culture and experience.
In this post we have compiled a selection of French Moments’ photos of autumn all taken in France’s North-East and Lyon.
Summer has now been replaced by autumn and the trees have put on a fabulous colour display with yellows fading to reds. Under the beautiful blue sky of an Indian summer or on a misty morning, the colours of autumn sometimes do not look as good in a photograph as they really do to the eye. Read more
Tips for Driving in Europe
by Carolyn from Holidays to Europe, an Australian based business passionate about sharing their European travel expertise and helping travellers to experience the holiday in Europe they have always dreamed of
When planning their travels in Europe, many Aussies are keen to hire a car for at least some of their trip but are, understandably, apprehensive about driving in large cities. Driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road can be hard enough, but navigating your way through busy streets that are often very narrow and one-way, can quickly raise the blood pressure. So, what do I recommend?
The rail network in most countries in Western Europe is excellent and it’s often the first choice of transport for travellers but for those wanting to visit more rural locations or countries where the rail system is a little less sophisticated (or barely exists, such as Croatia), driving is the next best thing. Read more
This week, Filly di Somma, writing for Guide2Paris, takes us off the beaten track to the Butte aux Cailles in Paris, while Katerina Forrester, in a post for My French Life gives us tips on text messaging in French. Meanwhile, Susan from Days on the Claise tells us about a little-known vegetable – celeriac – and how to prepare it. Enjoy!
Butte aux Cailles – A True Paris Ambiance
by Filly di Somma, a fanatical Paris fan, in one of her regular posts for Guide2Paris, which aims to be the complete source of information in English about the Ile-de-France region of France which includes the city of Paris. Designed specifically for English speakers visiting Paris or the region of Ile-de-France, contemplating buying property in Paris or those already living in Paris.
During my last trip to Paris I had the opportunity to visit a lovely ‘quartier’ which I hadn’t previously discovered on my trips to the city. “The Butte aux Cailles” district is almost like a separate village in the centre of Paris in the 13th arrondissement. Whilst being driven there by a lovely Parisian, I discovered and adored the narrow cobblestone streets featuring original restaurants, cafes and boutiques full of people eating and drinking outside. I loved its art deco architecture and its traditional Paris atmosphere.
by Katerina Forrester, born in Australia but always longing to be French at heart, currently living the Arts student life in Melbourne, where she is studying to become a Linguist. writing for My French Life, a global community of French and francophiles connecting like-minded people in English & French
LOL is the furthest I will go when writing with text abbreviations. Nothing more, nothing less. When writing texts in English, I write in full, and I write with proper syntactic features. I don’t want to be seen as an over-texting teenager! I want my friends to receive properly articulated sentences with substance. Nevertheless, this is not the case when I text to friends in French. Read more
Céleri Rémoulade
by Susan from Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history and running Loire Valley Time Travel.
The general appearance of celeriac doesn’t inspire much confidence in it being tasty, and even less so if you consider eating it raw. Nevertheless, the most popular dish using celeriac (céleri-rave in French) does indeed use raw, grated celeriac.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is diet food though. This is a dish to which cream is added in order to make it lighter (!!) and easier to digest (!!!) It is tremendously popular in France, but I don’t think many people bother to make it themselves. Most people buy it from their trusted local charcutière traiteur (delicatessen). If you do make it at home, it’s not just a matter of grating some celeriac and coating it with mayonnaise. There’s a trick to getting the deli style céleri rémoulade. Read more
The sky is a stunning blue although the temperatures have dropped a little. We go directly to the imposing church of St Nedelya, just across from the statue of Sofia and the little church of St Petka, with the School of Theology in the background. As we approach it, we see a lot of activity under white tents. It turns out to be a book fair. We notice there are very few book stores but lots of book markets.
Book fair in Nedelya Square
St Nedelya, or Holy Sunday, is a mediaeval Eastern Orthodox Church that has been destroyed and reconstructed many times throughout the ages. It was razed in an assault in 1925 that claimed over 150 victims. The tzar, Boris III, who should have been the main victim, escaped because he turned up late, a typical Bulgarian trait so I am told later by a Bulgarian. It was restored between 1927 and its inauguration in 1933. What a chequered existence!
Vitosha Boulevard with Vitosha Mountain in the background
If you look straight ahead as you come out the church, you will see Vitosha mountain in the distance. Vitosha Boulevard is Sofia’s most expensive shopping street. The population is dressed very differently and there are lots of French and other foreign stores but they are hardly big names: Adidas, Promod, Le Coq Sportif, etc.
Newspaper report on the Sofia Day celebrations
What we like are all the sidewalk cafés with the mountain as a backdrop, though they are twice the price of the others we’ve been to, but still much cheaper than Paris. We pay 4 lev for 2 espressos at Vitosha Street Café. We take a look at the local paper and I see a report on yesterday’s festivities but unfortunately I can’t read it.
Renovated19th century mansions
We then head in the direction of Eagles’ Bridge, wandering through a much more upmarket area than our own neighbourhood. Ultra-modern buildings juxtapose renovated 19th century mansions.
Sveti Sedmochislenitsi, initially the Black Mosque built in 1528 but completely restructured in 1901 to 1903. It once included a Turkish school for priests, a caravanserai and a bath which were temporarily used as a prison before being destroyed around 1929.
Yet another church, Sveti Sedmochislenitsi, and another market appear as we get closer to the university where we intend to find a sunny bench in a nearby park to have lunch (it’s an intermittent fast day for us) because the weather has become surprisingly chilly.
Ladies’ market where two vendors shall a stall, each selling two types of vegetables.
We’ve been back to the Ladies’ market to buy the day’s vegetables – 4 tomatoes, 1 eggplant, 1 zucchini, 1 capsicum, 1 cucumber and a couple of handfuls of green beans, all for an amazing 2 lev. White and black grapes are 1.20 lev a kilo. That’s about 60 euro cents.
Overhead wiring that doesn’t seem to obey any safety rules
Jean Michel stops to admire the external wiring on some of the houses.
Vegetation-covered wiring in our neighbourhood
Not nearly as good as the ivy-covered cables I saw last night on our way to dinner though!
The Soviet Army Monument
We sit next to the Soviet Army monument and are surprised to see several army vehicles on one side and canons on the other. I learn afterwards that the monument is used as a place of artistic expression e.g. in 2011, it was painted overnight by unknown artists who dressed the soldiers as American comic heros such as Superman, Joker, Santa Claus and Wonder Woman with the caption (in Bulgarian) Abreast of the Times.
Eagles Bridge
After lunch we go to Eagles’ Bridge (Orlov Most), spanning another tiny sliver of water – the Perlovska River. The bridge was built in 1891 by the same Czech architect as Lions’ Bridge. The four bronze eagles symbolise the citizens of Sofia returning from exile and being welcomed by their families. The bridge itself stands at an important crossroads in Sofia.
Street leading to Nevski Cathedral cordoned off by police
Our route then takes us past Nevski Cathedral which is completely cordoned off by police. Good thing we visited it yesterday. We have no idea what’s going on of course. Then we see a cavalcade of motorbikes approaching from the other direction. They don’t even take the street that’s been blocked off. Ah, if only we could communicate.
National Art Gallery (former Tzar’s Palace) with grass cutters busy on the right
We reach the National Art Gallery, which also contains the Ethnographic museum that I’m very keen to visit. The lady at the ticket office asks if we’re seniors and gives us cheap tickets (3 lev each). This is the first time I’ve been given a reduction for being a senior. Not sure how I feel …
Ballroom in the National Art Gallery with the musician’s gallery at the far end
I’m disappointed to discover the Ethnographic Museum is closed for renovation but some of the rooms, particularly the ballroom, are well worth the visit.
Shepherds in Brezovo by Zlatyu Boyadzhiev (1902 – 1976)
I also enjoy some of the more traditional 19th and 20th century Bulgarian artists, especially Vladimir Rilski, Vassil Stoilov and Zlatyu Boyadzhiev with their wonderful depiction of Hungarian rural life.
Old Woman with Apples (1933) by Vassil Stoilov (1904-1990)
We walk back to our home exchange apartment and don’t seem to notice the poverty as much. I guess we’re getting used to it! Sofia seems to be one of those places that grows on you.
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Since I have been writing quite a bit about Sofia in Bulgaria recently, I thought you might like a more French focus for this Wednesday’s Bloggers’ Round-up. Kathy Stanford from Femmes Francophiles reviews the phone app Memrise for learning and improving your French vocabulary; Phoebe from Lou Messugo takes us on a day trip by train from Nice to the Valley of Marvels; while Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris explains all about Dijon mustard. Enjoy!
Plant your Language Garden with Memrise
by Kathy Stanford from Femmes Francophiles, an Australian who has an ongoing passion for France and the French language currently on holiday in Europe
During the more than 10 years that I have been learning French I have tried many online applications in my quest to improve my French vocabulary. I have found Memrise particularly effective with its scientific basis and combination of learning with fun. The competitive aspects as you climb leader boards can become addictive. I have even lost track of time sometimes when learning vocabulary (playing). If you love using mnemonics and find them helpful you will love Memrise.
Memrise has been designed to help you connect with the new words that you choose to add to your sets. It does this with mems. Read more
Wonderous mountain train – a day trip from Nice
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.
Train journeys are my kind of thing; trains and I, we go way back. Apparently, or so the family folklore says, I was on a miniature train in Delhi when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi turned up for a bit of political campaigning and I was chosen to sit next to her for the film shoot. I must have been about 7 years old. Now whether this was the beginning of my love of train travel I can’t say but since then I have taken some pretty interesting and scenic train journeys in Asia, Europe and Australia. So it was with great excitement that we recently took the grandly name “Train des Merveilles” from Nice to Tende and back. Read more
Searching for mustard in Dijon, France
by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, an American by birth, Swiss by marriage, resident of Paris with a Navigo Pass for the metro that she feels compelled to use
Mustard, Crème de cassis and wine – that’s what popped into my mind when we finally decided that Dijon would be a good place to spend the night on our way home from Switzerland last weekend. Given my mother’s penchant for all kinds of mustard and the fact that an entire shelf of her refrigerator was formerly reserved for the exclusive storage of this yellow condiment, visiting a mustard factory was at the top of my “to do” list. The only problem, as a search of the internet quickly revealed, is that Dijon’s oldest mustard factory was forced to close its doors in 2009 after demand for mustard declined in France. Read more
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We’re back in Paris with our heads to the grindstone but it promises to be a lovely evening so we have an early dinner at home (very light – it’s a fast day) and set off through the Palais Royal gardens for the new Berges de la Seine area which Jean Michel hasn’t seen yet.
People in the Palais Royal Gardens playing an unknown game
Berge, which has the same origin as “verge” in English, actually means a natural river bank in areas where there are no embankments, but has come to be used in Paris to mean the embankment along the Seine. Up until recently, the berges on both sides of the river were used as an expressway but on 19th June this year, 2.3 km along the left bank between the Orsay Museum and Alma Bridge were officially closed to traffic.
Photo exhibition along the Seine
Les Berges de la Seine are now dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists, with various sporting and cultural installations, river boats and barges, picnic areas, restaurants, bars and gardens along the promenade. And they are packed with people of every age.
Orsay Museum from Solferino footbridge
Our first stop, after walking across the Solferino footbridge between the Tuileries Gardens and the Orsay Museum, is an enormous green world map. The first time I came, I had Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris take a photo of me standing in Australia.
An Aussie in Australia
This time, I want to be an Aussie in France. Jean Michel has to take fourteen photos before I’m satisfied. I may have difficulty making my final choice.
An Aussie in France
I love the way they’ve used salvaged beams and containers for the installations. Jean Michel is disappointed though. He says it looks cheapskate. But the people using them as picnic tables and seating obviously don’t care. It’s so much more comfortable than sitting on the ground and they can accommodate far more people than a few picnic tables would.
Beams provide seating and picnic tables
The grey containers can be reserved, free of charge, by the hour, as a place to relax or work in. Quite a few have an Occupé sign but we can’t see anyone inside.
A container that you can book to relax or work in
I note that there are public toilets, but I don’t check them out. No one seems to be queuing though so perhaps there are enough for once. I don’t understand the lack of toilets in this country. Often in a restaurant you find yourself standing in line because there is only one and it has to be shared by men and women.
The “sound shower” under Pont de la Concorde
Further along, under Pont de la Concorde, there is a “sound shower” to connect your mp3 or smart phone via Bluetooth and fill the vault with your own music. It doesn’t seem to have caught on though because the only sound is the humming of human voices and the lapping of the waves as the tourist boats go by.
En attendant Rosa
We walk past the main eating area where containers have been converted into kitchens and bars and see there’s a long queue in front of En attendant Rosa (While Waiting for Rosa). There’s no distinction in the seating between people buying from the stalls and those who have brought their own picnic.
Deck chairs on the Berges
I like the covered deck chair area but it’s chockablock as well.
Having a drink at Faust’s with a view of the Alexandre III bridge
We come out on the other side of the beautiful Alexandre III bridge and spy the last table at Faust’s. We sip our Coca Zero (remember, it’s a fast day) and watch the sun set peacefully over the Seine.
Full moon over the Seine on the way home
“I’m going to buy one of those flat-bottomed boats so we can glide along the Loire after dinner”, says Jean Michel as we’re walking home with an enormous full moon in front of us. “I’ll make sure it’s big enough for you to have a deck chair so you’ll be comfortable.” I love my husband.
A Christmas log is the traditional dessert for the French Christmas meal on the 24th of December. It is a rolled sponge / Genoese sponge in the shape of a log, most often with chocolate ganache inside or chestnut cream and icing on the outside to make it look like a log ready for the fire. In Provence there is an entire ritual revolving around a wooden log in the chimney that is carried three times around the table by the youngest and the oldest members of the family, sprayed with wine and meant to burn for several nights. It is believed the Christmas log is originated from this custom. Read more
It’s been a little over a year since I moved from Saint Germain to the Marais. Here is a sampling of my “favorites” so far. I admit they are a bit 4th arrondissement-centric, as that’s where I live! Read more
Time to let you in on a little secret. If you’re a fan of the wonderful Italian region Piemonte, as I am, you don’t have to head all the way to Alba for your fix of Barolo, Moscato d’Asti and my personal favourite, Arneis (not to mention the food, THE FOOD!!). The closest corner of Piemonte is a mere hour and a half away from Nice, and has a cute-as-pie village centre with some great value restaurants. What’s more turns into a veritable winter wonderland come snow season.
