Well, it is summer vacation around here! First of all, I'd like to thank Morgan and Catherine for getting married this summer. It provided a fantastic opportunity for Michael and I to take a vacation together. Second, I'd like to thank Susan and John for looking after the kids for an entire week so that Michael and I could take advantage of this opportunity!
We left a nice warm (but not hot yet) Chico summer for the breezy and cool British Isles. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel in the lovely Islington district of London and walked over to a fantastic tapas restaurant to meet Morgan and Catherine's friends and family for the rehearsal dinner. The food and company was wonderful. I had a magic wine glass that never seemed to go empty!
After sleeping off the tapas and wine, Michael woke me at 11am the next day to try and get some sight seeing in before the wedding. We had only a few hours. So, we jumped on the tube and popped out at the historic Big Ben and Westminster Abbey area for some photo ops.
Next time we visit England I'd love to go see Hampton Court and perhaps some of the countryside. Got to get my Tudor's in!
After a whirlwind jog through the historic gift shop, we jumped back on the tube and got back to the hotel in time to change for the wedding. And what a beautiful wedding it was! A cute little church wedding in their neighborhood. They hired a brass band to play Beatles songs. And it was just pretty sweet. Afterward they hired double decker buses to bring the entire wedding down to the reception at Stationer's Hall. Stationers Hall is another historic site (some 600 years) where you could just feel the eyes of the old guys in the paintings looking down upon you as you wined and dined the night away. Lots of old crests and shields around too. It was so not some modern hotel ballroom! Also, they hired big band to play some swinging tunes. It was really one of the best weddings/receptions I've been to. Thanks, Morgan & Catherine!
The following morning we made the mistake of taking a taxi from our neighborhood all the way to the airport instead of taking the train from Paddington Station (like we did when we arrived). Perhaps it was all the partying and jet lag ... perhaps it was all the winding streets the cab driver felt compelled to take, but we were both ready to blow junks out before we even arrived at the airport.
When we arrived in Paris, we again made the mistake of taking a shuttle instead of the RER into the city. First, a train is a straight shot in and out of a city. It doesn't get stuck in traffic. It doesn't take winding paths. And if it is going through a creepy looking neighborhood, I'm not likely to see it because I will be underground. I was so sorry Michael's first impression of Paris was being squished into the back of a shuttle, sitting in traffic as it dumped rain outside.
Then we got to the hotel which would have been very charming had we not been stuck in the dungeon. All the reviews of Hotel St. Jacques are wonderful. Apparently none of them ever stayed in rooms 38 or 39. Our view looked up at the shoes of people strolling through Paris. I would stay there again if I could be guaranteed a room on an upper floor. And although I'd requested a room with a balcony several times, this was obviously no no avail. Location, though, was fantastic.
It was a quick trot to Notre Dame from the hotel:
But Paris made up for the ride in by way of providing us with tons of delicious French food. Also, the people were incredibly friendly!
Our first night there we dined at the Grand Bar Cluny. Escargot, Bordeaux, Steak and Italy versus Spain for the European Cup. Our waiter was very friendly and the food was fantastique!
Monday, we spent pretty much the entire day at the Louvre. What a work out! Then we decided to be total tourists and check out the Eifel Tower. No, we didn't climb it. Just showed up for the photo op. Oh, and I ate a crepe on the Champs de Mars. Mmmmm!!
We wound up coming back to the Grand Bar Cluny (by accident) on Tuesday. We were trapsing through the city and saw a menu with some pretty hearty salads on it. We walked in, sat down, ordered, chatted with the waiter for a few minutes. Then Michael said, "Hey, go over there behind the staircase for a minute." I figured he was up to something, so I refused. But at his insistence I finally went over there. "What?" He looked at me quizzically, "You don't see it?" "I don't know what I'm looking for!" So, he says, "Okay, come around the staircase back this way." And as I came around and looked back, I realized we were back in the restaurant where we'd dined Sunday night. But since we came in a different door from a different street and a different direction altogether, I didn't realize it. Our waiter thought this was hysterical. Here's the amazing duck salad:
Also, we ran into some other tourists there who really complimented my English. They said I spoke English so well that I
almost sounded like a native. I thanked them and told them I'd been practicing for a long time. They asked me where I came from and I think they turned a little pink when I said California. They were from Ohio ... so, that
might explain it.
Our afternoons generally consisted of wine and cheese and long walks. Then later we'd find a nice dinner spot and have some more wine and yummy things. Our last night in Paris we dined at a place called
Le Vin Qui Danse. This place was amazing. When I inquired about dining options for someone who could not eat wheat/flour/etc. the waitress went to the kitchen to ask and painstakingly went through the entire menu with us. So, we stayed there and had an amazing dinner with wine pairings. We started with an "amuse bouche" that was basically a seafood mousse. Michael had a champagne. Then we started in on the duck foie gras paired with a viognier. The foie gras was like butter. It melted in the mouth. And when paired with the apricot preserves (and for me the home made gingerbread toast) I think I died and went to heaven. But I returned later for the pan seared duck with what tasted like a beef based glaze, roasted cinnamon apple stuffed with fresh currants served with a bordeaux. I think I was still full the next morning!
Lesson learned, we took the RER back to the airport. It was quick and easy! And now we are back at home. Our kids, garden, turkeys all grew a ton while we were gone. We were pretty stoked to cook a home grown meal.
Potatoes from our garden (fried up in home rendered lard from pastured pork):
Chicken from the yard (Harry):
Broccoli from the garden:
Et, voila!
Oh, yeah, we're killing chickens today. You mind lending a hand?
Hey, Bailey! Want to come over and do something fun?
Oh, yeah, first we need to mow and weed wack ... and then we need to level the ground because my dad wants to put up a pool.
I tell you, we get more work done around here when poor Bailey comes over.
Today, Bailey is taking the day off. But Michael is implementing "Project Pool" in the backyard. While I always visualized I'd hold out for something like this:
Michael apologizes that the view of my garden will be obstructed by this piece of art:
Well, champagne dreams on a beer budget. At least Michael and the kids will have fun. He even went the extra mile to get the salt water versus chlorine system. I have an aversion to super chlorinated water. He's such a sweetie.
In other news, the turkeys are doing well.
My "three sisters" planting seems super happy:
The garden huckleberries (while seriously not at all delicious yet) seem to be very happy:
I've read that the trick to making the garden huckleberries (versus the wild huckleberries that are more like a blueberry) delicious is to boil them with 1/3 cup of baking soda and wash and drain them. It apparently gets rid of the yucky flavor. Then I can cook them up with sugar, lemon and tapioca and make some fantastic pie and jam. I'll let you all know how that comes out.
And if I photo the old garden plot from this angle, you can hardly tell how neglected it is (except for the spire of the one weed poking out of the mums like an antennae!):
And we're getting the odd berry here and there. Not enough for a pie or anything. But it's fun to steel a couple while hanging out laundry or taking a look at the general state of neglect in this vast amount of space I felt I so desperately needed.
This is probably the prettiest view of the pool:
Well, maybe I can plant some stuff around it and make it more attractive by hiding the sides of it or something. Michael and the kids are pretty stoked to have an oasis in the middle of our foxtail farm.
