Newer Entries   

10/28/26 - Jumieges Abbey

We made a couple of stops on our way from Rouen to Cabourg. Our first stop was at the ruins of Jumiege Abbey. Unlike Chateau Gaillard looming over the river and town, Jumiege Abbey is right in town. Like the chateau, however, it is a charming ruin with old stone work, crumbling masonry and a selection of vines. We had blue skies. We had rain.









After the brief rain













Tentacles

Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/27/26 - Beuvron en Auge

We also stopped at another picture postcard town on a picture postcard day.









Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/26/26 - Welcome to Cabourg

Our destination was the Belle Epoque seaside resort town of Cabourg. We had a room with a view of the channel. There was a big piece of machinery rearranging the sand to protect the beach, but then came something out of the past, two horse drawn carts - curricles perhaps - following the shoreline in the shallow water.





Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/25/26 - Our View From Our Hotel Room in Cabourg

We had a wonderful view of the sea by day and, thanks to modern image processing, an more fascinating view of the water by night.



Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/24/26 - Obviously, Gaston's

This was parked near us in Caen. He uses antlers in all of his decorating.

Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/24/26 - Hotel Window Views in Cabourg

There is much to be said for a view of the sea. Normandy is noted for its tidal variation with much of the beach vanishing at high tide and broad flats appearing at low tide.







Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/23/26 - Caen and William the Conqueror's Castle

We drove into Caen and visited the World War II Memorial Museum. World War II still has a presence in Normandy, more than elsewhere in France. There was no point in photographing the museum. It was full of photographs, artifacts and stories of the occupation and the D-Day liberation.

Then, we took a bus into town and went to a memorial for another invasion in the other direction, William the Conqueror's invasion of England. Caen was his home town, and his home town castle was impressive with its high walls, defenses and broad view of the city.

We had some trouble finding the entrance and followed at least one false avenue before following the castle walls. We walked the high walls and followed the history as the fortress was built and added to over centuries.



Not the way into the fortress

No way to climb in our good clothes

View from the castle walls






We are suckers for an herb garden.


Not an herb








What French fortress is complete without guard sheep?



Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/22/26 - Cabourg Sunrise and Moonset

We booked a guided tour of the D-Day beaches. We had visited the memorial museum in Caen the previous day, so this rainy day was our outdoor day. We started at Utah Beach with the old German guns and remains of the artificial harbor. D-Day was young when we were children. Now it is over eighty years away.

Our next stop was a German gun emplacement. Our guide Sebastien's grandfather had been forced to help build it. They had tried using inferior concrete mixing in extra water, but the Nazis caught them and warned them to stop.

Then we went to the American D-Day memorial with the graves of American soldiers who died in the invasion. It was a solemn, serene place with too many grave markers to even try and count. The gray day added to the melancholy atmosphere.






















Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/21/26 - D-Day in Normandy

We arranged for a guided tour of the D-Day beaches. We had visited the memorial museum in Caen the previous day, so this was going to be our outdoors touring day. Our first stop was Utah Beach with its German gun emplacements and the remains of the artificial harbor built to aid the invasion.

Our next stop was another set of German guns up on the bluffs over the landing beach. Our guide Sebastien told us that his grandfather had been conscripted by the Germans and forced to build these bunkers. He and the other conscripts tried watering the cement, but the Germans caught them and warned them. The D-Day invasion is more of a presence in Normandy even after all these years.

Then we went to the American Cemetery with its graceful monuments and broad array of grave markers. It was a gray day and raining lightly to match the mood of the place. We wandered the walkways and admired the reflecting pool. We paused to look down from the bluffs at the beach below.
























Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/20/26 - Last Morning in Cabourg

There were a good number of people about on our last morning in Cabourg. We were going to miss the view from our hotel window. Most of them were walking along the beach and enjoying the waves. One couple, wrapped in towels, looked like they were planning a swim. Meanwhile, others wore winter coats.

Then the pink shirts started to appear. First a few, then in increasing numbers. It was Pink October, and they were marching to raise funds to fight breast cancer. Soon, the promenade was full of marchers. Here's to fighting one of the many good fights.


















Keywords: france

Keywords: france

10/19/26 - Our Day in Paris

We returned to Paris in the afternoon. We only had a day, so we did what one does in Paris, we had dinner and a walk. It was all too brief.



Keywords: france

11/20/09 - Beef Daube

Beef daube is a wonderful, hearty winter dish. We make a version from Andre Daugin's cookbook. He ran the wonderful Hotel d'France in Auch, the heart of d'Artagnan country. Not only does beef daube, a French beef stew, taste wonderful, it is fun to make. One of the steps is flaming the browned chunks of beef in armagnac, an underappreciated strong spirit. To get a sense of how strong, check out the flames. For a better sense, click on the picture and play the movie.

Click the image for flaming action

Keywords: food, france

10/31/09 - Something To Grouse About

Autumn is the time for game birds. For those of us who cannot be trusted with firearms, that means D'Artagnan, the specialty food provider founded by Arianne Daugin, the daughter of one of France's great chefs. This recipe calls for four grouses, or perhaps four grice, if that is what are available at your market. It also calls for a head or two of savoy cabbage, twelve rashers of the best, smokey bacon you can get, a tart apple, at half a stick of butter, dried thyme and/or marjoram, pepper and salt.

Grouses, or perhaps grice

Shredded savoy cabbage
 Clean the grouses, or grice. Save any good insaginnies. Clean the cabbage and save eight of the largest leaves for wrapping the grouses. Shred the rest of the cabbage using the slicing blade of a food processor. Cut up four rashers of bacon into 1/2" bits. Toss the shredded cabbage and bacon with a teaspoon or two of thyme, marjoram or both, and some salt and pepper. If there were any hearts or crops, chop them up and toss them in as well.

Cut up the apple into eight pieces. Put a piece of apple, a chunk of butter and as much of the cabbage mix as you can into each grouse. Put the remaining cabbage mix into a flat roasting pan. Put each grouse, breast side up, on a cabbage leaf. Drape two rashers of bacon over it and cover it with another cabbage leaf.

All ready to bake, except for the top cabbage leaves

Grice, or perhaps grouses, in the cabbage patch
Add perhaps a quarter inch of water to the baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes at 325F. Check the birds. They should be cooked through and getting tender. We raised the temperature to 350F at this point and gave them another 15 minutes. A lot depends on your oven.

When the birds are basically cooked, remove the upper cabbage leaves. Slide the bacon down to the sides of each bird so it doesn't burn. Raise the oven temperature to 450F and give the grice another 10 or 15 minutes. This should brown the birds nicely. They can be served straight from the oven along with the cabbage.

Ready to eat

Keywords: autumn, birds, grouse, recipe, france

04/15/09 - The Game of Seven Families We recently came across an old French card game we had bought back in the 1960s, Le Jeu des 7 Familles. This is still a popular game in France, but we really like this version. The artwork is great. We've scanned in all the cards so you can get a good look at them.

 

 

Keywords: art, france

 

02/10/06 - Le Gourmande - Adventure in Ballard

Maybe that's a bit dramatic for a headline, but Ballard has always been somewhere in the wilds of Seattle, as yet unexplored. We now know a bit more about Ballard, and a lot more about an excellent, elegant restaurant where France meets the Pacific Northwest.

Keywords: restaurants, seattle, france

Newer Entries