Tag: France
-
Cocktails in Paris – La fin de la sécheresse
Order a Martini in France and God only knows what you’ll get. The only certainty is that it will not have 8 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth. Over the years when traveling to France, I can content myself with excellent glasses of wine, champagne and even the beer is quite good. But sometimes…
-
Backlog Bordeaux
Saillans, Gironde, France We were actually in Bordeaux a few weeks ago. I skipped writing about it until now for the following reasons: We arrived on the first Saturday in August, after a rainy trip down the jam-packed A10 autoroute. First Saturday in August. In France. Probably one of the worst times to pick to…
-
French Potato Chips: “We have beaten England! England, birthplace of Giants!”
“Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Field Marshall Wellesley, Lady Diana, Walkers… …we have beaten them all! David Cameron, can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating!” One of the simple joys of living in England were the crisps (i.e. Potato Chips). I was amazed…
-
Drifting Down the Dordogne
Sunday morning we woke up in Sarlat. The parents only bearing slight headaches because we discovered: 1) Red wine from Bergerac 2) a bar called Café Lébérou We don’t have any pictures from the bar except for the sign outside the next morning. Partly because it wasn’t clear whether the local patrons would take too…
-
44˚53′18.59″ x 1˚12′57.67″
The girls awoke in the backseat to Dad swearing his head off. They were in a sound sleep after a long, warm afternoon touring the cave paintings at Lascaux. I don’t know what they might’ve first thought as they opened their eyes and saw nothing but stone walls inches from the side windows of the…
-
Delightful Dinan
Back one more time over the Normandy Bridge as we escaped Fécamp. It was raining heavily across most of Normandy and Brittany, but the clouds lightened up as we approached Dinan. Heavy tourist traffic made it a slow go the last couple of kilometers, but our navigation lead us straight to the front door of…
-
Decamping Fécamp
The weather has been getting better each day. It’s wednesday morning and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. We open the doors and windows to air the place out, and decide to have breakfast at home. Croissants and nutella and scrambled eggs from “les poulets élevées en liberté.” Chickens raised in liberty. Now that’s…
-
Omaha Beach, Arromanches, Honfleur
Late start this morning, but we coaxed the girls out of bed with the promise of hitting the beaches. I wonder how Eisenhower managed, back on the morning of June 6, 1944? When it was time to wake up, did the troops roll over in bed and ask for another 15 minutes? I bet there…
-
Show me the Monet
On the way out to Fécamp, we dropped by Monet’s country place in Giverny. Perfect weather, about 20C (70F) and not too crowded. The surprise for me was the main garden. About an acre of assorted flowers and wildflowers in full bloom. I wouldn’t mind making this place my stomping grounds. The beauty of the…
-
Le Patisserie de Bayeux
We had no trouble getting the kids up this morning. Partly due to the jetlag and partly because of a desire to escape our less than spotless surroundings. We hit the road to Bayeux, two hours away. In French, the Bayeux Tapestry is Le Tapisserie de Bayeux. That sounds a lot like Patisserie, with its…