About mid of March when returning to Southern France from a short trip to Germany we made a stopover in Lyon. We had a whole Sunday for discovering Lyon resp. a small part of it. We stayed in a hotel near the main station, Lyon-Perrache, which is located on the peninsula between La Saône and Le Rhône. We didn’t walk southbound towards La Confluence, a modern and stylish quarter (as I read …), where La…
We are still in Southern France in the region of Carcassonne … Saissac means – first of all – Le Château de Saissac resp. the medieval fortifications i. e. the ruins of it. (You may walk the site – unfortunately we went on a weekday when it was closed.) The ruins are surrounded by a village as ancient as the site – and furthermore there are some sorts of more modern suburban areas (which we…
We made a day trip to Narbonne. (To be honest: we made 2 day trips to Narbonne during the last weeks … there’s quite a lot to see & to visit or just to relax at the Canale de la Robine.) The main landmarks are the unfinished cathedral Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur and the adjoining Palace of the Archbishop. From the channel you’ll only get a view of the towers. Another very interesting landmark is the…
Some years ago I posted a Shakshuka recipe – I think it’s time & appropriate to renew the post & add some simplifications fitting into our present-day life. Back then I stated: Shakshuka is everywhere!Then Shakshuka was some sort of It-meal because it seemed that any food blogger had just stumbled across Shakshuka. Then I created some Shakshuka from the scratch – today I live w/ some simplifications. Both versions will be found in this…
We made a trip to Saint-Hilaire, a former abbey near Carcassonne, managed by Benedictines. The earliest documentary evidence dates back to 825 – so we are again in the era of Charlemagne. Today there are no more monks or nuns – the buildings including the chapel, however, are restored and may be visited. Inside there is a beautiful fountain where a bunch of pigeons enjoy their bath in the sun. Coming now to the real…
Le Lac (the lake) and Le Boudin (black pudding): where is the connection?There isn’t any. On a rather cold day in February we went to Lac de Montagnès in Southern France in La Montagne Noir, the most southern part of the Massif Central. The sky was blue, the sun was brilliant, only the temperature was rather low. We were at about 600-800 m & some snow had survived here and there – not only on…
Lagrasse, a village and home to about 600 people, isn’t far from Carcassonne. It’s rated one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (the most beautiful villages of France). So my better half & I decided to make a trip to Lagrasse. It was a cold, but beautiful day beginning of February with a dazzling blue sky and a dazzlingly bright sun. There is the medieval village Lagrasse and there is the Abbey Sainte-Marie de…
Arriving in Vienna meant arriving in light rain which turned into light snow & more snow during the following days … The cold dampened our activities, but we had a lot of fun “inside Vienna” – and we’re sure that we’ll return to Vienna in spring or summer for “outdoor Vienna“. (Not sure when … we didn’t make it until now!) We spent a long weekend in Vienna before X-mas & had some great insights…
Avocados are very popular w/ us. I think we are no exception. Especially since we are in Southern France we like to create some avocado mess & indulge w/ fresh baguette for our dinner. Afterwards we may have some cheese … for the finish. Cong back to the avocados: There is more than 1 recipe for avocado mess or – the next step – guacamole. I tried quite a lot, but finally I ended up…
Our 1st month in Carcassonne is done: it’s time to give an overview of Carcassonne & our life so far i. e. how we manage to adapt to life in the Mediterranean area – in general & in winter. Yes – it’s winter. To be honest I hadn’t expected temperatures around 0° C … from what I had read so far resp. what climate tables presented. Well: we had pullovers & coats & whatever is…
I wrote about this tomato tart some years ago … & in the meantime I made a lot of tarts similar to this very 1st approach. So now I like to re-write the recipe based on my experiences so far. A tomato tart – resp. any savory tart – isn’t finger food although it’s perfect for nibbling. It may pass for a complete meal although merely a simple one. A tart is ready to be eaten…
On our way to SouthernFrance we made a stop-over in Dijon. For a day we stayed in Dijon and started in the morning with strolling around the city. Dijon is famous for its extraordinary mustard – although (as I learnt) the mustard is no longer produced in Dijon. It’s the result of an unfortunate court decision – decades ago – that stated that there is only one way to create Dijon mustard, but it’s not…
Over the years I created several posts about ham … Now we are approaching Xmas season – so I thought that some sort of roundup might be quite a good idea, because a delicious big chunk of ham is appropriate for any winter get-together if before Xmas, during Xmas or after Xmas. In general the process to create a ham dinner is always the same – so I’ll present 2 different results … We always…
Marrakesh – one of the mythic places of the world? In my notion: yes – a mysterious exciting place arousing curiosity over & over again, a very old religious force once reaching up to Southern Spain, a traders’ emporium connecting Sahara desert’s horsemen & warriors with Europe & Middle East – as well as a famous hippies’ paradise in the 70s becoming a notorious cosmopolitan party community in the 80s & 90s… until now… ……
When checking my pantry I found a bottle of limoncello – this very nice Italian lemon liqueur. The bottle was almost empty, but … soon I had the idea of some muffins w/ limoncello. A quick affair. No sooner said than done … I assembled some ingredients on my kitchen counter: … & here we go!