Côte d’Azure and Provence

Like ever year, as it comes to a close it's time to reflect on travel destinations from this year. For "some" reason we are drawn towards countries that offer either interesting and old cultures or new and tasteful cuisine, or both. This year we chose the South of France as our destination and we were absolutely floored. After spending some days exploring the Côte d’Azure from Monaco to Cassis we headed north and spend more time in the heart of the Provence (Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) enjoying the smells of Lavender, Roman architecture and of course fine foods of the region.

Compared to people living in Paris, the French in the south have a more relaxed attitude on life and it’s basically what doctors prescribe for a nice vacation.

 

While driving through Annecy on the way back to Switzerland, we must have exceeded the posted speed limit (by 7 km/h) because a couple of weeks later we received a ticket for 45€ from the French government. At least we were able to pay online by credit card, which beats traffic school anytime. Please note, that Annecy is located further north towards Geneva.

Result of a wet Spring

The other day I went down to the lake and my eyes caught something and I had to take a closer look. As I bent down to investigate, it became apparent that it was a mushroom. In fact, there was not only one, but two of them. Knowing that some mushrooms can have serious effect when ingested, I did some research and found out that they are Morels. Being the cautious type I left them alone. I was not that hungry that I depended on this quite beautiful fungi.

 

A Morel

With all the rain that we have had here in the Midwest it's not a surprise that this Morel appeared in our backyard.

Wakeup Machine

Every morning we wake up with an espresso and today the machine hit 6000 brews. We bought the Bosch benvenuto B30 in 2006 and it still works like a champ.

One of the best features is that one doesn’t have to clean the grinder all the time like in other models. It really allows the owner to enjoy what you bought the machine for, a good hot nice shot of espresso. All you need to do is to once in a while drop a cleaning tablet into a hole and let the machine do the "tough" job. If you want to buy an espresso maker for the sake of cleaning it, then this machine is not for you.

This brings me to another topic. Even though the initial expense for this machine was higher than other models, the cost per shot which it the 1299.- / 6000 = 0.22, which is negligible and beats a shot at Starbucks anytime.

I can't wait until tomorrow morning.