France
Closing down our Seattle life.
Following our dream of an extended stay in France has been a long, long road, but finally we are so close that we can feel it! Since the sale of Le Pichet in September of 2022, my time has been filled with getting us ready to move to our house in Orthez. You can imagine …
Closing down our Seattle life. Read More »
2 CommentsGetting the Visa
Of the long list of things to accomplish before we can move to France, getting approved for a Long-Stay Visa is one of the most important. We took the first step in that process earlier this month when we made an appointment with the French Visa office in San Francisco. We had already filled out …
Leave a CommentHalf Way
I like this photo from a hike we took in December 2017 for two reasons; firstly because it shows the halfway point (almost) on the Chemin de Saint-Jacques between Vézelay in Burgundy and Santiago de Compostella in Spain. Secondarily because it gives the false impression that we actually hiked that entire way. The spot, just …
Leave a CommentSunday Dinner in Orthez
A rainy Sunday in Orthez with plenty of time to prepare and enjoy a leisurely diner de dimanche. Sunday dinner in France, especially in the countryside, is a late lunch that serves as the main meal of the day. The PM meal will usually be something simple, like soup and salad or an omelette. …
Sunday Dinner in Orthez Read More »
Leave a CommentDoes French Cooking Still Matter?
If you have any hesitation in answering the above question with a resounding “YES!”, please check out this article by Paris based food writer Alexander Lobrano. Alex brings the old time religion, seriously thumping the bible of French culinary excellence. And I couldn’t agree with him more.
Leave a CommentGrapes redux
In the interest of fairness and honesty, here is an update on a post from last week about making grape jam. In that post, I mentioned (a bit snidely, I am afraid) that the older woman at the Saturday farmer’s market in Orthez, from whom I purchased grapes for jam making, promised a bulk discount …
Leave a CommentPetite Dejeuner in the Béarn
When arriving in Orthez, our first stop, even before our house, is always our favorite dairy, Ferme Lait P’tit Béarnais. A couple miles up the road from our house, this family-run organic farm features the output of their small troupe of 20 or so of the local tawny brown Bearnaise cows; raw milk, sometime still …
Petite Dejeuner in the Béarn Read More »
Leave a CommentFete de Bixentxo, Ciboure
The Basque fishing port of Ciboure is only minutes from the French border with Spain, on the bay of Biscay. Because it has no sandy beaches, it has remained an active fishing port and a sleepy neighbor to big sister Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the Belle Époque beach resort across the harbor. Each year during January, however, Ciboure …
Fete de Bixentxo, Ciboure Read More »
1 CommentMerlin roti au four
I am once again in Orthez, with several weeks of down time to look forward to…well, as always, there are things to do in the category of “household improvements”, but that is a pretty well populated category that will extend well into the future, so it doesn’t seem terribly pressing. And as always, one of …
Merlin roti au four Read More »
4 Comments