France 2013

What a trip it has been! We have experienced every type of weather from cold and snowy to hot and steamy. Today looks like it will be moderately warm and sunny. I started the morning by doing my final run to the patisserie at the bottom of the hill to get a warm baguette to have with our stinky cheese. Mmmm
We will head out soon to walk around and pick out one of our favourite places for lunch, then off to the beach for our final sunbath. It is a hard life here!

I will post a few pictures to end the blog. Thanks for reading.

Until next time
À bientôt à Vancouver

Gail

The weather has become very hot and hazy so as a result we have become very lazy. We have a leisurely breakfast and lunch then split up. Some of us go for walks while others head off for the beach. My camera does not have a viewfinder only a digital display so I find it difficult to take pictures when it is so bright as I can't see what I am shooting. At any rate that is the excuse for not downloading any pictures recently. I took some pictures of lunch yesterday but the meal was not up to the standard that we have come to expect so I don't think I will share the shots.

Three in our family left today so there are only four of us left. We look forward to the final three days and regret that we have to leave.
Tomorrow the plan is to go to our favourite chocolate cave for desert and drinks at 11am. Stay tuned!

Yesterday we went shopping for birthday outfits for the grandchildren and afterward enjoyed sitting on our balcony watching the world go by. Today we wandered around Antibes in the morning, stopped and had a drink at the beach then made our way through the old town to our favourite lunch spot 'Le Jardin'. The staff were very pleased that I had submitted a glowing review to trip advisor and sent an an e mail to the proprietor.

The appetizer today was a tart with caramelized cherry tomatoes, melted mozzarella and a sprinkling of balsamic. It was pure melt in your mouth goodness.
The main courses were beef ragout and trout with mashed potatoes and green beans. While desert was a fresh fruit salad with a tasty wine sauce. I haven't mentioned the wines very often in the blog because I guess that I take for granted that wine goes with every meal here. Rose is the regional specialty so we most frequently order it especially since it is a light wine and perfect for lunch.

After lunch we walked around a bit then headed to our favourite patisserie for a chocolate overload. They use the french valrhona chocolate, which is my favourite, so we just had to have desert one more time. I cannot do justice to them in either pictures or commentary. All I can say is that if ever you are in Antibes you have to go there. They have a chocolate cave that you can sit in to enjoy the treats along with your coffe or hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is basically melted dark chocolate that is rich and creamy. The best I have ever experienced!

To take my mind off food today I went around looking for wisteria to photograph. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Another full sun day so we were out and about in Antibes, walking and sitting at the beach watching the sailboats. The boats had all their sails up and their colourful spinnakers supplied the scene with a kaleidoscope of colour. I neglected to take my camera so the scene will have to remain a memory.

Late afternoon we headed back to make a family dinner to celebrate this great opportunity to get together. The meal was simple, scalloped potatoes, vegetable stir fry and roasted veal. The highlight was the lemon souffle cake from the chocolaterie. I did remember to take pictures of the food before we devoured it- so enjoy.

We took it easy today. Breakfast of fresh baked croissants was out on the balcony as was lunch. We tried our hand at making warm goat cheese salad. We put the goat cheese on slices of crusty baguette fresh out of the patisserie oven. To finish the meal we had a lemon tarte decorated with strawberries, meringue and lemons. Mmmm good! I have posted a picture of it so that we may forever drool over it.