Join us on a photo journey of France, Europe and beyond on our photoblog. Click on the photo or go to: www.france-and-beyond-photoblog.com
Chambery App
If you have an IPhone or IPod and are planning a visit to Chambery, buy my ITunes App. It will walk you through the city of Chambery to each historic landmark with walking directions, history, a map, and narrative. It's just $2.99. Click on the above photo of the elephant fountain for the link to the app.
Travel Resources
Planning a trip to France ? Stay in a Paris apartment during your trip to the city of lights.
Get my Chambery, France Guide Book free with the purchase of my Cookbook: 'French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps.' Get both for only $7.99. Click the photo to get more information or to purchase your books now.
French Tutorial
A basic grammar and vocabulary review of the French language, as well as some informal & slang vocabulary and a special section on vocabulary for English-speaking expatriates living in France. Also included is an appendix on French pronunciation for English speakers as well as IPA transcriptions for most of the vocabulary lists and all of the verb conjugations.
Visit the Store to buy the e-book for $9.95 or paperback book for $24.95.
Join us on a small group tour of the French Alps June 9 - 16, 2012. I designed this tour to include the best of the region. Wander the Medieval town of Annecy, nicknamed the Venice of the French Alps, and take a boat ride on its crystal blue lake. Do you like pampering yourself on your vacations, then why not spend an afternoon at the Aix les Bains thermal baths inside your lakeside hotel? Are you the adventurous type? Then take a horseback ride in the Alps or fly through the trees at the High Ropes Adventure. Are you a foodie? Taste local chocolates, cheeses, wines and hazelnut oils. Are you a history buff? Then satisfy your curiosity at Lyon's Old Town or Vienne's Roman Temple and Forum. Or just enjoy watching the hang gliders and sunset while enjoying an outdoor aperitif on the top of a mountain overlooking Annecy's lake. See you in the French Alps! www.french-alps-tours.com
Alps Cookbook
Get my ECookbook: 'French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps.'
51 recipes of the region, collected from friends and local cookbooks. This is the only English language Savoie and French Alps cookbook in print. Only $7.99 and includes a bonus book: The Chambery Guide Book.
Click the photo to buy yours now or go to the Cookbook Page on the Navigation Bar!
French Comfort Food
Visit my French Comfort Food website for articles, recipes, videos, tips and products about French Food and Wine. Click on the photo or go to www.frenchcomfortfood.com
Videos, photos and posts can be used or posted noncommerically (this means you can't sell my films, photos or put them in or on anything you sell!), but everything must be linked back to this blog and must list me as the creator.
I just wanted to take a moment to mark the second anniversary of my blog. Two years ago today I entered my first post and hit ‘publish.’ There have been many changes both in my life and in the blog during those two years. It seems I have been constantly reinventing myself…and the blog. So today I celebrate both efforts with a sense of hope for the future for both of us.
In late August, just before leading my French Alps Tour, I took two days to visit a former colleague, now friend, who has a home in the town of Nuits Saint Georges in Burgundy. They were visiting for two weeks and I wanted to see Dora and her husband since I have so few opportunities to see my American friends.
Nuits-Saint-Georges is the main town of the Côte de Nuits wine-producing area of Burgundy. Burgundy is arguably the finest wine produced in France – at least by some people’s standards. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of the Pinot Noir grape which is the primary varietal of the region. Even so, I tasted some nice wines during my visit. My friends, Dora and Grey, gave me a walking tour of the town and took me to a couple of wine caves to visit the cellars and taste the wines. Here is a video of one of the cellar visits.
Everyone has their favorite recipe for crepes. Here’s mine which I got from my Frenchman’s daughter. I included the recipe and a video of her making the crepes. She can sure flip them better than me! Check out more recipes from my ECookbook: French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps
Crepes for 6-8:
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of butter, melted
In a large bowl, whisk the flour and eggs together. Gradually the milk and water, stirring until combined well. Add the salt and butter and beat until smooth.
Heat a buttered or oiled griddle, crepe pan or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour one ladle (approximately ¼ cup for each crepe) of batter onto the pan. Immediately tilt the pan in circular motions to coat the entire bottom of the pan with the batter.
Cook for about 2 minutes until slightly brown. Loosen with a spatula and turn it over (or flip it) to cook the other side for about 1 minute. Serve hot with your favorite toppings.
You can find this recipe, along with many others, in my French Alps Cookbook.
One of the finest pleasures of life for a wine nut like me is going on a wine tasting tour, and if I can do it a country like Italy or France, that’s an even greater luxury. On our Atlantic Coast and Dordogne trip last year, we took an afternoon to take a wine tasting tour just outside of Bordeaux, which also included a tour of the Medieval village of Saint Emilion. The first part of the wine tasting video I posted was very popular so I’m posting a second half of that wine tasting lecture in this post. After all, it is grape harvest time in the French Alps so this is timely.
This video shows you how to properly taste a glass of red wine as taught by the owner of the Clos La Madeleine Vineyards. After the lesson we tasted some brilliant red wines.
Chambery is a charming town and is known for its decorative ironworks which can be seen throughout the city, as well as its Trompe L’oeil paintings which can be found on the streets and in the Cathedral. In fact, I lived here for months before I started noticing that many of the ‘bricks’ and ‘windows’ I was seeing on the walls lining the streets were actually paintings, not the real thing. Now I pay attention when I walk around the town and occasionally find a new Trompe L’oeil painting. The Cathedral, which dates back to the 15th century, is completely filled with Trompe L’oeil work. You have to know that they are paintings you’re looking at on the ceilings or you’d think they were vaulted and buttressed ceilings instead. The paintings were added in the 19th century since the Cathedral was defaced during the French Revolution. These are the finest examples of Trompe L’oeil work I’ve seen anywhere and I’ve visited hundreds of churches. In fact, it’s the largest ensemble of Trompe L’oeil painting in Europe.
See Trip Films’ adrenaline pumped filmmakers jump off bridges, cliffs, mountains and out of planes. Not to mention scale mountains, white water raft and most treacherous of all, race each other in soap boxes! One of my videos on hang gliding in the French Alps is included in the film.
This is also a good preparation video for an event we will be attending this weekend, September September 17 – 19th. I’m taking Bernard there for his 50th birthday. It’s called the Coupe Icare and it’s a world competition of Paragliders, plus a ton of crazyness and festivities. People create cartoon characters, boats, cars, etc with their paragliders and jump off like that. There are also air shows and air balloons and a lot of other amazing events. For a feel of this fantastic event, check out the video here: http://www.coupe-icare.org/index.php?&_lang=GB And of course, I’ll film it and put it on the blog in the future.
We were driving back from a visit to Bernard’s parents in Roanne this summer and ran across this: a double rainbow and we actually saw the end of it on several occasions. I had never seen anything like it so I took photos from the car.
I just wanted to take a moment to mark the second anniversary of my blog. Two years ago today I entered my first post and hit ‘publish.’ There have been many changes both in my life and in the blog during those two years. It seems I have been constantly reinventing myself…and the blog. So today I celebrate both efforts with a sense of hope for the future for both of us.
