The Tomato Knife

If I were a sheep, I would live in Scotland. I say this because Sebastien and I have just spent five days exploring the Scottish Highlands and it was quite obvious that the sheep rule. They dominate the landscape. Happy (and oblivious) as can be, they spend the entire day grazing on the open fields. [...]

Here’s a French-inspired dish for you, but first let me write an important reminder to myself: there are no outdoor food markets in Paris on Mondays. Not anywhere, ever. And, all the charming food shops lining the street near our apartment are also closed on Mondays, including the fruit shop, the cheese shop, the coffee [...]

Amboise, a small town in the Loire Valley, is known primarily for its overbearing medieval castle- once home to some of France’s most famous rulers, as well as to Catherine of Medici’s ten children! Amboise is also renowned for Clos-Lucé, the stately home where Leonardo da Vinci (invited by the French King Francois I) spent [...]

We didn’t really know if we were supposed to eat the heads or not! Looking back at our most-recent two days in the Loire Valley, I’m still proud of myself for trying the tiny fish you see in the photo.  Friture de petits poissons was listed as an appetizer on La Croisette’s menu.  We were [...]

This is the third post in my series on the Loire Valley. Like this one, the last post was on a castle and the first one about a bed & breakfast. Part 3: Warning: Medieval Obsession! As many of my friends know, I’m slightly obsessed (no, much more than slightly) with medieval history. That’s surely [...]

This is the second in a series of posts on our recent trip to the Loire Valley. The first one was about the cave we slept in. In the next two posts, I’ll be talking about castles. Part 2: Leave your guidebook at home Our travel guides on France have started getting tattered- we tend [...]