5.22.2007

If I have to see another f***ing charming village...

Some highlights and pictures.

- Country roads
- Getting lost
- Getting lost on purpose
- Gap (the city)
- Aix en Provence

- Arles
- Roman ruins
- Too many charming little towns
- Routes de fromage
- Abbeys
- Castles
- Staying in a chateau
- Cheese

- Medieval towns
- Open-air markets





















5.08.2007

A Gourmet Walk...

Last weekend was fairly low-key. I did a lot of exotic activities such as cleaning the apartment and doing laundry. However, I did go to a house party on Friday and met someone that used to live in the Marina back in her USF days (time of the Loma Prieta earthquake).

On Saturday, I went on a gourmet walk, based on a tip from a coworker. There's a small village in France that hosts this annual tradition. The basic premise is show up, walk to different farms (all within 1km), and check out the demonstrations. We went to a poultry farm that does fois gras. While I did subscribe to the 'when in Rome' philosophy, seeing the feeding contraption left me a bit shaken. It's how the geese spend the last 12 days or their lives. The next stop was jams and preserves. The fruit was delicious and guilt-free. Afterwards, we headed over to the dairy farm where we learned that there is a bull catalog. The farm consists of cows... docile, friendly cows. When ever it's time for a little cow lovin' (they have a chart), they simply pick up the catalog and flip through the pages, looking for a bull with admirable characteristics. Each bull has a name, picture, and handful of statistics. We ended the tour at the winery, a pretty small operation with one type of wine.

And what day would not be complete without heading out to Evian to drink some of that famous water straight from the source. We waited our turn in line as the locals filled their bottles.